Changes: Laser weapon

Revision as of 15:31, 31 January 2016

Laser weapons were weapons that utilize lasers, a directed light technology that compressed photon particles into a beam that could have heat and blast effects. While many spacefaring species used lasers in other means, such as in optical data networks, few used them as weapons by the 23rd century, since a variety of exotic subatomic particles could be used to create a more powerful beam, that duplicated lasers in use, but increased the weapon's effectiveness.

History

Jonathan Archer played with a plastic laser pistol toy as a child. (ENT: "Daedalus")

The United Federation of Planets has utilized hand-held laser weaponry from 2160s onward. (TAS: "The Slaver Weapon")

Starfleet crews used laser weapons in 2254, around the time USS Enterprise visited Talos IV. Landing parties carried laser pistols and large laser cannons were available as heavy artillery. (TOS: "The Cage")

In 2268, Uhura wondered why the Klingons didn't provide the villagers of Neural with more advanced weaponry such as old-style hand lasers. (TOS: "A Private Little War")

By the 24th century, only a few races still used ship-board laser weaponry, including:

the Atlec (TNG: "The Outrageous Okona")
the Borg (TNG: "Q Who")
the Lysian Alliance (TNG: "Conundrum")
the Solari (TNG: "Loud As A Whisper")
the Straleb (TNG: "The Outrageous Okona")
the Talarians (TNG: "Suddenly Human")

In 2365, the class 9 cargo vessel Erstwhile was armed with a 2.3 megawatt laser array with four emitters. (TNG: "The Outrageous Okona", production art) As of that same year, the Solari of Solais V were utilizing hand-held laser weapons capable of vaporizing a humanoid during their civil war. The vaporization effect appeared similar to a disruptor at maximum setting. (TNG: "Loud As A Whisper")

Starfleet Regulations called for a Federation starship to go to yellow alert when targeted by laser weapons from another vessel. In 2365, USS Enterprise-D captain Jean-Luc Picard thought the rule was outdated, since the laser weapons of an Atlec vessel were incapable of even penetrating the navigational deflectors. Picard also noted that Atlecs could fire until their lasers ran dry and they still wouldn't have caused any damage to the Enterprise. (TNG: "The Outrageous Okona")

In 2371, as a result of both radiation poisoning and close proximity to an artificial quantum singularity, Chief Miles O'Brien began experiencing jumps through time by approximately five hours. In one of these jumps, he saw himself being killed by what he later thought could have possibly been a high-energy laser. (DS9: "Visionary")

In The Making of Star Trek, Gene Roddenberry stated that two days into the filming of the second pilot, they realized that three years later people are going to say "Oh, come on, lasers can't do that," so the term was substituted with phaser.

Template:LaserTechnology

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
-[[Image:Laser.jpg|thumb|175px|Starfleet laser sidearm (2254)]]
+[[File:Laser.jpg|thumb|Starfleet laser sidearm (2254)]]
+'''Laser weapons''' were [[weapon]]s that utilize [[laser]]s, a directed light [[technology]] that compressed [[photon]] [[particle]]s into a beam that could have heat and blast effects. While many spacefaring [[species]] used lasers in other means, such as in [[optical data network]]s, few used them as weapons by the [[23rd century]], since a variety of exotic [[subatomic particle]]s could be used to create a more powerful beam, that duplicated lasers in use, but increased the weapon's effectiveness.
-[[Image:LaserCannon.jpg|thumb|175px|Starfleet laser cannon (2254)]]
-'''Laser weapons''' are [[weapon]]s that utilize [[laser]]s, a directed light [[technology]] that compresses [[photon]] [[particle]]s into a beam that can have heat and blast effects. While many spacefaring [[lifeform]]s utilize lasers as [[optical data network]]s, few continuously use laser weapons, as a variety of more exotic and powerful weapon effectiveness is achieved by using weapons that duplicate lasers in design, but utilize different [[subatomic particle]]s to create the beam.
+==History==
-[[Starfleet]] crews used laser weapons in [[2254]], around the time [[USS Enterprise|USS ''Enterprise'']] visited [[Talos IV]]. Landing parties carried [[laser pistol]]s and the ship mounted larger [[laser cannon]]s. ''([[TOS]]:"[[The Cage]]")''
+[[Jonathan Archer]] played with a [[plastic]] laser pistol toy as a child. ({{ENT|Daedalus}})
-:''Since the [[Earth Starfleet]] of the [[22nd century]] utilized [[plasma weapon]]s and [[phase weapon]]s, it seems odd that they would use a weapon like a laser that does not seem to have the [[phase pistol]]'s non-lethal [[stun]] effect. One explanation could be that the [[23rd century]] term "laser weapon" might mean something more complicated than the lasers we know of today. It's possible that this could be the shortened colloquial use of a more complicated technological name such as "phase laser," and these laser weapons represented a midpoint between the earlier phase pistol technology and the [[phaser]] of a decade later.''
+The {{Federation}} has utilized hand-held laser weaponry from [[2160s]] onward. ({{TAS|The Slaver Weapon}})
-[[Starfleet_Regulations|Starfleet regulations]] call for a [[Federation]] [[starship]] to go to [[yellow alert]] when targeted by laser weapons by another vessel, although [[24th century]] [[USS Enterprise-D|USS ''Enterprise''-D]] [[captain]] [[Jean-Luc Picard]] thought the rule was outdated, as the laser cannons of an [[Altec]] ship were incapable of penetrating his [[Navigational deflector]]s, also noting that they would run dry long before they would cause any sort of damage. ''([[TNG]]:"[[The Outrageous Okona]]")''
+[[Starfleet]] crews used laser weapons in [[2254]], around the time {{USS|Enterprise|NCC-1701}} visited [[Talos IV]]. [[Landing party|Landing parties]] carried [[laser pistol]]s and large [[laser cannon]]s were available as heavy artillery. ({{TOS|The Cage}})
-*[[laser pistol]]
-*[[laser cannon]]
+In [[2268]], [[Nyota Uhura|Uhura]] wondered why the [[Klingon]]s didn't provide the villagers of [[Neural]] with more advanced weaponry such as old-style hand lasers. ({{TOS|A Private Little War}})
-*[[high-energy X-ray laser]]
-**(see also: [[X-ray]])
+By the [[24th century]], only a few races still used ship-board laser weaponry, including:
+* the [[Atlec]] ({{TNG|The Outrageous Okona}})
+* the [[Borg]] ({{TNG|Q Who}})
+* the [[Lysian Alliance]] ({{TNG|Conundrum}})
+* the [[Solari]] ({{TNG|Loud As A Whisper}})
+* the [[Straleb]] ({{TNG|The Outrageous Okona}})
+* the [[Talarian]]s ({{TNG|Suddenly Human}})
+In [[2365]], the [[class 9 cargo vessel]] ''[[Erstwhile]]'' was armed with a 2.3 megawatt laser array with four emitters. ({{TNG|The Outrageous Okona}}, production art) As of that same year, the [[Solari]] of [[Solais V]] were utilizing hand-held laser weapons capable of vaporizing a [[humanoid]] during their civil war. The vaporization effect appeared similar to a disruptor at maximum setting. ({{TNG|Loud As A Whisper}})
+[[Starfleet Regulations]] called for a [[Federation]] starship to go to [[yellow alert]] when targeted by laser weapons from another vessel. In 2365, {{USS|Enterprise|NCC-1701-D|-D}} [[captain]] [[Jean-Luc Picard]] thought the rule was outdated, since the laser weapons of an [[Atlec vessel]] were incapable of even penetrating the [[navigational deflector]]s. Picard also noted that Atlecs could fire until their lasers ran dry and they still wouldn't have caused any damage to the ''Enterprise''. ({{TNG|The Outrageous Okona}})
+In [[2371]], as a result of both [[radiation poisoning]] and close proximity to an artificial [[quantum singularity]], [[Chief]] [[Miles O'Brien]] began experiencing jumps through time by approximately five hours. In one of these jumps, he saw himself being killed by what he later thought could have possibly been a high-energy laser. ({{DS9|Visionary}})
+<gallery>
+File:Laser cannon.jpg|Starfleet laser cannon (2254)
+File:Laser-pistol-on-belt.jpg|Pistol, circa [[2265]]
+</gallery>
+{{bginfo|In ''[[The Making of Star Trek]]'', [[Gene Roddenberry]] stated that two days into the filming of the second pilot, they realized that three years later people are going to say "''Oh, come on, lasers can't do that''," so the term was substituted with [[phaser]].}}
+{{LaserTechnology}}
 [[Category:Weapons]]