Changes: Warp drive

Revision as of 17:31, 23 July 2007

Warp drive is a technology that allows space travel at faster-than-light speeds. It does this by generating warp fields to form a subspace bubble that envelops the starship, distorting the local spacetime continuum and moving the starship at velocities that exceed the speed of light. These velocities are referred to as warp factors.

Technology

Warp drive works by distorting the fabric of space to propel the vessel. Simply put, the drive warps space, both in front of and behind a starship, allowing it to travel faster than the speed of light. Specifically, spacetime is contracted in front of the ship and expanded behind it. The starship itself rests in a warp bubble between the two spacetime distortions. This warped space, together with the region inside it, accelerates off at 'warp speed' and the vessel then 'surfs' the wave in spacetime created by this distortion.

Sovereign Warp Core — *Sovereign*-class warp core

Travel at velocities exceeding the speed of light is possible in this fashion because the starship is, strictly speaking, stationary (relative to the space inside the warp bubble) while space itself is moving. Since space itself is moving and the starship is not actually accelerating, it experiences no time dilation, allowing the passage of time inside the vessel to be the same as that outside the warp bubble.

24th century Federation warp engines are fueled by the reaction of matter (deuterium) and antimatter (antideuterium), mediated through an assembly of dilithium crystals, which are nonreactive with antimatter when subjected to high-frequency electromagnetic fields. This reaction produces a highly energetic plasma, called electro-plasma, which is channeled by magnetic conduits through the electro-plasma system (EPS). The warp plasma is funneled to plasma injectors into a series of warp field coils, usually located in remote warp nacelles. These coils are composed of an artificially-produced substance called verterium cortenide. Electromagnetic interactions between the waves of injected electro-plasma and the verterium cortenide coils cause the coils to generate the Matter-antimatter reaction which creates the warp field . Other civilizations use different power sources, such as the Romulans use of artificial quantum singularities to power their warp drive , but the basic process is similar.

In some vessels, such as the Intrepid-class, the nacelles are mounted on variable-geometry pylons to allow them to travel at greater speeds without causing damage to subspace. Further advances in technology allow the most modern starships such as the Sovereign-class to feature newly redesigned warp nacelles that eliminate this need for variable-geometry nacelles while still obtaining the speed benefits.

Parts of the system

Warp propulsion systems graphic — The main components of a warp drive.

System types

S-2 graf unit

Development

Every culture in the galaxy discovered warp drive at their own pace and rate of development. The Vulcans (and, by extension, the Romulans) had warp drive in the 3rd century AD (Earth calendar), although the technology was lost during that planet's civil war, and was not reacquired until several centuries later. (ENT: "Kir'Shara") It had reached the level of warp 7 by 2151, while the Klingons had a capability of warp 6 by the same year, (ENT: "Judgment") although it is unclear when their experiments with the drive began. However, it was the rapid progress of Humanity which led to the wide-scale exploration of the galaxy and the formation of the United Federation of Planets.

Regarding Vulcan propulsion technology aboard the T'Plana-Hath, Ronald D. Moore commented: "Certainly Cochrane is credited with the invention of warp drive as we know it in Trek, so we could assume that the Vulcans were using something else – possibly a variant of the contained singularity used by the Romulans. That might've been a much more dangerous and inefficient technology which was quickly abandoned by most of the galaxy when Cochrane's system was introduced." [1]

The development of the warp drive is recognized by the United Federation of Planets as the marker of an advanced society. It is only after a people develop warp drive that the Federation will make contact, as codified in the Prime Directive. (TNG: "First Contact")

21st century

On Earth, warp drive was initially developed by Zefram Cochrane in the period following World War III. Despite the hardships imposed by the war's aftermath, and the lack of advanced materials, Cochrane was able to build a warp-capable vessel using a converted Titan V missile as the testbed. The successful first flight of his ship - the Phoenix - took place on April 5, 2063, and drew the attention of a Vulcan exploratory vessel, leading to the event known as First Contact. (Star Trek: First Contact)

While Cochrane's original warp engines were fission-powered, using material from the warhead(s) of the missile, the development of reliable matter-antimatter reactors was what would truly allow warp drive to realize its potential.

The idea that Cochrane's original Phoenix was fission-powered is speculation based on the fact that Cochrane and his team were inoculated against radiation exposure after the Borg attack. However, it is also stated in First Contact that they are inoculated against 'Theta Radiation', which, according to memory alpha, is 'also known as theta-band emissions, Theta Radiation a radiation created by contaminated antimatter byproducts. It is extremely dangerous to the health of humanoids.' This would seemingly contradict the above statement that Cochrane's Phoenix was fission powered, and would lead one to believe that it used a similar matter-antimatter power generation method as modern starships.

22nd century

However, development of warp technology proceeded slowly over the next 80 years - due in no small part to the cautious advice of the Vulcans - and it was not until the 2140s that a warp engine developed by Henry Archer at the Warp Five Complex could exceed warp factor 2. This engine was successfully flown in the second NX prototype by Commanders A.G. Robinson and Jonathan Archer to a speed of warp 2.5, breaking the so-called "warp 2 barrier." (ENT: "First Flight")

By the year 2151, warp technology was sufficiently advanced to allow a vessel to travel at warp 5, and the first Human starship, Enterprise, was built with this capability. (ENT: "Broken Bow") Although at first, Enterprise was unable to fully realize this potential (maxing out at warp 4.7), the starship finally reached warp 5 on February 9, 2152. (ENT: "Fallen Hero")

By 2161, Starfleet had achieved warp 7, and was just starting to install it on the newest of Starfleet vessels. (ENT: "These Are the Voyages...")

23rd century

Development and improvement of warp drive continued apace, and by the 2240s, Starfleet vessels of the Constitution-class had standard cruising speeds of warp 6 and emergency speeds as high as warp 8 (although under the right conditions the engines could reach warp 9). These ships took advantage of a major breakthrough in warp technology that took place between 2236 and 2254, the breaking of the so-called "time barrier". (TOS: "The Cage")

Higher warp factors continued to be reached, mostly through alien intervention, or dangerous malfunction. The USS Enterprise was modified by the Kelvans to maintain a speed of Warp 11 in 2268. Later that year, the Enterprise achieved a speed of Warp 14.1 after being sabotaged by an alien woman known as Losira, though at that velocity the ship came within moments of destroying herself. (TOS: "By Any Other Name", "That Which Survives")

At around the same time, warp engines were being redesigned, and the refit of the Constitution-class saw the cylindrical shape replaced with a flattened design that allowed standard speeds of warp 8 and above. (Star Trek: The Motion Picture)

Warp theory continued to advance with the development of the first transwarp drive engines in the mid-2280s, which would have theoretically allowed greater efficiency and higher warp speeds. However, the installation of these massive engines aboard USS Excelsior ended in failure, and the technology was abandoned. (Star Trek III: The Search for Spock) The Excelsior itself was deemed spaceworthy, retrofitted with more conventional warp engines and commissioned as NCC-2000 under the command of Captain Hikaru Sulu. (Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country)

At some time during this period, warp core design changed. In the original design of the Constitution-class, the warp core was longitudinal along the secondary hull. In the Enterprise A, it was vertical. This may have been a spin-off from the Transwarp project, or something else entirely.

24th century

By the time the Galaxy-class starship was being designed in the 2360s, warp technology had progressed to the point where speeds of warp 9.6 could be sustained for up to twelve hours, although warp 9.2 was considered the "red line". (TNG: "Encounter at Farpoint")

Sometime in the 24th century, a new warp factor scale came into use. The original scale was generally assumed to be based on a cubic power scale, the new scale was a more advanced function (according to the Star Trek: The Next Generation Technical Manual), placing warp 10 at the infinite end of the scale, and factors increasing exponentially in terms of power consumption and equivalent speed.

In 2370, the Hekaran scientist Serova discovered that the use of conventional warp engines caused damage to the fabric of spacetime. The Federation Council temporarily imposed a speed limit of warp factor 5 on all Federation vessels in all but extreme emergency cases, such as medical emergencies. (TNG: "Force of Nature", "Eye of the Beholder")

File:Voyager at warp.jpg

Intrepid-class at warp

Fortunately, a solution was developed less than 8 months later that was gradually implemented on all vessels ^{(citation needed • edit)}, and Starfleet vessels were again able to use the maximum capacity of their warp drives, first through the use of variable geometry nacelles, as on Intrepid-class vessels, which also allowed a warp engine of essentially the same construction as those on the Galaxy-class to achieve speeds of warp 9.975, (VOY: "Caretaker") and later through new nacelle design, as on the Sovereign-class.

Future

Glimpses into alternate timelines and temporal anomalies have given Starfleet scientists the chance to see possible enhancements to the warp drive system. In a possible future glimpsed by Jean-Luc Picard, by 2395, the warp scale had been reworked again, allowing speeds of at least warp 13 (at least on board the USS Pasteur and USS Enterprise-D of that time). (TNG: "All Good Things...")

However, it seems more likely that warp drive will be surpassed by newer forms of propulsion, such as the quantum slipstream drive.

Background

Gene Roddenberry originally intended the Enterprise to become transparent while in warp drive ^{(citation needed • edit)}.

External links

Template:NCwiki
The Warp Drive: Hyper-Fast Travel Within General Relativity - a paper by Miguel Alcubierre
rec.arts.startrek.tech Warp Velocities FAQ - extra information on maximum warp explanations
rec.arts.startrek.tech Warp and Subspace FAQ - discussions about warp and subspace
'The Alcubierre Drive' at Wikipedia
André Bormanis's explanation of Warp Drive

@@ Line 7: / Line 7: @@
 Travel at velocities exceeding the speed of light is possible in this fashion because the starship is, strictly speaking, stationary (relative to the space inside the warp bubble) while space itself is moving. Since space itself is moving and the starship is not actually accelerating, it experiences no time dilation, allowing the passage of time inside the vessel to be the same as that outside the warp bubble.
-[[24th century]] [[Federation]] warp engines are fueled by the reaction of [[matter]] ([[deuterium]]) and [[antimatter]] ([[antideuterium]]), mediated through an assembly of [[dilithium]] crystals, which are nonreactive with antimatter when subjected to high-frequency [[electromagnetic field]]s. This reaction produces a highly energetic [[plasma]], called [[electro-plasma]], which is channeled by [[magnetic conduit]]s through the [[electro-plasma system]] (EPS). The [[warp plasma]] is funneled to [[plasma injector]]s into a series of [[warp coil|warp field coils]], usually located in remote [[warp nacelle]]s. These coils are composed of an artificially-produced substance called [[verterium cortenide]]. Electromagnetic interactions between  the waves of injected electro-plasma and the verterium cortenide coils cause the coils to generate the [[Matter-antimatter reaction]] which creates the [[warp field]]  . Other civilizations use different power sources, such as the [[romulans]] use of [[artificial quantum singularity|artificial quantum singularities]] to power their warp drive , but the basic process is similar.
+[[24th century]] [[Federation]] warp engines are fueled by the reaction of [[matter]] ([[deuterium]]) and [[antimatter]] ([[antideuterium]]), mediated through an assembly of [[dilithium]] crystals, which are nonreactive with antimatter when subjected to high-frequency [[electromagnetic field]]s. This reaction produces a highly energetic [[plasma]], called [[electro-plasma]], which is channeled by [[magnetic conduit]]s through the [[electro-plasma system]] (EPS). The [[warp plasma]] is funneled to [[plasma injector]]s into a series of [[warp coil|warp field coils]], usually located in remote [[warp nacelle]]s. These coils are composed of an artificially-produced substance called [[verterium cortenide]]. Electromagnetic interactions between  the waves of injected electro-plasma and the verterium cortenide coils cause the coils to generate the [[Matter-antimatter reaction]] which creates the [[warp field]]  . Other civilizations use different power sources, such as the [[Romulans]] use of [[artificial quantum singularity|artificial quantum singularities]] to power their warp drive , but the basic process is similar.
 In some vessels, such as the [[Intrepid class|''Intrepid''-class]], the nacelles are mounted on [[variable-geometry pylon]]s to allow them to travel at greater speeds without causing damage to subspace. Further advances in technology allow the most modern starships such as the [[Sovereign class|''Sovereign''-class]] to feature newly redesigned warp nacelles that eliminate this need for variable-geometry nacelles while still obtaining the speed benefits.