Timeline for Why don't Starfleet ships default to having their shields up most of the time?
Current License: CC BY-SA 3.0
15 events
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| Jan 7, 2020 at 0:37 | history | edited | CommunityBot |
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| Apr 13, 2017 at 12:43 | history | edited | CommunityBot |
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| Sep 1, 2015 at 15:07 | comment | added | Grimm The Opiner | @HagenvonEitzen there's definitely some sort of a point there, but running shields in the same way would require making assumptions about the frequencies any weapons directed against you would be operating at, assumptions which could be sidestepped. But shields are a universal Sci-Fi trope and Star Trek is no more guilty than any/many others! The only "shields" I can bring to mind that were explained differently were in the computer game "iWar". | |
| Aug 31, 2015 at 16:39 | comment | added | Shane | "Continuous-duty rating" means "What power level a device can operate at indefinitely". The 24 hour limit is for the four backup generators. Unfortunately, we don't know what max the shields are capable of. If 750,000 MJ represents the shields operating at 125%, it doesn't make much sense to turn them off. If 750,000 MJ represents just the deflector shields, or the shields operating at 1-2% it makes sense why they have to raise shields. -- That said, I think we can assume that 'raising shields' puts them higher than 750,000 MJ, because otherwise, nothing about ST makes any sense at all. | |
| Aug 29, 2015 at 9:44 | comment | added | Hagen von Eitzen | @GrimmTheOpiner Ever worn sunglasses that let you see your environment while "deflecting" high energy UV radiation? | |
| Aug 28, 2015 at 19:10 | comment | added | Ajedi32 | That quote seems to be saying that the 24-hour limit applies only to the backup generators. Presumably the main generators can keep the shields powered for much longer (and at 100% of nominal power, not just 65% like the backups). | |
| Aug 28, 2015 at 18:34 | comment | added | Chris | Bonus Question: Why did nobody implement a shields-up-automation? (Probably they went out of budget after they bought all those cool red shirts.) | |
| Aug 28, 2015 at 12:11 | comment | added | Grimm The Opiner | If ST was a bit harder on the sci-fi scale, then the moment they put the shields up they'd be effectively blind! If something as powerful as a weaponised bolt of of energy can't get in, then natural radiation/light sure can't. | |
| Aug 28, 2015 at 8:22 | comment | added | Luaan | @Sneftel If ST was a bit harder on the sci-fi scale, cooling down would likely be the major factor. They have no way of cooling the whole ship when the shields are on - remember that even to fire their own weapons, they have to synchronize their phaser' phase to their shields. This would significantly limit the amount of radiative cooling available, and would probably result in heat buildup rather quickly. However, ST being as soft as it is, they'll probably either ignore the issue or "dump the heat to subspace". | |
| Aug 28, 2015 at 7:13 | comment | added | PointlessSpike | I think there's also the question of efficiency- why waste valuable Dilithium on powering the shields all the time? They can raise the shields quickly enough that it's not necessary. | |
| Aug 28, 2015 at 2:02 | comment | added | Lexible | @Sneftel Plus, to reiterate SpaceIsBig42's second point: going around in hostile posture—i.e. *ready for a fight*—is at odds with a mission of peaceful exploration. | |
| Aug 27, 2015 at 21:38 | history | edited | SpaceIsBig42 | CC BY-SA 3.0 |
added additional point, hopefully that's okay
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| Aug 27, 2015 at 21:35 | vote | accept | Sneftel | ||
| Aug 27, 2015 at 21:35 | comment | added | Sneftel | Good one. So the manual is suggesting that if they kept the shields on as often as possible, purely as a matter of policy, they might be offline for cool-down (and unobtainium realignment) at the moment when the bad guys actually showed up. | |
| Aug 27, 2015 at 21:30 | history | answered | SpaceIsBig42 | CC BY-SA 3.0 |