Timeline for Why are Star Trek Federation ships white?
Current License: CC BY-SA 4.0
13 events
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| Jun 16, 2020 at 9:31 | history | edited | CommunityBot |
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| Oct 17, 2019 at 5:22 | history | edited | user3757614 | CC BY-SA 4.0 |
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| Oct 17, 2019 at 5:16 | comment | added | Vogon Poet | This is all good info but is there anything in-universe telling why they are white? That’s the real question. Thanks | |
| Oct 17, 2019 at 5:08 | comment | added | Vogon Poet | @user3757614 - if you could link the quote when Enterprise was flying visually? That is interesting, I forgot about that. Also, we don’t see starships landing very often on screen. But even if Enterprise had gear only for emergencies, an emergency landing on a pre-warp planet could be done on the dark side without being detected. If they emergency land a big white saucer they’ll look like a shooting star | |
| Oct 17, 2019 at 5:04 | comment | added | Vogon Poet | Commercial airliners share the air with visual only pilots. Only the most expensive private planes have built in radar. 20th century planes need to be visible | |
| Oct 17, 2019 at 5:03 | comment | added | Vogon Poet | @tbrookside I don’t think how much time you spend doing X or Y matters as much as which is more important; X or Y. Non-reflective ships can still maneuver around starbases yes?. (what color was DS9 again?) So “white” doesn’t make space travel any easier - everyone has sensors and navigation computers. But it does make peaceful observation more difficult (proven in “Blink of an Eye”) | |
| Oct 17, 2019 at 4:58 | comment | added | tbrookside | @VogonPoet Our commercial airliners have computer-assisted navigation, but we still make them easy to see. | |
| Oct 17, 2019 at 4:57 | comment | added | tbrookside | @VogonPoet Only don't be white and shiny if the number of contexts in which you're trying to be stealthy is greater than the number of contexts in which you're trying to be seen. Does the average Star Fleet vessel spend more time observing pre-warp civilizations, or maneuvering around starbases? | |
| Oct 17, 2019 at 4:56 | comment | added | user3757614 | While the Enterprise has landing gear, it's more likely to be emergency landing gear than anything intended for actual use. Of the Enterprises and Voyager, Voyager is the only one that I recall landing on purpose. | |
| Oct 17, 2019 at 4:56 | comment | added | Vogon Poet | You mention the downsides to being hard to see but the situations you talk about, shuttles and crowded navigation (Battle at Boreth for example), everyone has navigation computers. Kahn was probably the only time anyone flew a starship visually. They really make them white only for that emergency? I believe there has to be some in-universe explanation for the color. | |
| Oct 17, 2019 at 4:51 | comment | added | Vogon Poet | You’re right except the only reason Voyager became “The Ground Shaker” god is because the ship was white and reflected the sun. A simple non-reflective paint and they never would have been seen. This is true every time they orbit - you can’t see a tiny ship from the ground, but you can easily see the sunlight shine off it. Also, the first Enterprise and every Starfleet ship after it had landing gear. If your landing, don’t be white and shiny? | |
| Oct 17, 2019 at 4:35 | review | First posts | |||
| Oct 17, 2019 at 4:56 | |||||
| Oct 17, 2019 at 4:34 | history | answered | user3757614 | CC BY-SA 4.0 |