Timeline for Why do (Federation) starships need Bussard collectors in front of their warp nacelles?
Current License: CC BY-SA 4.0
19 events
| when toggle format | what | by | license | comment | |
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| Feb 11 at 18:38 | answer | added | Miss Understands | timeline score: 2 | |
| Jan 13 at 17:12 | vote | accept | einpoklum | ||
| Jan 13 at 17:12 | history | edited | einpoklum | CC BY-SA 4.0 |
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| Dec 1, 2023 at 8:13 | comment | added | Separatrix | @einpoklum I say theoretical because it was never built, it's only engineering once someone has actually built one. Also it turns out not to work for practical rather than theoretical reasons, the particle density isn't high enough. It was the latest that was considered achievable though, and people were quite excited about it for a long time afterwards. | |
| Nov 30, 2023 at 16:36 | comment | added | einpoklum | @Separatrix: But it wasn't theory, it was engineering. The theory is fusion reaction, and that wasn't the latest in the 1960s; Dirac and Oppenheimer had already theorized the existence of antimatter in the late 1920s, and positrons were discovered in 1932. A nobel was awarded in 1936. See here. Are you sure the warp drive wasn't supposed to be antimatter-based from the get-go? | |
| Nov 30, 2023 at 8:41 | comment | added | Separatrix | Most likely because when TOS was released the Bussard ramjet was the latest theory for interplanetary travel, this then became part of the standard design language that defines Starfleet ships, so even when the ramjet was shown to be impractical it wasn't removed. | |
| Nov 27, 2023 at 23:49 | comment | added | einpoklum | @Valorum: Would appreciate a gold-bagde like you going over my answer - perhaps the longest and most complicated I've ever written on SFF.SX. | |
| Nov 27, 2023 at 23:48 | answer | added | einpoklum | timeline score: 8 | |
| Nov 27, 2023 at 22:31 | history | edited | einpoklum | CC BY-SA 4.0 |
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| Nov 27, 2023 at 22:23 | history | edited | einpoklum | CC BY-SA 4.0 |
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| Nov 27, 2023 at 20:56 | answer | added | Sovereign Inquiry | timeline score: 0 | |
| Nov 26, 2023 at 15:54 | comment | added | einpoklum | @lucasbachmann: Disagree regarding the first statement. Answers don't have to be irrefutably-provably-correct. A reasonable explanation with circumstancial supporting evidence is a decent answer. Regarding the second statement: Can you link to somewhere critiquing Berman's commitment to technical rationales and consistency? | |
| Nov 25, 2023 at 21:39 | comment | added | lucasbachmann | Please note that a why question is vastly different than a what question. Unless some in-universe starship designer says why in a show or book there is nothing to answer factually with. And out universe I suppose one could trace the evolution of that part. I suspect Bussard collectors is a 1970s invention, I think 1960s they would claim some energy reactions were lighting them up. And for First Contact - out universe the Phoenix has Collectors because the entire movie is asinine and Rick Berman doesn't have a clue how a warp nacelle works - it just always has red things in front. | |
| Nov 25, 2023 at 15:48 | comment | added | einpoklum | @Valorum: But they've already got one. | |
| Nov 24, 2023 at 23:07 | comment | added | Spencer | The deflector can be dialed up and down; so presumably the operating level could pass hydrogen atoms. | |
| Nov 24, 2023 at 22:05 | comment | added | einpoklum | @lucasbachmann: Hmm. So, you're saying the deflector deflects all matter, including hydrogen atoms? Wouldn't that mean the Bussard collector would fail to collect matter altogether? I mean, the deflector does cover the whole trans-axial profile of the ship - to prevent space debris (or enemy weapons) from hitting the nacelles as well as the rest of the hull. | |
| Nov 24, 2023 at 21:27 | comment | added | lucasbachmann | If one is going to bother collecting hydrogen- you certainly don't want it by the deflector because it is busy deflecting. Likewise for the saucer you don't want interstellar hydrogen smacking into the saucer. The nacelles have a small profile and anything that doesn't go in the collector shoots safely past the ship. And the nacelles already have a lot of plumbing for the warp plasma recycling so having pipes parallel to those is a good use of space. | |
| Nov 24, 2023 at 21:10 | comment | added | Valorum | To collect Bussards, presumably. | |
| Nov 24, 2023 at 20:33 | history | asked | einpoklum | CC BY-SA 4.0 |