How do star ships slow down from high impulse speeds?

Question

Impulse engines on star ships, based on placement, appear to be reaction engines that propel the vessel by projecting energy on a course opposite of the desired direction of motion.
This is backed up by Memory-Alpha which states:

In Federation starships, the impulse drive was essentially an augmented fusion rocket ... a vectored thrust nozzle to direct the plasma exhaust.

If this is the case then, why do all the star ships only have exhaust ports on the "rear" of the ship? In order to slow down or stop the ship would need to apply a change in velocity opposite to the current direction of motion. Without forward facing exhaust nozzles the ship would need to turn around to slow down, but this is never seen in any of the shows or movies (that I can recall anyway).

The ships do have maneuvering thrusters, but they always seem to be used for low speed maneuvering, and it is not implied that they have the same output as the impulse engines. Using them to stop a star ship moving at full impulse would probably take a very long time. Additionally, there is not any heat scoring on the ship hulls around the impulse engines, which might have suggested exhaust deflectors for braking action.

It would seem, therefore, that there is another technology in place to slow down a star ship at impulse speed, but as far as I can remember such a thing is never mentioned.

Is this ever mentioned in any canon source, regarding how a ship at impulse slows down?

Answer 1

Canonically, impulse engines are reaction engines, but this can’t possibly be correct, even by Star Trek’s loose standards of scientific plausibility. If they were reaction engines, every starship would be mostly fuel tank, like real rockets are.

To illustrate the problem, let’s calculate the reaction mass requirement for one in-system maneuver, accelerating from low Earth orbital velocity (~ 7km/s) to “half impulse” (~ 0.25‌c, per this answer). The mass of the Enterprise-D is said to be 4,500,000 metric tons; let’s assume that that doesn’t include propellant. Since the ship is powered by matter-antimatter annihilation, impulse exhaust could consist entirely of photons, which would make c itself the exhaust velocity. (If the exhaust velocity is slower, the mass requirement goes up.) The final velocity is low enough that we can use the non-relativistic rocket equation. It gives a propellant mass requirement of 1,278,000 metric tons, exactly half of which must be antimatter. That is ~28% of the base mass of the ship. To speed up and then slow down again you need more than double that much mass, because you have to bring along the propellant to be used to slow down. The cost keeps going up for every additional maneuver in between refuelings.

It should be clear that none of the ships shown on Star Trek are carrying around anything like the amount of tankage they would need. Impulse engines must somehow not be subject to Newton’s laws of motion, and at that point, there is no reason to think they would need exhaust nozzles aimed opposite the direction you want the ship to go.

For more on this topic, start with the essay “The Tyranny of the Rocket Equation” and the book Ignition! (PDF of scanned full text). I don’t mean to pick on Star Trek specifically; ignoring or handwaving the propellant requirements of reaction engines is nigh-ubiquitous in space SF. I will, however, observe that Isaac Asimov’s The Gods Themselves tackles it head-on in an interesting way.

Answer 2

It is performed in the same manner that jet aircraft today slow down after they hit the runway. They deflect the thrust of the engines so that it is expelled in a generally forward direction rather than backwards. Just as jets today don't require the engine to turn around, it isn't required in starships either.

I remember it begin detailed in one or two of the books and/or technical manuals, but I don't recall which. It's been years since I read it.

Answer 3

Braking Thrusters

From Memory Alpha, thrusters in general:

Thrusters were propulsion devices used aboard starships that generated very little speed, but were useful in various situations. It was possible to use maneuvering thrusters to alter a ship's course, to rotate about an axis, or to move short, precise distances without the use of impulse drive. It was possible to use acceleration thrusters to increase the speed of a ship. Starship personnel could manually use thrusters through thruster control.

And braking thrusters specifically:

The braking thruster was a type of thruster. These thrusters were used to brake a starship's speed. If the crew was incapacitated, say, by time travel, these thrusters could fire automatically.

In 1986, after traveling successfully to this year, the HMS Bounty's braking thrusters fired as the starship approached Earth. Later, in 2286, after another successful time travel, these thrusters fired again as the ship approached Earth.

Note that this is less of an issue than one probably thinks, considering that the ships are usually moving via non-Newtonian mechanics (Warp) and rely on impulse only for combat maneuvering and docking.

Answer 4

Impulse engines don't provide enough thrust as fusion rockets, they contain warp coils to lower the ship's inertial mass so it can be moved, think of the impulse engine as a miniature sub-light warp drive. They are fusion reactors that power warp coils, rather than rockets. Though they have vectored exhaust, it only accounts for some of the thrust.

According to the TNG Technical Manual, a good portion of the upper half of the engineering section and interconnect was fuel tank. The fuel is stored in a semi-solid ("slush") state taking up far less space than would traditionally be required with liquid propellants.

See TNG Technical Manual pages 77-80, and 69.

The exhaust vanes would be able to turn 90 degrees to provide a surface to push against, similar to the way jet engines reverse their thrust (clamshell reverser). But the slowing down would mostly be achieved the same way a ship drops out of warp, by a sudden raising of its inertial mass.

Answer 5

There are two parts to this--RCS thrusters, AKA maneuvering thrusters, and inertial dampeners.

1. There are four maneuvering thrusters visible on the front of the Enterprise Refit, as well as Excelsior class ships. The Enterprise C had two thrusters wrapping around the front of the saucer section. Galaxy class ships also had four RCS thrusters on the front side of the primary hull.

By going to this link, you can see various images of RCS thrusters.

Often in The Next Generation, we see the Enterprise D turning left or right quite suddenly at extremely high speeds, before going to warp.

This is obviously because of the power of these thrusters, and additionally, there are four of them, which makes quite a large amount of thrust.

If they are this powerful, it should be easy enough to stop the ship.

2. Memory Alpha says:

Voyager's inertial dampers went offline when the ship pursued the USS Equinox into a planet's parthogenic atmosphere.

I recall one time that Voyager intentionally disengaged its inertial dampers to use inertia to drift through space--probably after its thrusters were knocked offline.

That means that not only do inertial dampeners prevent the crew from exploding on the walls and support the hull, but they also dampen inertial effects on the ship, making it easier to slow down.

Answer 6

In star trek their technology permits them to augment subspace to serve a variety of Uses. The TNG technical manual states the Ships primary impulse engines have a "Vector thrust Director" Like real world thrust vectoring that redirects exhaust in a direction permitting turning. As for reversal.... One argument is that impulse is merely a form of "Sub-warp" of manipulated space time but no where near the grand scale of a warp reaction. Since the ships also have the technology to overcome the inertia of fast acceleration (inertial dampeners) without it's people being smashed into jelly against the walls; it suggests that the same tech is used to redirect it to make thrust in the impulse engines go different direction.

An "Electromagnetic rudder". Starships also have artificial gravity. Since up/down is a matter of perspective; manipulating gravity is within their purview they may be able to augment gravity in any direction they please producing "Attraction" among mass.

Answer 7

They rotate the ship and point the rear in the direction of travel.