As of May 31, 2023, we have updated our Code of Conduct.

Questions tagged [star-trek-transporter]

A fictional device in the Star Trek Universe that is used to beam or "transport" persons or objects from one place to another by dematerializing them and then rematerializing them at their destination. Use this tag with the [star-trek] tag.

Filter by
Sorted by
Tagged with
3 votes
1 answer
448 views

How exactly did the prisoners escape the Jem'hadar prisoner camp?

DS9 "By Inferno's Light": MARTOK: He wired the message and the transmission coordinates directly into the system circuitry. That way all he had to do was connect the transmitter to the power ...
JMFB's user avatar
  • 14.9k
4 votes
2 answers
367 views

Transporter capability of Danube-class runabout

What was the capability of the transporter of a Danube-class runabout? I am aware there were only two pads, but on multiple occasions we see more than two people being being beamed onto one pad (ST: ...
Pioneer's user avatar
  • 1,136
3 votes
1 answer
240 views

Delta Flyer Transporter Capability

Why didn't the Delta Flyer have a transporter pad? We know Voyager is low on energy, so why use site-to-site transports regularly (site-to-site uses more energy due to requirement of two transporter ...
Pioneer's user avatar
  • 1,136
1 vote
2 answers
611 views

Is there an in-universe reason for the differences in transporter effects across seasons?

Why in each season and film of Star Trek does the effect of the transporter change? I can understand them changing over centuries and different ships (upgraded system) but the effects even change on ...
Pioneer's user avatar
  • 1,136
0 votes
2 answers
339 views

Why aren’t transport requests addressed to a specific transporter room instead of the ship?

When somebody requests a beam-out, they say: [officer’s name] to [ship], [amount of people] to beam up I know the AI would know to route this channel to a working transporter room after the word “...
Pioneer's user avatar
  • 1,136
49 votes
11 answers
7k views

Why can't surgery be done by transporter?

In the era of Star Trek: The Next Generation (or even earlier), why isn't invasive surgery performed using the transporter? In theory, one could: dematerialize an individual and store the pattern in ...
Praxis's user avatar
  • 110k
3 votes
2 answers
697 views

How does Data transport Picard back to the ship by combining his "energy" and his "pattern?"

At the end of in TNG : Lonely Among Us, Data states that Picard's... "...physical pattern is here....his energy has moved into the transporter relays by now." I've been reading a lot about how the ...
JMFB's user avatar
  • 14.9k
16 votes
4 answers
2k views

Has any Star Trek material had a serious in-universe discussion about the philosophy of transporter technology?

I was reading this question and it got me thinking. When someone gets transported, the original form is destroyed and either recreated or recycled into a new copy of it upon arrival. However, ...
Omegacron's user avatar
  • 62.8k
11 votes
1 answer
693 views

Why didn't Kirk order NOMAD to be transported but not rematerialised?

During the classic Star Trek episode "The Changeling" Kirk and crew transport NOMAD on two occasions, once to bring it on board and once to put it outside of the ship so it can be destroyed safely. ...
Akash's user avatar
  • 633
28 votes
6 answers
10k views

Why teleportation isn't the primary intra-ship transport mechanism?

As it seems to be possible to teleport people between two parts of the ship (e.g. TNG: Gambit, Part II), why the Transporter, instead of the Turbolift, isn't the primary mechanism to transport people ...
douglaz's user avatar
  • 543
9 votes
3 answers
579 views

In Star Trek, does being transported cause your ears to pop?

I can't recall seeing any reference to this in any of the Star Trek series, but it seems inconceivable that the air pressure on board the Enterprise would always be the same as where the crew was ...
mpdaugherty's user avatar
8 votes
2 answers
1k views

Why not use the transporter to beam enemies boarding the ship directly to the brig?

I am aware of this question (I anticipate people linking it to this one in less than 3 seconds since I hit "Post"), and I am asking something more precise and somehow different. When some enemy force ...
gd1's user avatar
  • 759
5 votes
3 answers
556 views

Why do cultures with transport technology use conventional mining methods?

I find it strange in all trek series that cultures who use matter transporters (some of which have for centuries) still need or choose to dig for their metal like savages- why can't or don't they just ...
Nu'Daq's user avatar
  • 24.7k
134 votes
13 answers
16k views

Why does everyone face the same way on the transporter?

When the away team prepares to beam down, they invariably assume the transporter formation: standing upright, usually with arms slack aside, all facing the camera. When they beam down, they reappear ...
congusbongus's user avatar
  • 5,131
12 votes
1 answer
2k views

How does "three to beam up" work? [duplicate]

In many episodes of Star Trek: TNG, people on a planet (or somewhere away from the Enterprise) transport back to their ship by someone tapping his/her communicator and saying "3 to beam up" or similar....
Roni Choudhury's user avatar
9 votes
1 answer
326 views

Do transportees experience the passage of time?

In Star Trek when one is transported, does it feel instantaneous regardless of if there is a need to store the person's pattern in the pattern buffer for any length of time? Is the sensation of ...
Monty129's user avatar
  • 14k
13 votes
2 answers
3k views

In the Star Trek universe, how do we know that the transporter didn't kill you and create a replicant? [duplicate]

One of the reasons I would personally never get in a transporter is that there is no evidence that the Real Me isn't just vaporized and a Copy Me created at the other location. The Copy Me might have ...
RoboKaren's user avatar
  • 3,989
5 votes
1 answer
1k views

Is transportation through a force shield possible? [duplicate]

In the TNG episode Relics, the Enterprise is caught inside a Dyson sphere. Scotty and Geordi wedge their small ship, the Jenolan, between the doors with the force shield activated so that the ship is ...
madfriend's user avatar
  • 1,182
4 votes
4 answers
659 views

How much volume can a single transporter transport in a single transport?

It was demonstrated in the movie 'Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home' that the transporter system aboard a Klingon Bird-of-Prey could be used to transport two adult humpback whales (George and Gracie) plus ...
Morgan's user avatar
  • 26.6k
7 votes
1 answer
4k views

What produces the sound of transportation? (Out-of-Universe)

This question asks what in-universe phenomena produces a sound when transportation occurs. This is interesting, but it brings up another interesting question - what produces the sound, out-of-...
Zibbobz's user avatar
  • 24.2k
10 votes
2 answers
1k views

What produces the sound of transportation?

Whenever people transport in Star Trek, we hear a distinctive sound which seems to be unique for each Trek series. In-universe, where does this sound come from, what produces it and why is ...
madfriend's user avatar
  • 1,182
2 votes
0 answers
134 views

Why is the pattern buffer in Star Trek not routinely used to revive people? [duplicate]

Seeing as Commander Riker was restored using the transporter pattern buffer, when assumed dead, why is this not always used when someone dies? I guess for dramatic purposes it wouldn't be very ...
Konrad Höffner's user avatar
4 votes
2 answers
1k views

How much energy does the transporting of one person consume?

I don't know if a technical manual for TOS or TNG states this, but is there any reference to how much energy is consumed in transporting a person (I expect this would vary from person to person, so ...
Often Right's user avatar
  • 69.4k
9 votes
9 answers
2k views

Have any crimes been committed using a Transporter?

By their very nature, Transporters could be used for a variety of criminal means, such as: distorting a person's appearance (for fraudulent or malicious acts) or even destroying a person. Is ...
Often Right's user avatar
  • 69.4k
7 votes
2 answers
1k views

Why does warp drive impact transporter?

I recall in the ST:TNG episode The Schzoid Man that they perform a warp-transport-warp transport. Counselor Troi notes that it felt like she was in the wall for a minute, which Worf replies: "That's ...
Often Right's user avatar
  • 69.4k
7 votes
1 answer
1k views

Capacity of transporter (Galaxy/Constitution class)

As far as I've seen (TOS and first seasons of TNG), only six people can beam elsewhere from the ship (as there are six pads). It seems that this limit doesn't apply vice versa: (TOS: Day of Dove, TNG -...
madfriend's user avatar
  • 1,182
4 votes
6 answers
744 views

Will a transporter fuse two lifeforms together?

In the movie The Fly, a human and a fly are fused together when they are both in a teleport pod during it's activation. Would the same thing happen in Star Trek if two lifeforms were to be transported ...
giacomo casanova's user avatar
22 votes
5 answers
5k views

Does Star Trek solve the Mind-Body problem?

For those of you who are unaware of the mind-body problem, it is basically trying to determine how the mind connects with the body, and can lead on to 'what is the mind' and whether it is a physical ...
Often Right's user avatar
  • 69.4k
12 votes
2 answers
2k views

What was the largest object that the Enterprise-D could transport onboard?

According to Memory Alpha, the Enterprise-D was equipped with a cargo transporter. What was the largest object or amount of mass that the Enterprise-D could transport on board in a single beam up?
Major Stackings's user avatar
3 votes
2 answers
353 views

How do transporters re materialize the energy/matter stream into the subject?

So they have a big stream of sub atomic particles, how do they actually bring it altogether perfectly? I mean their is zillions of particles, what do they use to put all the particles into atoms, then ...
user20453's user avatar
7 votes
6 answers
3k views

Why aren't transporters used for medical purposes?

If a Star Trek Transporter can remember the physical state of a person it transports from point A to point B, then why couldn't it heal an injured person it has transported back to their uninjured ...
Enrico Pallatzo's user avatar
12 votes
4 answers
1k views

Why don't Starfleet ships transport injured crew members to sick bay automatically?

There have been countless times when a Starfleet ship is not in battle and a crewmember has been injured and rendered unconscious. When someone says "Computer, locate X", the computer says where they ...
Ky -'s user avatar
  • 730
8 votes
2 answers
650 views

Do personnel get sterilized (body and clothes) before using the transporter?

In TOS (for example) you see Kirk, Spock & co. appear to go straight to the transporter, say from the bridge. Should we assume that they go through some sterilization process before being ...
camden_kid's user avatar
  • 1,174
12 votes
4 answers
752 views

Can a transport in progress be blocked or stopped by the bridge?

In The Next Generation and Voyager (and maybe Deep Space Nine) it will semi-frequently happen that someone will use the transporter to escape the ship, and when the bridge detects this, someone will ...
Xantec's user avatar
  • 61.5k
18 votes
2 answers
2k views

Can latinum be transporter beamed?

Latinum cannot be replicated via a replicator because < hand waving >. Replicators and transporters are based on the same underlying technology. Therefore, it seems reasonable that latinum also ...
zipquincy's user avatar
  • 13k
-2 votes
1 answer
540 views

Couldn't you just mass produce Captain Picard with the transporter? [duplicate]

Possible Duplicate: What is the difference between the transporter and the replicator? Why can’t a Federation Starship’s transporter history be used to bring someone back to life? So if a ...
mmm's user avatar
  • 21
36 votes
4 answers
3k views

What happens to the air in the area, when things are transported or replicated?

A fundamental law of physics is, in short, that two things cannot exist in the same space at the same time. This is easily demonstrated by dropping a relatively large mass, such as pasta noodles, ...
Iszi's user avatar
  • 16.1k
18 votes
1 answer
2k views

Why do people step to positions to be transported, even if there isn't a transporter pad?

After watching (I'm sure quite too) many Star Trek episodes, I've noticed a number of occasions where the characters seem to step away or onto a more specific location to get transported, even if they ...
Justin Jenkins's user avatar
22 votes
2 answers
2k views

How Common is Same-Planet Transporter Use?

I remember in an episode or two of Star Trek: Deep space Nine, either Benjamin Sisco or his Father used the transporter to travel from city to city, rather casually, while on Earth. How common is ...
Tango's user avatar
  • 107k
3 votes
1 answer
1k views

Why did Federation starships need transporter rooms? [duplicate]

Possible Duplicate: In Star Trek - What's the Point of the Transporter Room? If transporters can beam people directly from site-to-site (i.e.: straight from the surface of a planet to the ...
Iszi's user avatar
  • 16.1k
83 votes
15 answers
14k views

Why can't Transporter technology be used as a weapon?

Seems like this is the most powerful weapon of all: transport your enemy into a bulkhead, planet, etc. Transport your enemy's ship inside a planet, etc. Is there some technical reason that it can not ...
knightscharge's user avatar
13 votes
1 answer
746 views

Why transporters are not used during evacuation?

I was watching "The Reckoning" episode and I started to wonder why the transporters were not used during emergency. It looked like routine 1 Scan for life scans 2 Lock on them 3 Beam them out to ...
Maciej Piechotka's user avatar
12 votes
4 answers
7k views

In Star Trek canon, what's the range of operation of transporters?

By "range of operation" of the transporter, I mean "distance up to which it could transport" or "distance from which it could transport something to its own location". ...
Satellite of Sin's user avatar
30 votes
5 answers
4k views

What is the difference between the transporter and the replicator?

What (if anything) is the difference between how the replicator creates objects from a stored pattern and the way a transporter rematerializes a transported object? Put a different way, why can the ...
Adam Robinson's user avatar
31 votes
3 answers
3k views

What's the Star Trek transporter like from the point of view of the person being transported?

This always bugged me about the transporter effect... ... we always see it from the point of view of an external observer (even if there isn't one). We never see it from the point of view of the ...
Chris Burt-Brown's user avatar
136 votes
5 answers
28k views

In Star Trek - What's the Point of the Transporter Room?

I hope this isn't a silly question but I've been watching TNG and this bothers me. The transporter 'pad' area is relatively small. As a guess, maybe 12 people can fit on it. But the vast majority ...
Rob P.'s user avatar
  • 1,463

1
2