Is DS9 a bad design?

[Teaos]

While bored I was designing a station to replace DS9, or at least fufil the same roll, Deep space out post, needs to have living quarters for permanet residence (Such as shop keepers and workers), some industrial capability to make spare parts and repairs, docking room, trading area and general OP equipment. Also since it is on the frontier it needs to be able to defend itself.

Thinking about all these things I thought that DS9 isnt actually a very good design. Now granted it was used as a mining and refing platform originally so a lot of its design flaws can be forgiven. But there are still general design issues.

It has so much wasted central space, with the design of a rign around a central pillar move have needlessly increased the area of the station which makes it far harder to shield. The totoal volume contained in DS9 could be made in a area far smaller making the shields much much stronger.

Also since the weapons seem based around the up rights a portion of their firing arce is obscured by the other up rights. If the design was more compact the weapons coverage would be more complete.

I wonder if Starfleet would want to replace DS9 with one of Starfleets massive Starbase design star bases as soon as they can.

[Mikey]

As you say, a lot of those design flaws can be excused because it was not meant to be an outpost as much as an orbital factory. A lot of the wasted volume, as well as the vertical pylon structures, can be chalked up to the idea that it was meant to accommodate a lot of orbital traffic. Lots of small craft going by and thorugh - and many docking at once - necessitate that sort thing.

Also, of course, it needed to have that distinctly Cardassian look to it.

As to replacing it... depends on the political situation. It wouldn't go anywhere; it's Bajoran property, and if Starfleet stopped using it it would revert to Bajoran operation. Depending on what happens with Bajor, there may not be a Starfleet base orbiting the planet at all.

[Tyyr]

The biggest problem are the inward curving towers ensuring that any ships wanting to dock at them would have to maneuver in close with any other ships already docked there. I'm also unclear on the purpose of the ring itself. Sure it allows a good number of ships to dock but the attachment points are all quite small and not suitable for moving bulk cargo.

[Mikey]

I got the sense that the ring was more or less filler; they had the struts from the hub to allow for the pylons, and just connected the outer ends of the struts to make a ring... probably just to give it a "finished" look a/o add some extra accommodations or storage space.

[Teaos]

The ring was where most of the residents live isnt it?

[Mark]

Aye. It seems like nobody in the galaxy really planned for danger, did they?

The habitat ring is the outer most section, and the most vulnerable. Not exactly where I'd want to keep my labor force/civilian population during a crisis.

The upper pylons arc IN instead of OUT, thus limiting the size/number of ships that can be docked. There's alot of room, as we've seen a GCS dock there, but you could have three of them dock at the same time if they were angled outward.

Then we again have the command module on the top. This actually makes more sense on a station than a ship, but is it still completely nessessary? If it's only for traffic control purposes, it's not very good, and you can't see the docking ring, or the lower pylons.

Let's not forget every part of the station is rather "skinny". A well placed barrage should have had the thing literally cut into pieces.

The only locations that make any sense to me are;

The prominade, however if it was me, and I had a choice, I'd have switched locations of the prominade and the "habitat" ring. During an alert, people are supposed to go back to their quarters anyway, and by pulling them in closer, I can keep them safer.

The reactor core for the same reason as above, and you need to be able to jettison the thing should the need arise.

By and large DS9's design never really made sense to me.

[Captain Seafort]

The habitat ring is the outer most section, and the most vulnerable.

No it isn't - the outer ring is the docking ring, the habitant ring is the inner one.

The upper pylons arc IN instead of OUT, thus limiting the size/number of ships that can be docked. There's alot of room, as we've seen a GCS dock there, but you could have three of them dock at the same time if they were angled outward.

That was probably a tactical consideration - bending the pylons out would have greatly increased the volume (and surface area) of the shield bubble.

Then we again have the command module on the top. This actually makes more sense on a station than a ship, but is it still completely nessessary? If it's only for traffic control purposes, it's not very good, and you can't see the docking ring, or the lower pylons.

Probably Cardie psychology - as Sisko commented in Emissary, the CO's office is deliberately designed so those working in Ops have to look up at him.

Let's not forget every part of the station is rather "skinny". A well placed barrage should have had the thing literally cut into pieces.

It also funnels any boarders through choke points. Don't forget that this isn't just an orbital traffic control and frontier outpost, it's the base of operations for an occupying force that's having to deal with a serious insurgency.

The reactor core for the same reason as above, and you need to be able to jettison the thing should the need arise.

The reactor core is in a position to be jettisoned, so long as a mechanism exists to do so.

[Mikey]

Regarding whether to place the habitats in the center or out more toward the exterior: I get what you're saying about vulnerability, Mark, but the fact remains that the further from the center you go, the more room you have available. You wouldn't have nearly the same space available for quarters if they were all in the central hub.

[Mark]

You would if you didn't build a station like a bicycle tire.

Seafort, excellent points.

[Mikey]

How so? Even if it were solid, the outside by definition has a larger radius than some hypothetical circle drawn inside it.

[kostmayer]

With regards to its design, where was the other station that O'Brien, Nog, Garak and the walking dead boarded looking for spare parts? As I recall it was an identical design, was that also a mining station, or did they use similiar designs for different purposes?

[Mikey]

IIRC, Empok Nor and Terok Nor were both either in orbit of Bajor or stationary between Bajor and the wormhole. I believe that they were both originally refining/shipping stations.

[Mark]

How so? Even if it were solid, the outside by definition has a larger radius than some hypothetical circle drawn inside it.

Well, if your building a station for 3000 people, what build the habitat section in a more expose area just to increase a possible capacity?

[Mikey]

That's not what I'm saying. What I'm saying is that if you're building a station of a given size - remember, DS9 was built by a nation with definite limits on resources, and was never designed to be a major staging area anyway - then you maximize the living space by doing it as they did.

[Reliant121]

Considering Terok Nor had a measly 6 torpedoes at the beginning of DS9, its unlikely the designers cared even a jot about her defensive capabilities.