Gallery: Visions of Interstellar Starship Travel

[Platonian]

Gallery: Visions of Interstellar Starship Travel

I hope you enjoy this as much as I did!

Were the following issues ever addressed in the ST universe?

Slide 8 of 43: "While Bussard's spacecraft concept looks appealing, calculations have shown that the thrust of the engine may not be enough to overcome drag caused by the magnetic funnel." (Ref.: Bussard collectors -- is this applicable?)

Slide 18 of 43: "VARIES – Vacuum to Antimatter Rocket Interstellar Explorer System, is a concept from Richard Obousy that would use enormous solar arrays to generate power for extremely powerful lasers, which, when fired at empty space, would create particles of antimatter which could be stored and used as fuel. The process would be used at the vehicle's destination to create fuel for the return journey."

(emphases added)

[Graham Kennedy]

Despite the name, Trek ships aren't an interstellar Bussard ramjet. The collectors are only really there for an emergency/auxiliary fuel supply, IIRC, they really don't fuel the vessel for flight.

As for antimatter, so far as I know where the Federation gets all that antimatter from has never even been hinted at. One can only assume that there are some sort of antimatter creation facilities somewhere, but what powers them? Massive fusion reactors, perhaps.

In my Coalition universe, they build vast solar collectors close to the sun and power antimatter generators with them. Maybe Trek does something like that.

[Tyyr]

Actually according to the TNG tech manual they do exactly that, huge solar arrays in close solar orbit. They use solar power because of the inherent inefficiency of the conversion process.

[Graham Kennedy]

Ha, great minds...

[Teaos]

Logical minds :p

[Vic]

Hmmm, now if we could just get people over that childish knee jerk response to nuclear power.

[Sonic Glitch]

Hmmm, now if we could just get people over that childish knee jerk response to nuclear power.

NIMBY!

[Tyyr]

No, we'll bitch and moan about CO2, pollution, and energy independence but latch onto the one viable technology we have to solve all those problems? Nope.

[Mikey]

No, we'll bitch and moan about CO2, pollution, and energy independence but latch onto the one viable technology we have to solve all those problems? Nope.

In fact, we'll have nutjobs like Sierra Club, who CLAIM to act in support of the environment, go to court to squash any attempt to move away from destructive conventional energy sources (cf., Yucca Mountain.)