www.ditl.org

So we know that too much glass on a starship is a very bad thing.

However, since the bridges in the Abramsverse will include windows instead of viewscreens from now on, isn't it more than likely to assume that, given Starfleet's technical prowess (their starships can survive skidding on the beach at several hundred g's or more, what more evidence do you need? ) isn't it more than possible that they are also materials experts? (They would have to be.)

Given materials expertise, couldn't they easily design a transparent hull section that is more closely related to the material used to build the hull, than it is a piece of glass?

This would seem to negate the idea that windows are a no no.


EDIT: Found this concept. I like the idea of a large wrap around window/viewscreen. If your going to make your command center so vulnerable anyway, might as well have a good view too.

http://images.wikia.com/memoryalpha/en/ ... oncept.jpg

Windows in the Trek universe are not made of glass. We see in ST-IV The Voyage Home that there is something called Transparent aluminum. It's also quite possible that they've made better things after that.

They just need Jack O'Neill on the bridge... when someone starts talking the techno-speech he will just go "blah blah... you're hurting my head... does is it safe and can I look through it?... Good!"

IanKennedy wrote:Windows in the Trek universe are not made of glass. We see in ST-IV The Voyage Home that there is something called Transparent aluminum. It's also quite possible that they've made better things after that.

Bother! I meant to mention that in the OP.

But yeah ST:4 definitely sets that precedent.

Jim wrote:They just need Jack O'Neill on the bridge... when someone starts talking the techno-speech he will just go "blah blah... you're hurting my head... does is it safe and can I look through it?... Good!"

Lol! Now that would be an interesting crossover.

One thing that Seafort will inevitably bring up is that windows by the nature of being a hole in the hull make the ship weaker. Take a sheet of steel, cut a hole in it and then weld the piece back on and it will be significantly weaker than the first sheet.

stitch626 wrote:One thing that Seafort will inevitably bring up is that windows by the nature of being a hole in the hull make the ship weaker. Take a sheet of steel, cut a hole in it and then weld the piece back on and it will be significantly weaker than the first sheet.

You are making an assumption about the construction technique there. Do they make things by cutting holes and sticking other things into them by techniques like welding? Or do they have some sort of molecular bonding system that allows them to take multiple materials and join them in a way that is as strong as the original item...

IanKennedy wrote:Do they make things by cutting holes and sticking other things into them by techniques like welding?

This. As was demonstrated in the trailers for XI. Apart from that there's the basic fact that any change in the material will weaken the hull. You can increase the strength of the join - riveting to welding, welding to magic handwaving, but you can't improve on uninterrupted material.

Captain Seafort wrote:

IanKennedy wrote:Do they make things by cutting holes and sticking other things into them by techniques like welding?

This. As was demonstrated in the trailers for XI. Apart from that there's the basic fact that any change in the material will weaken the hull. You can increase the strength of the join - riveting to welding, welding to magic handwaving, but you can't improve on uninterrupted material.

You can't go faster than the speed of light either. You've no idea what they can do.

IanKennedy wrote:You can't go faster than the speed of light either. You've no idea what they can do.

Neither of us do. So why assume they can do something unless they demonstrate that they can? They've demonstrated FTL. They haven't demonstrated magic handwaving skills that can overcome the inherent weakness of windows.

quite simple they would be insane to put a dome on the top of the command centre if they didn't.

Someone show me a weld joint on the hull of any ship we have seen. The hull of all the ships seems to be seamless, and you can only tell by aztec look which is extremely odd because metal isn't exactly like wood.

On the other hand, why insist they do something out of idiocy when there's a perfectly reasonable alternative?

The other thing too is that with replicators and transporters, they have a tool that does something like welding but more complete, by merging the two panels together.

Oh and a perfect weld is as strong as two metal panels. Two welded panels if does correctly, would be as strong as a single panel.

McAvoy wrote:Someone show me a weld joint on the hull of any ship we have seen. The hull of all the ships seems to be seamless, and you can only tell by aztec look which is extremely odd because metal isn't exactly like wood.

You wouldn't see a weld on the current Enterprise from the ranges we see Trek ships at.

GrahamKennedy wrote:On the other hand, why insist they do something out of idiocy when there's a perfectly reasonable alternative?

I'm not suggesting that it's idiocy, merely a mistake. Sacrificing maximum hull strength for a nice view of the nearest planet would be fine for pure science ships, but not for warships, which the neo-E clearly is given that they were ordered to RV with the main fleet.

We haven't even seen welds on the side of the ship at all.