# Do all Star Trek ships go through the same thing? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 14, 2004, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-all-star-trek-ships-go-through-the-same-thing/229149 "2004-02-14T02:48:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Evil\_Death](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ecccb3/32.png) [@Evil\_Death](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Death)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2004, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-all-star-trek-ships-go-through-the-same-thing/229149/81 "2004-02-17T00:35:47Z")
> [@Aesiron](#): > > True, I forgot to take into consideration that the Excelsior example changes the practice since it occurs at a later date. It’s just a glaring example that not everything follows formula and one I hate as much as any Trekkie BBSer. Just to muddy the pot… It’s my considered opinion that at some point, Archer would find himself in a situation where he could only save the Federation (or whatever it’s currently calling itself) from Future Guy’s machinations by taking a course of action that would cause temporal physics to erase his mission and ship entirely from history. (This would also let him bang T’Pol with impunity - so let’s go for it.) ---
**Author:** ![Diceman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Diceman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diceman)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2004, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-all-star-trek-ships-go-through-the-same-thing/229149/82 "2004-02-17T03:48:18Z")
Why would the Imperial star destroyer even bother fighting the Enterprise? Imperial ships use hyperdrive, which is capable of crossing the entire galaxy in a day. This beats warp drive by several orders of magnitude. It’s like you were staging a race, and you give Darth Vader a brand new Porche, while Picard gets a rusty old pair of roller skates. The Imperials can race ahead of the Enterprise, blast whatever needs blasting, and take off for somewhere else before Geordi can finish his techno-babble “explanation.” 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Diceman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Diceman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diceman)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2004, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-all-star-trek-ships-go-through-the-same-thing/229149/83 "2004-02-17T04:01:21Z")
BTW, I like the idea of Archer undoing the entire series. Either that, we discover that the entire series is just a big holo-novel (much like when the soap opera _Dallas_ wrote off an entire season as a dream). It turns out that Archer is really an ensign on the Enterprise-E, working in Stellar Cartography or some other boring anonymous position. He had an ancestor of the same name who was a famous pioneering starship captain, and he likes to fantasize that’s he’s an explorer in the days of old. ---
**Author:** ![Weirddave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/919ad9/32.png) [@Weirddave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Weirddave)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2004, 5:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-all-star-trek-ships-go-through-the-same-thing/229149/84 "2004-02-17T05:14:35Z")
> [@Diceman](#): > > Why would the Imperial star destroyer even bother fighting the Enterprise? Imperial ships use hyperdrive, which is capable of crossing the entire galaxy in a day. This beats warp drive by several orders of magnitude. It’s like you were staging a race, and you give Darth Vader a brand new Porche, while Picard gets a rusty old pair of roller skates. The Imperials can race ahead of the Enterprise, blast whatever needs blasting, and take off for somewhere else before Geordi can finish his techno-babble “explanation.” 😃 Excuse me, were is it shown that an ISD “is capable of crossing the entire galaxy in a day.” Shown. No SPOOFE style “Well, Lucas said any book that dosen’t contradict the films is cannon, and I saw this written on the back of another kid’s notebook in third grade, so an ISD is too capable of tying itself in a giant knot while simultaniously cooking breakfast and impregnating my mother with me thirty years in the past, which is why I am expert on all things Star Wars related”. I want filmed evidence, not a fanboy’s masturbation fantasies set down on paper. ---
**Author:** ![tracer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tracer/32/20578_2.png) [@tracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tracer)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2004, 7:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-all-star-trek-ships-go-through-the-same-thing/229149/85 "2004-02-17T07:15:13Z")
> [@Aesiron](#): > > Whenever I get a job and a place of my own, getting my books here and buidling [my _Trek_ library] back up will be one of my top priorities. As someone who **has** a job and a place of his own, and has had such for nearly a decade-and-a-half now, let me just say: Don’t do it! Or you’ll end up accumulating book after book after book, like I idid, and then you’ll be stuck with 15 full-sized bookcases all **full** of books just to hold them all! You’ll have to buy a bigger house just to get enough wall space for all your bookshelves! _Stay away!!_ ---
**Author:** ![Ephemera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8baadc/32.png) [@Ephemera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ephemera)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2004, 7:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-all-star-trek-ships-go-through-the-same-thing/229149/86 "2004-02-17T07:35:42Z")
But, but… what you just described is my life’s ambition! ---
**Author:** ![tracer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tracer/32/20578_2.png) [@tracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tracer)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2004, 7:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-all-star-trek-ships-go-through-the-same-thing/229149/87 "2004-02-17T07:45:22Z")
And when you’ve got that house, and have lined every square inch of wall space with freestanding bookcase units, and have filled them all to the rafters – **then** what will you do? Your life will be **over** , man! ---
**Author:** ![Ephemera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8baadc/32.png) [@Ephemera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ephemera)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2004, 7:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-all-star-trek-ships-go-through-the-same-thing/229149/88 "2004-02-17T07:50:18Z")
Then I’ll build a garage! ---
**Author:** ![Diceman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Diceman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diceman)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2004, 12:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-all-star-trek-ships-go-through-the-same-thing/229149/89 "2004-02-17T12:50:12Z")
> [@Weirddave](#): > > Excuse me, were is it shown that an ISD “is capable of crossing the entire galaxy in a day.” Shown. No SPOOFE style “Well, Lucas said any book that dosen’t contradict the films is cannon, and I saw this written on the back of another kid’s notebook in third grade, so an ISD is too capable of tying itself in a giant knot while simultaniously cooking breakfast and impregnating my mother with me thirty years in the past, which is why I am expert on all things Star Wars related”. I want filmed evidence, not a fanboy’s masturbation fantasies set down on paper. Sit down, Dave. Breath into this paper bag. Repeat to yourself, “It’s only fiction. We’re all just having fun.” OK, feel better now? Good. And BTW, my cite is _Empire Strikes Back._ After the Millenium Falcon escapes into hyperspace (or so the Imperials think) there is that scene where the officer tells Vader that “If they went into light speed [sic] they could be on the other side of the galaxy by now.” We don’t know exactly how much time has passed, but a span of a few hours, maybe a day at most, seems reasonable. It most certainly was _not_ several decades before Vader got board of sitting in orbit above Hoth and went elsewhere. ---
**Author:** ![Weirddave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/919ad9/32.png) [@Weirddave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Weirddave)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2004, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-all-star-trek-ships-go-through-the-same-thing/229149/90 "2004-02-17T15:34:00Z")
> [@Diceman](#): > > Sit down, Dave. Breath into this paper bag. Repeat to yourself, “It’s only fiction. We’re all just having fun.” I am having fun. Does “ISD is too capable of tying itself in a giant knot while simultaniously cooking breakfast and impregnating my mother with me thirty years in the past,” sound all that serious? 'sides, this is just round 3,522 of a longstanding war of words between SPOOFIE and I. > [@Diceman](#): > > And BTW, my cite is _Empire Strikes Back._ After the Millenium Falcon escapes into hyperspace (or so the Imperials think) there is that scene where the officer tells Vader that “If they went into light speed [sic] they could be on the other side of the galaxy by now.” We don’t know exactly how much time has passed, but a span of a few hours, maybe a day at most, seems reasonable. See, that’s a _good_ cite. _I_ took that statement as hyperbole, kinda along the lines of when my son told me “But dad, it could be anywhere in the _whole world!_” when I told him to go find one of his toys, but you’re right, the little toady did say that. I give it about a 5 or 6 out of 10 on the “meaningful cite” scale because: a) He wasn’t speaking scientifically, obviously “light speed” is an expression ( it’s called hyperdrive or whatever everywhere else, and true light speed manifestly could NOT have you across the galaxy in less than millenia ), which leads me to conclude that “the other side of the galaxy” is likely a colloquial expression; b) he was talking about the _Millineum Falcon_, not an ISD. (AH-HA!! 😃😛 ) > [@Diceman](#): > > It most certainly was _not_ several decades before Vader got board of sitting in orbit above Hoth and went elsewhere. How do you know? Maybe he really, really, really, really, really, really, liked Hoth. ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2004, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-all-star-trek-ships-go-through-the-same-thing/229149/91 "2004-02-17T16:06:46Z")
> [@tracer](#): > > And when you’ve got that house, and have lined every square inch of wall space with freestanding bookcase units, and have filled them all to the rafters – **then** what will you do? Your life will be **over** , young man! … Mother? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-all-star-trek-ships-go-through-the-same-thing/229149.md?page=4)