# Star Trek Tech Questions **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 19, 2009, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-tech-questions/521889 "2009-12-19T21:26:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Bearflag70](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Bearflag70](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bearflag70)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2009, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-tech-questions/521889/1 "2009-12-19T21:26:05Z")
1. Is the bubble “hollow” like the ship sitting in the middle of an air balloon, or does the bubble have more substance to it, like the ship sitting in a water balloon? 2. What happens if two ships with shields up ram each other? Do they just bounce off each other like billiard balls? How fast would they have to be going to cause damage to the ships in that situation, if possible? What would be the cause of that damage? 3. What, if anything, stops a ship from going warp speed in any direction (e.g., up, down, sideways, reverse, etc.)? ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2009, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-tech-questions/521889/2 "2009-12-19T21:46:45Z")
> [@Bearflag70](#): > > 1. Is the bubble “hollow” like the ship sitting in the middle of an air balloon, or does the bubble have more substance to it, like the ship sitting in a water balloon? The shields you mean? I think they are hollow bubbles. > [@Bearflag70](#): > > 1. What happens if two ships with shields up ram each other? Do they just bounce off each other like billiard balls? How fast would they have to be going to cause damage to the ships in that situation, if possible? What would be the cause of that damage? I think I recall an episode where two ships bounced off each others shields at low speed. There was a small flash and the shields became visible for a moment. > [@Bearflag70](#): > > 1. What, if anything, stops a ship from going warp speed in any direction (e.g., up, down, sideways, reverse, etc.)? I presume that warp drive is largely directional; note that the warp nacelles are always mounted the same way on ships. If direction didn’t matter they could be mounted any which way. ---
**Author:** ![Ephemera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8baadc/32.png) [@Ephemera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ephemera)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2009, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-tech-questions/521889/3 "2009-12-19T22:29:09Z")
1. The shields are usually shown as being large hollow ovaloid bubbles. They’re shown to be much tighter to the hull and ship-shaped in TWoK, though. 2. I’m going to assume they’re going to bounce off each other, as they deflect both matter and energy. As for how fast they would have to be going to cause damage, I’m going to guess high lightspeeds. Photon torpedoes hit shields at low warp speeds all the time, with minimal damage, and dust hits them at Warp 9+ (I’m betting it’s the M/AM explosion that weakens them more than the speed and mass), so it’s going to take a lot of speed to counteract them. 3. I don’t know. As Der Trihs says, I’m betting the nacelles are directional based on them always being in the back and with clear space around them. They’re just hi-tech rockets, basically. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2009, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-tech-questions/521889/4 "2009-12-19T23:05:43Z")
Nothing new about the first two questions, but it appears that warp can be reversed - they went into Full Reverse Warp to escape the Romulan weapon in “Balance of Terror”. I can’t remember an specific instances of them changing course in warp, but I also don’t remember them having to drop out of warp to do it. I’d guess whichever magical way they have of steering handles warp course changes also. ---
**Author:** ![Pushkin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ee59a6/32.png) [@Pushkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pushkin)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2009, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-tech-questions/521889/5 "2009-12-19T23:06:54Z")
> [@Bearflag70](#): > > 1. What, if anything, stops a ship from going warp speed in any direction (e.g., up, down, sideways, reverse, etc.)? I thought Kirk had the Enterprise warp in reverse in Balance of Terror, when they flee the Romulan superweapon early on. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2009, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-tech-questions/521889/6 "2009-12-19T23:08:58Z")
There was a ST novel in which the _Enterprise_-D surprised and rammed an unshielded Romulan warbird at high speed with full power to the D’s front shields and its structural integrity field cranked up to 11. The warbird shattered into a zillion pieces and the _Enterprise_ sailed away unscathed, IIRC. ---
**Author:** ![DSYoungEsq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c6cbf5/32.png) [@DSYoungEsq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSYoungEsq)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2009, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-tech-questions/521889/7 "2009-12-19T23:26:25Z")
If I recall, the shields in the original series were close to, if not on, the hull of the Enterprise. You’d see photon torpedoes fired at it hitting the ship’s hull before exploding. As I recall, _Enterprise_ was consistent with this idea, as the first Enterprise (NX-01) had strengthened plating in the hull. By the time of the _Next Generation_ show, the shields had been extended to an ovoid shape surrounding the ship. Ships in warp drive change course all the time. But I do not recall any example of a ship shown being in warp and going any direction other than “forwards” or “backwards.” This is no shock; the only episode/movie I remember seeing where the whole concept of three-dimensional movement/battle was properly represented was STVI: The Undiscovered Country, where the Klingons are shown sooting UP at the Enterprise from below. The insistence upon maintaining the concept of “up” and “down” during movement in space is, of course, completely silly. ---
**Author:** ![Pushkin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ee59a6/32.png) [@Pushkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pushkin)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2009, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-tech-questions/521889/8 "2009-12-19T23:26:40Z")
> [@Voyager](#): > > Nothing new about the first two questions, but it appears that warp can be reversed - they went into Full Reverse Warp to escape the Romulan weapon in “Balance of Terror”. Bah, not even a simul-post. > [@Voyager](#): > > I can’t remember an specific instances of them changing course in warp, but I also don’t remember them having to drop out of warp to do it. I’d guess whichever magical way they have of steering handles warp course changes also. They did in TNG, in “The Wounded”. The Nebula class vessel the Enterprise pursues veers off course in warp IIRC. ---
**Author:** ![Bearflag70](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Bearflag70](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bearflag70)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2009, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-tech-questions/521889/9 "2009-12-19T23:56:59Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > The shields you mean? Oops. Yes. I edited the post and accidentally wiped out the shields reference. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2009, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-tech-questions/521889/10 "2009-12-20T00:03:21Z")
> [@DSYoungEsq](#): > > … of three-dimensional movement/battle was properly represented was STVI: The Undiscovered Country, where the Klingons are shown sooting UP at the Enterprise from below. The insistence upon maintaining the concept of “up” and “down” during movement in space is, of course, completely silly. They did it other times as well. Remember Kirk ordering the Enterprise “down” when Khan was chasing them in the nebula. He even comments on Khan’s “two-dimensional” thinking. Then there was Riker blasting through the Klingons from below in the ST:TNG finale. That little maneuver actually had me cheering while I watched. ---
**Author:** ![Bearflag70](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Bearflag70](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bearflag70)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2009, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-tech-questions/521889/11 "2009-12-20T01:05:27Z")
So, 2 ships, warp 1 each, shields up… head on collision… What result? BOING!? That’s it? ---
**Author:** ![runcible\_spoon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9fc29f/32.png) [@runcible\_spoon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/runcible_spoon)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2009, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-tech-questions/521889/12 "2009-12-20T01:26:36Z")
Nah, I’m pretty sure their consoles would explode in sparks, too. Might get a few styrofoam beams falling on unimportant characters, and of course the mood lighting. ---
**Author:** ![Amp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Amp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amp)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2009, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-tech-questions/521889/13 "2009-12-20T01:57:12Z")
> [@runcible\_spoon](#): > > Nah, I’m pretty sure their consoles would explode in sparks, too. Might get a few styrofoam beams falling on unimportant characters, and of course the mood lighting. Don’t forget the crewmen being thrown all over the place due to lack of seatbelts. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2009, 4:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-tech-questions/521889/14 "2009-12-20T04:08:30Z")
> [@Amp](#): > > Don’t forget the crewmen being thrown all over the place due to lack of seatbelts. and the inertial dampeners conveniently going offline. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2009, 4:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-tech-questions/521889/15 "2009-12-20T04:27:59Z")
In an _Enterprise_ episode they got the shields of two ships in sync and could climb from one ship to the other. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2009, 5:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-tech-questions/521889/16 "2009-12-20T05:36:46Z")
> [@Aesiron](#): > > 1. The shields are usually shown as being large hollow ovaloid bubbles. They’re shown to be much tighter to the hull and ship-shaped in TWoK, though. Well, the little “doot-doot-doot” LED display was tight around the ship, but it wasn’t necessarily to scale. TOS Trek on at least occasion identified the shields by number (“Shield #2 at 40 percent!”) suggesting a network rather than a single bubble. I don’t offhand recall TNG talking about “aft shield” and other specifics, but they may have done. I always kinda wondered why you couldn’t drop a single shield to use the transporters - they always made a big deal about having to drop them all at once, just for dramatic purposes. ---
**Author:** ![DWMarch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dwmarch/32/1010_2.png) [@DWMarch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DWMarch)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2009, 6:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-tech-questions/521889/17 "2009-12-20T06:56:21Z")
Voyager claimed “Speed of light, no left or right” indicating that one cannot make turns at warp. However, they’ve done so often enough that there must be means of doing it. Perhaps they drop out of warp for a second, use thrusters to maneuver and then fire the engines back up. The Enterprise E rams Shinzon’s ship in Nemesis. It is indicated in dialogue that the Scimitar still had almost full shields while the Enterprise had none. So ramming a shielded ship, even with an unshielded one is quite possible and will result in great damage to both ships. ---
**Author:** ![Jolly\_Roger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/91b2a8/32.png) [@Jolly\_Roger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jolly_Roger)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2009, 11:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-tech-questions/521889/18 "2009-12-20T11:40:41Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > They did it other times as well. Remember Kirk ordering the Enterprise “down” when Khan was chasing them in the nebula. He even comments on Khan’s “two-dimensional” thinking. Then there was Riker blasting through the Klingons from below in the ST:TNG finale. That little maneuver actually had me cheering while I watched. You can count the DS9 episode “Sacrifice of Angels”, too. When the klingons show up in the space battle between the Federation and the Dominion/Cardassian battle they swoop in from above. It was pretty cool looking. ---
**Author:** ![DWMarch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dwmarch/32/1010_2.png) [@DWMarch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DWMarch)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2009, 11:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-tech-questions/521889/19 "2009-12-20T11:47:03Z")
Further to the question of shielded ships ramming each other, DS9’s "The Jem’Hadar shows a Jem’Hadar fighter ramming a Galaxy-class starship. I’m pretty sure the Galaxy class had lost shields by then but the Jem’Hadar ship probably still had shields when it went in. The result: Both ships blew the hell up. ---
**Author:** ![Icerigger](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/icerigger/32/432_2.png) [@Icerigger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Icerigger)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2009, 12:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-tech-questions/521889/20 "2009-12-20T12:21:54Z")
> [@Voyager](#): > > Nothing new about the first two questions, but it appears that warp can be reversed - they went into Full Reverse Warp to escape the Romulan weapon in “Balance of Terror”. I love Kirk’s order in that episode. **Full Astern! Emergency Warp Speed!** [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-tech-questions/521889.md?page=2)