Tonight's rerun of "11:59", Janeway, Kim, Neelix, Seven, and Paris are all talking about their families past in space travel. Kim's ancestor, from the year 2210, was part of a Deep Space ship, in which the crew was require to stay in stasis. But, 2210 is after the creation of the Federation, nearly 50 years after. So, my question is, how could they still be using stasis all the way in 2210? Does this mean the Daedalus class actually used stasis as well? I don't see how it is possible to still be using stasis in 2210...
------------------ "The things hollow--it goes on forever--and--oh my God!--it's full of stars!" -David Bowman's last transmission back to Earth, 2001: A Space Odyssey
Posted by Aethelwer (Member # 36) on :
It was probably just a really, really long trip.
------------------ Frank's Home Page "My son and I have this wonderful kind of rivalry. Since I've taken over the Mac department in our home, he's seen fit to take over the PC. I have a routine I do for him, walking down the hall, bumping into walls, doing corkscrews and stumbling. I tell him I'm a Windows operating system." - John de Lancie
Posted by Vacuum robot lady from Spaceballs (Member # 239) on :
Ahh...looks like the f***-up fairy has paid the writers another visit...
------------------ "I've never seen anything this beautiful in the entire galaxy. Alright, give me the bomb" -Ultra Magnus, Fight or Flee
Posted by Hobbes (Member # 138) on :
A really long trip indeed. Prehaps even though they had warp travel it could of only been warp 3 or some low speed. And at that time there was no replicators so they'd also have to store food to last as well as air and anything else they would need. It could be that statis was still needed even in 2210.
------------------ Calvin: "My life needs a rewind/erase button." Hobbes: "...and a volume control." Federation Starship Datalink - Starship site of the new millennium.
Posted by Bernd (Member # 6) on :
We might find a justification. Nevertheless, I don't like the idea. Firstly, Starfleet was founded for exploration, and there would have been enough to explore on the travel, even if it had taken years. Secondly, a starship needs a crew to operate it. It's hard to believe that early ships worked fully automatically, whereas modern ships need at least a hundred people for daily operation, maintenance, repair and control. Not to mention the danger that the ship could be damaged by an asteroid or attacked by hostile aliens.
------------------ "Naomi Wildman, sub-unit of Ensign Samantha Wildman, state your intentions." (VOY: "Infinite Regress")
Posted by Aban Rune (Member # 226) on :
I suppose we could liken it to the ships in the Alien movies. The computer sets a curse for a long trip and wakes the crew up if anything happens. It might have been a little too early for the Daedalus class too. I don't remember what the chronology says regarding their service time.
But you're right, I think it would be more satisfying to think of early Fed explorers having to find food and supplies as well as replenish their air and what not in order to explore the galaxy.
------------------ "Resolve and thou art free."
Posted by TSN (Member # 31) on :
2210 is only 35 years before the E-nil was launched and a little over 50 years before TOS. This is way too late even for Daedalus.
Perhaps Harry was simply battling an acute case of Riker Syndrome at the time?
------------------ "'...This boy is Ignorance. This girl is Want. Beware them both, and all of their degree, but most of all beware this boy, for on his brow I see that written which is Doom, unless the writing be erased. Deny it!' cried the Spirit stretching out its hand towards the city. 'Slander those who tell it ye! Admit it for your factious purposes, and make it worse. And abide the end!'" -Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol
Posted by Elim Garak (Member # 14) on :
TSN: It seems only logical.
------------------ Elim Garak: "Oh, it's just Garak. Plain, simple Garak. Now, good day to you, Doctor. I'm so glad to have made such an... interesting new friend today." (DS9: "Past Prologue")
Posted by Saboc on :
By the way, it wouldn't be such a bad idea for Paramount to do a ST show about the early days of the Fed (I don't know if people talked about this before..)
------------------ "If you are too sicked because of the way I look and who I am today, you can always come back and judge me tomorrow..."
Posted by Black Knight (Member # 134) on :
I though that he said the 22nd Century. And the trip lasted 6 months. The entire crew was in stasis, except for Harry's father.
------------------ Quark-"Stop. Or I'll disintigrate this hostage."
20th Century General-"With Your Finger?"
Quark-"With my death ray."
20th Century General-"Looks alot like a finger to me."
Posted by The359 (Member # 37) on :
I'm pretty sure he said 2210, and I think he also said his father was in stasis as well and the ship was automated. 6 months by yourself isn't good...unless you want to add a homicidle computer to the mix, but, well, that's another story for another time.
------------------ "The things hollow--it goes on forever--and--oh my God!--it's full of stars!" -David Bowman's last transmission back to Earth, 2001: A Space Odyssey
Posted by Baloo (Member # 5) on :
What type of ship was this supposed to have been? Perhaps only the "top-of-the-line" Federation vessels were staffed with 24-7 crews. In the case of colony ships travelling in low-threat areas, it may have been more economical to use robotic ships with the crew/passengers in stasis. Despite the fact that "sleeper" ships were no longer used, at least according to the Encyclopedia descriptions, it might be that "stasis" ships, where the passengers were in stasis for only a few months, were not considered "sleeper ships", since the purpose of putting the passengers in stasis was not to ensure they were not old and crochety by the end of the journey, but to (possibly) save on the extensive life support and provisions which would have been required by large numbers of passengers.
If stasis equipment is significantly less bulky than life support equipment plus living quarters, this would allow the passenger accomodations of such a ship to be much smaller, making the vessel less bulky for a given number of passengers and their equipment. Since the passengers do not operate the vessel themselves nor provide maintenance or other support, it might have been more economical to simply design (some) ships that carry them as live cargo.
The exact reference in "11:59" would be helpful. Perhaps Kim was speaking of a forefather who boarded a primitive colonization vessel back in 2049 and woke up in the 23rd century? 2210 could be the day he arrived, or the day he died - chronologically, he might have been 200 years old on arrival, biologically only forty.
I have no trouble believing that Earth sublight ships departing just before WWIII could have completed centuries-long trips with most of the passengers still alive. Others might have disappeared, or found adrift, or rescued in mid-journey like Khan's vessel. Earth tech in 20th and 21st century Trek obviously is much better than real-world tech, and might well allow for ships of this type.
As for McGivers' claim in "Space Seed" that sleeper ships weren't used after the early 2000s, perhaps none were launched after, say, 2020 (or 2050 - the dating isn't as exact as the Chronology claims), but several were still in transit? In addition to Khan's ship, some others might have been in successful transit without McGivers knowing about them.