posted
I have just rewatched "Encounter at Farpoint". I don't know who brought this up a while ago, but there were some posts about the saucer section separating at warp speed - yes or no.
Well, the scene in question clearly shows the streaking stars when the saucer has just detached from the stardrive section. In the next scene however, the stardrive does its U-turn and no streaking stars are visible. This would indicate that they have slowed to impulse AFTER the saucer separated! And in the subsequent scene, the stardrive section is seen flying at warp speed again. A bit strange the whole thing, thoughts?
------------------ Kryten: Pub? - Ah yes. A meeting place where people attempt to achieve advanced states of mental incompetence by the repeated consumption of fermented vegetable drinks. - Red Dwarf "Timeslides"
Picard told Worf that the Stardrive would slow "just enough" to get the saucer out ahead before the Stardrive turned about. I doubt the Enterprise actually slowed to impulse -- just to a lower warp speed. In a few first season episodes, someone would say the ship was at warp, but you wouldn't see the streaking stars -- Naked Now is a prime example. In his log, Picard says that the Enterprise is running at warp seven to intercept the Tsiolkovsky, but there ain't no streaking stars in the exterior shots!
------------------ Star Trek Gamma Quadrant Average Rated 8.32 out of 10 Smileys by Fabrux (with seven eps posted) *** "Oh, yes, screw logic, let's go for a theory with no evidence!" -Omega 11:48am, Jan. 19th, 2001
posted
Possibly, they separated at low warp, keeping the two sections connected by tractor beams until they were far enough apart that the saucer could be safely released (since it would immediately drop to sublight, while the stardrive would streak off at warp-factor-who-knows-what).
------------------ "As part of Mr. Lee's good neighbor policy, all Rat Things are programmed never to break the sound barrier in a populated area. But Fido's in too much of a hurry to worry about the good neighbor policy. Jack the sound barrier. Bring the noise." -Neal Stephenson, Snow Crash
posted
Unless, of course, the Saucer was in the Stardrive's "warp-bubble" ... (????)
------------------ Star Trek Gamma Quadrant Average Rated 8.32 out of 10 Smileys by Fabrux (with seven eps posted) *** "Oh, yes, screw logic, let's go for a theory with no evidence!" -Omega 11:48am, Jan. 19th, 2001
posted
I'm not sure what we're talking about. The party line as laid down in the TNG tech manual has always been that the saucer is capable of "surfing" along on a preexisting warp field for a short period of time as the field decays, allowing it to be launched at warp speeds.
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