DAX (checking) There's a star just under five light years away... no M class planets... Computer, identify closest star system...
COMPUTER VOICE Idran... a ternary system consisting of a central supergiant and twin O- type companions...
SISKO (reacts) Idran... that can't be right...
DAX Computer, basis of identification...
COMPUTER VOICE Identification of Idran is based on the hydrogen-alpha spectral analysis conducted in the twenty-second century by the Quadros-One probe of the Gamma Quadrant.
[ April 06, 2002, 12:55: Message edited by: TSN ]
Registered: Mar 1999
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It's not unreasonable to assume that Starfleet knows the type and composition of many stars in our galaxy without having visited them all. I can see 23rd and 24th century Hubble telescopes sent up above the galactic plane for decades taking snapshots of the entire visible galaxy and recording spectral class information and whatnot. So, they might know of a majority of stars in the galaxy without having gotten near them.
As to figuring out where you are, if you can detect pulsars, they're one of the easiest ways to triangulate your position. Every pulsar detected to date has a unique pulse rate, and if you can detect enough familiar ones you can triangulate your position. In fact, this method is how the position of our sun is indicated on the plaque of Pioneer 10. Too bad Klah blew it up...
[ April 06, 2002, 20:13: Message edited by: MrNeutron ]
-------------------- "Well, I mean, it's generally understood that, of all of the people in the world, Mike Nelson is the best." -- ULTRA MAGNUS, steadfast in curmudgeon
Registered: Feb 2001
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22nd century... hmmm How long would a probe take to get to Idran in the 22nd century? I wonder if it was an Earth project or an early Federation project.
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*wishes to point out that the Quadros-2 probe could have taken decades or a century to chart towards the Gamma terminus, while transmitting back. So its a 22nd century probe, but the Idran data could have just been received, and also that the probe might not have gotten close to Idran at all, but simply photographed it from a range that wasnt possible from within the Federation*
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Registered: Sep 2001
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Also, it needn't necessarily be either an Earth probe or a Federation probe. For all we know, it could have been sent out in the very early twenty-second century by the Vulcans, or some other race that was out in space before humans.
Registered: Mar 1999
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Or the probe could have been sent out in the sixteenth century by the Vulcans or the possible other space dwellers. It would merely be the *measurements* that dated back to the 22nd century.
OTOH, 100-200 years spent traveling at warp 7 should suffice for getting a probe to Gamma. Building such a device in, say, 2150 could have been possible for humans already. After all, they did build "Friendship One"... Perhaps fast unmanned probes are easier to build than fast manned ships?
Also, pay attention to the wording. "Analysis conducted by the Quadros-One probe of the Gamma quadrant". The "conducted by" part makes it sound as if the Q-1 probe was a physical device launched into space and not a project conducted at an undisclosed location: if it were a project, one would probably say "Analysis conducted under/as part of the Q-1 probe". But it also says "the probe of the Gamma quadrant". So if the probe is a device and not a project, and it is "of" the Gamma quadrant... Then perhaps it was launched by a Gamma quadrant race? The Feds could simply have intercepted it and co-opted its research.
posted
I'm not sure that that particular interpretation of their grammar means anything. After all, studies are conducted by NASA. If the "Quadros-1 Probe" was a project, it might be being used to refer to the group who did the work.
Registered: Mar 1999
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