posted
Ahh yes, the USS Nightmare. My very first kitbash using existing pictures. For those who do not know it: It is an 'All Good Things...' Galaxy class refit with two extra nacelles curved downwards like a Nebula class. Making a total of 5 nacelles.
------------------ Meddle not in the affairs of dragons for you are crunchy and taste good with ketchup!
posted
I just thought I'd point out that some earlier arguements here are voided by the fact that the admiral did not say "deep-space explorers", but rather "deep-space vessels". Therefore, the ships could be of any sort, more likely something built for speed, rather than an explorer.
------------------ "The search and the arrest provided several hours of entertainment in the neighborhood." -"Worm Suspect Arrested", Wired News
posted
Everyone seems to be forgetting the U.S.S. Olympia from "The sound of her voice" (DS9). That ship was returning from an 8-year (I think) exploration of the Beta quadrant when she crashed. And we saw a refit constitution style nacelle in the crash site so it was probably an older class of ship. My point is, there is a precedence for ships being gone a very long time and being sent way the heck out there.
------------------ "A gathering of Angels appeared above my head. They sang to me this song of hope, and this is what they said..." -Styx
posted
Anybody got pics of this crashsite wreck? I never heard about a refit constitution-class nacelle.
------------------ "The Starships of the Federation are the physical, tangible manifestations of Humanity�s stubborn insistence that life does indeed mean something." Spock to Leonard McCoy in "Final Frontier"
posted
Well, if the Prometheus can't rendezvous with Voyager, I guess that an Ambassador Class will have to. If the VFX people can make Jupiter Station, they can just take a saucer and create the rest of the ship.
------------------ "Life's a bitch, then you die" -USS Luzon, Vanderbuilt Class starship
posted
What i find hard to believe is that there are ships that are 20 years away from earth. That is quite a long way from home and then being told they have to go an further five years out. Surely, they don't have the fuel to sustain such a trip.
------------------ "We set sail on this new sea because their is new knowledge to be gained and new rights to be won" John F Kennedy
posted
I find this premise entirely plausible. Normal starships don't have fuel for a fifty-year round trip. But the constructing of such a ship is just a question of political will - there is no obvious technological hurdle. And while the UFP cannot hope to actually control large swaths of the galaxy, it is entirely possible for it to explore these large areas if it just wants to.
The ships 20 years (or more) out of home port would be very different from those exploring closer to home - they would operate completely independently, probably mostly outside communications range. Life aboard them might be hard, and the risks immense, but surely the UFP would be willing to take those risks if it allowed for greater knowledge of the neighboring space.
And we know the UFP has already sent ships to other quadrants. "Emissary" mentions the Quadros-1 probe that explored the Gamma quadrant closely enough to allow Sisko and Dax to identify a star system near the wormhole end. A probe would not be different from a starship - both would have to cope with identical fuel and range requirements, even if one was unmanned and the other manned. The probe would probably be slower than a manned ship, to reduce wear and tear in the absence of repair crews.
How do these probes send back their data? Either they have to sail all the way back to comm range, or they deploy their own commnet behind them as they move on. Such a commnet is probably a very narrow thread of relay buoys, useless for ships not following an identical course.
posted
IMO, this is the kind of mission the Ent D should have been on. The Galaxy Class is so big and has so many extras, it's like it was designed to be far away from home for long periods of time. While I think 20 years out is a bit far, 10 wouldn't surprise me at all. They take a trip out there, exploring as they go, turn around and come back along a different route, exploring as they go. They either meet up with another ship and change crews or get back in time to retire
Obviously the crews would have to be willing to make a sacrifice.
------------------ "A gathering of Angels appeared above my head. They sang to me this song of hope, and this is what they said..." -Styx
posted
You see, I reckon that the E-D WAS actually on its way 'out' of the Federation... From "Encounter" to "Q-Who" I reckon the E-D was slowly making its way out of the Federation for its 10 year mission... only the Borg Threat and the ties then with the Romulan 'problem' from "The Neutral Zone" became apparent and then the Klingon strife and then the reflaring of the Cardassian problem - just kept the E-D from making it out very far.
I think probably after the problems with the E-D and the Yamato - 'fleet were a bit wary and kept a bit of a close eye on the Galaxy fleet and let them get over their teething problems for a few years - THEN send them out on some of their 'grand missions'.
The Challenger from "Timeless" was/is probably under way on a mission of its own.
Andrew
------------------ "Who wouldn't be the one you love Who wouldn't stand inside your love." - Stand Inside Your Love, The Smashing Pumpkins
posted
It seems entirely reasonable that a very well-prepared modern ship could reach Voyager in about 5 years. Assuming said ship(s) were about 3000 light-years out from Earth (my estimation of the average distance from Earth to the Federation border in the Beta Quadrant), that the ship could sustain a speed of somewhere between Warp 9.9 and Warp 9.99 (which is feasible considering what we've seen of the Prometheus, as already mentioned), and that Voyager is continuing to plod along at its speed of Warp 6.2, then I don't see a problem with it.
------------------ "Not so fast, Space Clown! My time-space manipulator has assembled an army of invisible cavemen to block your reverse polarity ray!"
- Future Man, Curses, Space Ghost: Coast to Coast.
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