posted
Mmkay, so first, let me admit that despite the reasoned and logical commentary made in the DAC forum here, I nonetheless went back to TrekBBS and, upon seeing something I felt to be idiotic, replied. I was young, and needed the 'tard-smacking. Or it was dark, I was drunk, and I had bad footing. Whatever.
So, the topic of conversation that I participated in was in regards to which of the following is true:
1. That the Constitution Class Starship Enterprise, NCC-1701, has but one M/AM reactor in the secondary hull.
or
2. That the Constitution Class Starship Enterprise, NCC-1701, has three M/AM reactors, two in the nacelles and a tertiary reactor in the secondary hull.
Please, discuss. I am performing a sanity check, and would like your input.
-------------------- . . . ceterum censeo Carthaginem esse delendam.
posted
How about a third choice: 2 M/AM reactors in the nacelles and a fusion reactor in the hull somewhere? If M/AM reactors are so dangerous you have to put them on long pylons, a hull fusion reactor seems more likely to me than a third M/AM in the hull.
-------------------- When you're in the Sol system, come visit the Starfleet Museum
Registered: Oct 1999
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posted
The old TOS Constitution was disabled if something happened to the dilithium crystal, in Engineering. that points to a single reactor.
-------------------- joH'a' 'oH wIj DevwI' jIH DIchDaq Hutlh pagh (some days it's just not worth chewing through the leather straps in the morning) The Woozle!
Registered: Nov 2002
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posted
I, too, must suggest C for the "A or B" question (as usual).
In complete contrast to Franz Joseph's concept of the Enterprise as an empty shell that the user can fill with bowling alleys or cafeterias any way he pleases, I see the Constitution as a highly integrated machine that is mostly engine. Well, perhaps the saucer isn't, but the secondary hull AND the nacelles could be devoted to a single integrated "reactor" that extends to every nook and cranny of the volume and dictates the very shape of the ship.
Such a reactor would be vulnerable to single-point failure at the critical dilithium thingamabob in the secondary hull. Or to a failure in the nacelles, which do contain their share of antimatter, per the dialogue. If anything, the TOS ship would have an even MORE distributed m/am intermixing network than the TMP ship supposedly has, with the Engineering set(s) acting as local network node(s) rather than self-contained unit(s).
The TNG era ships, with their vertical warp cores, would be a step towards more compact and less integrated systems, towards FJ-like ships whose shape isn't dictated solely by propulsion machinery, with the ultimate goal at the famous walnut-sized engines. But the more primitive the ship, the more of its volume is devoted to reactors or reactor (I sincerely hope to be able to retain this view even with further revelations of NX-01 structure...).
posted
That's not entirely unlike the Captain's Chair Constitution MSD, which shows the secondary hull filled with tubes and other technology.
The original intention (if there ever was one) was that the nacelles were self-contained engines, including M/AM and whatever magic created the 'space warp'.
BTW, who made that Captain's Chair cutaway, and what is it based on?
posted
Drexler made it, probably based on conjectural (read as "pulled out of the ass") deck chart listing in the first Encyclopedia.
Now, just for good measure, I shall remind everyone for the Nth time that Franz Joseph's plans depict the prototype U.S.S. Constitution NCC-1700, which varies significantly in external configuration to its sister ship the Enterprise. Thus, it is not difficult to accept that it may vary equally in its internal configuration. Thus, there is no reason why that layout need apply to the NCC-1701.
-MMoM
-------------------- The flaws we find most objectionable in others are often those we recognize in ourselves.
Registered: Jun 2001
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posted
And, of course, the FJ blueprints are likely to be part of the mysterious data from a certain airbase computer in Omaha on which the Star Fleet Technical Manual is based, too. I rather doubt 1960s computers could have retained a completely error-free copy.
Not to mention that the blueprints of a highly advanced prototype vessel would be an excellent place to use the famous "let's misprint to fool the enemy" schtick used in the TNG TM. The NCC-1700 is decidedly underarmed on paper - perhaps creating a nasty surprise when actually engaging an enemy vessel?
posted
I don't think most Treknical types realize there's canonical evidence for the number of decks in the 1701, albeit hard to make out. The ship diagram next to the turbolift appears to be a match for the cutaway in The Making of Star Trek, which would give her 20 decks.
-------------------- "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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quote:Originally posted by Dat: No it doesn't. If I'm wrong, show me.
The lines on it are only visible when the actors are standing right next to it and the camera is *very* close to them. I saw it on one of the episodes I rented a while back on DVD. I'd have to rent and rewatch them to find the place where I saw it.
-------------------- "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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quote:Originally posted by The Mighty Monkey of Mim: I think it's rather a match for the one seen here, which is obviously not intended to be a realistic portrayal of the ship...
-MMoM
Thinking back, I think the place where you can see the lines in the turbostop silhouette is in The Enemy Within, when Kirk and McCoy are standing there confronting the other Kirk. And I'm prettu sure that while the lines on the top view of the ship are like those in the Hull Pressure display, I don't think the side view is. After all, why DID Matt Jeffries have that cutaway drawn, unless it was produced for on-screen use?
I'm going to have to rent that episode again.
-------------------- "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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posted
Its likely based on the original half size design, since it doesn't have the spheres in the aft ends of the naclles
Registered: Mar 2004
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