posted
I'd think placing all the pods in a single ring as was done on that fan site would make it easy to pack the folks in there in an orderly and efficient manner, no post-ejection transfers necessary. And I really like the layout that guy came up with.
OTOH, I'd think the lifepods of that era wouldn't be able to keep the occupants alive for more than a few weeks or so, no better than the guys stranded in Shuttlepod 1. No replicators, for one thing. A gaggle mode thus might not be in the specs because the designers would expect the pods to be collected immediately by a fellow starship, or then land on a hospitable planet within a week. If neither of those happened, the occupants would be dead, gaggle mode or not.
posted
Me, I personally would at leats tentatively accept the 'Mirror' configuration as canon, and then try to see how I could make it work.
Offhand, the easiest way to do it would be to make a ring corridor right against the outer hull on that deck, and the ports allow personnel in the corridor to see the stars.
And yes, 'gaggle mode' is not always the best way to go. small yield thrusters would suffice to keep them in a cloud formation. After that, their drifting wouldn't amount to anything significant in the limited survival time they have.
BTW - strictly non-canon - the oversize and limited duration problems could be solved in one swell foop if we assume 3-4 stasis units (cryo-hibernation) in each.
posted
"BTW - strictly non-canon - the oversize and limited duration problems could be solved in one swell foop if we assume 3-4 stasis units (cryo-hibernation) in each."
Which would probably take up most of the room and power supply, and decisively limit the pod's limit to 4.
And I like the single ring idea too. Since all that is on the outter edge of E-deck is crew quarters and the mess hall, and other personell areas, it wouldn't take an extreme amount of space from other areas where machinery would be used and stored ( like near enginering). E-deck is the largest, area wise anyways. The drop down system is kind of unique, and also fits in with the shuttle bay configuration. I also read that the bridge has it's own life boat, which would make sense, and could be stored under a blow away panel on B-deck and accessed through a dedicated jefferies tube somewhere in the corner of the bridge. It would also make sense to have one of two additional lifeboats near the engine room, or other strategic areas, for fast evac from those areas, while the majority of the pods were on E deck where most of the crew could get to to them.
-------------------- "Kosh, I'd like to introduce you to our Resident schmuck and his side kick Kick Me."-Ritten
"Fighting for peace is like screwing for virginity". -George Carlin
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Daniel Butler
I'm a Singapore where is my boat
Member # 1689
posted
Treknophile - I wasn't thinking gaggle mode in order to stay near each other, but rather to allow crew to walk from pod to pod, to stretch their legs, visit other crewmen (and apply first aid or provide medical care if the doctor survived), etc.
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Shik
Starship database: completed; History of Starfleet: done; website: probably never
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posted
"Walk?" How big do you think those hatches are?
-------------------- "The French have a saying: 'mise en place'—keep everything in its fucking place!"
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posted
But that sounds a bit too complex for a device that is most likely made to be as simple as possible, and still be able to do it's job well. Not untill the TNG era did we see things with needless bells and whistles added. Nice theory though. DId it say in the TNG tech manual ( or wherever your info comes from) that the Galaxy class was the first to have this "gaggle" mode?
-------------------- "Kosh, I'd like to introduce you to our Resident schmuck and his side kick Kick Me."-Ritten
"Fighting for peace is like screwing for virginity". -George Carlin
Registered: Jul 2007
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posted
"Treknophile - I wasn't thinking gaggle mode in order to stay near each other, but rather to allow crew to walk from pod to pod, to stretch their legs, visit other crewmen (and apply first aid or provide medical care if the doctor survived), etc."
WARNING...THE FOLLOWING IDEA IS NON CANON, AND SLIGHTLY FAN BOYISH ____________________________
Maybe a small docking ring to allow a few pods to connect could be launched along with the pods, or be attached to one of the pods, to allow docking later when it is safe ( when the ship has gone boom).
Or, to get even more non canon, maybe that ring could be a little command center where the pod's of senior officers can meet up, discuss the situation, give commands (not that you can give any other the " Move slowly in X direction")
THIS HAS BEEN A TEST OF THE NON-CANON WARNING SYSTEM _________________________________________ Back to canon... I assume, in the event of an emergency that can't be avoided, but is not immediately deadly, like a warp core breach in 20 minutes, or something, the shuttle pods could be launched too. THey would provide some protection, as they have weapons, abeilt light weapons, and could serve as the captain's command center. It also has long range communication abilities. Two to four of these shuttle pods would be a great help to a bunch of vaunerable life rafts, and could provide an evac capacity of 5-10 extra people.
-------------------- "Kosh, I'd like to introduce you to our Resident schmuck and his side kick Kick Me."-Ritten
"Fighting for peace is like screwing for virginity". -George Carlin
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Daniel Butler
I'm a Singapore where is my boat
Member # 1689
posted
I don't imagine there'd be a need for a command center; the captain can give orders just as effectively from any random escape pod. I just thought it might be nice if the doctor could get to injured people and treat them, and, given Starfleet's obvious penchant for maximum possible crew comfort (both physical and psychological), they might want to allow friends to be able to visit each other and play cards or something while they wait to get to a habitable planet/get picked up/die of asphyxia.
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