posted
Though I can't fathom needing eight docking arms unless there's some sort of emergency and the crew needs to evacuate as quickly as possible.
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posted
I'm not sure that they connect to the docking ports (at least not all of them). I think I've seen pictures of McKinley wrapped around the E-D like a claw (in fact wasn't there a pic of that in All Good Things?) Why it does this? I don't know. Perhaps to give service craft and technicians easier access to the ship and hull.
------------------ "A gathering of Angels appeared above my head. They sang to me this song of hope, and this is what they said..." -Styx
They seem to just secure the ship in place. Granted, they never seem to directly touch the hull, perhaps they are used in helping the ship maintain it's own position (some of of visual reference?) or as an emergency system to hold the ship, should it's RCS system fail... They could also be used for positioning large pieces of superstructure during construction of a new ship (like giant shuttle arms?)...
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posted
They could just use tractor beams to hold the ship in place
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posted
They could, but what if power is lost, for some reason? (anomoly, alien attack, etc.) Having something solid is very failsafe, plus saves energy...
------------------ Sheridan: "Well, as answers go, short, to the point, utterly useless and totally consistant with what I've come to expect from a Vorlon..." Kosh: "Good." Sheridan: "I REALLY hate it when you do that..." Kosh: "Good."
posted
Wait, the Enterprise-C was built at McKinley?
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posted
The Arms seem to come in close to the mooring tractors on the Galaxy Class. I suspect that these mooring tractors are not able to work at very long range, so the arms provide something close by. While the RCS system could hold the ship in place, this structure allows the RCS system to be taken off line. In fact, the arms probably have their own tractors, so the ship can shut down all power if nessicary.
We have seen shots of Utopia Planetia that have frames like the McKinley Station one, so it is possable that the single frame the Enterprise was docked to in that episode was NOT Earth Station McKinley, but rather was a single structure of a larger complex.
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Saltah'na
Chinese Canadian, or 75% Commie Bastard.
Member # 33
posted
My guess is that the Spider assembly as seen on TNG is simply a separate part of McKinley. What I'm trying to say is that McKinley is not necessarily a single structure. There may be a central facility for Earth Station McKinley itself, as well as separate facilities for Warp Engine Manufacturing, one that creates the hulls of these starships, one that does repairs, yadda yadda yadda, and of course, those "Spider Assemblies".
As for the claw here's a possible theory: The claw extensions fold inwards in order to keep the ship safely secure to the dock in order to facilitate repairs, upgrades, and the such. Otherwise, a very large Tractor Beam would be required to keep the ship in place, which would absorb a lot of power. There are possibly many smaller Tractor beams in those claws, but they take significantly less power than Larger beams.
Also observe that the facilities are in an orbit around Earth. Anything can dislodge ships from their facilities and send them crashing into Earth if they are only kept in place by a Tractor Beam. My guess is that the Claws will prevent this from happening. I can also speculate that each spider assembly has its own propulsion system in order to keep the facilities in synchronized orbit.
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[This message has been edited by Tahna Los (edited July 06, 2000).]
posted
Certainly, McKinley Station is a collection of a dozen or so orbital docks, just like The San Francisco Yards is not likely composed soley of the drydock that the E-nil was refitted in... The E-B's drydock from Generations is also part of SFY, and the E-E was most likely also built in a box-type drydock at SFY.
The confusing part is the name, McKinley STATION does imply only one. Perhaps it's actually McKinley Yards, and that was A McKinley station, one of many...
------------------ Sheridan: "Well, as answers go, short, to the point, utterly useless and totally consistant with what I've come to expect from a Vorlon..." Kosh: "Good." Sheridan: "I REALLY hate it when you do that..." Kosh: "Good."
posted
I'm not all that sure that any sort of station-keeping measures are really needed except in emergency situations. One something starts moving in space it keeps moving in the same way until something hits it. Once the ship is aligned with the position and rotation of the station, it shouldn't need to be held in place by anything. Though, here's a thought: when we saw the Ent-B in it's box, there was a substatial mooring coming from the top of the box and connecting to the aft saucer section I believe. Maybe there is a similar device on the central portion of these spiders that connect with a more substantial part of the ship.
------------------ "A gathering of Angels appeared above my head. They sang to me this song of hope, and this is what they said..." -Styx
"The confusing part is the name, McKinley STATION does imply only one. Perhaps it's actually McKinley Yards, and that was A McKinley station, one of many.."
I always assumed that Mckinley was a large grouping of docks like San Francisco Yards or Utopia Planetia Fleet Yards. But now that you mention it "Earth Station Mckinley" as Riker called it in BOBW II, does seem to imply a single facility. Perhaps Mckinley station is just one dock that is part of the larger San Francisco Yards. Although I prefer the many Mckinley units theory, I am no longer sure it jibes. thoughts...
Basil
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