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I seriously think we need a sketch Mark - sounds intruiging.
I too want to eliminate the annoying 'stepped' saucer seen on the Sovereign.
A larger dish too - the Sovereign dish looked silly - I think it was changed in pre-production somehow for story purposes - I don't think the crew would have been able to magnetically make their way across the grill on the E-D's dish or something like it.!
I like your Riker: Explorer or Diplomat mini article there, Mark!
Just expanding that - I've always felt that the E-D was destined to deep space exploration and that starting from Farpoint it was making it's way slowly out from core-Federation worlds. The problem was - by the end of the season - with "Conspiracy" they were back to Earth again - and as Picard said in his long that that was something unusual for a ship like the Enterprise.
I think that after the events of "The Neutral Zone" they were on their way back out again - then along came "Q-Who" and the contact with the Borg. After this I believe that Starfleet would have ordered the Enterprise to stay relatively close to Federation borders. This is seen then throughout the rest of the series where we have more interaction with border worlds than we do with 'strange new worlds' - and there was no problem with that. People think that the Federation border is quite crowded - the problem is they think of it as a solid line in 2 dimensions. Anyway that is besides the point.
P.S. What is the "Luna Class" you speak of? Sounds Fandomesque. And what ships were those that were supposedly not far away from Voyager!?! Is this when they got the message from Admiral Hayes?
Should we have a separate Forum for this project? Like the old UP3 forum?
Andrew
-------------------- "Bears. Beets. Battlestar Galactica." - Jim Halpert. (The Office)
posted
The "changing ship" seems far in advance of Federation technology (though by all rights, such re-arrangment should have been available back in early TNG as an offshoot of replicator tech- just as physical walls should be instantly erected to seal hull breaches instead of force fields).
A good idea for Enterprise J though (not as though we'll ever see it now though).
-------------------- Justice inclines her scales so that wisdom comes at the price of suffering. -Aeschylus, Agamemnon
Registered: Aug 2002
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Not really- it sure took a while for the field to pop up in Nemesis.
Physical barriers would be better- in case the power goes (and it's likely if your ship is chock full of hull-breaches).
-------------------- Justice inclines her scales so that wisdom comes at the price of suffering. -Aeschylus, Agamemnon
Registered: Aug 2002
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And why would the various conduits that provide raw matter have resisted getting blown up like the various conduits that provide shimmery force fields?
Registered: Mar 1999
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They wouldn't, but physical barriers would remain after the power fails at least.
I always thought a lifeboat should only be a hatch with a specialty replicator in it: if the ship's lost, the replicator could just manufacture whatever sized lifeboat is required.
-------------------- Justice inclines her scales so that wisdom comes at the price of suffering. -Aeschylus, Agamemnon
Registered: Aug 2002
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posted
Still, moving parts on gaint spacecraft really bug me.
Do the parts move on magnetic rails? I cant fathom they have huge internal servos and gears and traditional joints.
What happens in case of total power loss?
Better to have a variable geometry warp field.
-------------------- Justice inclines her scales so that wisdom comes at the price of suffering. -Aeschylus, Agamemnon
Registered: Aug 2002
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posted
How about nacelles that 'hide' behind the saucer section when at warp - but are above (or below it, or even to the sides - for bussard collection) when at sub-light speeds?
-------------------- "Bears. Beets. Battlestar Galactica." - Jim Halpert. (The Office)
posted
Might as well make the saucer move instead. Mabye it can flap it's nacelles while at warp...
-------------------- Justice inclines her scales so that wisdom comes at the price of suffering. -Aeschylus, Agamemnon
Registered: Aug 2002
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posted
That sort of thing was also proposed by Eaves in the early Sovereign concepts. Not a bad idea, unless the design turns out to look like a chicken as well.
If VP nacelles move, it'd peobably be along the same lines as Voyager, the Scimitar, etc. The Norway's VG nacelles supposedly move on rails - but I'm not proposing the entire nacelle moves like that.
Try this - imagine the Sovereign class, with nacelles that are about 2/3 the current length. It goes to warp, and the whole pylon moves the nacelle down somewhat to clear the bussard collectors. At the same time, the nacelle opens up and extends to full length, moving the second set of warp coils into "extended cruise" position. Two very small nacelles deploy from the dorsal aft saucer on angled pylons. And finally, the deflector moves from a near perpendicular position to something more angled.
I'll try to demonstrate this on a profile view of a Sovereign, when I get back home after Sunday...
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