2005-10-23

Hull Temperature Data

In "Coda"[VOY3], we get to see yet another Voyager shuttle crash. The shuttle Sacajawea, variously shown as a Type-6 or a Type-8 shuttlecraft, encounters a powerful and sudden ion storm disturbance in the atmosphere of some planet or other.

After taking a series of ion lightning hits, the shuttle loses attitude control and navigational systems. Janeway soon reports:

"Altitude: 12 kilometers. Hull temperature: 4,000 degrees. We have to reduce speed!"

That would seem to imply that they were nearing some maximum tolerance . . . though I suppose it could also refer to simply slowing down before colliding with a planet.

Also, in Mosaic[VOY], we get some Voyager-specific hull temperatures. The highest stated maximum is 17,000 degrees, though we do hear of minutes passing between the 14,000 and 15,000 degree marks, along with a number of minutes on the way up to 14,000. The hull doesn't boil off and there's no mention of permanent damage (though it does get up to 62 degrees on the bridge), so this is apparently a readily-survivable (though probably highly-inadvisable) hull temperature.

Also, I've updated the Tech Archives with some unfinished materials from Pathways and Mosaic, as part of continuing work on defining and dating the Cardassian Conflict (with the war still appearing to fall in the 2358-2362 timeframe). Check it out here.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

The Mosaic/Pathways information is interesting, though the canonness always bugs me.
It just seems too close to "The EU is canon!", but I guess if TPTB say it's canon, it be canon.
I'm just afraid that it'll cause a "fracas"; "If trek has canon books, why can't wars?"

Silly as it is, I guess you could use the transporter bit from Pathways to argue pro-wars:
All of the delta quadrant (for the first few seasons, at least :)) has no transporters, and a bunch of stranded Starfleet officers stuck in a mining camp can build TWO in a few weeks. Clearly, the education system of the Federation is just plain awesome.
(Obviously, this is how O'Brien was able to get that transporter working in 15 minutes, setting him on the road to engineerness. Hey, if their regular crewmen can do it, imagine the skills their engineers have!)

Anonymous said...

And some scoff at the MacGuyvering skills of Starfleet people and the high degree of success new tech has without being field tested before its use.

:-P