Description

This article is from the Star Trek Tech FAQ, by Joshua Bell inexorabletash@hotmail.com with numerous contributions by others.

123 "Some Starfleet ships use 3 nacelles!" (Warp and Subspace - Star Trek)

In 2269, Starfleet attempted ships with 1 and 3 or more warp nacelles
(TNG TM p65). As previously thought, 2 is the most efficient, but 4 is
apparently useful in some cases (Constellation Class, Cheyenne Class).

You need one nacelle to get anywhere, minimum. However, to yaw you
need the nacelle to be split vertically (left and right halves) and to
pitch you need the nacelle to be split horizontally (top and bottom
halves). By using a split nacelle, you can induce slight timing
differences, and cause the desired rotational effect (TM p65). This is
a bit of a problem with one nacelle, since you end up with each warp
coil divided into four segments. The TM indicates that matching
*pairs* is difficult and very sensitive. Matching four, and providing
four plasma injectors for each coil segment is probably difficult.

Having more than two nacelles (either 3 or 4) allows you to use only a
single segment per coil. But the warp field itself requires a gap to
be released! (TM p65) (For anyone who doubts this, in "Eye of the
Beholder" [TNG], we see TNG TM fig 5.3.3 reproduced on a large screen
display with labels.)

So you need to have the warp coils split in two anyway; if you use the
top/bottom split to provide pitch control, and two nacelles to provide
yaw control, you're set.

On some designs, four nacelles may be the way to go; even with the
required split, being able to tune the warp field discreetly may be
enough of an advantage to warrant using four nacelles.

Continue to:

• prev: 122 Nitty Gritty (Warp and Subspace - Star Trek)
• Index
• next: 124 "Ha! Three nacelle ships are canon!" ("All Good Things..." [TNG]) (Warp and Subspace - Star Trek)