137 Speed limits (Warp Velocities - Star Trek)
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This article is from the Star Trek Tech FAQ, by Joshua Bell inexorabletash@hotmail.com with numerous contributions by others.
137 Speed limits (Warp Velocities - Star Trek)
"What's this about a Warp 10 barrier?"
In the TNG scale, Warp 10 is infinite speed. As you approach a
position on the graph corresponding to Warp 10, your power
requirements increase astronomically compared to your increase in
speed. But you can keep speeding up forever, unlike the light barrier,
which keeps you from getting to the speed of light.
In other words, keep piling on the 9s. Warp 9.99 is a lot faster than
Warp 9.9, while Warp 3.99 is only marginally faster than Warp 3.9. The
barrier is only one of energy, not velocity.
Once again, in case you missed it, TNG Warp 10 is not a speed barrier;
it cannot be broken like the sound barrier. Any warp factor greater
than 10 must be on a different scale than the TNG scale (either TOS or
AGT or something else), since a speed faster than infinite speed is
nonsensical.
....
"But in "Is There in Truth no Beauty?" [TOS] and "That Which Survives"
[TOS], the old Enterprise went over Warp 14!"
Yes, but that's on the old scale. By the new scale, that translates to
about Warp 9.7 (TM), which the Enterprise-D can do for brief periods.
The original Enterprise was being shaken apart. Voyager can cruise at
that speed without blinking.
....
"But in "Where No One Has Gone Before" [TNG] they went past Warp 10!"
Chalk this one up to instrument failure. While Geordi did say they'd
passed Warp 10, later in the episode they were booting along at some
outrageously huge speed, while the instruments only read Warp 1.5. So
there's canonical evidence that the Traveler's tweaking of the warp
drive and the Enterprise's speedometer don't get along well.
Daryle Walker points out that the real-world explanation for this is
probably that the Warp 10 rule hadn't been established yet - this was
an early first-season episode.
....
"This new Warp 5 speed limit - what's up with that?"
In "Force of Nature" [TNG] it is discovered that in the Hekaras
Corridor, a region of space where warp travel is hindered except for a
narrow path the intense use of warp drives in an already sensitive
area can (over time) cause subspace rifts to form, where subspace
manifests itself in real space on a macroscopic scale. This is not a
good thing.
"Does this take effect everywhere?"
Yes. In "The Pegasus" [TNG] an Admiral Pressman gives Picard
permission to travel faster than Warp 5 for the duration of the
mission. Ditto in "Eye of the Beholder" [TNG], when Picard is given
permission to exceed the speed limit to delivery needed medical
supplies. The Encyclopedia concurs as well, naming Warp 5 as the new
cruising speed for starships. Overkill? Probably. Typical bureaucratic
overcompensation? Yep.
....
"So what about in "All Good Things..." [TNG] and post-TNG shows?"
It's safe to say that the U.S.S. Pasteur and U.S.S. Enterprise,
cruising at Warp 13, were able to ignore the Warp 5 limitation
enforced by Starfleet. While the limitation was mentioned in a few
later TNG episodes, it was ignored in DS9 and VOY episodes set only a
few years later. There are a few possible explanations. The first is
that Starfleet simply repealed the ruling, and is allowing ships to
muck up subspace. That isn't what we'd expect in the eco-friendly Star
Trek Universe, however.
Another is that changes to warp technology allow warp travel without
the nasty side effects. Rumors abound that Voyager's folding nacelles
and/or warp core design mitigate the effect, although Rick Sternbach
(the designer of Voyager) isn't so sure. The most probable explanation
is that internal technological changes allow warp drive without
damaging subspace.
Franz Joseph's "Field Restoration" nacelle end-cap, anyone? (Star
Fleet Technical Manual)
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