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Streamlined?Edit

Is this the best description? Obviously streamlining has no effect or purpose in a vaccuum... Logan 5 14:12, 15 Jun 2005 (UTC)

The Intrepids are designed to enter a planets atmosphere. Streamlining would be quite useful there, I'd expect. – Fadm tyler 16:08, 20 May 2009 (UTC)
Also, in Nebulae it would be more streamlined. --Hexhunter -- Deus X Machina 20:33, 14 July 2009 (UTC)

Warp Field?Edit

is that bit about fixing the subspace damage problem canon? Mask 07:22, 13 Jul 2005 (UTC)

Yeah, it was mentioned, but it still doesn't make any sense to me. Let's face it, they were just looking for an excuse to make the model look cooler and failed miserably Keras 23:17, 21 Oct 2005 (UTC)

science Edit

Is there any scientific reason for the pylons moving a little to have an effect on subspace? And if so, why don't they just keep the warp engines up at all times? Streamline won't do anything in space, as there's negligible (and theoretically no) drag. This may have been the dumbest thing I've ever seen on a starship. -Keras

Given that "subspace" is the biggest piece of technobabble in science fiction history, I wouldn't look for any scientific explanations relating to it. There's just no such thing as subspace. It's the gibberish that holds all the other gibberish together (and I say this as a lifelong fan of technobabble). 69.157.237.188 05:42, 18 July 2007 (UTC)
So your saying that streamlining a ship designed to operate inside a planets atmosphere is useless? Your 'no drag' argument doesn't hold much weight when talking about an Intrepid, due to the whole 'landing on a planet' thing. – Fadm tyler 16:13, 20 May 2009 (UTC)

canon?Edit

the expression "Variable geometry pylon" is never mentioned, right?--Shisma 22:22, 20 January 2006 (UTC)

No. --Alan 07:07, 18 June 2007 (UTC)

Bussard Ram Scoops Edit

I always thought that that the moving pylons allowed the Bussard collectors to be positioned where the saucer didn't impeded collection during sublight flight and that they allowed the nacelles to be placed for proper warp field creation for the Intrepid-class shape. But never have heard that mentioned. Then again, I haven't heard the prevention of subspace damage theory mentioned either; I must have missed it somehow. Carbonari 14:52, 14 October 2006 (UTC)

Doesn't seem to fit Edit

I just watched "Force of Nature", which references a USS Intrepid (which presumably would have to be the Intrepid-class USS Intrepid, though could possibly be a completely different ship), and is the episode that introduces the warp-speed limit. If VGP is a response to this problem then VGP would have to only be implemented on later vessels of this class (like Voyager), or possibly as an upgrade. --124.189.122.153 06:42, 15 October 2006 (UTC)

In the background information (although not particularly canon), variable geometry pylons are outlined in The Next Generation Technical Manual as a possible design feature for future starships. I haven't read it personally, but I would assume that these future speculations occurred before the construction of the USS Intrepid. --Kahwless 09:21, 19 June 2009 (UTC)
There's no reason why the pylons might not be a new feature. Voyager could be an "Intrepid-class Block 2" for instance, as might the Bellerophon we saw in Inter Arma Enim Silent Legas. This interpretation would fit the facts here. The lead ship, USS Intrepid, is mentioned here and has fixed pylons. The E-D reports the problems seen in the episode. Someone does a redesign. The next production block ("Voyager subclass" if you like) would have the new pylons to deal with the problem. This might be one supposition too far, but it seems to fit the facts.--Indefatigable 21:13, January 2, 2010 (UTC)

nacelle position intended to reduce dragEdit

I wanted to add my 2 cents as a scientist, this isnt the view of the star trek writers, simply an impartiel scientific view of the idea... Someone earlier pointed out that the positioning of the nacelles couldnt possibly related to drag since this takes place in space and space is a vacuum. This is simply not true. Space is not an absolute vacume, while it is often refered to as a vacume by teachers this is a gross over simplification. All space, but especially that close to stars and other massive objects, contain interstellar dust at various densities. Normally this dust is so thin that it an be ignored for purposes of drag, at least at the speeds we are able to achieve in todays day and age. But even at impulse (sublight) speeds, a starship in the star trek fiction can reach near light speeds, even though it cannot break the light barrier without going to warp. As you approach the speed of light (just as you approach higher speeds on earth) the effects of drag become more and more noticeable. In fact at speeds just below that of light (0.99999 * c) the effect of drag would be extreme. In fact, it would approach infinity as speed approaches light. So you see, int he star trek universe drag is a very real concern at sublight speeds. Hope this helps guys.

I want to add one other thing real quick, speaking purely as a trekkie and not as a scientist. All ships have deflectors. As far as i now they never mention if deflectors are used purely at warp speeds or if they are used at impulse as well. But since the point of a deflector is to deflect particles as the ship moves at high speeds (in order to prevent drag, and more importantly the explosive power of a particle hitting at those speeds) it is reasonable to assume that the deflector would effectively reduce drag. 66.166.153.195 18:50, 13 February 2008 (UTC)

See the page about navigational deflector. The first sentence says it is responsible for keeping space dust from impacting the hull. However, we never see a physical manifestation of this "shield" surrounding a ship onscreen (I believe), as we do with the deflector shields. The elliptical shape of the deflector shields would highly increase drag, rather than reduce it, owing to their being larger than the ship itself. The navigational deflector would easily be able to reduce some drag, but why not increase the aerodynamics of the spacecraft some more? They made the Delta Flyer highly aerodynamic after all, although that was specifically designed to enter a planet's atmosphere more often than Voyager. Case in point though, I do agree that the variable geometry pylons, while somewhat a show of feathers, is a viable and practical feature for a starship. --Kahwless 09:32, 19 June 2009 (UTC)
A more streamlined shape would also be useful for a ship designed to enter a planets atmosphere, like the Intrepids are, but no-one seems to bother with that part. – Fadm tyler 16:17, 20 May 2009 (UTC)
That isn't true, egg shapes result in the lowest drag like on aeroplane wings, so supposedly an elliptical shape would be better than most Federation ship's shapes. That is if my high school education was worthy it's salt. --Hexhunter 21:02, 14 July 2009 (UTC)

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