Propulsion

Propulsion is the means of creating force that leads to movement. A propulsion system has a source of power and some means of using that power to generate propulsive force.

Slower-than-light propulsion
Some of the extremely rudimentary forms of propulsion include riding on horses, pedal-driven vehicles like bicycles, sailing ships that utilize the wind, steam-powered trains and other various land, sea and air vehicles powered by some form of internal combustion engine. 

For interplanetary spaceflight a variety of other technologies have been invented. Rockets were a very basic way of achieving orbit and traveling from one planet to another within a star system. Solar sails and ion drives have also been used for interplanetary travel. In addition of its use on submarines and aircraft carriers, basic nuclear power was also used as a power source on early interplanetary craft such as the DY-100 class ships. ( production art; ; ; ; )

Type 02 fusion propulsion could only accelerate an interplanetary vessel to a speed of .02 times the speed of light. (, production art ) On impulse ships, the impulse engines utilized subspace driver coils that allowed the ship to reach speeds much closer to the speed of light and made interplanetary travel more practical. Microfusion provided power for smaller thrusters, but these engines were mostly used for short range maneuvering only. 

Faster-than-light propulsion
A means of faster-than-light speed propulsion was one of the most crucial components of a starship. Without it, species would be unable to traverse the vast distances between star systems, making interstellar trade, commerce and exploration impossible.

Subspace-based propulsion
Warp drive was one of the most common forms of faster-than-light propulsion. Warp drive was based on the generation of a subspace field that warps the space around the vessel, allowing it to ride on the subspace distortion at the speed of light and many times faster. These speeds were measured in warp factors. 

Warp drive was not the only subspace-based means of travel. Another method included utilizing naturally formed subspace corridors for interstellar transit. With these natural phenomena only impulse drive was needed to utilize them. It was also possible to artificially generate a subspace vortex with a phase deflector pulse, through which a starship can cross vast distances. 

Other technologies have been tested in the late 24th century such as generating subspace displacement in the form of a soliton wave, along which a starship could ride. The version of the transwarp drive designed by the utilized higher warp frequencies than the standard warp drive could generate to achieve infinite velocity. 

Some forms of transporter technology, that utilize subspace to transmit the subject in the form of a matter stream, could be used as a form of instantaneous faster-than-light transit, such as the subspace transporter and transwarp beaming. In a larger scale, these types of transporters could even transport entire starships hundreds of light years away, such as the Kalandan molecular transporter system. 

Tachyon-based propulsion
Tachyons are subatomic particle that exist naturally at faster-than-light velocities. Ancient Bajoran lightships used their solar sails to catch naturally occuring tachyon eddies to travel at superluminal speeds. 

Tachyons could also be produced artificially. The Borg transwarp conduit method of propulsion was based on this technology. Tachyon bursts were emitted on a high-energy band into space at a resonant transwarp frequency level. The conduit would then begin to form in front of the ship allowing it to ride along the matter stream at transwarp velocities. 

Some methods of time travel, like the chrono deflector produced large ammounts of tachyokinetic energy to generate a tachyon pulse to produce a temporal rift. While the main purpose of these rifts was to move starships through time, a rift like this could also take the ship anywhere in the galaxy. 

Graviton-based propulsion
Gravitons are the subatomic particles that transmit the force of gravity. Some lifeforms, such as the dikironium cloud creature, were known to use gravitational fields for faster-than-light propulsion. A graviton catapult was also an application of gravity for transit. A massive graviton surge was locked on to a starship through an array of projectors and sent the ship nearly instantaneously to its destination hundreds or even thousands of light years away through null space. 

A highly charged graviton field can also create a severe bias in the subspace continuum. Entering such a graviton field can propel a starship half way across the galaxy. 

Graviton beams could be used as a method of propulsion. A graviton beam in the form of a tractor beam could be used to drag a vessel into faster-than-light speeds by another ship. A slower ship could also hold onto a faster ship with a tractor beam to achieve greater speed. A graviton beam could also be utilized as a repulsor beam, to repel a starship from the source of the beam. A sufficiently strong repulsor beam could instantaneously push starships through significant interstellar distances, such as those used by the Aldeans. 

Spacetime manipulation
The spacetime continuum itself can be distorted in various ways as a means of propulsion. One method was the coaxial induction drive, also known as the coaxial warp drive, that had the capability of folding the fabric of space, allowing a ship to cross vast distances instantaneously. It functioned by drawing in subatomic particles and reconfiguring their internal geometries. 

Folded-space transporters could achieve a similar effect. The Sikarian spatial trajector utilized a neutrino envelope and an antineutrino catalyst to fold space. To move starships, the power system needed to be compatible and the field needed to be amplified by the quartz mantle of the Sikarian homeworld. 

In the quantum slipstream drive, a starship projected and focused a quantum field with its navigational deflector. Using the field, the ship penetrated the quantum barrier and entered a slipstream. At slipstream velocities a ship could travel across the galaxy in a matter of months. 

Wormholes were the most common natural phenomena that distorted space to link distant parts together as a shortcut. Natural wormhole-like phenomenon, such as a spatial vortex, an interspatial flexure and the Möbius Inversion in the Delta Quadrant have been used as a form of transit by starships to cross vast distances. 

While wormhole-like phenomenon occurred in nature, they could also be artificially created for travel and communication purposes. While the Federation had some success in experimenting with the creation of both, only the extra-dimensional lifeforms known as the Prophets were known to posses the ability to form a completely stable wormhole with verterons. 

In the smaller scale spatial distortion fields could be used to transport individuals light years away, such as with the Nyrian translocator technology. In the larger scale, spatial rifts could be used as shortcuts in space by starships. Such rifts as spatial flexures could be artificially produced by a navigational deflector, though only the Q were known to understand the process. 

In the 31st century, time travel pods no longer utilized any forms of traditional propulsion. They were powered by a temporal displacement drive that utilized temporal radiation. This was an advanced propulsion technology that moved the spacecraft through space and time. 

Slower-than-light

 * Hyper-impulse drive
 * Impulse drive
 * Avidyne engine
 * Impulse thruster
 * Internal combustion engine
 * Ion drive
 * Rocket
 * Booster rocket
 * Chemical rocket
 * Solar sail
 * Thruster
 * Attitude control thruster
 * Control thruster
 * Guidance thruster
 * Landing thruster
 * Microfusion thruster
 * Polarity thruster
 * Reaction control thruster
 * Sub-impulse thruster
 * Nuclear reactor
 * Fusion propulsion
 * Nuclear fission reactor

Faster-than-light

 * Coaxial warp drive
 * Displacement wave
 * Graviton catapult
 * Null space
 * Ion propulsion
 * Lang cycle fusion engine
 * Quantum slipstream drive
 * Repulsor beam
 * Soliton wave
 * Spatial rift
 * Spatial flexure
 * Spatial trajector
 * Subspace corridor
 * Subspace distortion
 * Subspace vortex
 * Tachyon eddy
 * Temporal displacement drive
 * Transwarp drive
 * Transwarp conduit
 * Warp drive
 * Class 7 warp drive
 * Class 9 warp drive
 * Enhanced warp drive
 * S-2 graf unit
 * Subspace resonator
 * Tricyclic plasma drive
 * Warp five engine
 * Warp three engine
 * Yoyodyne pulse fusion
 * Wormhole
 * Intermittent cyclical vortex
 * Möbius Inversion
 * Spatial vortex

External link


Antriebssystem Propulsion Aandrijving