Forum:USS Voyager's Journey Back Home

In Star Trek: Voyager, it is stated that it will take 75 years to travel 70,000 light years to reach Federation space. It is stated that the Voyager can sustain a maximum crusing speed of warp 9.975. Assuming that the crew wants to get home as fast as possible, it would only take 16 years and 18.73 days to reach Federation space at the maximum cruising speed specified. If it is going to take Voyager 75 years to travel the same distance, then Voyager would have to be traveling at warp 7.782. Although Voyager would have to stop to refuel and perform maintenance, it still shouldn't take that long to travel home. Can anyone explain this?


 * I don't think Voyager could maintain 9.975 for 16 years; high speeds, even if possible to maintain, are more taxing on the engines and are inefficient in terms of fuel usage(just as with a car; you can go 85 mph, but you use more fuel than if you went 55). Aside from maintenance, you also have to stop and negotiate passage through alien territory, avoid spacial anomalies, or travel slower through them, or any other numerous things that could slow them down. 31dot (talk) 09:15, August 9, 2012 (UTC)