Hello all, Ric here and this video is about the various life support systems in Starfleet
vessels as well as the variations that exist due to the differing requirements of multiple
species. In real world systems, oxygen is recycled from carbon dioxide, creating about
40% of the required amount and removing the build-up of CO2. The air is cycled through
numerous filters that remove the trace elements such as methane and electrolysis extracts
extra o2 from water. The hydrogen from the H20 is also combined with the waste carbon
dioxide to create more water and methane. In many ways, this chemistry is continued
into Star Trek, but things get far more efficient when you can create molecules at an atomic
level via replication and transporters. There’s a bit of a stereotype among the
other species of the Star Trek universe levelled against the Federation and its approach to
starship design, and that is that Starfleet vessels tend to have too many redundancies
and backups upon backups. This is not an idle observation to be honest, Starfleet vessels
do have a lot of backup systems but where the jokes originate is that frequently whatever
issue knocks a subsystem is usually enough of a problem to also nullify the backup options
too. This has led species like the Klingons to look at Starfleet ships as “overdesigned”
and in some cases they have a point. But not when it comes to life-support. Technically,
a standard Federation vessel has its life support systems built to a standard set by
the Federation Regulatory Agency, section 102.19 to be exact. This dictates that every
Starfleet vessel have no less than three life support systems to maintain its atmosphere.
Technically that’s a bit of a cheat, as two of those systems actually operate in rotation
at all times while the third is the true backup system, and many ships even have localised
reserves for extensive damage. So four systems if you want to be picky.
The internal atmosphere of a Federation Starship is set to the average M class environment,
one tolerable (and for the most part comfortable) to most humanoid species which make up the
majority of the Milky Way’s people, be they Betazoid or Bolian. This M class environment
is set to 26 degrees Celsius, 45% humidity, pressure at 101 kilopascals with an oxygen-nitrogen
mix and a standard gravity of 1 G. This might be slightly on the warm side for some, or
a bit to humid, but overall acclimatisation is possible.
However, there are occasionally Starfleet vessels which are crewed entirely by another
species, or members of the same species such as the Vulcan ships, the USS Intrepid in 2268
and the T’Kumbra in 2375. These vessels would have internal life support tailored
to those crews, probably slightly hotter and with less humidity to resemble the arid air
of Vulcan, but still well within M class ranges. Minor tweaks to life support could be made
at a ship wide level allowing for the dispersal of different compounds as well as alterations
to heating, but more extensive overhauls has to be conducted at a Starbase or Drydock.
Internally, individual quarters too had a much wider ranges of environmental control
than operational sectors of the ship. The main life support system consists of alternating
air processors every 50 metres around the halls of a Starship that withdraw carbon dioxide
from the air and replace it with fresh oxygen using photosynthetic bioprocessors. Every
96 hours, the life support system switches over from one active system to the other,
allowing for maintenance on the inactive one. The Gravity plating lines every floor surface
of a ship and can be altered for various needs. The entire “net” is powered by the Artificial
Gravity Generator which produces gravitons to generate the sensation of Earth-normal
gravity. The Gravity plating has a dedicated network to every deck and section so failures
usually don’t cascade throughout the entire ship. Without it, the crew would simply float
or need to use magnetic boots. The backup life support only operates at 50%
the efficiency of the full life-support and can last for a day running off main or emergency
power. However, if the backups then fail, there are numerous 30 minute stores of atmospheric-mix
that can be deployed into corridors located throughout the vessel. These designed to pressurise
rooms that have been removed from the main life-support supply, usually due to damage.
Alongside these, there are designated shelter areas that have greater emergency reserves;
however these cannot support everyone so harsh choices would have to be made. Alongside all
this, the standard lighting in an emergency drops to a dimmer level to conserve every
minute of available power. As for waste? Well the carbon dioxide that
is recycled alongside other… stuff… poop, I mean space poop, is added to a variety of
recycling systems. Some matter can be used as fertiliser for hydroponics and as CO2 for
plant life. Other materials, around 5% of the produced amounts are broken down by dematerialization
and used for replication matter. However it should be noted that there is some waste that
is actually more energy-effective to simply process or dispose of in less technologically
savvy ways. Overall around 82% of waste matter is reused on a Federation Starship.
Not every species can survive in an M class environment and unfortunately for these individuals,
they have to often wear their own life-support gear. In Starfleet, there are several of these
races such as the Benzites, which as of 2364 were not a Federation world, but one strongly
tied to them. Most early Benzites that joined Stafleet wore a respirator apparatus attached
to their chest that secreted a chlorine-rich atmosphere that was breathable for them. They
could breathe in a standard oxygen-nitrogen for a while, but this would cause lung damage.
This is the inverse of most humanoids who can tolerate very low levels of inhaled chlorine
up to about 30 parts per million. Higher concentrations result in acute repertory damage. Because
of this hazard to others there must have been some projected force field from a Benzite’s
appliance to prevent the gas from dispersing too far and within the breather’s proximity.
Soon however, the Benzites developed an alternative to the visible respirator although I could
not find any canon explanation as to what this alternative was. It could be in internal
chlorinator in the air passages or some form of nanotech. As they are not a Federation
race, this might even be genetic modification of some sort.
Another species, the Barzan also were not Federation members, but occasionally had dealings
with Starfleet or the UFP. This was out of necessity as their home world of Barzan II
was not very rich in resources and they engaged in trade with others to offset this. The exact
atmospheric composition of their planet was never mentioned, but it was toxic to standard
humanoids. Like the Benzites, the Barzans chose to affix
a respirator to their face, enabling them to breathe, however these were actually implanted
into their cheeks to alter the atmosphere they inhaled, probably as it entered the mouth.
A Barzan can survive with only one of these functional, although it was difficult.
The Elaysians are another species with specific life support requirements. Whereas they do
breathe a standard M class atmosphere, their planet has a very low gravitational pull and
they have evolved to function just fine when in this environment, but the common 1G set
by Federation standards would cripple an unprotected Elaysian. As such, they wore external support
frames in this environment coupled with anti-grav chairs for mobility.
In all of these examples however, a crewman assigned to a Starfleet vessel would have
their quarters specifically altered to be habitable for them so that they at least could
be comfortable in their own “homes”. Ships that frequently served as diplomatic vessels,
such as Galaxy classes also had several guest quarters that could be set to extreme environments
including L and K class atmospheres. I’ve done a video breaking down planetary classification
too if you’re interested. Starfleet in most of these instances, tends
to meet other cultures halfway. Understandably, it’s rather more inconvenient to convert
an entire starship’s artificial ecosystem to accommodate one individual with extreme
requirements, but with the aid of personalised and specialised equipment, it’s quite feasible
to stand shoulder to shoulder with someone requiring completely a different biome. This
approach upholds the commitment from Starfleet to allow for a variety of individuals from
multiple origins to live and work in space. And I’m sure if the Enterprise D and USS
Titan can even accommodate whales, dolphins and other aquatics as part of their crew some
small concessions can be made here and there. Unless you’re a Tholian, in which case your
chances of surviving on a Federation ship are very low considering you’d freeze, fracture
and shatter in an M class atmosphere. Explosively. Thanks for watching this video on the various
life-support systems present on a Starfleet craft and the numerous redundancies and personal
alterations that can be made. Can you think of other species from primary or extra-canonicl
stories that had their own life-support requirements? I thought of the Tagran, but their breathers
were due to damage inflicted by their own pollution and didn’t serve in Starfleet.
Until the next, tech, lore, discussion or review video, I’ve been Ric and I’ll see
you next time! Goodbye!