Hi, Ric here and one question that recently came by me via twitter was to explain why
Voyager’s warp nacelles are hinged. Why do they angle before the ship goes to warp?
So Looking for a video for today’s upload, I thought this would be a good topic to address.
Please excuse the cold and let’s have a look.
One of the first facts presented to us in the series is that the vessel, and intrepid
class can sustain a warp factor of 9.975. Compare this to a galaxy class like the USS
Enterprise D, which capped out at 9.6 and couldn’t even hold that speed from more
than a few minutes. In fact the enterprise operated most of the time around Warp 6. And
it’s a good thing too or Voyager’s journey home would have taken even longer.
So let’s get back to the design board and look at why Voyager’s nacelles bend. This
system is known as the Variable Warp Geometry. Within continuity, the ability to create movable
nacelles has been around for a while, with the section 31 vessels, type NCIA-93 having
alterable nacelles, although this was done to create a stealthier profile. The earliest
version of Variable Warp Geometry dates to around the time of the Great Experiment, the
USS Excelsior (so 2270 to 90-ish). The Alka-Selsior’s only canon appearance however was in a decommission
depot as a scrapped vessel but apparently featured 4 movable pylons.
As Starfleet grew and expanded, the reaches of space were being mapped out and that unknown
frontier was receding further and further away. The original design purpose for the
Intrepid class was to create a vessel that was fast enough to reach those unexplored
edges of space but be able to return again for individual missions as opposed to the
open ended exploratory missions such as the famous 5 year ones. Those long voyages are
all very epic, but that’s 5 years away from home in theory, or endangering a lot of civilian
lives if you bring them with you. So Starfleet needed a fast vessel and in Star
Trek, this means making it look sleeker. In universe, this is because there is such a
thing as subspace drag and turbulence. When a vessel is at warp, it is in effect moving
through this realm of subspace alongside a physical presence in our universe so it is
subject to the flows and currents of this extra dimension. The Variable Warp Geometry
was conceptualised as a way for a vessel to overcome these natural obstacles.
For the longest time, this was never considered a problem by Starfleet who just addressed
the need for greater speeds with MOAR POWER! Effectively brute-forcing their way to higher
and higher warp factors. But that all changed in 2370. In the episode “Force of Nature”,
we see that Hekaran warp field theorists produced undisputable evidence that repeated high warp
factors could damage subspace and too much would irreparably damage it by forming a subspace
rift, making warp travel impossible nearby it.
For the time, the federation had to impose a speed limit of warp 5 on all vessels and
only emergencies could fun faster, however they would need to adapt their designs moving
forwards. At this time, the Intrepid class was undergoing its earliest testing. The design
was adapted upon learning of the potential for subspace damage to have an alterable warp
field that would organically change as it encountered variances in subspace, rather
than just power through them. It’s not clear whether the Variable Warp nacelle was present
from the start of the design process in the intrepid, but I like to think this was added
afterwards. As the warp field that protects the vessel
and bends space time is generated by the coils lining the nacelles, the most obvious way
to alter the subspace profile of a vessel is to move the nacelles around. This changes
the shape and integrity of the warp field on the fly and allows for a much smoother
ride. That combined with the sleeker profile meant that the warp bubble itself was more
elongated and… aerodynamic. Well, not aerodynamic… its space. So subspace-dynamic? This is why
many ships from then on adopted a more adroit profile, like the Sovereign and Odyssey, but
by then, the variable warp design was no longer needed all the time as Warp theory had progressed
enough to alleviate the damage to subspace in future Starfleet ships.
This in my opinion is why we have the Intrepid as the only vessel at the time with these
strange nacelles. The understanding of warp travel was radically shifted during its development
so the design was altered to accommodate this, although we don’t’ have that in cemented
in canon. So when in warp, the pylons are raised to
produce a sleeker profile that slides through subspace and can alter its form on the fly
rather than shove it all aside with unlimited powah. This requires a lot of computational
power however, so it’s a good thing that the ship also utilises faster Bioneural circuitry.
This is why the Intrepid can sustain very high warp factors without burnout, because
whereas older designs work hard, Voyager works smart.
Believe it or not, this actually makes the apparent hinges on the vessel subject to less
“sheer” from subspace eddies than those of a galaxy class, providing the Intrepid
doesn’t have a computational error of some description and misalign the nacelles. That
would be like raising the mainsail in a storm, you’re probably going to lose the mast.
There’s a lot more going into the fiction theories of subspace mechanics and lots of
jargon to add more context to warp theory, but that gets really confusing and, while
based in real theory, it’s mostly made up for the show. So yeah, a short video, but
I hope that answers your question. Bendy Nacelles mean bendy warp bubble which
means smoother, faster ride with less subspace damage and drag. Thanks for watching this
lore bubble of a video, I’ve been Ric and until next time, goodbye!