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Ion Drive engines in the SFU

 
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Starsuperion
Lieutenant JG


Joined: 06 Sep 2009
Posts: 80

PostPosted: Tue Oct 06, 2009 10:21 pm    Post subject: Ion Drive engines in the SFU Reply with quote

So where do Ion engines come into play in this universe?

I remember the episode with Spock's Brain, that there was a ship that used Ion drive as their main propulsion, and I remember Scotty mentioning that Ion drives were more advanced then the warp drives..

so are there any races in the Alpha or Omega Octant that use Ion drives?[/quote]
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djdood
Commodore


Joined: 01 Feb 2007
Posts: 3412
Location: Seattle, WA

PostPosted: Tue Oct 06, 2009 10:29 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Nope.

I don't play Omega or Mellenganics, so I don't know them, but in the Alpha Octant, everybody pretty uniformly uses dilithium-regulated matter/anti-matter-powered warp drives, with fusion-powered impulse engines as sublight auxiliaries (also usable for s-l-o-w "non-tactical" warp, as in the Early Years and the Romulans until the Smarba treaty with the Klingons).
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Kang
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Joined: 23 Sep 2007
Posts: 1976
Location: Devon, UK

PostPosted: Wed Oct 07, 2009 6:49 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

And to follow on from 'dood's comment, the Impulse engines are ion engines, albeit of a far more advanced design from those we have nowadays.

Remember you can't always take things that Trek characters say as Gospel, because they are dictated by the writers - who make it up as they go along.
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Steve Cole
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Joined: 11 Oct 2006
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PostPosted: Wed Oct 07, 2009 2:49 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Impulse engines ARE ion engines.

Trying to base engineering on character dialogue will drive you mad.
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Hod K'el
Lieutenant Commander


Joined: 21 Aug 2008
Posts: 301
Location: Lafayette LA

PostPosted: Wed Oct 07, 2009 8:36 pm    Post subject: Ion / Impulse Reply with quote

The reason why Impulse engines are ion engines is because of the way ion engines work.

You have an anion which is an electron ion pulse, which is a negative charge. You also have a cation which is a positive ion pulse, which is a positive charge. The ion engine pulses positive then immediately negative to push against its first pulse. It repeats this process in very rapid impulse changes to force itself against the last charge that it maid to lift itself off the ground, similar to magnets pushing against one another.

Thus you have impulses of the ion engine, which is why an impulse engine IS an ion engine.
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