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#REDIRECT[[Space_travel_in_science_fiction#Slower_than_light]] |
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{{Infobox fictional artifact |
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|name = Impulse drive |
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|image = |
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|caption = |
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|alt = |
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|source = [[Star Trek]] |
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|source_type = franchise |
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|company = |
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|first = [[Star Trek: The Original Series]] |
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|first_ep = |
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|first_type = |
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|date = |
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|creator = [[Gene Roddenberry]] |
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|episode_creator = |
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|type = Propulsion system |
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|genre = Science fiction |
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|owner = |
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|traits = |
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|uses = Allows slower than light interplanetary travel |
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|affilitation = |
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|}} |
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In the fictional ''[[Star Trek]]'' universe, the '''impulse drive''' is the method of propulsion that [[starship]]s and other [[spacecraft]] use when they are travelling below the [[speed of light]].<ref>{{citation|journal=New Scientist|title=Illogical Captain...|date=20 April 1996|author=Lawrence Krauss|issue=2026|page=24|url=https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg15020263.900-illogical-captain.html}}</ref> Typically powered by [[deuterium]] [[fusion power|fusion]] reactors, impulse engines let ships travel interplanetary distances readily. For example, [[Starfleet Academy]] cadets use impulse engines when flying from [[Earth]] to [[Saturn]] and back.{{Citation needed|date=March 2011}} Unlike the warp engines, impulse engines work on principles used in today's rocketry, throwing mass out the back as fast as possible to drive the ship forward. |
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==Practical challenges== |
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There are three practical challenges surrounding impulse drive design: [[acceleration]], [[time dilation]] and [[energy conservation]]. In the show, [[inertia damper|inertial dampers]] compensate for acceleration. These hypothetical devices would have to be set so that the propellant retained its inertia after leaving the craft otherwise the drive would be ineffective.<ref>{{citation|title=Energy Considerations of Hypothetical Space Drives|author=Marc G. Millis|url=https://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/20070031912_2007031208.pdf|format=PDF|pages=3|publisher=American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics|year=2007}}</ref> Time dilation would become noticeable at appreciable fractions of the speed of light. Regarding energy conservation, the television series and books offer two explanations: |
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* ''[[Star Trek: The Next Generation Technical Manual]]'' indicates that the impulse engines are nuclear fusion engines in which the plasma from the fusion reactor powers a massive magnetic coil to propel the ship. It is a form of [[magnetohydrodynamic]] or [[magnetoplasmadynamic thruster]]. This is used in conjunction with the ship's warp drive's alteration of the ship's relativistic mass, to achieve mid-to-high sub-light speeds. Thrusters, on the other hand, are closer to the designs of a high-efficiency reactant propellant (i.e. a sophisticated rocket engine) and are usually used for high-precision maneuvers. Ion propulsion drives are explicitly detailed to be used in ''Star Trek'' by [[Dominion (Star Trek)|Dominion]] and [[Iconian]] Starships and facilities. |
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* Since a ship traveling at impulse velocities (slower than, but approaching, the speed of light) is still traveling in the normal space-time continuum, concerns of time dilation apply, and it is written in the ''ST:TNG Technical Manual'' that high relativistic speeds are avoided unless absolutely necessary; impulse power is therefore customarily limited to a maximum of {{frac|1|4}} lightspeed (approximately 269,813,212 km/h, or 167,654,157 mph). (Warp travel, on the other hand, is stated in the ''Manual'' to cause no kinds of time dilation effects.) |
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==See also== |
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* [[Physics and Star Trek|Physics and ''Star Trek'']] |
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* [[Physics and Star Wars|Physics and ''Star Wars'']] |
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* {{Memoryalpha|Impulse drive}} |
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==References== |
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{{reflist}} |
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{{Star Trek}} |
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Impulse Drive}} |
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[[Category:Star Trek devices]] |
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{{StarTrek-stub}} |
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