franchise-star-trek-tng-technical-manual1

12.3 GRAVITY GENERATION12.3 GRAVITY GENERATIONSince the time of the first orbital research stations in theSol system, the difficulties as well as the benefits presentedby microgravity situations have been exhaustively documented.The crews of the first true human-built interstellar craft ofthe twenty-first century coped with acceleration and zero-gfcoasting mission segments through the use of rotating centrifuges,acceptable solutions for the day.Humanoid organ systems require gravitational and electromagneticfields to insure proper cellular growth and viability,simulating the natural conditions present on most Class Mworlds. Low-level field devices simulated the planetary electricaland magnetic energy, and the descendants of manytwenty- to thirty-year flights arrived in a healthy state.The general planform of the Ga/axyclass starship returnsto a more natural existence in that people are free to moveabout on planar surfaces with a constant gravity holding themto the deck. Aboard the starship, this is accomplished throughthe use of a network of small gravity generators. The networkis divided into four regions, two within the Saucer Module andtwo within the Battle Section. All four work to maintain theproper sense of "down," and are also actively tied to the inertialdamping field system to minimize motion shock during flight.The two Saucer Module gravity networks each support 400generators; those in the Battle Section each support 200.Fields overlap slightly between devices, but this is barelynoticeable.with a short lifetime, on the order of a few picoseconds. Thisdecay time necessitates the addition of the second layer ofgenerators beyond 30 meters distance. The field is gentleenough to allow natural walking without a gravity gradientfrom head to foot, long a problem in brute-force physicalcentripetal systems.The superconducting stator remains suspended from thetime of manufacture, and requires only an occasional synchronizingenergy pulse from the EPS, normally once eachsixty minutes. In the event of EPS failure, the stator willcontinue to provide an attraction field for up to 240 minutes,though some degradation to about 0.8g will be detected. Anyperceived ship motions that might disturb the stator gyroscopicallyare damped by sinesoidal ribs on the inner surfaceof the anicium titanide cylinder, effectively absorbing motionswith an amplitude of less than or equal to 6 cm/sec. All higheramplitudemotions are relieved by the ship's inertial dampingfield.Gravity generators are located throughout the habitablevolume of the spacecraft. Because of this, inertial potentialcan vary from one location within the ship to another, especiallyduring severe turning maneuvers. In order to allowtranslation of excess inertial potential from one part of the shipto another, the gravity generators are connected together bya network of small waveguide conduits that allow field bleedfor gravitational stability.The gravity field itself is created by a controlled stream ofgravitons, much like those produced by the tractor beam. Infact, the basic physics is the same. Power from the electroplasma system (EPS) is channeled into a hollow chamber ofanicium titanide 454, a sealed cylinder measuring 50 cm indiameter by 25 cm high. Suspended in the center of thecylinder, in pressurized chrylon gas, is a superconductingstator of thoronium arkenide. The stator, once set to arotational rate above 125,540 rpm, generates a graviton field12.3.1 Synthetic gravity generator (typical)Superconducting stator