franchise-star-trek-tng-technical-manual1

A subspace field of one thousand millicochranes orgreater becomes the familiar warp field. Field intensity foreach warp factor increases geometrically and is a function ofthe total of the individual field layer values. Note that thecochrane value for a given warp factor corresponds to theapparent velocity of a spacecraft traveling at that warp factor.For example, a ship traveling at Warp Factor 3 is maintaininga warp field of at least 39 cochranes and is therefore travelingat 39 times c, the speed of light. Approximate values forinteger warp factors are:Warp Factor 1 =Warp Factor 2 =Warp Factor 3 =1 cochrane10 cochranes39 cochranesWarp Factor 4:Warp Factor 5 ••Warp Factor 6 ••Warp Factor 7 ••Warp Factor 8:Warp Factor 9 •102 cochranes214 cochranes392 cochranes656 cochranes1024 cochranes1516 cochranesThe actual values are dependent upon interstellar conditions,e.g., gas density, electric and magnetic fields within thedifferent regions of the Milky Way galaxy, and fluctuations inthe subspace domain. Starships routinely travel at multiplesof c, but they suffer from energy penalties resulting fromquantum drag forces and motive power oscillation inefficiencies.5.1.1 Warp speed/power graphPower usageapproaches infinityW1010,000~=Peak transitional threshold for Warp 1W10*1,000-=100~=Warp factorPower usage in megajoules/cochrane-'910Figuring out how "fast" various warp speeds are was pretty complicated, but not just from a "scientific" viewpoint. First, we hadto satisfy the general fan expectation that the new ship was significantly faster than the original. Second, we had to work withGene's recalibration, which put Warp Wat the absolute top of the scale. These first two constraints are fairly simple, but wequickly discovered that it was easy to make warp speeds TOO fast. Beyond a certain speed, we found that the ship wouldbe able to cross the entire galaxy within a matter of just a few months. (Having the ship too fast would make the galaxy toosmall a place for the Star Trek format.) Finally, we had to provide some loophole for various powerful aliens like Q, who havea knack for tossing the ship millions of light years in the time of a commercial break. Our solution was to redraw the warp curveso that the exponent of the warp factor increases gradually, then sharply as you approach Warp 10. At Warp 10, the exponent(and the speed) would be infinite, so you could never reach this value. (Mike used an Excel spreadsheet to calculate the speedsand times.) This lets Q and his friends have fun in the 9.9999+ range, but also lets our ship travel slowly enough to keep thegalaxy a big place, and meets the other criteria. (By the way, we estimate that in "Where No One Has Gone Before" the Travelerwas probably propelling the Enterprise at about Warp 9.9999999996. Good thing they were in the carpool lane.)