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Star Trek Enterprise Tested to Mach 5

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the to-much-spare-time dept.

Sporkinum writes "University of Queensland Laser Diagnostics Dept has a page where they put the Enterprise through the gauntlet in a mach 5 wind tunnel. It did surprisingly well."

3 of 707 comments (clear)

  1. A nifty little visualization of a wind tunnel... by tcopeland · · Score: 5, Interesting

    ...can be found here.

    Fair warning - the linked-to page contains an applet, so be prepared for the usual "computer freezes for 10 seconds" effect if you're running Windows.

    --
    The Army reading list
  2. WTF? They only tested NCC-1701A! by BenJeremy · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Now the NCC-1701D whoulc have been the one to test, after all, we know it actually made planetfall.

    Did they use containment forcefields in the test?

    How did the plasma conduits hold up to the stress?

    (Questions Geeks REALLY want to know!)

  3. how warp drive works by Alien54 · · Score: 5, Interesting
    As seen in pages on emerging physics, warp drive works by generating a warp bubble around the ship. The matter inside the bubble is essentially motionless relative to itself. Sort of like a person inside a car does not have to worry about wind resistance.

    On the other hand, this has interesting implications for the physics of star trek weapons technology. No phasers at warp drive, and firing, never mind aiming, photon torpedoes could be a royal pain.

    --
    "It is a greater offense to steal men's labor, than their clothes"