Federation life support and the power it requires

Xon · Post by **Xon** » 2003-05-05 07:21pm

Federation life support seems to require a lot of power.

Because it is actually useful to divert power from life support to other systems, which makes absolutely no sense.

Not to mention any changes to life support have rather dramatic effects immediently on an area.

Montcalm · Post by **Montcalm** » 2003-05-05 07:53pm

The best way keep life support and other essential functions,would be stop using the useless holodeck.

Alyeska · Post by **Alyeska** » 2003-05-05 08:09pm

Federation Lifesupport is some really strange shit. The moment they loose power to lifesupport the people start gagging from lack of air.

DarthBlight · Post by **DarthBlight** » 2003-05-05 08:33pm

Depending on volume, there should be enough air for several minutes in the room. I doubt that the turboshafts are airtight, so there should be some transference from other areas on the ship. If it were just one person on the ship, there ought to be several days worth of breathable air if life support shut down.

Post by **Darth Wong** » 2003-05-05 09:45pm

If real life were like Star Trek, you would have to open an automobile's doors within seconds of turning off the engine or you would suffocate inside the car. It's ridiculous; the crew of Apollo 13 lasted for many, many hours on almost nothing but the crew of a Federation starship will die in minutes if they can't get life support working.

Post by **Sea Skimmer** » 2003-05-05 09:55pm

My theory is the ships force field windows run off the same power source as life support, but they have some form of short term backup battery. Thus when the ship loses all power to life support for too long, the vessel explosively decompresses.

FaxModem1 · Post by **FaxModem1** » 2003-05-05 10:55pm

I wondered about all those windows in Trek, are they real windows or just forcefields like in FIrst Contact?(also, just what was that room that Lily and Picard in for anyway, it was too small to be a dock and it definatley wasn't an airlock, so what purpose did it serve?)

SPOOFE · Post by **SPOOFE** » 2003-05-05 11:28pm

Apparently, oxygen is transported directly into everyone's lungs (just like how they transport piss and shit right out of people, thus avoiding the need for toilets). So when life support is turned off, they're not getting any more air...

Kerneth · Post by **Kerneth** » 2003-05-05 11:31pm

Is even the Federation stupid enough to make the viewports on a starship forcefields?

God forbid anyone in the ST universe ever manages to produce something like the SW ion cannon. One shot and most of the crew is dead from explosive decompression.

Howedar · Post by **Howedar** » 2003-05-06 12:10am

We don't really know. At least a few of the windows are force fields. A few others are definately solid (I believe we saw the broken bridge skylight at the end of ST:G).

Post by **Sea Skimmer** » 2003-05-06 12:25am

Howedar wrote:We don't really know. At least a few of the windows are force fields. A few others are definately solid (I believe we saw the broken bridge skylight at the end of ST:G).

Well we know they have at least one in FC. And it does a fairly good job explaining why everyone would die instantly.

Howedar · Post by **Howedar** » 2003-05-06 12:41am

Yes, one certainly is enough. However, what I was saying was that there is conflicting data regarding the construction (rather, existance!) of Federation windows.

Xon · Post by **Xon** » 2003-05-06 03:26am

Sea Skimmer wrote:My theory is the ships force field windows run off the same power source as life support, but they have some form of short term backup battery. Thus when the ship loses all power to life support for too long, the vessel explosively decompresses.

nope, that cant be it.

Cos it happens even in rooms with no windows.

Sokar · Post by **Sokar** » 2003-05-06 03:45am

One of the things that has always bugged me is that you almost never see the crew in any kind of hazard suit when the ship goes into combat. If shipboard power is at such a premium on Fleet vessels, wouldnt it make sense to have the crew suit-up so they can cut back life support and rerout energy to shields and weapons?

Ignorant_Boy · Post by **Ignorant_Boy** » 2003-05-06 04:17pm

Sokar wrote:One of the things that has always bugged me is that you almost never see the crew in any kind of hazard suit when the ship goes into combat. If shipboard power is at such a premium on Fleet vessels, wouldnt it make sense to have the crew suit-up so they can cut back life support and rerout energy to shields and weapons?

Yes, but that would reqire intelligent thinking... something which B&B aren't too..... fond of.

Kerneth · Post by **Kerneth** » 2003-05-06 04:29pm

In fairness, the crew often doesn't know ahead of time that they're going to be attacked. This isn't like the Honorverse where a ship can have several hours notice that someone is attacking the system they're occupying; rather, Star Trek battles tend to be more spontaneous, with one side giving little or no warning that they intend to attack.

On the other hand, NOBODY in the ST universe uses vacuum-sealed suits, and you'd think anyone planning to START a fight would plan ahead and equip the crew accordingly.

paladin · Post by **paladin** » 2003-05-06 08:04pm

Kerneth wrote:Is even the Federation stupid enough to make the viewports on a starship forcefields?

If you're asking the question, then you probably know the answer.

Uraniun235 · Post by **Uraniun235** » 2003-05-06 08:49pm

FaxModem1 wrote:I wondered about all those windows in Trek, are they real windows or just forcefields like in FIrst Contact?(also, just what was that room that Lily and Picard in for anyway, it was too small to be a dock and it definatley wasn't an airlock, so what purpose did it serve?)

Why does everyone see "Oh, the hatch opened and Picard reached out he hit a forcefield" and think "ALL WINDOWS IN STAR TREK MUST BE FORCEFIELDS"?!?!?!? Seriously! I'm sick of seeing this!

Do you think "all windows must be forcefields because that's how the shuttles can enter and leave the shuttlebay while people are milling about in the shuttlebay with no pressure suits on"? NO, YOU DON'T.

Come on. Think about it. What kind of window would have a big metal door that closes over it and has it's own room to itself?!?

My guess would be that that room is a hull access point so that people don't have to go out on the hull via the shuttlebay.

EDIT: And there was an episode of TNG in which Data says the windows in the conference room are made of transparent aluminum. (hey, got some continuity in there...)

Worlds Spanner · Post by **Worlds Spanner** » 2003-05-07 02:27pm

Uraniun235 wrote:Come on. Think about it. What kind of window would have a big metal door that closes over it and has it's own room to itself?!?

My guess would be that that room is a hull access point so that people don't have to go out on the hull via the shuttlebay.

EDIT: And there was an episode of TNG in which Data says the windows in the conference room are made of transparent aluminum. (hey, got some continuity in there...)

Makes sense to me.

DarthBlight · Post by **DarthBlight** » 2003-05-08 07:51pm

Then there was "Nemesis" where the bridge viewscreen is a fucking windshield!

How is that for stupid design? At least the GCS had a more intelligent high-tech movie screen as described in the TNG TM.

Howedar · Post by **Howedar** » 2003-05-08 08:03pm

Um, I don't follow your *cough* *gag* argument. It was on a wall. What does this have to do with technological sophistication?

Uraniun235 · Post by **Uraniun235** » 2003-05-08 08:19pm

DarthBlight wrote:Then there was "Nemesis" where the bridge viewscreen is a fucking windshield! How is that for stupid design? At least the GCS had a more intelligent high-tech movie screen as described in the TNG TM.

What?!? How do you get "windshield" out of Nemesis?

That's even lower-tech than TOS.

And IIRC Wesley mentioned the GCS viewscreen as being holographic or something when he went on the bridge and managed to be an expert on what you'd think would be classified information.

EmperorChrostas the Cruel · Post by **EmperorChrostas the Cruel** » 2003-05-09 08:40pm

Two words.

Transparent.

Aluminum.

Secret traded for sheet of polymer plastic, to modify Kilingon vessel for whales, remember?
Sulu, Hughey, park, cloaking devise.

DarthBlight · Post by **DarthBlight** » 2003-05-09 10:28pm

Uraniun235 wrote:
DarthBlight wrote:Then there was "Nemesis" where the bridge viewscreen is a fucking windshield! How is that for stupid design? At least the GCS had a more intelligent high-tech movie screen as described in the TNG TM.
What?!? How do you get "windshield" out of Nemesis?

That's even lower-tech than TOS.

And IIRC Wesley mentioned the GCS viewscreen as being holographic or something when he went on the bridge and managed to be an expert on what you'd think would be classified information.

Watch the battle in "Nemesis" and you see my point. Skippy launches a torpedo at the bridge and the view screen breaks, taking a redshirt with the rapid depressurization of the bridge before a forcefield kicks in. You can see the jagged edges of the glass/plastic/transparent aluminum/whatever from the explosion. From where I stand, that is a windshield on a starship.

DarthBlight · Post by **DarthBlight** » 2003-05-09 10:33pm

Howedar wrote:Um, I don't follow your *cough* *gag* argument. It was on a wall. What does this have to do with technological sophistication?

Howedar, does it make sense to you to have a sheet of glass/plastic/transparent aluminum/whatever be the way you see things on the bridge? If anything, it is a weak point in what should be a heavily armored and shielded structure. I think it's more structurally sound that there be no physical window on the bridge, but rather thick armor with a screen that projects what the sensors pick up. I know we're talking about the Federation in all its engineering genius

but let's assume someone in Starfleet has that much intelligence.