Hyperspace, transwarp, and quantum slipstream "tunnels&

Enola Straight · Post by **Enola Straight** » 2003-12-09 01:09pm

When a ship entering Hyperspace, a slipstream, or a transwarp conduit...hell, even throw in a Vaarduar underspace corridor...the ship seems to travel down a tunnel. Is this tunnel simply an optical effect of trans-relativistic physics, or do the tunnel walls have actual substance which could damage or destroy a vessel if the pilot collided with the sides?

Rogue 9 · Post by **Rogue 9** » 2003-12-09 01:21pm

Optical effect. If it was a physical tunnel, one traveling along one tunnel would likely smack into the walls of a second tunnel that is not parallel to the traveler's own.

HRogge · Post by **HRogge** » 2003-12-09 03:00pm

It could be an effect of the FTL drive itself... similar to the warp bubble of the warp drive.

CmdrWilkens · Post by **CmdrWilkens** » 2003-12-09 04:31pm

For hyperspace at least the consensus seems to be that the tunnel effect is what the galaxy looks like at FTL speeds.

Howedar · Post by **Howedar** » 2003-12-09 05:16pm

However, given that some transwarp conduits are actually constructed, it seems likely that they are physical structures of a sort, instead of an illusion.

Enola Straight · Post by **Enola Straight** » 2003-12-09 07:59pm

Thats what I thought.

If a hyperspace tunnel was maintained something like the transwarp hub seen in Voyager's "Endgame", I figure the galaxy could be opened up for lesser ships not equipped with hyperjump engines.

HRogge · Post by **HRogge** » 2003-12-10 09:55am

So we have three different kinds of effects:

a) physical structure ( prebuilt transwarp-channel )
b) optical effect of FTL flight ( warp, maybe SW hyperspace )
c) engine effect ( PR hyperspace, maybe ST quantum slipstream )

Shogoki · Post by **Shogoki** » 2003-12-10 07:11pm

My guess for Hyperspace is that it's just an optical illusion, like driving in a road surrounded by rain forest, it may look like a tunnel, but that's because you're not running into anything and are going pretty fast, and that's precisely what the jump calculations are for. It's not a physical structure, or you wouldn't be able to jump from anywhere you please, as they do in the SW galaxy.

Rye · Post by **Rye** » 2003-12-10 08:20pm

I remember an episode of voyager...i forget the actual episode, but voyager and another ship were in a transwarp corridor, and after the scary event had passed, voyager went off and turned off into it's own tunnel in a different direction to the one the other ship was travelling on.

I'm half-sure it's the episode with one alien survivor who had developed transwarp and were relying on species 8472 to deal with the borg for them. The survivor was angry that voyager had got rid of s8472, and gave them a transwarp drive that would take them to the borg. Then voyager figured out what he was doing and did -something- then he was trapped going to the borg, whereas they detoured off in their own tunnel.

Sorry if this made little sense, i'm going to bed in a minute.

YT300000 · Post by **YT300000** » 2003-12-10 08:28pm

Rye wrote:I remember an episode of voyager...i forget the actual episode, but voyager and another ship were in a transwarp corridor, and after the scary event had passed, voyager went off and turned off into it's own tunnel in a different direction to the one the other ship was travelling on.

I'm half-sure it's the episode with one alien survivor who had developed transwarp and were relying on species 8472 to deal with the borg for them. The survivor was angry that voyager had got rid of s8472, and gave them a transwarp drive that would take them to the borg. Then voyager figured out what he was doing and did -something- then he was trapped going to the borg, whereas they detoured off in their own tunnel.

Sorry if this made little sense, i'm going to bed in a minute.

That was the slipstream-drive episode. It would have let Voyager cross the galaxy in a couple months. The effect was a total hyperspace rip-off.

Robert Walper · Post by **Robert Walper** » 2003-12-10 11:01pm

YT300000 wrote:
Rye wrote:I remember an episode of voyager...i forget the actual episode, but voyager and another ship were in a transwarp corridor, and after the scary event had passed, voyager went off and turned off into it's own tunnel in a different direction to the one the other ship was travelling on.

I'm half-sure it's the episode with one alien survivor who had developed transwarp and were relying on species 8472 to deal with the borg for them. The survivor was angry that voyager had got rid of s8472, and gave them a transwarp drive that would take them to the borg. Then voyager figured out what he was doing and did -something- then he was trapped going to the borg, whereas they detoured off in their own tunnel.

Sorry if this made little sense, i'm going to bed in a minute.
That was the slipstream-drive episode. It would have let Voyager cross the galaxy in a couple months. The effect was a total hyperspace rip-off.

Slipstream drive and Transwarp coil drive have visually identical characteristics. Voyager's Delta Flyer also made such a course change when utilizing a Borg Transwarp coil.

HRogge · Post by **HRogge** » 2003-12-11 04:37am

Robert Walper wrote:
That was the slipstream-drive episode. It would have let Voyager cross the galaxy in a couple months. The effect was a total hyperspace rip-off.
Slipstream drive and Transwarp coil drive have visually identical characteristics. Voyager's Delta Flyer also made such a course change when utilizing a Borg Transwarp coil.

That's the "engine effect" I was talking about... it cannot be an optical illusion, because it was visible from "above", maybe the QSS engine produce some kind of "tunnel" through subspace ( with a limited length in front of the ship, but the end where the tunnel is created was out of scren ).

Robert Walper · Post by **Robert Walper** » 2003-12-11 08:15am

HRogge wrote:
Robert Walper wrote:
That was the slipstream-drive episode. It would have let Voyager cross the galaxy in a couple months. The effect was a total hyperspace rip-off.
Slipstream drive and Transwarp coil drive have visually identical characteristics. Voyager's Delta Flyer also made such a course change when utilizing a Borg Transwarp coil.
That's the "engine effect" I was talking about... it cannot be an optical illusion, because it was visible from "above", maybe the QSS engine produce some kind of "tunnel" through subspace ( with a limited length in front of the ship, but the end where the tunnel is created was out of scren ).

My theory is that Borg Transwarp coils are almost virtually identical technology to Quantum Slipstream given they are visually identical. FTL factors are still on the drawing board(metaphorically speaking) on my part, but one calc I made for Transwarp coil speed based upon said episode(STVOY "Dark Frontier") was roughly around 630 million C.

I sincerely wish I had a video clip of the scene in the episode in question since some here have questioned the validity of such a figure. Other examples I'm currently working on, but it's time consuming and difficult without solid canon sources to review if needed. I mostly go from memory and what I've noted when I think of it during specific episodes.

Sarevok · Post by **Sarevok** » 2004-01-20 05:35am

My theory is that Borg Transwarp coils are almost virtually identical technology to Quantum Slipstream given they are visually identical. FTL factors are still on the drawing board(metaphorically speaking) on my part, but one calc I made for Transwarp coil speed based upon said episode(STVOY "Dark Frontier") was roughly around 630 million C.

If they were identical why are they given different names then ?

Spanky The Dolphin · Post by **Spanky The Dolphin** » 2004-01-20 05:36am

Bad dog, no thread resurrections!

Robert Walper · Post by **Robert Walper** » 2004-01-20 11:57am

evilcat4000 wrote:
My theory is that Borg Transwarp coils are almost virtually identical technology to Quantum Slipstream given they are visually identical. FTL factors are still on the drawing board(metaphorically speaking) on my part, but one calc I made for Transwarp coil speed based upon said episode(STVOY "Dark Frontier") was roughly around 630 million C.
If they were identical why are they given different names then ?

That's much like complaining Hyperdrive is referred to as lightspeed on occasion.

It would seem the Borg Collective with their vast infrastructure and technology base at their disposal simply adapted Quantum Slipstream into Transwarp parameters after assimilating Species 116.

It could also simply be that Species 116 decided to call the drive Quantum Slipstream rather then Transwarp.

Really, who knows? Differences in terms is not a reliable method by which to determine chracteristics and properties.

The Nomad · Post by **The Nomad** » 2004-01-24 08:47am

HRogge wrote: c) engine effect ( PR hyperspace, maybe ST quantum slipstream )

You can add I-War's Capsule drive to that list.

Slartibartfast · Post by **Slartibartfast** » 2004-01-25 12:05am

The Nomad wrote:
HRogge wrote: c) engine effect ( PR hyperspace, maybe ST quantum slipstream )
You can add I-War's Capsule drive to that list.

That sounds edible.