_Enterprise_ Refit
Jun. 5th, 2006 09:15 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
stickmakerI've heard Star Trek fans say the engineering hull of the modified starship _Enterprise_ first seen in _Star Trek: The Motion Picture_ must be an all new structure. As an engineer with some knowledge of how real surface ships, submarines and aircraft are refitted and modified, I say that's not necessarily true. Here's one way it could be done:
Detach the saucer support neck and warp nacelle pylons from the engineering hull. Strip the drive section down to bare metal. Rebuild - and possibly relocate - the warp core. (There's some speculation it was switched from a "vertical" to a "horizontal" orientation, or maybe the other way 'round.) Enlarge the shuttle bay. Refurbish and - if necessary - repair the load-bearing structure. Install new cabling, conduits and such. (So far this is not much different from what is done to airliners after a certain number of hours of flying.) Now, slip on a "collar," basically a thick-walled, contoured tube designed to fit over the outside (minus the skin) of the old drive section. This would most likely be in two half-sections. Secure this to the load-bearing structure. Now attach the new saucer support neck and warp nacelle pylons. The old engineering hull (well, the structural part of it) is still there, mostly inside the collar, with new plating on the old section which is still exposed.
A similar refurbishment could be performed on the saucer. Just strip down to the load-bearing structure, modify that, attach a new bridge module, install new plumbing, floors, paneling, hull plating, etc. and go.
None if this is extreme when you know about what's been done - sometimes routinely - to real-world craft. There are companies which strip DC-3s down to the bare metal and rebuild them as modern aircraft, complete with turboprop engines. With the "collar" handling the transfer of load from the new attachment points for the warp nacelle pylons (possibly due to the new warp core needing to be forward of the old one to allow the enlargement of the shuttle bay or whatever) and an entire new saucer neck handling the new photon torpedo launchers, plus new nacelles and pylons, everything is neatly explained. And the essential part of the old _Enterprise_ is still there. Much like having the frame of a previously existing car inside is used to justify an all-custom vehicle using the old registry number.
Detach the saucer support neck and warp nacelle pylons from the engineering hull. Strip the drive section down to bare metal. Rebuild - and possibly relocate - the warp core. (There's some speculation it was switched from a "vertical" to a "horizontal" orientation, or maybe the other way 'round.) Enlarge the shuttle bay. Refurbish and - if necessary - repair the load-bearing structure. Install new cabling, conduits and such. (So far this is not much different from what is done to airliners after a certain number of hours of flying.) Now, slip on a "collar," basically a thick-walled, contoured tube designed to fit over the outside (minus the skin) of the old drive section. This would most likely be in two half-sections. Secure this to the load-bearing structure. Now attach the new saucer support neck and warp nacelle pylons. The old engineering hull (well, the structural part of it) is still there, mostly inside the collar, with new plating on the old section which is still exposed.
A similar refurbishment could be performed on the saucer. Just strip down to the load-bearing structure, modify that, attach a new bridge module, install new plumbing, floors, paneling, hull plating, etc. and go.
None if this is extreme when you know about what's been done - sometimes routinely - to real-world craft. There are companies which strip DC-3s down to the bare metal and rebuild them as modern aircraft, complete with turboprop engines. With the "collar" handling the transfer of load from the new attachment points for the warp nacelle pylons (possibly due to the new warp core needing to be forward of the old one to allow the enlargement of the shuttle bay or whatever) and an entire new saucer neck handling the new photon torpedo launchers, plus new nacelles and pylons, everything is neatly explained. And the essential part of the old _Enterprise_ is still there. Much like having the frame of a previously existing car inside is used to justify an all-custom vehicle using the old registry number.
