Saucer Separation Anxiety

[Jeanway 0]

I've only seen it done once, but once is enough, right. There is no way they would get the rest of the ship back. Aren't the nacelles on the part that fell away. What kind of propulsion does the saucer section have? Never heard this talked about on the show.

[Nemesis 0]

I've only seen it done once, but once is enough, right. There is no way they would get the rest of the ship back. Aren't the nacelles on the part that fell away.  What kind of propulsion does the saucer section have? Never heard this talked about on the show.   

Do you mean in TOS? Or TNG? Because in TNG they could rejoin the ship, in TOS they could not.

[Jeanway 0]

Both

[Mike 5]

As far as I can remember they never seperated in TOS..In fact I'm not sure that the original Enterprise could seperate. They certainly never shown it..In TNG they have seperated more than once..I don't believe it was ever discussed but I always assumed that the saucer section had Impulse Engines..And the Warp Drive is on the Stardrive section..

[stoned_vulcan 0]

it has the two impulse engines on the ent d

[DixonHill1989 0]

What about the promethius class featured in VOY? It separated into 3 parts.

[headborg 1]

Wow! we were just discussing this issue in the chat room today...i was saying when the first episode of TNG aired..i thought the saucer separation looked really dumb...the aft star-drive section of the ship looks like a duck-with- it's head cut off.

But it's been used twice to good effect- When Riker separated the ship to rescue Picard from the Borg, and who could forget the spectacular separation n "Generations" and Data's line "OH.....ShXXX" when the saucer was going down!

[Captain Jean-Luc Picard 1]

The TOS Enterprise can saucer seperate, saving the bulk of the ship in the event of extreme damage to the warp drive systems and/or the engineering hull. The saucer has an impulse engine and thrusters. This includes the movie version of the Enterprise as well as the Ent-A.

 

The TNG Enterprise can saucer seperate and reconnect on it's own. The purpose is to evacuate civilians and majority of ship's crew to the saucer and seperate, heading toward's a starbase under impulse power. The engineering hull and ship's warp drive become the battle section. When the emergency is over, the ship reconnects. This is only done in extreme emergencies like the Q and Borg for example. In GENERATIONS, the warp core was going critical, a breach immenant. Instead of abandoning ship via escape pods, Riker thought it best to save the saucer section, so everyone evacuated to the saucer, then they seperated. When the battle section exploded, the saucer was knocked out of orbit with helm control going down. The saucer is designed for a soft landing on a planetary surface as a final alternative, but due to the loss of helm control, the ship suffered an extremely rough crash landing. Fortunately, most of the crew survived. The Ent-E, seen in movies 8-10, was designed to be capable of suacer seperation should a story call for it. Wether or not it's actually capable is currently unkown, but a seperation plane is viewable. If the ship is not capable of suacer seperation, then we can just assume that this is how the saucer and engineering section unite.

[Jeanway 0]

Thanks for all the information. Wow, that's quite a concept. Could you imagine being on the ship when they do that? [ I know this isin't real, just messin with ya].

 

 

 

 

 

:tomcat:

[headborg 1]

But Enterprise-e can also eject the warp-core itself can't it? So there would be no need to separate the saucer section. Are U positive NCC-1701 could do that saucer separation?

[Jeanway 0]

Yea, I think we've seen that many times

[Captain Jean-Luc Picard 1]

But Enterprise-e can also eject the warp-core itself can't it?

We saw it eject it's warp core in INSURRECTION.

 

So there would be no need to separate the saucer section.

The Enterprise-D also had the ability to dump it's warp core, but Geordi said the ejection system was offline. This sounds reasonable as there was a lot of damage to the warp core itself. However, there are many reasons for saucer seperation. Failure to dump the warp core is just one of many.

 

Are U positive NCC-1701 could do that saucer separation?

In the TOS episode "The Apple", Kirk ordered Scotty to jettison the engineering section and escape on impulse power if neccessary.

 

Yea, I think we've seen that many times

Not really. The Ent-D seperated in 3 TNG episodes and in the 7th movie. I don't think we've seen other ships saucer seperate besides the Ent-D. That doesn't mean they aren't capable, just that it hasn't been shown.

Edited March 14, 2004 by Captain Jean-Luc Picard

[Jim Phaserman 0]

the Prometheus did do a Saucer Seperation. in fact, it broke into THREE peices. all three appeared to be warp capable, also.

[Captain Jean-Luc Picard 1]

the Prometheus did do a Saucer Seperation. in fact, it broke into THREE peices. all three appeared to be warp capable, also.

That's true, but that's not the traditional saucer seperation, but the multi-vector assault mode. Saucer seperation is where the saucer goes off to safety while the engineering section is left to fight the battle or damaged beyond the crew's repair.

[headborg 1]

Thanks Cpt. Picard...very informative...and insightful....i like it when people sight specific examples- like "The apple" thnk u.

[Jeanway 0]

Wow! we were just discussing this issue in the chat room today...i was saying when the first episode of TNG aired..i thought the saucer separation looked really dumb...the aft star-drive section of the ship looks like a duck-with- it's head cut off.

But it's been used twice to good effect- When Riker separated the ship to rescue Picard from the Borg, and who could forget the spectacular separation n "Generations" and Data's line "OH.....ShXXX" when the saucer was going down!

 

 

 

 

 

Absolulutely Breathtaking, I saw that too. :)

[TSonofvulcan 0]

ALL starfleet ships can eject warp cores (if the system is up) and can an intrepid seperate? No, I don't think it can.

[Captain Jean-Luc Picard 1]

ALL starfleet ships can eject warp cores (if the system is up) and can an intrepid seperate? No, I don't think it can.

We've seen the Galaxy-class seperate in TNG & Generations as well as the Prometheus-class use multi-vector assault mode in VOY "Message in a Bottle".

 

Here are some ship classes I believe can seperate:

Constitution-class - "The Apple" implies that it's posible, and the original script for ST:TMP had the saucer jettisoning the engineering hull to chase after a Klingon Battle Crusier.

Excelsior-class - If you look carefully, there's an indention where the "neck" joins the saucer. Perhaps this ship can seperate like the Ent-D?

Miranda-class - It looks like it has a one-time saucer seperation becuase the bottom of the ship has the full "ring" of the saucer while the top appears to have two "clamps" on the saucer.

Sovereign-class - Like the Excelsior-class, there's an indention where the engineering section joins the saucer. Perhaps it can also seperate?

[borgdrone222 0]

I wonder which ships can seperate?

Edited March 27, 2004 by borgdrone222

[Captain Jean-Luc Picard 1]

I wonder which ships can seperate?

See my above post. <_<

[Jack_Bauer 1]

Excelsior-class - If you look carefully, there's an indention where the "neck" joins the saucer.  Perhaps this ship can seperate like the Ent-D?

I believe that in the novelization of Generations, the Excelsior has just finished a saucer seperation when Sulu was informed of Kirk's death. I can't remember where I heard that because I never read it. Can someone confirm this?

[WEAREBORG4102 0]

No that is incorrect. There was no saucer separation in the Novelization. I own it by the way.