Question About Phasers At Warp

[Guest chris]

It has been established on Star Trek that phasers can't be fired at warp because they travel slower than the speed of light. Therefore, only photon torpodoes can be fired at warp since they travel at warp velocity. Yet, on recent Enteprise episodes, such as Shockwave Part II and Future Tense, phaser fire is exchanged continuously while at warp. I have also seen this happen on Voyager, most notably in Basics Part I. Just something to ponder.

[VaBeachGuy 12]

It has been established on Star Trek that phasers can't be fired at warp because they travel slower than the speed of light. Therefore, only photon torpodoes can be fired at warp since they travel at warp velocity. Yet, on recent Enteprise episodes, such as Shockwave Part II and Future Tense, phaser fire is exchanged continuously while at warp. I have also seen this happen on Voyager, most notably in Basics Part I. Just something to ponder. 

My question would be, were the phasers fired aft? If they fire them behind them then that may make a difference since the phaser beam will be traveling behind and away from the ship.

[Xeroc 0]

Phasers can be fired at warp - as long as the two ships are close enough together so that the warp fields meet. That way the phasers' particles are "carried" by the combined fields.

 

Also - the photon torpedos - if they traveled at warp - you wouldn't be able to see them! They would go too fast! That wouldn't make for good battle scenes though!

[WEAREBORG4102 0]

well I think that he ENt episode and voyager episode of Basics were the B&B screwups.... They always mess up ..... We have to take a stand...

[A l t e r E g o 9]

well I think that he ENt episode and voyager episode of Basics were the B&B screwups.... They always mess up ..... We have to take a stand...

"We" don't, if you feel you need to try to make a difference that's great you should but talking down to Trek at a site which may well be the biggest group of ENT supporters on the the net will no nothing except make us unhappy.

 

Check out a site filled with folks who feels the same as you, join them and perhaps with them, your voice will be heard.

 

Here is one I know of The Save Star Trek Campaign

[Jim Phaserman 0]

Hmm, I had always assumed a Directed Energy weapon could not be fired forward at speeds higher than .95 Warp. however, torpedoes use a warp sustainer. normally speaking, though, a Torpedo won't excede 1c when fired at impulse speeds. I could see, however, firing a phaser at the oblique towards a ship of to the side. or even firing it latterally.

[shadowfigment 0]

Here is a little something I found to add some light to the subject.

 

ST:TNG Technical Manual, Section 11.2 Phaser Operations

Page 127, Paragraph 5

 

Virtually all phaser-related scenarios deal with sub light starship velocities, and for good reason. Space vessels operating at warp are protected, to a large degree, simply by the limitations of light speed physics. Phaser energy dissipates quickly in the vicinity of moving warp fields, especially when those fields are accompanied by active deflectors. This remains true even if the targets are motionless relative to each other (in comparison, subspace emission devices such as tractor beams and transporters are less adversely affected). Computational simulations suggest that an extremely narrow Type X phaser discharge, if released at full power and aligned along an oncoming target's velocity vector, has a 25% chance of disrupting the target's hull integrity. Other position and velocity combinations are subjects of continued research, since some small tactical advantages may yet be extracted for future use.

 

:cool:

Edited February 14, 2004 by shadowfigment

[Jim Phaserman 0]

I'm all for blowing things up, no mater how it is accomplished.

[Alexander32 0]

yeah we love ENT and its so called stuffups...........well we all make stuffups! Besides alterego that is a bit harsh on him though.............hmmm