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Riaan

Shuttlepods

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OK this may seem like a picky detail, but I'll throw it out there for what its worth.

 

In The Xindi did anyone notice that the director/writers/producers goofed when it came to the shuttlepod (shuttlepod two to be exact)? Sometime during seasons 1-2, it was stated that the shuttlepods have a seating capacity of 6 plus the pilot. Reed told the commando Major to select 6 of his best men for the rescue mission. He also stated that he (Reed) would command the mission. Obviously Reed selected Mayweather to pilot the craft. By my count that makes at least 8 people on board the shuttlepod--two over the limit.

 

Now that doesn't sound too bad until you think about load capacity. You cannot overload a vehicle for atmospheric flight. You are also dealing with entry into an atmosphere. Upon leaving the planet's surface, you are expending energy in order to escape the gravitation pull, fight the friction through the atmosphere, etc.. When adding two extra people plus gear, thats an additional 500-600 lbs or maybe more. That's a lot of weight to deal with aerodynamically.

 

Unless the load capacity far exceeds the the approximate weight of the seating capacity, that shuttlepod should have had some problems flying.

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OK, you'd be right if they were in a plane, but they weren't. They were in a Shuttlepod which is designed for touch condissions. Look how often they crash and are salvagable. Maybe Voyager should'a carried some primitive NX-01 shuttlepods. :tear: Anyway, the shuttle is designed for a seating of 6, but that doesn't mean it can't carry more. Just like the Enterprise-D. Sickbay was designed for so many patients. In the event of a catastraphie, the Main Shuttle Bay would be used as a triage center.

 

In conclussion, they only have 2 shuttlepods, so I would think they'd be designed to do more than they're ment to do.

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I hate to burst your bubble, but you have absolutely no point here. You yourself said seating capacity for 6, plus the pilot. That means sit people can sit on the shuttle, plus the pilot. It doesn't mean you can't pile a whole bucketload more into it without going over the weight capacity.

 

I used to skydive. I don't recall the plane we used cause it was a long time back, but it had a seating capacity of 4 (including the pilot), plus some cargo. Of course, when you rip all the seats out except for the pilot's and have people who don't mind a lack of space crammed in there for a short time, you can pile at least 7 people in: Pilot, Jump Instructor and 5 people hoping to discover that there is a god (or two... or more) and he/she has their best interests in mind sometime before they bail.

 

I'm sure they could kill off some weight on the shuttle with a few excuses. I know! Combat fatigues have some weight. Just for argument's sake, let's say 5kg (they're light in the future). If everyone flies naked, they can cut off 40kg right there (about 88lbs). Hmm... future plot device to get people out of uniform?

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Granted the shuttlepod is not plane, but it still has to overcome gravity, wind resistance, atmospheric friction, etc. in order to fly in a planet's atmosphere, regardless of the propulsion system. Weight plays a major role in this. (example: the NASA space shuttles-granted they don't "fly", just glide throught the atmosphere for landing--weight still plays a role.) I would hope the 'pods load capacity far exceeds that of the seating capacity.

 

By the way, does anyone know the load capacity and the propulsion system of the shuttlepods? I know the poor little workhorses run on plasma.

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Just to reiterate what I thought I'd said in a fairly clear way before...

 

Seating capacity does not equal weight capacity.

 

10 fat guys usually weigh more than 10 skinny guys (without factoring in height, clothing, etc., blah blah blah).

 

End of story. There is no blunder by the writers based on the information provided in the original post.

 

I'm just going to lie down now and relax after this. I shall remain calm until the next nitpick arises.

Edited by Red Shirt Volunteer

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In Broken Bow, a shuttlepod was able to take off during a storm with 6 people and one engine broken. If it can do that, it could carry three more with two working engines.

 

:tear:

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Aerodynamically, it would not make a difference. Thw weight would however make a difference in acceleration. Considering the power of shuttlepod engines I'm sure that they would have the ability to push a mere 800 extra pounds. There may only be 6 seats in a shuttlepod, but thats likely only because of the size of the pod, not it's thrust power. Oh, and they also brought more on board on the way back: Archer, Trip, and the Xindi. Must have been cramped.

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