Number of ships that can dock at DS9...

[Sonic74205]

How many ships do you think can dock with DS9 at the same time?

I think it's about 15

DS9 has 6 Pilons which are usually used for the larger ships.
Theres the defiant that is always docked at the bottom of one of the upper pilons. Where the pilon connects with the docking ring. and i think that there are two docking hatches on the docking ring inbetween the pilons. And there are three parts of the docking ring and three hatches all together at the bottom of the pilons so it would equal to about 15 ship. Does anyone else agree?

I know it's a stupid question but i just thought of it yesterday when i saw a schimatic of the station and it was saying that DS9 had 6 landing pads even though it only has 3 Runabouts. lol.

[Oliver]

To be honest, I never really thought about this.

Your explanation seems to be possible. Perhaps it says in the DS9 technical manual.

[gul Lemek III.]

Yeah. That's a thing one doesn't think about a lot...

[Captain Patrick]

I have seen shematics of the station and i would have to say about 15 ship at any given time.

[Lord Borg]

15 sounds about right, the uppper and lower pylons, thats 6, then the dicking ports in the middle thats 3 making the total 9 then theres the others in other areas, so 15 sounds right to me

[Tuvok8917]

Yeah, i think that DS9 can dock 15 ships, but that most of them are small ships.

[The_Sisko]

Yeah probably around 15. So iagree with everyone here

[missl]

nah, i'd say about 12

[LtCmd.Dave]

Actually, its more like 18, not including the 6 landing pads for small ships and Runabouts...

There are 3 Primary Docking ports (located at the base of eack pilon)Where the Defiant would Dock

There are 9 Secondary docking ports along the outside of the Docking ring.

Then there are 6 docking ports at the tops and bottoms of each docking pylon

click this link to see a picture..
http://www.strekschematics.utvinternet.com/bprintlinks/fed/ds9/ds9top.jpg

[Lord Borg]

I'd have to agree, I didn't realize the smaller areas were docking ports i thought they were torpedo turrets.

[Omet'Ikilan]

lol Torpedoe turrets that size? lol that would be sweet...

[PrankishSmart]

Yeah 18 docking ports. 6 of them used for large starships such as galaxy class. Seems a bit strange though in a time when everything can simply be beamed from A to B. I supose it is a neat feature to the show though.

We don't count the holds where the runabouts are stored because technically they are shuttle bays.

[LtCmd.Dave]

You�re right, with transporters, you really wouldn�t need docking ports, and there have been some episodes, (and even in Star Trek II Wrath of Kahn) where they visited stations that did not have docking ports for large ships. And during the Dominion war, you saw ships orbiting the station all the time, at that point, I think the only ships that docked at DS9 were either there for repairs, or transporting wounded.

But look at it this way. On a normal day on DS9, there could be up to 5-6 decent size ships docked at the station. If transporters were the only way of getting on/off the station, you would need a full time department just to handle the many transporter required. Also this would use a lot of power, with people coming and going all day long. And that�s just people, you would also have to have another department to handle transporting cargo all over the place. Having docking ports allows for people and cargo to move freely to and fro once docked.

Another reason for the docking ports is for repairs. Say a ship limps home under emergency power after getting caught in a nasty plasma storm. You have to be able to dock right?? Ships came to DS9 for repairs all the time. Lets also remember, docking isn�t just about being able to walk on and off, it�s also about power transfer. Docking allows a physical connection between the ship and station for power/energy/fuel transfers.

Besides without docking ports, the crew would have never been able to lock down the docking clamps on any ship trying to escape!!!

[Lord Borg]

You still need to dock for certain things. Aside from the abouve, some things cant be transported.

[LtCmd.Dave]