Landing Voyager

[robbiewebster]

I was watching Basics Part I tonight. In this episode the ship was captured by the Kazon (not sure if i spelled that right) and the crew was dropped on another planet. Anyways, the Kazon landed Voyager on the planet when they dropped the crew. I was looking at the ship as it sat on the planet, and I couldn't help but think that it would be physically impossible for the saucer section to remain off of the ground. Is there an explanation for this? What do you guys think?

[JupiterPrime]

Ive always snickered to myself whenever I saw that - yeah I agree - it doesnt matter when you build ships in space, and then there is the structural integrity field that keeps the impulse engines from ripping their way through, and out the front, of the saucer section when they fire.

The only way of explaining it away would be that the Deuterium stored in the secondary hull is so heavy when exposed to gravity, that it shifts the center or gravity of the ship when under the influence of gravity, and by setting the Structural Integrity Field to maximum (which is one of the things I think they do in the landing procedure - I dont remember), the field prevents the weight of the Saucer section from ripping itself off of its Secondary Hull connection hard-points and inter-connects....

Or its framework was built as one massive support strut and its capable of supporting that weight

but I doubt it.

[robbiewebster]

Yea, that explanation would make sense. But in my mind it's unlikely. Idk, I just thought that it would be an interesting thing to discuss with some other Star Trek fans.

[parisandcatrina]

[cmdrFelix]

the laws of physics are different in the delta quadrant?

[Untitled]

if you notice when they land the ship, that's when they go in 'blue alert'.
(that's in "The 37's", season 2 premire)

[craign]

I havent seen this episode yet...

Did voyager have power at the time? If so, maybe there were anti-gravity systems in action...

xxCR41Gxx

[Kathryn16]

There has to be a reason because everytime we come up with a question like this the producers always come back with the perfect answer. ((Like that time when people wondered why when the ship turns upside down that the people on board dont hit the ceiling? Inertia Dampeners.lol)) Anyhoo we might also consider the whole fact that this is the twenty fourth century and in Star Trek anything can happen despite the "rules" of fiction. Thank the gods for that. hehe

[alxg101]

Yea, good question, perhaps the rear half of the ship containing the warp core and the nacelles is just heavier than the saucer section and perhaps the "landing feet" are angled in such a way - i dont know! But your right, it does look odd!

[Lord Borg]

Maybe its the construction of the vessel? no, seriously This was thought out by Starfleet Engineers when the class was designed, I think it all works out by the ships construction.

[B'Elanna Torres 7 of 9]

[Voyager2004]

[Joey]

There is some kind of weight shifting system or something like that, that allows the saucer section to remain off ground

[sportguy301]

I think the rear part of the ship containing all warp core, nacelles, and all of the stuff in storage is heavier than the saucer section

also anti-grav systems may also be at work

[Kathryn_Janeway218]

I think that the the anti-grav generators are on when the ship lands because the saucer section is significantly bigger than the eng. hull.

[deltaflyer3]

[Spartan 688]

the back of voyager is much bigger then the disc part so i don't see how you guys would think it would topple over >.> plus the wight of the warp naccelss warp core the shuttle bay (with shuttles in it) the shield grid etc would be heavier then the "disc"area considering all that has is the officers mess the bridge ready room and upper and lower paser strip

[calvin]

yea, this seems like pretty basic physics. no magical star trek technology needed. i mean, few artificial structures have perfectly even density throughout.

no inertia dampeners, anti-gravity systems, etc. needed

c'mon, did none of you guys pay attention in physics class?

[robbiewebster]

[calvin]

it might look funny from that angle, but if you look at other pictures of the ship, and consider that center of gravity has to do with mass, not volume, it's really not that mind boggling.
http://www.drgnscl.com/images/intreppid.gif

[Spartan 688]

i totaly agree with calvin i don't think it is a problem at all i think we have come a conclusion based on physics and science case solved in my books

[vgrbabe]

That's what I was thinking. If you just look at the ship from the side you can see that most of it's mass is in the body, not the saucer. Plus there are the naceles that provide counter balance on the other side.

We don't know too much about building techniques and materials from that time. It's most likely that since the ship was designed to be landed that there are structural compensations for the saucer

[robbiewebster]

[Lord Borg]

It also has to do with the matter of weight, while the saucer looks bigger, remember that the engineering hull has Engineering, the warp core, the tanks that fuel the core, shuttlebays, shuttles, cargo bays, the landing struts, etc... Again, it probably has something to do with the ships design and evening out the weight of the ship in such a way so one can do this.

[calvin]