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The first part about small bits of interstellar matter impacting the starship becoming an increasing problem as the speed approaches the speed of light is somet
by CrLf 16y ago
The first part about small bits of interstellar matter impacting the starship becoming an increasing problem as the speed approaches the speed of light is something as surprising as it is obvious in hindsight.
I had hever had though of that until yesterday when, coincidentally, I finished reading Arthur C. Clarke's "The Songs of Distant Earth".
- dmoney 16y agoAccording to an interview about Gene Roddenberry (with one of the writers who had worked with him), this is the problem that deflectors (which are separate from defensive shields) are designed to solve. The dish on the front of the Enterprise's drive section projects a cone of force in front of the ship, moving dust and other small things out of the way. I believe this was on one of the TNG seasons' DVD's special features.
- CrLf 16y agoYeah, but the idea that a single atom of hydrogen was a threat hadn't occurred to me, and this was the real eye opener. Even though I've seen Star Trek and understood that deflector dishes were supposed to move "tiny bits" of matter from the ship's path.