Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.1 6/24/83; site mit-eddie.UUCP Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!burl!ulysses!mhuxj!ihnp4!mit-eddie!barmar From: barmar@mit-eddie.UUCP (Barry Margolin) Newsgroups: net.startrek Subject: Re: What's a warp? Message-ID: <2941@mit-eddie.UUCP> Date: Fri, 19-Oct-84 23:30:51 EDT Article-I.D.: mit-eddi.2941 Posted: Fri Oct 19 23:30:51 1984 Date-Received: Sun, 21-Oct-84 14:39:26 EDT References: <221@wjvax.UUCP> Reply-To: barmar@mit-eddie.UUCP (Barry Margolin) Organization: MIT, Cambridge, MA Lines: 14 According to "The Star Fleet Handbook", and possibly also "The Making of Star Trek", when you are going warp factor N you are traveling at N^2 times the speed of light. So, if you go at the maximum safe velocity (during the series) of warp 8 you are going 64*c. Actually, this doesn't sound right for interstellar distances. Maybe I'm remembering wrong and it is N^3. Then warp 8 would be 512*c. This is still really insufficient for interstellar distances, but at least it sounds fast enough to satisfy many people. -- Barry Margolin ARPA: barmar@MIT-Multics UUCP: ..!genrad!mit-eddie!barmar