Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.2 9/18/84; site voder.UUCP Path: utzoo!decvax!tektronix!hplabs!nsc!voder!kevin From: kevin@voder.UUCP (The Last Bugfighter) Newsgroups: net.startrek Subject: Re: Enterprise Gravity Message-ID: <848@voder.UUCP> Date: Wed, 14-Aug-85 22:10:48 EDT Article-I.D.: voder.848 Posted: Wed Aug 14 22:10:48 1985 Date-Received: Sat, 17-Aug-85 21:13:30 EDT Reply-To: kevin@voder.UUCP (The Last Bugfighter) Distribution: na Organization: National Semiconductor, Santa Clara Lines: 37 Xref: tektronix net.startrek:04165 > Now why wouldn't they talk about something as mind boggling > as gravity control? And, even better, in all the times we've > seen the Enterprise badly damaged isn't it funny that the > gravity never goes out? That'd be a scene of quite some > visual impact -- everyone floating about the bridge and corridors. > > Lewis Barnett,CS Dept, Painter Hall 3.28, Univ. of Texas, Austin, TX 78712 I think you're completely overlooking reality here. Star Trek was a television series. It did not have a billion dollar budget for each show. Can you imagine the difficulty of showing everyone floating around the bridge? Remember this was 1969 and special effects of this type (like the movie `2001') were the exception, not the rule. The only time I can remember Star Trek attempting to show a weightless environment was in the episode in which a woman crewperson was taken over by nasties and Bones shoved her into this gravity/pressure chamber, `Lights Of Zetar' I think it was called. Maybe also `The Tholian Web', Kirk did some floating around in a space suit. Now the animated series showed a loss of artificial gravity on the bridge at least once, and of course the movies showed an anti-gravity sled and one person standing on an anti-gravity `step ladder'. Also Spock floating in his suit, perhaps Star Trek IV will give us something more. But a lot of interesting possibilities don't get done just because of cost. Ignoring cost for a moment, it would seem that something like an artificial gravity system would be as fool-proof as possible, perhaps even having it's own independent power source. I can't verify this but I seem to recall that in `The Making Of Star Trek' by Susan Sackett (s) and Gene Rodenberry there was a mention that the gravity field that keeps people on the decks was also partly responsible for actually holding the ship together. Maybe not to the point it would fall apart if the gravity were shut off, but at least so that the ship's maximum velocity and maneuverability would be severly limited. Perhaps someone can verify this, or flame me mercilessly if wrong. --- Kevin Thompson {ucbvax,ihnp4!nsc}!voder!kevin "It's a sort of threat, you see. I've never been very good at them myself but I'm told they can be very effective."