In the fictional Star Trek universe, the impulse drive is the method of propulsion that starships and other spacecraft use when they are travelling below the speed of light. Typically powered by deuterium fusion reactors, impulse engines let ships travel interplanetary distances readily. For example, Starfleet Academy cadets use impulse engines when flying from Earth to Saturn and back. Unlike the warp engines, impulse engines work on principles used in today's rocketry, throwing mass out the back as fast as possible to drive the ship forward.
The Alcubierre drive or Alcubierre warp drive is a speculative idea based on a solution of Einstein's field equations in general relativity as proposed by Mexican theoretical physicist Miguel Alcubierre, by which a spacecraft could achieve apparent faster-than-light travel if a configurable energy-density field lower than that of vacuum could be created.
The Vans Warped Tour is a traveling rock tour that tours the United States annually each summer since 1995. It is the largest traveling music festival in the United States, and is the longest-running touring music festival in North America. The first Warped Tour took place in 1995, and the skateboard shoe manufacturer Vans became the main sponsor of the tour starting with the second tour in 1996, when it became known as the "The Vans Warped Tour". Although Vans continued to be the main sponsor and lended its name to the festival, other sponsors also participated with stages or other aspects of the festival sometimes being named after them.
Zefram Cochrane is a fictional character in the Star Trek universe. Created by writer Gene L. Coon, the character first appeared in the 1967 Star Trek episode "Metamorphosis", in which he was played by Glenn Corbett. James Cromwell later played Cochrane in the 1996 feature film Star Trek: First Contact and the 2001 Star Trek: Enterprise pilot, "Broken Bow". Footage of Cromwell from Star Trek: First Contact was used in the Enterprise episode "In a Mirror, Darkly ", along with new footage of an identically-dressed actor whose face is not shown.
"Force of Nature" is the 161st episode of the American science fiction television series Star Trek: The Next Generation. In this episode, a pair of sibling scientists show that warp drive propulsion is harming the very fabric of space -- an implied metaphor for global climate change. A sub-plot involves Data attempting to train his pet cat, Spot.
A jump drive is a speculative method of traveling faster than light (FTL) in science fiction. Related superluminal concepts are hyperdrive, warp drive and interstellar teleporter. The key characteristic of a jump drive is that it allows a starship to be instantaneously teleported between two points. A jump drive is supposed to make a spaceship go from one point in space to another point, which may be several light years away, in a single instant. Like time travel, a jump drive is often taken for granted in science fiction, but very few science fiction works talk about the mechanics behind a jump drive. There are vague indications of the involvement of tachyons and the space-time continuum in some works.
Hyperspace is a superluminal method of traveling used in science fiction. It is typically described as an alternative "sub-region" of space co-existing with our own universe which may be entered using an energy field or other device. As seen in most fiction hyperspace is most succinctly described as a "somewhere else" within which the laws of general and special relativity decidedly do not apply – especially with respect to the speed of light being the cosmic speed limit. Entering and exiting said "elsewhere" thus directly enables travel near or faster than the speed of light – almost universally with the aid of extremely advanced technology. "Through hyper-space, that unimagineable region that was neither space nor time, matter nor energy, something nor nothing, one could traverse the length of the Galaxy in the interval between two neighboring instants of time."
"First Flight" is the fiftieth episode of the American science fiction television series Star Trek: Enterprise, the twenty-fourth episode of the second season. It first aired on May 14, 2003 on UPN. It was written by John Shiban and Chris Black, and was directed by Star Trek: The Next Generation actor LeVar Burton.
"Course: Oblivion" is the 112th episode of the science fiction television series Star Trek: Voyager, the 18th episode of the fifth season. It is an offshoot of the fourth-season episode "Demon".
"Threshold" is the 31st episode of American science fiction television series Star Trek: Voyager airing on the UPN network, the 15th episode in the second season. This episode won a 1996 Emmy for Outstanding Individual Achievement in Makeup in a Television Series.
In the Star Trek fictional universe, dilithium is an invented material which serves as a controlling agent in the faster-than-light warp drive. In the original series, dilithium crystals were rare and could not be replicated, making the search for them a recurring plot element. According to a periodic table shown during a Next Generation episode, it has the chemical symbol Dt and the atomic number 87, which in reality belongs to francium.
The Roberts loom was a cast-iron power loom introduced by Richard Roberts in 1830. It was the first loom that was more viable than a hand loom and was easily adjustable and reliable, which led to its widespread use in the Lancashire cotton industry.
Interstellar travel is a common feature of fiction such as science fiction and fantasy.
The White–Juday warp-field interferometer is an experiment designed to detect a microscopic instance of a warping of spacetime. If such a warp is detected, it is hoped that more research into creating an Alcubierre warp bubble will be inspired. A research team led by Harold "Sonny" White in collaboration with Dr. Richard Juday at the NASA Johnson Space Center and Dakota State University are conducting experiments, but results so far have been inconclusive.
Harold G. "Sonny" White is a mechanical engineer, aerospace engineer and applied physicist who is the Advanced Propulsion Team Lead for the NASA Engineering Directorate and is known for proposing new Alcubierre drive concepts and promoting advanced propulsion projects, under development at the NASA Johnson Space Center, including the first practical experiment to test the existence of Alcubierre drive effects.
IXS Enterprise is a conceptual interstellar superluminal spacecraft designed by NASA scientist Dr. Harold G. White, revealed at SpaceVision 2008, designed for the goal of achieving warp travel. The conceptual spacecraft would make use of a modified version of the Alcubierre drive. Dr. White is currently running the White–Juday warp-field interferometer experiment in order to develop a proof of concept for Alcubierre-style warp travel, if possible. The Alcubierre drive uses exotic matter to travel faster than light.
Negative energy is a concept used in physics to explain the nature of certain fields, including the gravitational field and various quantum field effects.
