
Whoa! That's a lot of parts. Unlike the previous pages, this stuff
is fairly easy to understand. And here we go.
Each nacelle is
made up three major parts: the warp field coils (WFC), the plasma injection
system (PIS), and the Bussard Ramscoop, or as I like to call it, the “pooper
scooper”.
The Plasma Injection System (PIS) takes the plasma stream that came from
the PTC and sends them to the warp field coils. The PIS emits plasma
at certain frequencies depending on the warp factor. They also open
and shut so that too much plasma does not get emitted. Each of the
18 systems only stays open for a short. The time is so short that
it is measured in nanoseconds (ns). To help in the power transfer,
the PIS can be fired in many different sequences. Here is where the energy
gets converted.
The Warp Field Coils (WFC) is the part that converts the plasma energy
to warp energy. The WFC creates a field that surrounds the starship.
It is the manipulation of that field that allows the ship to move.
The layers of the coil are made of electrically densified verterium cortenide.
When the verterium cortenide becomes energized, a shift of energy occurs
in subspace. The energy affects the geometry of space around the
ship at the Planck scale of 3.9 x 10-33 cm. A small portion
of the energy is emitted as visible light. This is why a person can
see the flash of light when a starship enters warp. Once the ship is in
warp, changes in the warp field geometry, caused by the commands sent to
the nacelles, can be used to change a ship's direction.
The warp nacelles produce a layer effect around the ship as shown in the picture. Because this geometry must be maintained, the Enterprise cannot travel at warp speed with only one nacelle.
The last piece of the nacelle is the Bussard Ramscoop. This device
has an indirect connection to the warp engines. While it doesn't
help propel the ship, it does help collect free hydrogen atoms in space.
This is only used in emergency situations. The Bussard Ramscoop uses
a magnetic field to grab free hydrogen atoms that are in space. Once
collected they can be put through the portable antimatter generator to
make antihydrogen for use in the warp reaction.