warp drive

The principal means of interstellar propulsion in the Star Trek universe. According to the scriptwriters, it enables faster-than-light travel and uses matter-antimatter reactions inside a "warp core" (see antimatter propulsion).

Warp drive works by distorting the fabric of spacetime – contracting spacetime in front of the vessel and expanding it behind. The starship itself rests in a "warp bubble" between the two spacetime distortions. This warped spacetime, together with the region between it, accelerates at "warp speed" and the vessel then surfs the wave in spacetime thus created. Travel at velocities exceeding that of light is possible, without breaking the rules of special relativity because the starship is, strictly speaking, stationary (relative to the space of its warp bubble) while spacetime itself is moving. Since the starship isn't actually accelerating, it experiences no time dilation, allowing the passage of time inside the vessel to be the same as that outside it.

One way of making warp drive a reality might be the Alcubierre warp drive.

Related categories

   • ADVANCED PROPULSION CONCEPTS
   • SCIENCE OF STAR TREK
   • SPACE AND TIME

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