SHIP TOUR - Main Engineering
| The Main Engineering section of the USS Terra Nova is a two-deck
facility. The lower deck, on deck two, allows direct access to the Warp core
and the majority of Main Engineering. The deck two Engineering overlook provides
personnel access to deck one and the Main Bridge. The corridor access on deck
two is through a cargo-bay-like door that slides upwards (as seen in photo
below). - |
|
|
|
| MAIN ENGINEERING: The warp core is located in the aft engineering section and spans the top three decks vertically. The matter-antimatter reaction assembly (M/ARA) is embedded within Deck 3, with the surrounding systems balcony above, on Deck 2. The core is constructed from a central translucent aluminum and duranium reactor with dilithium articulation frame, four-lobed magnetic constriction segment columns, and matter and antimatter injectors. Plasma transfer conduits exit the core on Deck 3 and extend laterally to the nacelles and the warp plasma injectors. The nacelles incorporate an experimental in-line impulse system, which accepts matter intake and heating within the nacelles and exhausts the heated gases through a space-time driver assembly in the nacelle aft cap. Antideuterium is stored in a series of standard Starfleet antimatter pods on Deck 3, forward of the warp core. The warp field coils, unlike most Federation ships, are located within the main hull as opposed to outboard nacelles. The basic structure of the nacelles is similar to that of the remainder of the starship, however, the entire length of the nacelle housing is augmented with longitudinal stiffeners composed of cobalt cortenide to protect against high levels of warp-induced stress. Throughout the nacelle housing are triply redundant conduits for Structural Integrity Field (SIF) and Internal Dampening Field (IDF) systems. Each nacelle contains a pair of four warp field coils, making Defiant-class vessels have a total of 16. The Class-7 warp reactor is extremely powerful for a ship of this size, and as such, Defiant-class vessels put out a warp signature equivalent to much larger starships. Advances in variable warp field geometry ensures that all ships of this class will not cause harmful subspace damage. The standard maximum warp speed of the a Defiant is Warp 9.5, however, a speed of Warp 9.982 can be reached if power from the pulse phaser capacitors is used, thus taking that system offline for at least six hours as it recharges. All regulation warp engine controls and procedures apply to Defiant-class vessels. In the event of a possible warp core breach, the main M/ARA is not designed to be ejected like on larger starships. Instead, a series of four circular plasma exhaust vents on both the port and starboard sides of the ship are used to vent out the highly volatile warp plasma before it has a chance to breach the containment vessel. Deuterium and antideuterium reactants are cut off up stream from the reaction chamber and the core is brought to a cold shutdown. The only portion of the M/ARA that is capable of being ejected is the antimatter storage pods, located on Deck 3. In the event of containment loss, twin hull loading plates are ejected from the underside of the ship and the pods follow shortly after. Total replacement of the M/ARA can be accomplished during a major overhaul at a Starfleet Drydock or Fleet Yard facility and requires the removal of various hull segments not normally accessible during normal operation modes. - - Return to 'Tour I Deck Schematics |