2.8 Transporter, Artificial Gravity & Tractor Beams

Transporter

In brief: The transporter is a remarkable device capable of converting matter into energy and reconverting it back to matter at another location. The transporter allows our crew members to go quickly from the ship to a planet's surface and back again. It is also capable of reproducing many objects such as foods, tools, and the like.

Limitations in brief: The transporter is limited in range to about 40,000 kilometers, or the distance of the ship to a planet while in standard orbit. The transporter cannot be used when the ship's shields are operating or when the ship is at warp drive (unless the destination is at the same warp factor). Objects stored in computer memory have only a limited “resolution” so that one CANNOT store and reproduce a living being.

Replication technology: The ability to convert matter into energy and back again implies the ability to recreate objects. This is done in the ship's food service units which instantly recreate any dish in the computer's memory. The key limitation here is that the computer memory stores patterns at “molecular resolution”. This is adequate for food and tools, but inadequate for living, conscious beings. The transporter (when used to beam people) operates at “quantum-level resolution”, recreating all of the electron states and sub-atomic configurations necessary to accurately reproduce a person's thought patterns and DNA. Storing “quantum-level” patterns would require billions of times more memory than the Enterprise computers can hold.

Other transporters: There are four personnel transporters in the Enterprise's command (saucer) section on Deck 6, and two more in the engineering section on Deck 14. There are also a total of eight cargo transporters in both sections. Additionally, there are six emergency evacuation transporters capable of one-way beaming off the ship only.

Transporter biofilter: The transporters have a built-in safety mechanism which scans an incoming person's beam and automatically filters out many kinds of known hazardous bacteria and viruses. It is not effective against organisms for which the biofilter has not been programmed.

Direct beaming: Most use of the transporter involves beaming people or objects either to or from the Transporter Chamber. On occasion, it may be necessary to order “direct beaming” as in “beam her directly to Sickbay”. This procedure essentially involves beaming the person twice — first, to the Transporter, then to the destination. As such, it presumably consumes almost twice the power. Because of this, our crew tends to avoid direct beaming unless time or safety considerations outweigh the extra energy cost.

Environmental Systems: Artificial Gravity

Synthetic gravity: The Enterprise uses a network of force field generators to create an artificial gravity field virtually identical to Earth's. These generators employ a series of superconducting graviton field matrices located under each deck. Because of the superconducting components, these hockey puck-sized gizmos can remain in operation for several hours, even when power is cut off.

Inertial damping field: A second set of forcefield generators is used to create a field which absorbs the inertial stress created when the ship accelerates to high impulse speed or warp drive. (Otherwise, the high gee-forces would instantly crush our crew beyond recognition.) The inertial damping field generators also create a “structural integrity field” which helps reinforce the structure of the ship. Thanks to an incredibly ingenious energy-conservation system, the IDF and SIF also serve to absorb and recycle the excessive inertia generated by each other and by the tractor beams.

Tractor Beams

In brief: Starfleet's equivalent of the grappling hook and towing line. A focused beam of polarized gravitons which acts as a linear forcefield to pull objects toward the ship. See “Tractor Beam Operation” under Technical Memoranda.