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From: rjnoe@ihlts.UUCP (Roger Noe)
Newsgroups: net.startrek
Subject: Re: Enterprise destruct, antimatter
Message-ID: <531@ihlts.UUCP>
Date: Tue, 7-Aug-84 12:32:02 EDT
Article-I.D.: ihlts.531
Posted: Tue Aug  7 12:32:02 1984
Date-Received: Wed, 8-Aug-84 19:43:05 EDT
References: <2177@ihnss.UUCP>
Organization: AT&T Bell Labs, Naperville, IL
Lines: 23

>	But the explosion should have been bigger -- in some TV episode
>	Scotty said you'd get a pretty good super-nova bang if you mixed all
>	the fuel at once, and the comic book of ST:TMP had the [Enterprise]
>	crew fixing to blow up Vger that way

The movie ST:TMP also had that.  (Quick, trivia fans, what Starfleet General
Order did Kirk tell Scott to implement on his command in ST:TMP?)  But what
makes you think that the self-destruct sequence implemented by the computer
would bring all its matter and antimatter together at once?  Why must there
be only one way to destroy a starship?  They had to find another way in "The
Doomsday Machine" because that starship's computer was inoperative.

>	"Are ye tryin' ta say that in the 20th century, they kept satellites in
>	orbit without usin' any power?"  Yes Scotty we do it all the time.

No, we don't.  Skylab is an example of what happens to satellites left up
a long time without sufficient maneuvering power.  Also, I doubt many
satellites would stay up long after experiencing an explosion of the same
relative magnitude as a starship's primary hull exploding.
-- 
"It's only by NOT taking the human race seriously that I retain what
    fragments of my once considerable mental powers I still possess."
Roger Noe			ihnp4!ihlts!rjnoe