Star Trek Technobabble accelerator/generator gas flow accelerator gas pedal Component of a starship's impulse engines that can either accelerate the energies of a fusion reaction into the driver coil assembly, divert the energy into the electro plasma system, or both. I wish they would make up their minds! aft Nautical term referring to the rearward direction with respect to a ship's orientation. An aft torpedo launcher, for example, fires torpedos out the aft (back) of the ship not the booty. airlock docking port personnel hatch A variable-pressure area that allows personnel or cargo to transition between regions with differing atmospheric compositions without compromising the atmospheric integrity of either section. Most starship docking ports include or are accompanied by airlocks and elevator music.. anomaly This is a catch-all word for something that shouldn't exist, but does. In space, these things seem to happen quite a bit and usually involve blue and red glowing stuff and a highly predictable twist in the plot line. Temporal anomalies are invisible, but even more predictable, especially if there's a pretty guest star someone falls in love with. antimatter fill (or loading) port Exterior port on a Galaxy-class starship through which the ship's antimatter storage pods may be filled by an external source. The antimatter fill port is normally concealed behind a large hull plate or gas cap. antimatter generator Device on later-model starships that can generate small quantities of antimatter from deuterium. It is, of course, possible that earlier starships also possessed antimatter generators as well as 8-track tape players. antimatter pod antimatter storage pod matter/antimatter storage facility primary deuterium tank A bottle that contains antimatter through the use of magnetic fields. Most starships use antimatter pods to contain the antimatter used by the warp core, and these pods can usually be ejected from the ship during emergencies making a neat "wooshing" noise. approach guidance system homing beacon navigational array Transmitter assembly located below the doors to shuttlebays 2 and 3 of a Galaxy-class starship next to the thermostat. astrometrics stellar cartography A large astronomy lab. Now playing Lazer Floyd. auxiliary fusion generator fusion reactor Fusion reactor used exclusively for power generation, and not as an energy source for the impulse propulsion system, so don't try it! battle bridge auxiliary control emergency bridge Primary control facility for the battle section of a Galaxy-class starship when the saucer module has separated from the ship. The battle bridge can also serve as a backup control center a salad bar. battle section stardrive section The ventral module of a Galaxy-class starship, consisting of the engineering hull, warp engine nacelles, warp engine support pylons, the interconnecting dorsal and salad bar. binary star system If during the formation of a solar system two giant balls of hot gas form in such a balanced mutual orbit that they do not collide or spin off, you get two stars in the same system. Thus the term, "Great balls of fire." botanical garden arboretum botanical section A large recreation and research facility filled with plant life grown to be used in the salad bar. bow The front of a starship, as opposed to the stern (not booty). bow light A headlight located at the bow edge of the primary hull of many starships. bridge Primary starship control facility. The plan is generally circular in shape, and is usually located on Deck 1 atop a Federation starship's primary hull as a detachable unit that can be swapped during starship layovers and pit stops. bussard collector or ramscoop space energy/matter sink Structure at the forward end of many warp engine nacelles that collects interstellar matter (garbage) for use as fuel for the warp engines. captain's yacht Large vehicle used to transport the ship's captain and visiting VIPs in place of a standard shuttlecraft. Also know as the captain's personal "love boat". cargo bay or hold Large open area aboard a starship in which cargo is stored. Many cargo bays feature internal or adjacent transporter facilities, allowing cargo to be beamed directly to or from the bay area. Some other cargo bays have exterior doors, allowing materials to be physically transferred into or out of the ship. This is where all your luggage is lost. cloaking device Defensive system that allows a starship to become invisible to sensor scans and visual observation. Where 'd they go? computer core main computer main processing core Term used to describe a starship's main computer. control reactor Structure located on the inner surface of early-model Constitution-class starships' warp engine nacelles. cortical stimulator A medical device for the direct stimulation of the cortex, a sort of last-ditch, zap-the-brain approach. With very few exceptions, characters who wind up with these on their foreheads also wind up dead. cosmic ray shield The overhanging section of hull plating that partially obscures the hangar deck doors of older-style Constitution-class starships designed to collect leaves ad water run off. deflector shield grid defensive shield grid deflector grid Indented gridwork in a starship's hull from which the ship's deflector shields are projected. Replacing the gridwork is not covered by insurance. deuterium purge vent Vent through which deuterium from the primary deuterium tank can be rapidly purged. Duh! dilithium chamber Section of the matter/antimatter reaction assembly that houses a cluster of shiny dilithium crystals. dilithium crystal A crystalline solid that has many properties useful in starship power and propulsion systems. In many starships, particularly those of the mid-23rd century, dilithium crystals played a role in a starship's power systems. In many starships, particularly those of the 24th century, dilithium crystals are used to more safely contain matter/antimatter reactions. And they are really shiny. dilithium crystal articulation frame Device that holds a dilithium crystal within a starship's matter/antimatter reaction chamber. Not nearly as shiny. DNA: (deoxyribonucleic acid) This double-helix string of nucleic acids creates the "blueprint" for all known organisms. When the DNA is mutated, humans turn into lizards and spiders and lemurs, or just plain old freaks. Anomalies in one's DNA can also cause god-like powers to emerge, the return to childhood, or the early onset of old age, and/or major scoring with hot alien chicks. docking alignment lights Lights located near the vehicle separation plane of a Galaxy-class starship that provide visual assistance in redocking the saucer module and battle section. Batteries not included. docking latch Retractable structure that holds a Galaxy-class starship's saucer module to the battle section. Can you beleive this thing is held together by ONE friggin' clamp? docking port A passage that allows personnel and cargo to physically move between the starship and whatever facility to which the ship is docked. IE: Spaceport, Shuttlecraft, Quickie-Mart. dorsal The "upper" side of a starship on the upper side. double-shear attachment lug explosive bolts One of multiple assemblies that connect the primary hull to the interconnecting dorsal and explode real good. driver coil assembly Component of later-model starships' impulse engines that reduces the apparent mass of the starship, and creates a low-level warp field, both of which allow for faster accelerations at sublight speeds. Comes with fuzz-buster. electro plasma system energy converter Network of energy conduits that power the various systems aboard a starship. IE extension cords. emergency egress door Blowaway hatches on the roof of a Galaxy-class starship's main shuttlebay that allows shuttlecraft to rapidly evacuate the bay under emergency conditions or just for fun. emergency flush intake System that can absorb interstellar matter to assist the purging of energized plasma from the warp engine support pylons via the emergency flush vents. Okay, it's really the bathroom. emergency manual monitor A control facility aboard older Constitution-class starships, where critical systems can be monitored and manually controlled with oversized buttons and switches. RETURN

emergency ehatever Many things that shouldn't really work or even exist in a world pretending it's real are explained away by having the word "emergency" in front of them. For example, emergency maneuvers are maneuvers that ships can't do because of their design, but pull off just once because the writers are backed into a corner. engine room engineering main engineering Control facility for one or more of a starship's propulsion systems. Where Scotty works. escape pod lifeboat A small, autonomous spacecraft that can be ejected from a starship, delivering its occupants away from a catastrophe aboard the starship towards certain death on some unnamed hell hole of a planet. extendible docking port Docking port that is normally retracted behind the hull of many later-model starships, and must be extended before use. Similar to the seldom used un-extendible docking port. fantail Structure extending from and level with the base of the landing bay doors of a Constitution-class starship. Serves no purpose but looks cool. final stage intercooler One of two fin-like structures near the aft end of older Constitution-class starships' warp engine nacelles. Serves no purpose but looks cool. final stage magnatomic flux chiller A rectangular component located on the aft, outer surface of older Constitution-class starships' warp engine nacelles. Serves no purpose but looks cool. formation light navigation light running light Small lights on the exterior of a starship that visibly indicate the vessel's physical extents and orientation. Serves no purpose but looks cool. fusion reactor auxiliary fusion generator Power generator that operates by the nuclear fusion of deuterium and tritium into heavier atoms, typically helium. Many starship's impulse engines are fed power from fusion reactors. Galaxy-class starships have several fusion reactors that are used as auxiliary power generators. Serves no purpose but looks cool. gangway hatch A large hatch allowing personnel to board or disembark a starship when it is in drydock or docked with a space station. Bye bye... gamma radiation Electromagnetic radiation consisting of photons that are emitted by radioactive decay or in a nuclear reaction. This is particularly prone to flooding ships, but doesn't kill you as long as you get a hypo in the neck before the end of the episode. Heisenberg Compensators These are part of the transporter. Werner Heisenberg's Uncertainty Principle shows that when dealing with the randomness of sub-atomic particles, one can know either the position or the motion of such particles, but not both. Thus, when transporters break down matter into energy and then try to reassemble matter back from energy, they would not be able to position and maneuver the sub-atomic particles correctly. Thus, the finished product would not be Captain Janeway, but Janeway-goo. The compensators somehow get around this, though a brief malfunction in them might explain what happened to Janeway's hair. holodeck A large chamber that can simulate any real or imagined environment using holographic and replicator-based technology. Yea baby! homing beacon and navigational array approach guidance system Dome located aft of the warp engine support pylons and above the hangar doors of older-style Constitution-class starships. The glowing device was a transmitter used to assist shuttlecraft on their approach to the hangar deck. Spare parts are impossible to get. horizontal intermix chamber Term used to describe the long, pulsating shaft that ran the length of the engine room of the USS Enterprise 1701-A. Make up your own jokes here!

impulse engine impulse power unit impulse propulsion system Sublight propulsion device. Its superlight analog is the warp engine. Makes the ship go. impulse engine shaft The section of a vertical intermix chamber located near the impulse engines next to the dip stick. impulse reaction chamber impulse engine reactor Term used to describe the fusion reactors of a starship's impulse propulsion system. Or maybe is just a Klingon trick! impulse syncrotron unit A device in the engine room of older-style Constitution-class starships that presumably maintains balance among the ship's impulse engines. It actually doesn' work. impulse-deflection crystal impulse engine deflection crystal A large, glowing frizbie like disk located near many starships' impulse engines, and visible on the exterior of the ship. inertial dampers These handy devices keep the crew from turning into soup when the ship maneuvers around at super-fast speeds or goes to warp. They go offline all the time, however, to allow the actors that back-and-forth-in-your-chair-then-fall-on-the-floor stuff that they love so much. inlet flow sensor flow sensor outlet flow sensor A warp-field flow sensor thingie. interconnecting dorsal connecting dorsal connecting interhull dorsal The "neck" of many Federation starships. The interconnecting dorsal connects the primary hull to the secondary hull. Just like the song... isolinear optical chip Small, handheld data storage device in common use by the mid-24th century. Its predecessor was the record deck. Plays MP3s. Jefferies tube Small tunnels and/or corridors that provide access to critical ship systems. Actually, it all started as a joke on TOS because they were thought up by art director Matt Jefferies. The term wasn't used on the show until TNG. Couples so far spotted necking in them include Picard and Darren, and Torres and Paris. KPH Kilometers per hour. You see? Some technobabble is real! landing pad A retractable foot that allows a Federation starship, or at least a section of a starship, to safely land on the surface of a planetoid. Note: all four landing pads must be deployed before the ship can land or it will fall over. lateral sensor array Collection of sensors located in the rim of later-model starships' primary and secondary hulls that never work. LCARS Abbreviation for Library Computer Access and Retrieval System. This page is build using LCARS type graphics. Hope you have a fast modem. lifeboat hatch Hinged hull panel that conceals and shields a lifeboat until escape... er, launch. long-range sensor array main sensor A starship's primary long-range sensor complex, which shares its location with the navigational deflector. Can sense anything the writers may come up with.

	magnatomic amplification crystal Round structure located on the dorsal surface of some warp engine nacelles, just aft of the space energy/matter sinks. Not as shiny. magnatomic flux constriction - first stage A large assembly located on the forward section of federation starships' warp engine nacelles that is designed to constrict the flux. magnetic constriction segment Portion of a warp core through which a warp reactant is sent from its storage chamber to the matter/antimatter reaction assembly were is reacts in a very matter/antimatter way. main energy stage magnatomic flux chiller A large assembly located along the inner surface of older Constitution-class starships' warp engine nacelles allowing them to chill-out man. main phaser phaser bank phaser phaser array Hardpoint on a starship from which phaser beams are fired. Take that you stinkin' Borg! main propulsion housing (nacelle - and deflector shield) main propulsion unit propulsion unit space/warp propulsion unit warp engine nacelle The outer structure of a warp engine nacelle, with many names consisting of hull plating and underlying support structures. main sensor array Large sensor complex surrounding the space and planetary sensor array on newer-style Constitution-class, Miranda-class, and Excelsior-class starships. Available as an optional feature in the VW Beetle. matter/antimatter reaction chamber Matter and anti-matter destroy each other, and in so doing create a lot of energy, much more than one would get from, say, nuclear fusion. Inside the reaction chamber, extremely hot matter and anti-matter are mixed in a strict to-the-atom one-to-to ratio regulated by dilithium crystals and held within a magnetic containment field to prevent physical contact of the volatile materials with the walls of the reaction chamber. When the containment field fails, which happens about three times a season, the ship is in danger of a "core breach," which means BOOM, big-time. naval construction contract number Starfleet registry A starship's unique identification number. The original Enterprise's number, for example, is NCC-1701. Some starships have been called Bob, others have been called Betty. navigational deflector main deflector main deflector dish saucer deflector array A large, typically dish-shaped device that sweeps interstellar atoms and other small debris from a starship's flight path when the vessel is traveling at high-impulse and warp speeds. Like a cow catcher in space. navigational deflector monitor Device that monitors the functions of later-style Constitution-class starships' navigational deflector and related systems. The monitor is located just above the actual deflector next to the humidifier. navigational dome space and planetary sensor array space sensor array Dome-shaped sensor complex mounted at the dorsal and ventral centerpoints of the primary hull of many Federation starships. The dorsal navigation dome is directly above the bridge and has a neat red light on it that blinks. neutrinos Sub-atomic particles virtually without mass and no electrical charge but a whole heck of a lot of possibilities for making other words sound great, like "neutrino field," and "neutrino emissions." You find a lot of them in stars. optical transducer Part of LaForge's VISOR that takes in electromagnetic radiation and translates it into bioelectric impulses that can be interpreted by the human brain. Also doubles as x-rays glasses. photon exhaust Rocket-like or vent-like device designed to maintain a starship's velocity during the launch of photon torpedos. Without the exhaust device, the process of launching a torpedo from a forward tube would propel the starship backward slightly, and vice versa with aft torpedo tubes. photon torpedo A projectile weapon whose motive power and destructive payload are provided by a matter/antimatter reaction and makes a big bang. plasma injector System that injects energized plasma from a starship's power transfer conduits into the warp engine nacelles. Why you would want to do such a thing... I don't know. No, I really don't. I haven't got a clue... port The "left" side of a starship, as opposed to the starboard side or the other side. positronic Positrons are part of an atom, just like electrons, but oppositely (positively) charged. Positrons, like most things, decay, and give off a stable energy charge that Isaac Asimov first postulated could be used to create super-computers of very small size, small and super enough, in fact, to be used for android "brains." Data has one. power transfer conduit warp drive shaft warp power conduit Conduit made from old tupperware containers through which energized plasma is transferred from a starship's warp core to the warp engine nacelles. primary force-field deflector Defensive system located on the rim of primary hulls of Miranda-class and newer-style Constitution-class starships that deflects stuff. primary hull saucer module Section of a starship that usually contains the main bridge, at least one computer core, most living accommodations, impulse engines and salad bar. primary/secondary connection line primary/secondary hull connection line vehicle separation plane Visible delineator of a starship's primary and secondary sections if the saucer were to detach from the remainder of the ship. Most Starfleet vessels whose primary hulls can detach have primary/secondary connection lines near the top of their interconnecting dorsals. Those that don't, can't. quantum singularity When a star collapses in on itself, the density becomes so intense that its gravity prevents light from escaping, and we get a black hole. When the black hole is really, really small, we get a black pin-prick, but that sounds really lame, so we call it a quantum singularity. reaction-control thruster A rocket-based engine used to alter a starship's orientation. Don't forget to turn the left-turn signal off. record deck Small, handheld data storage device similar to the floppy disk of the 20th century. Also called an 8-Track Player. By the mid-24th century, record decks had been replaced by isolinear optical chips. Red Alert Loud noise, with all the screaming and the yelling and much confusion. replicator These devices do the second part of the transporter's job, starting with pure energy and coalescing it into matter based on a pre-set matrix. Some substances, however, are too complex or require too much energy to replicate, especially if the lack of the substance is important to the plot or sounds nice and technical. sector About twenty light-years of space. Are we there yet? shuttlebay Landing, storage, and maintenance facility for shuttlecraft. Galaxy-class starships have three shuttlebays usually numbered 1, 2 and 4. space energy/matter mattrix restoration cowl Structure surrounding the space energy/matter source (field restoration) dome at the aft end of an older-style Constitution-class starship's warp engine nacelles. The cowl assists the source in shaping the aft lobes of the starship's warp fields and looks neat with a flame decal glued to it's side. space energy/matter source (field restoration) Dome mounted on the aft end of the warp engine nacelles of older-style Constitution-class starships. This device presumably aids in shaping the aft lobes of the starship's warp fields but no one is really sure. starboard The "right" side of a starship, as opposed to the port side or the other side that we mentioned before. stern The rear of a starship, as opposed to the bow. Name for radio talk show host Howard Stern. support pylon warp nacelle pylon Structure that physically connects a warp engine nacelle to a most starships' secondary hulls. thruster Rocket-based maneuvering engine that thrusts. If you know what I mean. tractor beam Device that uses gravity manipulation to attract objects, hold objects at a relative position to a starship, or repel objects (just like my ex-wife). transporter emitter Hardpoint through which transporter beams are transmitted when beaming personnel and/or cargo to or from the ship. An accident just waiting to happen.
	umbilical connect hardpoints Ports on the spine of some later-model starships' secondary hulls, through which materials (such as laundry) and energy can be transferred between the starship and an external object such as a drydock facility. universal translator One of the most misunderstood technical bits in all of Star Trek, this was first a device, then software that samples brain activity and speech patterns in unknown languages and creates a translation matrix. It doesn't work on Jackie Chan. ventral The "lower" side of a starship, as opposed to the dorsal other side. vectored exhaust director exhaust director vectored exhaust nozzle Component of the impulse propulsion system that controls the bearing of expelled products of impulse reactions, facilitating steering of the starship at sublight speeds. Turn left at the next nebula... verteron particles Not all sub-atomic particles used on the shows are real particles. These completely made-up little guys protect ships in the Bajoran wormhole and make no sense at all. warp In the world as we know it, nothing but sub-atomic particles have been found to travel faster than light, so to move ships the warp drive creates a warp field, a subspace "bubble" that changes the nature of time, movement, gravity and God knows what else. In other words, since faster-than-light travel doesn't want to exist in our world, warp drive creates its own little world where it's possible. warp engine core dilithium chamber engine matter/antimatter mix chamber matter/antimatter reaction assembly matter/antimatter reaction chamber vertical engine shaft vertical intermix chamber warp core warp reactor core Large structure with many names that contains the systems necessary to generate a warp field. Warp engines are usually housed in warp engine nacelles. warp engine field grill A translucent structure located along the lateral centerline of later-model starships' warp engine nacelles. When a starship's warp engines are active, a blue glow can be seen emanating from the grill. It's supose to be like that. Don't panic. warp engine nacelle Structure that contains a warp engine. Most starships' warp engines are mounted in nacelles so that the remainder of the ship can be protected from inadvertent malfunctions or damage. Start panicing! warp field coil Element in a warp engine that generates a warp field when it is powered by energized plasma. Who doesn't know that? Give us some tough questions Regis! warp propulsion system Encompassing term used to describe a starship's technologies used for superlight travel. I knew that. yellow alert Indicates the need for great wariness, but not a state of emergency, and doesn't cause that really annoying "Red Alert" siren call.
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