• FlexibleToast@lemmy.world
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    1 day ago

    If it’s a good reason then yeah. But that reason would probably mean 9.9 isn’t the max anymore and some other higher number is. They get that extra speed by overloading the engines, which you can do for a brief time. I also assume there is some sort of fuel savings aspect. Aircraft and ships can go much faster than their cruising speeds, but at some point the extra speed isn’t worth the extra fuel. Ships specifically will have a speed at which they’re most efficient at because of the design of their hull, propellers, etc…

    Another reason exists for Warp 5 specifically. In an episode of TNG they discovered high warp speed was wrecking subspace, so the Federation imposed a Warp 5 speed limit. They basically ignore this in later series and fans just assume that some new technology made warp more eco friendly.

      • FlexibleToast@lemmy.world
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        21 hours ago

        You’re kind of proving that fans assumed it. That idea is based on a manual that was never published and, therefore, never officially cannon. Also, if it was the variable geometry nacelles that fixed it, why was the Intrepid class seemingly the only one that had that tech? Why not the Sovereign class developed around the same time, or even the later Odyssey class?