The first warp core was
created by Zefram Cochrane. The first warp propulsion systems used a fusion reaction to create the energy required to make
a warp field. Modern warp propulsion systems use a Matter/Antimatter (M/A) reaction.
The Warp propulsion system
(WPS) consists of 6 major parts: Matter/Antimatter Storage Pods, Reactant Injectors, Reaction Chamber, Power Transfer Conduit,
and Warp Coils.
Matter/Antimatter Fuel Supply
The Matter used in the M/A reaction is stored
in the primary deuterium tank (PDT). The PDT is constructed of forced-matrix 2378 cortanium and stainless steel, with foamed
vac-whisker silicon-copper-duranite insulation laid down in alternating parallel/biased layers and gamma-welded (**NOTE: You
will not have to now what the PDT is made of for the test). There are a total of four main fuel feed manifolds from the PDT
to the matter reactant injector, eight cross-feed conduits to the Saucer Module auxiliary tanks, and four feeds to the main
impulse engine. The total internal volume, which is compartmentalized against losses due to structural damage, is 63,200 m3,
though the normal total deuterium load is 62,500 m3. The PDT is normally loaded with slush deuterium at a temperature
of -259oC, or 13.8K.
The Antimatter used in
the M/A reaction is stored in 30 pods on Deck 42 that contain 100 m3, giving the USS Cobain 3000 m3,
enough for a normal mission period of three years. Each pod measures 4 x 8 meters and is constructed of polyduranium, with
an inner magnetic field layer of ferric quonium (**NOTE: You will not need to know what the Antimatter pods are made of for
the test). Each pod is connected by shielded conduits to a series of distribution manifolds, flow controllers, and electro
plasma system (EPS) power feed inputs. In the event of loss of magnetic containment, the entire antimatter storage pod assembly
(ASPA) can be ejected by microfusion initiators at a velocity of 40 m/sec, pushing it clear of the ship before the fields
decay and the antimatter has a chance to react with the pod walls. Antimatter, even contained within storage pods, cannot
be moved by transporter without extensive modifications to the pattern buffer, transfer conduits, and transporter emitters
for safety reasons due to the highly volatile nature of antimatter.
Reactant Injectors
The reactant
injectors prepare and feed precisely controlled streams of matter and antimatter into the core. The matter reactant injector
(MRI) accepts supercold deuterium from the PDT in the upper bulge of the Engineering Hull and partially preburns it in a continuous
gas-fusion process. The MRI then drives the resulting gases through a series of throttleable nozzles into the upper magnetic
constriction segment. The MRI consists of a conical structural vessel 5.2 x 6.3 meters, constructed of dispersion-strengthened
woznium carbmolybdenide (**NOTE: You will not need to know what the MRI is made of for the test).
At the opposite end of
the matter/antimatter reaction assembly (M/ARA) is the antimatter reactant injector (ARI). The internal design and operation
of the ARI is distinctly different from that of the MRI, owing to the hazardous nature of antimatter fuel. Every step in manipulating
and injecting antihydrogen must be undertaken with magnetic fields to isolate the fuel from the spacecraft structure.
Matter/Antimatter Reaction Chamber
The matter/antimatter reaction chamber (M/ARC) consists of two of two matched bell-shaped cavities which contain and
redirect the primary reaction. The chamber measures 2.3 meters in height and 2.5 meters in diameter. It is constructed from
twelve layers of hafnium 6 excelion-infused carbonitrium, phase-transition welded under a pressure of 31,000 kilopascals.
The three outer layers are armored with acrossenite arkenide for 10x overpressure protection (**NOTE: You do not need to know
what the M/ARC is made of for the test), as are all interface joints to other pressure-bearing and energy-carrying parts of
the system. The equatorial band of the chamber contains the housing for the dilithium crystal articulation frame (DCAF). An
armored hatch allows access to the DCAF for crystal replacement and adjustment. The DCAF can hold 1200 cm3 of dilithium
crystal, plus two redundant sets of three-axis crystal orientation linkages. The crystal must be manipulated with six degrees
of freedom to achieve the proper angles and depths for reaction mediation. Dilithium, or correctly named 2<5>6 dilithium
2<:>1 diallosilicate 1:9:1 heptoferranide (**NOTE: You do not need to know what dilithium’s real formula is for
the test), is used because it is the only material known to Federation science to be nonreactive with antimatter when subjected
to a high-frequency electromagnetic (EM) field in the megawatt range, rendering it “porous” to antihydrogen.
Power Transfer Conduits
Once the M/A reaction has
taken place the energy that is created is split into 2 streams of plasma flowing away from the reaction at a 90o angle to each
other. This plasma then travels through the power transfer conduits (PTC), which is magnetically similar to the Magnetic Constriction
Segments (MCS) in that they constrain the plasma to the center of each channel and peristaltically force the plasma towards
the warp engine nacelles, where the warp field coils (WFC) utilize the energy for propulsion. The PTC is constructed from
six alternating layers of machined tritanium and transparent aluminum borosilicate, which are phase-transition welded to produce
a single pressure-resistant structure (**NOTE: You will not need to know what a PTC is made of for the test). The interfaces
with the reaction chamber are explosive shear-plane joints that can separate within 0.08 seconds in the event the warp core
must be jettisoned. Taps for the EPS are located at 3 places along the PTC, at 5, 10 , and 20 meters aft of the shear-plane
joints.
Warp Field Coils
The energy field necessary to propel the USS Cobain is created by the warp field coils and assisted by the specific
configuration of the starship hull. The coils generate an intense, multilayered warp field that surrounds the starship. The
coils themselves are split toroids positioned within the nacelles. Each half-segment measures 9.5 x 43 meters and is constructed
from a core of densified tungsten-cobalt-magnesium for structural stiffening, and imbedded within a casting of electrically
densified verterium cortenide. A complete pair measures 21 x 43 meters, with a mass of 34,375 metric tones (**NOTE you will
not need to know what a WFC is made of or what its mass is for the test). Two complete sets of eighteen coils each have a
mass of 1.23 x 106 metric tones, accounting for 25% of the total starship's mass.
