| rdfs:comment | - Coaxial warp drive (also known as a coaxial induction drive) was a theoretical form of propulsion envisioned by the Starfleet Corps of Engineers in the 24th century. The coaxial drive functioned by drawing in subatomic particles and reconfiguring their internal geometries to fold the fabric of space therby allowing a ship to travel across extremely large distances near instantaneously. Should the drive experience any particle instabilities it would overload threatening to collapse space within the radius of the detonation by nearly a billion kilometers. This could be countered by protecting a symmetric warp field to contain the instabilities or to install a polaric modulator to dilute the particle stream. (VOY episode: "Vis à Vis")
- Drs. Xavier and Maria Fernandes were working on a prototype coaxial warp drive and achieved great results with the theoretical model. They utilized the USS Auckland (NCC-4100) as a testbed in the 2350s. Unfortunately, the test was a failure, severely damaging the ship. The survivors gathered on a nearby M-class planet, but the Auckland's explosion, coupled with the damage to space, severely affected the planet's inhabitants, slowly driving them mad. (Star Trek: The Cantabrian Expeditions: "Salvation")
- By the 24th century, the concept of coaxial warp drive had been hypothesized by Starfleet engineers. In 2374, an experimental coaxial warp ship was piloted by a shapeshifter with the ability to switch its DNA with another individual, in essence switching bodies. The shapeshifter and its ship was encountered by the crew of the USS Voyager in the Delta Quadrant. At the time, the shapeshifter was pretending to be a Benthan named Steth and claimed that the ship was also of Benthan origin.
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| abstract | - Coaxial warp drive (also known as a coaxial induction drive) was a theoretical form of propulsion envisioned by the Starfleet Corps of Engineers in the 24th century. The coaxial drive functioned by drawing in subatomic particles and reconfiguring their internal geometries to fold the fabric of space therby allowing a ship to travel across extremely large distances near instantaneously. Should the drive experience any particle instabilities it would overload threatening to collapse space within the radius of the detonation by nearly a billion kilometers. This could be countered by protecting a symmetric warp field to contain the instabilities or to install a polaric modulator to dilute the particle stream. (VOY episode: "Vis à Vis")
- By the 24th century, the concept of coaxial warp drive had been hypothesized by Starfleet engineers. In 2374, an experimental coaxial warp ship was piloted by a shapeshifter with the ability to switch its DNA with another individual, in essence switching bodies. The shapeshifter and its ship was encountered by the crew of the USS Voyager in the Delta Quadrant. At the time, the shapeshifter was pretending to be a Benthan named Steth and claimed that the ship was also of Benthan origin. Emerging from coaxial space in an unstable condition, the vessel threatened to explode and collapse space within a radius of a billion kilometers. Such a catastrophe was averted, however, when Tom Paris, Voyager's helmsman, managed to generate a symmetric warp field around the coaxial warp ship, containing the instabilities in the space-folding core. The drive of the craft was imperfect, as particle instabilities tended to overload the engines. To correct for this flaw, Paris conceived of the idea of using a polaric modulator to dilute the particle stream as it entered the coaxial core, drawing inspiration from a 20th century device known as a carburetor. The Voyager crew eventually discovered that the impostor was not who he claimed to be when he switched places with Captain Janeway, in an attempted to escape from Voyager using a Starfleet class 2 shuttle modified to use coaxial warp drive. Paris was able to prevent the escape by targeting the polaric modulator with a chromoelectric pulse, disrupting the shuttles engines. (VOY: "Vis à Vis") While the crew now had a coaxial shuttle modified by Dis, no attempts were made to implement the technology for Voyager, presumably the technology was deemed too dangerous. In a 2009 statement, Doug Drexler stated the spindly nacelle struts on 26th century USS Enterprise-J were intended to suggest a warp drive that can fold space. [1](X)
- Drs. Xavier and Maria Fernandes were working on a prototype coaxial warp drive and achieved great results with the theoretical model. They utilized the USS Auckland (NCC-4100) as a testbed in the 2350s. Unfortunately, the test was a failure, severely damaging the ship. The survivors gathered on a nearby M-class planet, but the Auckland's explosion, coupled with the damage to space, severely affected the planet's inhabitants, slowly driving them mad. (Star Trek: The Cantabrian Expeditions: "Salvation") Believed by Starfleet scientists and engineers to be a merely hypothetical technology, it was seen in operation by the crew of the Federation starship USS Voyager in 2374. Unfortunately, the ship utilizing the coaxial warp drive was unstable when it dropped out of warp. In theory, a coaxial warp drive explosion could collapse space within a radius of a billion kilometers. Tom Paris suggested, and implemented, a symmetric warp field to contain any instabilities in a space-folding core. The core stablised shortly after. The drive's core was a device that drew in subatomic particles and reconfigured them, thus allowing the space-folding mechanism to work. The device, however, was not compensating for instabilities in the particles. Paris suggested using a carburetor-like device, diluting the subatomic energy flow slightly to counter it. With the modification, Steth's ship was able to use the coaxial warp drive successfully. Seven of Nine began working on a way to modify a shuttlecraft to use a coaxial warp drive, but the ship never made it after Paris and the real Steth destroyed the 'carburetor'. (VOY: "Vis à Vis") Before the incident involving Steth, Voyager personnel believed the coaxial warp drive to be "merely hypothetical" technology. This indicates that the failed Fernandes experiment and invention were not widely known beyond top-secret circles in Starfleet. Indeed, in Star Trek: The Cantabrian Expeditions, it is implied that only Antonio Fernandes and Daniel Radke know about his parents' failed attempt on the Auckland.
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