[Star Trek] What would happen if someone starts spinning the Enterprise? Would people feel it?

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[Star Trek] What would happen if someone starts spinning the Enterprise? Would people feel it?

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  2. aRabidGerbil Avatar

    Generally, no

    Starfleet ships have inertial dampeners, which keep the actual acceleration of the ship from interacting with the inside.

  3. Hot-Refrigerator6583 Avatar

    Maybe a little, but not for long.

    Most starships have “inertial dampening” — a sort of area-wide forcefield that nearly eliminates the effects of acceleration in any direction. (I believe it’s tied in with the artificial gravity, but I might be mistaken.) This is absolutely essential when accelerating at relativistic speeds, and much more essential when jumping to FTL speeds — otherwise the crew would be reduced to a fine paste rather quickly, along with anything not welded down. This system is almost always operating, except for unusual circumstances like a spacedock overhaul or a necessary shutdown.

    The system itself is usually used proactively, keeping the ship’s crew comfortable during acceleration and deceleration. However, it also can detect sudden changes in the ship’s momentum, like during an attack, or during a subspace shockwave. Or if Q wants to spin the ship while he tosses it across the galaxy.

  4. ianjm Avatar

    In the TNG Technical Manual, it’s said the internal dampers can protected you from some pretty huge G forces, but they have a small lag, which is why you often see the crew tossed around a bit in an unpredicted impact (like a battle), whereas for controlled manoeuvres using the engine, the computers can simultaneously set the them to exactly counter the acceleration forces.

    So if the spin is a result of a manoeuvre, no one will feel a thing. If the spin is caused by the impact of a torpedo, the crew may be knocked off their feet before the dampers catch up and protect them.

  5. Jaded_Taste6685 Avatar

    In Q Who, Q spins the Enterprise when he sends it to unexplored space. No one seems to even notice the spinning. This could be down to Q magic, but the Enterprise does have inertial dampeners which compensate for the movement of the ship. The people on board usually only feel the movement when there’s an instantaneous movement, such as from a phaser impact, and even then the shock would be much worse without the dampeners.

  6. Drakeskulled_Reaper Avatar

    Probably not due to the dampners.

    But you KNOW Kirk ordered Sulu to do some sick barrel rolls when he was bored.