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star trek - Can warp drive be used to travel at sublight speeds?


The answer and discussion around this question


Can warp drive allow for light speed?


make me wonder about the following:


Warp drive works by warping space so that the ship need not "travel faster than light (within its bubble)" to still travel objectively faster than light would take. And this is necessary because infinite energy would be needed to approach the speed of light according to (both real-world and Star-Trek) relativistic physics.



So, is it possible to engage a warp field and use it to get the energy savings without actually exceeding the speed of light objectively?


Can I use my warp to get from the Earth to the Sun in 16 minutes rather than the 8 taken by light? Has it been demonstrated? If not, is it not possible or it is simply more efficient (for [handwave] reason) to use half-impulse?




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