Skip to main content

star trek - ST: First Contact: how did the crew get back to the future having destroyed the main deflector?


In the film First Contact, when in the past, the Borg from the future try to contact the Borg in the past's time period by building a transmitter out of the particle emitter on the main deflector dish. The particle emitter is detached from the deflector dish by Worf, Picard and Lieutenant Sean Hawk, and then blown up, to stop the Borg transmitting their message.



Now, fast forward to the end of the film - the crew of the Enterprise have to get back to the future, so Picard instructs whoever it is on the bridge to emit a reproduction of the inverse tachion pulse that opened the temporal vortex that the Borg sphere & the Enterprise went through to get back to the past at the near-beginning of the film.


My question is: With the particle emitter on the main deflector dish destroyed, how exactly did they emit this pulse? Do they carry spare particle emitters on board (doubtful - it's a pretty large piece of equipment to carry spares for), or did they construct a new one somehow? Or do they have a secondary deflector dish powerful enough to do the job? Or is it just a gaping plot hole?...



Answer



I realize there's an accepted answer to this -- but the dialog in the last moments of the movie contains an answer to this which is apparently being overlooked.


They don't need the deflector dish; they modify the warp field to generate the chronometric particles.



PICARD: Report.


WORF: The moon's gravitational field obscured our warp signature. The Vulcans did not detect us.


LAFORGE: Captain, I've reconfigured our warp field to match the chronometric readings of the Borg sphere.


PICARD: Recreate the vortex, Commander.



LAFORGE: Aye sir.


RIKER: All decks report ready.


DATA: Helm standing by.


PICARD: Mister Data, lay in a course for the twenty-fourth century. I suspect our future is there waiting for us.


DATA (OC): Course laid in, sir.


PICARD: Make it so.



Typically the deflector dish is the "Do Impossible Stuff" fixture on the ship, but in this instance they don't claim to even need it.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

futurama - How much time is lost in 'Time Keeps on Slippin''

In time Keeps on Slippin' , Farnsworth creates a basketball team which he matures by abusing Chronitons. This leads to time skipping forward by random, but ever increasing amounts. How much time was skipped in this way? Answer Unfortunately, I don't think a good estimate can be made for this, for two reasons: Many of the time skips move forward by an indeterminate amount of time. At one point, the Professor mentions localized regions of space skipping forward much more than others. We then see two young boys on the street below complaining about having to pay social security, only to suddenly become senior citizens and start complaining about wanting their money. Thus, each individual could have experienced a different amount of time skippage.
Post a Comment
Read more

What is Tolkien trying to say in this letter?

In a draft of a letter, later recorded as #246, Tolkien makes a strange statement. I am interested in the first few sentences of the letter, but I will include the remainder for the sake of context. In the 'Mirror of Galadriel', 1381, it appears that Galadriel conceived of herself as capable of wielding the Ring and supplanting the Dark Lord. If so, so also were the other guardians of the Three, especially Elrond . But this is another matter. It was part of the essential deceit of the Ring to fill minds with imaginations of supreme power . But this the Great had well considered and had rejected, as is seen in Elrond's words at the Council. Galadriel's rejection of the temptation was founded upon previous thought and resolve. In any case Elrond or Galadriel would have proceeded in the policy now adopted by Sauron: they would have built up an empire with great and absolutely subservient generals and armies and engines of war, until they could challenge Sauron and destroy ...
Post a Comment
Read more

tolkiens legendarium - Was Galadriel's temptation of Boromir instrumental to his fall?

We know Galadriel tempted the members of the Fellowship, did she tempt Boromir with visions of taking the Ring and saving Gondor? In the books, Boromir willingly accepts the judgement of the council that the Ring should be destroyed, but after the meeting with Celeborn and Galadriel his personality seems to change. Was the temptation offered by Galadriel in some way responsible for Boromir's fall? Answer It's likely, but not certain I believe it is likely Galadriel tempted him with the ring, and in doing so re-ignited a pre-existing idea to take the ring, but to be clear lets break this down into three parts. Boromir at the Council of Elrond Boromir after setting off Boromir after being tempted Boromir at the Council of Elrond Boromir pleas for the ring to go to Minas Tirith, to help Gondor in its defense against Mordor. “ Why should we not think that the Great Ring has come into our hands to serve us in the very hour of need? Wielding it the Free Lords of the Free may surely...
Post a Comment
Read more

harry potter - What is the difference between Diffindo and Sectumsempra?

In the Harry Potter books, Diffindo is called the 'Severing Charm' and it’s most commonly used to cut ropes and the like. However, in the last book Hermione uses it on Ron but misses, creating a 'slash in his jeans' and his knee gets cut, causing him to 'roar in pain'. We've only seen Sectumsempra used once on screen when Harry directly uses it on Malfoy in the sixth book, but there it's mentioned that he is 'waving his wand wildly'. Wouldn't Diffindo, if used in such a fashion also cause a similar effect? Similarly, if it was able to cut Ron, it would also be able to, say, chop off an ear (George's)? In that case, how are these two spells different, except for Sectumsempra seemingly used exclusively to hurt humans? Answer While Diffindo and Sectumsempra both can be countered by other spells, Diffindo is far more easily countered. Reparo, a relatively common spell, can completely reverse its effect when used once. “He pulled the old cop...
Post a Comment
Read more