Orci & Lindelof ‘Holed Up’ In Hotel Writing Star Trek Sequel + Want Fan Input On Enterprise Deflector Naming February 21, 2011
by Anthony Pascale , Filed under: Orci/Kurtzman,Star Trek Into Darkness , trackback
There is more news on progress for the 2012 Star Trek sequel script, which is targeted for delivery next month. Now co-writers Robert Orci and Damon Lindelof have indicated they have relocated to a hotel to sit down and focus on finishing their first draft. More details below, Bob Orci asks fans to weigh in on a navigational array.
Orci and Lindelof ‘holed up’ in a hotel writing Star Trek sequel
A bit over a week ago Star Trek sequel producer/co-writer Roberto Orci announced that he and the team were shooting to deliver the sequel in "six weeks or so" (now five weeks or so). Late Monday afternoon co-writer Damon Lindelof sent out a tweet showing that they are really coming down to the wire and focusing on the script, saying he and Orci have relocated to a hotel to focus. Tweeting the following:
Roberto Orci quickly followed up Lindelof’s tweet with the following quip:
So any Trekkie who spots Damon Lindelof and Roberto Orci in a Los Angeles area hotel bar tonight, it is your lucky night!
The practice of ‘holing up’ in a hotel is actually something of a ritual for Roberto Orci. He and his regular partner Alex Kurtzman have often seconded themselves to hotels to finish up scripts. The writers have said it helps them remove all other distractions to focus on the work. The reason that Kurtzman isn’t joining Lindelof and Orci for this particular session is that he is currently focused on directing the family drama Welcome to People, which just happens to star Chris Pine. However, Kurtzman, who is also credited as a producer/co-write on the Star Trek sequel, has worked closely with Orci and Lindelof on the Star Trek script since things really kicked off last summer.
The Star Trek sequel is expected to start shooting in late summer, targeting a release June 29, 2012.
An array? A dish? – Orci asks fans a deflector question
TrekMovie contacted Orci and asked if there is any feedback the team would like fan feedback on right now. Bob sent in the following query:
What would the general consensus be on the proper name for the main deflector dish?
That is an interesting question. The dish seen on all Starfleet ships through Star Trek history has been referred to by many names, including "navigational deflector", "deflector dish", "deflector array", and "nav deflector". What do you think it should be called? Post your comments below.
The dish on the new USS Enterprise, which opens up when the ship goes to warp
A dishy plot point?
Could Bob’s question also be related to an important plot point. It could be that the dish, usually used to ensure safe space travel by deflecting space debris, gets a casual reference in the film. But there are many cases in past Star Trek on TV and film, when the deflector dish played a key role. Captain Kirk tried to use the original Enterprise’s deflector to move an asteroid in the original Star Trek episode "The Paradise Syndrome". Riker’s famous line "Mr. Worf, Fire!" ending The Next Generation cliffhanger "The Best of Both Worlds, Part I" was ordering the firing of an energy beam from the USS Enterprise D’s deflector to destroy a Borg cube (and killing Capt. Picard as Locutus of Borg). There are many more examples, especially on the USS Voyager, of using the deflector in non-traditional fashions. The deflector probably played the biggest role in an extended sequence in Star Trek: First Contact when the Picard, Worf and Hawk actually
walked on the hull of the Enterprise-E to take on some Borg who were trying to turn the deflector into a beacon to call for reinforcements.
Picard battles Borg on the USS Enterprise E deflector
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Comments
Main deflector dish and navigational sensor. What else could it be?
What sorta name are they looking for?
whats wrong with it just being called a Deflector Array…
dont be soo worried about techno babble.
well i choose Danny the Deflector Dish….
Navigational Deflector Dish, or just Deflector Dish. It Deflects small particles that could damage the ship, so… yeah..
thats my two cents.. Shout out to Bob Orci! Best of luck on the script, I know if anybody can do it you can!
Very nice article Anothony!
I’m going to vote for “deflector dish”. I think the “array” might encompass the whole system and refer to a lot more than simply the dish. “navigational deflector” is too limiting a term, considering how many complex and interesting ways it can be used — while still remaining true to it’s function.
So for me, it’s a “deflector dish”.
I dont know, how about the Pascale Array? Or maybe the Tony Dish? I mean there are JefferiesTubes right?
Perhaps in this alternative universe I or one of my ancestors invented it! You never know
the big blue thingee on the front end…
The Dish Doo-hickey (or thing-a-ma-bob would also be appropriate).
5. Already got your name in here, buddy!
but seriously, if pushed I prefer “deflector dish” because I like alliteration, and “array” is just another bit of technobabble.
I’d break it down thus:
Navigational Deflector – What it is, what it does. The Correct Term per blueprints etc.
Deflector Array – This implies multiple deflectors, and to me seems like a defensive mechanism, aka the Deflector Shields or simply Shields.
Deflector Dish – More casual term for it, based on what it does but also what it resembles (a dish).
Navigational Deflector Assembly/Navigational Dish Assembly – The structure that contains the Navigational Deflector and supporting equipment and skeleton.
At least, that’s my thinking. It really comes down to clarity in context, and how colloquial vs. official it should sound in the scene.
Perhaps utilizing
8 Dude…seriously?
cool. I hope I am some kind of infectious disease.
Bones: Oh my god, he has got Pascale Syndrome
Spock: Fascinating, that usually only affects small rodents and certain female Orions
Kirk: Is it serious?
Bones: Only if you like all your organs on the inside
#5 I’ll second that :-)
I’ve been waiting for an article like this, god it is good to be back.
Deflector Dish has always sounded fine to me.
But we could just name it “Bob”, couldn’t we? ;-)
Or kajigger, wossname, thingy, dealie, whozits, widget, navigational whatever… okay, seriously, any of the ones Anthony listed are fine. I’m not really sure what the intent of the question is. Then again, maybe you can’t tell us.
How about the MacGuffin Array? Deus Antenna?
Who cares? They should concentrate on a good story and not get hung up naming doohickeys and thingamajigs. Plug ‘em in later. God help us if the plot actually relies on any of these things.
The proper name is “navigational deflector.”
Uh, I thought it was just the navigational deflector, or deflector array (for short?).
The Justman Array. The Coons Dish.
Give those guys some love.
Sorry, one Coon.
Or the Freiberger Array. That’s got a ring to it.
‘Sub-space deflector’.
OMG.
The Pascale Array actually sounds good.
Bob, PLEASE throw in some Canadian reference !
That thing on the back of the nacelle that glows blue? Or y’know. A deflector dish. What else would you call it?
Call it the Peterman reflector. ;_;
I thought that some of the production team and writers were fans of Trek. This reminds me of the post-Enterprise interview that Braga did where he couldn’t remember what a tricorder did. What the heck? Imagine a future script for a Star Wars film where those writers can’t figure out what the hyper engine thingy that makes them ships go all hyper fast like is called. Hmmm.
I just want my name submitted too ;)
*Peterman deflector, I mean. Autocorrect makes everything wrong.
Transwarp Particulate Deflector Field Emitter.
Stands for “This part does f**king everything”.
roddenberry deflector array,deflector dish,or just array
I’d second OneBuckFilms’ comment (#10), in that the proper term is “navigational deflector”, but there’s nothing wrong with calling it something shorter in conversation, especially a rushed conversation.
Actually, in the spirit of the first movie’s set design, I think it should be called the Beer Bowl. :D
You could use the Argus Array from the TNG 193 – Nth Degree?
Just saying.
And the sub-space deflector generates an anti-graviton, or ‘Morbius*’ field in front of the ship’s warp bubble, forcing matter to be re-routed obliquely around the engines’ Cochrane shell.
*Tip o’ the horns to ‘Forbidden Planet’.
Well, it’s shaped like a donut so why not call it a Toroidal Deflector Array, or in colloquial terms, the Big Blue Daisy.
@23: There’s a large difference in degree between forgetting what a tricorder (or deflector) even DOES, and being unsure which of the multitude of known canon descriptions should be used for it.
Array, to me, suggests a collection of small devices combined to make a big, single purpose device. Such as a RAID (redundant array of independent disks) in modern computing parlance. While the deflector dish appears to perform a few tasks, it would still suggest to me to be one (albeit large) object. The Argus Array in the Next Generation also looked like it was modular. So I would go with deflector dish.
Though if the writers are so keen to take aboard the feelings of the fans, maybe a warp nacelle refit and a new engineering section is on the cards too. The majority of us have been asking for those things for a long time, right? ;)
“Main deflector.”
I think is should be “deflector dish” too, I think it sounds the best, out loud.
Hey Bob. How about Mike’s Array. Ok. I say keep it with Deflecter Array. That is always a good bet. But please change the Engerneering to be more real and not a Brewery.
#11
LOL how bout naming it the Pascale Array/Dish since Anthony has been so kind to devout his time in relaying news about sci fi, star trek etc?
Hey Bob. I closed my eye and Imagined that I spoted you in the bar. Please use Michael Dillard in there. That is my full name.
Anthony, actually “array” is not technobabble. We have Phased Array Radars instead of traditional radar dishes on many Navy ships today.
Calling it the “Navigational Deflector” accomplishes what’s needed: it describes the device’s function concisely and clearly and does not invite any griping because “well, it’s not really a dish, because it’s several different deflectors working together” or “how can it be an array if it’s a single deflector apparatus”?
Really, call it whatever you want so long as you don’t turn it into something ridiculous, like that magic transporter we saw last time out.
N.O.A.A is also getting ready the new Weather Phased Radars to replace the Doppler Radars. I think it is still another 10 years away. Oh. I’m also an Amature Storm Vhaser. Yes. I chase Tornadoes as a hobby.
As an Easter Egg, it would be fun to hear Spock utter the first words ever spoken in Star Trek….”Check the Circuit!”
I vote: Meteorite Beam ;)
Deflector dish it the best one I think.
1) it describes what it does.
2) the “dish” explains its shape to the non-trekkies (whom you are presumably trying to entice in theaters)
“oh they must mean that dish shaped thingy on the front, Beulah”
“yer so smart Cletus”
:)
Well. Could use something really crazy.
Kirk. Activate the Forcefield repelling deflector array.
Spock. eye Sir.
Argus Array? Or GPS Array?
Also, the word dish will make people think of food and avail themselves of the many various ludicrously expensive treats and sundries in the theater!
It’s all good. :)
Thorny
Are you implying that the US military does abound in its own techno-babble?
This is the fun stuff I missed on Trekmovie.com.
Hey Anthony. As a former Sailor in the Navy. Yes. On Subs and in Engine Rooms and anything Electronic they use there own Techno babble.
Also. N.A.S.A uses there own Techno on the Space Shuttle and on the Space Station.
Since we’re dealing with a quasi-TOS universe, then it should be Navigational Deflector Dish. I don’t think the word “array” was used until one of the spin-off shows.
Come on Bob. Please use my name on Star Trek. Michael Monroe Dillard. Please. Please Please.
#28, You’re on to something, that must be where you put the tap… Rip Torn was on to something we he mentioned an intergalactic kegger, all they were missing was the enterprise!
I think that there’s really multiple names for it, much like you can call the turbolift an “elevator” or a “lift” as well. I’m guessing the fully technical term is the Main Navigational Deflector Array, while the term “deflector dish” is used by people who work with it on a daily basis. It’s like the terms “laptop” and “portable computer” – they both describe the same thing, but one is more heavily used in modern parlance.
Forward Deflector Array
How about calling it the “Harmer Navigational Dish” or “Harmer Navi-Dish Array” ? I think my last name would be a cool one to name something in Star Trek after.
#43…..Meterorite Beam
Nice, taking it way back!
“The Roddenb Array”
You can thank me a footnote of the credits.
Maybe BobOrci is just planning a holodeck poker game with Blaise Pascale to get the Pascale name in there?
I like Deflector Array, but setting the Pascale Manifold on it to enable advanced bloppity bloppity when they need extra zappity zappity works, too.
Kirk to Engineering Scotty. Activate the Main Deflector Dish.
Scotty. Eye Eye Sir.
Kirk to Engineering. Scotty. Activate the Deflector Array.
Scotty. Eye Eye sir.
Kirk to Engineering. Scotty. Activate the Forward Deflector Array Dish.
Scotty. Eye Eye Sir.
I would probably say either Deflector Dish or Forward Deflector Array would sound best. Or hey, it could just be called the “blue bowl thingy!”
Kirk to Engineering Scotty Activate the Main Deflector Array.
Scotty Eye Eye Sir.
Scotty. Lt Pascale Lt. Dillard. Lets get this wee beastie going.
Navigational Deflector.
However here’s hoping for a new ship design. Round 2 models just officially axed the model of the JJPrise and other licensed offerings have ikewise proven this to be a less then popular interpretation of the ship from a marketing standpoint. She needs to be tweaked, Bob! Put something in the script that speaks to correcting the scale and all the other questionable design decisions PLEASE. I know thats not your part of the show but once you sneak it in to the script they kinda have to do it dont they :)
Sorry, but this ‘E’ was poorly thought out both in scale and design. Please put in the script how the design had to be re-fit and make sure the Art Director doesnt blow it again. Breweries are not accpetable and throwing a bunch of desks in between giant polished beer vats and calling it a communications lab is equally fail.
Please, Bob, use your powers for good… :)
How about:
“The DM Duncan Memorial Deflector Dish”
“Transwarp Particulate Deflector Field Emitter.
Stands for “This part does f**king everything”.”
^If The Next Generation is to be believed…
I say Navigational Deflector Dish, or Deflector Dish. Just my 2 cents worth. Good luck with the story guys! Don’t believe in yourselves. Believe in the fans that believe in you! Your deflector dish is the dish that will pierce the heavens! *crickets* Yeah, no one will get the joke. =P
If it were me in LA doing the ST script in a hotel mega session, it would have to be at the JW Marriot/Ritz Carlton awesome new hotel next the the Staples Center, and breakfast every morning 2 blocks east at the Original Pantry Diner, with dinner delivery every night from the Water Grill.
Hi Jordan
actually it is Blaise Pascal, he was from the French side of the family, no silent ‘e’. But a great Pascale nonetheless
Well the technical term is obviously
Parabolic Navigational Deflector or PND
commonly known as a “Deflector Dish”
The term “deflector dish” seems standard among fans discussing Star Trek. Within the context of Star Trek’s universe I always preferred the term “main deflector.”
Hey Bob. Del J. Trame, “British Naval Dude” Passed away back in December and he was only about 27. He was a Huge Trek Fan and posted some of the best stuff on here. So I and i truly believe that every one here would love to see his name used in the Star Trek Movie. Anthony. Please talk to Bob and see if he would use his name in Trek. In Honor of our friend and fellow Hard Core Trek.
Of course if you want it longer because… it opens up on subspace… then..
Subspace Parabolic Navigational Deflector
Follow the KISS theory. Keep It Simple Stupid – Call it the Deflector Array. People can give it a slang term like dish because that’s what it looks like. As I understand it it is used to deflect particles away from the ship as it travels so as to not be holed by a particle while traveling at relativistic speeds at high impulse and even while at warp. At those speeds a grain of stand would act like a missile.
Considering it’s new trek, they’ll probably call it a nacelle
It should not officially have the word “dish” — that’s just a colloquialism, and even one that the crew might occasionally resort to. Also, avoid “navigational” since it can be used for more purposes.
The official, proper term should be “deflector array”.
I always thought it was the Main Deflector Dish, I suppose there are others on the ship, I haven’t ever seen them.
Also, I must put my son’s name in, because I am a proud daddy of a very young Trekkie. Harrison Coleman is a great name for a red shirt! Even better he has a red shirt!
I hope it is a nice hotel, with some good room service…. Good luck.
@74 Dude, that is rahter mean-spirited considering that Orci is specifically reaching out to fans on this board for suggestions that will make it into the movie.
It looks like an eye to me so maybe “The Iris”? Or something to that effect.
@77
Agreed.
My vote is for the Deflector Dish. Nice and simple
Doohan Deflector Array.
If we’re talking about natural spoken language between experienced personnel, I vote “deflector” only. “Dish” is redundant. No need to drive it home.
Kirk to Engineering. Scotty. Prepare to Activate the Deflector Array.
Scotty. Eye Eye Sir. Lt Pascale and Lt Dillard and Lt. Trame. Get to the Doohan Conduit and get that wee beastie ready.
How about the Datin Array, honoring Richard Datin — the model maker who built the original Enterprise that is now in the Smithsonian. He passed away just last month.
How about “Betty”?
Or, given Mr. Scotts preference for getting his hands on her ample nacales, the “blue boob” might work, too.
The Eye of Thundera
Navigational Deflector Dish or Main Deflector Dish.
Just Deflector dish in common parlance.
What about “that thingy that knocks rocks and stuff outta the way so the ship don’t get blowed up array?”
In keeping with the grand tradition of Jeffries Tube and Okudagram, How about something like Justman Array?
Harry Ballz would probably second a vote for “Durance array”
http://memory-alpha.org/wiki/Navigational_deflector
How about the interplexing navigational deflector?
Deflector Dish… i agree that array is technobabble. maybe if the whole thing needs to be spelled out, navigational deflector dish.
Just “the main deflector”. Drop the dish and let it run away with the spoon.
How about the Sloane Array in reference to Lily Sloane from First Contact. Even the Phoenix as primitive as it was would need all of the components. I figured Z’s thing was the whole space warp idea and Lily contribution was “The other stuff”
The problem is that it’s multiple systems hence array
1) The Navigational deflector is a weak force field generator that sweeps in front of the ship like a windshield wiper swatting aside dust and micrometeorites so they don’t slam into the hull at near relativistic(But sub warp) speeds
2) The Sensor array akin to the Radar dish on a aircraft that sweeps in front of the ship then receives the “ping” for analysis by the ships computers. This sweep probably leads the deflector sweep like two windshield wipers working in sync.
3) Main Deflector is a strong force field generator working in concert with the shields
I think the entire system should simply be called “navigational deflector” (which is referred to quite clearly in TMP) and the actual component we see at the front be named the “deflector dish.”
It might sound like semantics, but I think a computer and it’s CPU provides the best analogy. As long as the descriptors don’t go over two words each, then I think we can avoid the technobabble hate.
The DeFRAKtor.
Deep Dish Nav Array (with extra black olives and pepperoni)
main deflector
Hypno-beam pusher thing
Navigational Array
I dislike the “dish” term…
Pathfinder deflector
Pathfinder Navigation deflector
I could agree with #89.. an apt name
Ummm……Main deflector dish. Pretty simple. Gets the point across.
How about borrowing my techno babble gadget name for a fictitious device I use to scare noobs in Second Life Combat areas.
Tachyon Cascade Inverter
better yet Tachyon Navigational Deflector
Yea..I win…
If I had the coordinates for the hotel bar in question, I’d beam down…er..drive up there, right now.
I think you should go with the original nomenclature that the man who designed the Enterprise gave it.
From the Star Trek Sketchbook: The Original Series, by Herb Solow and Yvonne Fern Solow, in my hands at this very moment, pages 70 – 71, Matt Jefferies’ own blueprint spread clearly labels it…drumroll please…
…and I quote…
“MAIN SENSOR”
The part’s proper name should be “Roger Deflectormanfeldewitzberg.”
The name for the functionality in question should be “the main deflector.”
The name for the hardware that performs the aforementioned function should be “the main deflector dish,” even though I don’t particularly like the sound of the word “dish” in that context, but it is a utilitarian name that has stuck around because it is so apt a name, i.e. the thing looks like a dish.
Even though “dish” is the canonical term (and many have already made the case for “dish”), I’d like to make the case for “array.”
Looking at the picture of the secondary hull above, it appears to be composed of an “array” of elements. It could be argued that it functioned like radar does today — a phased array of antennas. The advantage is that you can *steer* the beam electronically (no moving parts). A (parabolic) dish can only direct it’s signal along a single axis. Wouldn’t it make sense for a 23rd century starship to have the ability to direct a beam of energy *without* turning the ship or using a turret?
How about using some real physics terms relating to travel in space?
Like “negative energy” or “dark energy” warp deflector? I remembered reading about this previously in an article about the possibilities light speed in the future. Star Trek definitly has influenced todays scientists, because it was mentioned in the article! :)
I don’t know, just a thought, I thought it would be fun to add my 2 cents in, not that I am a physicist or anything lol.
I’m a nurse Dr!!! not a physicist!
Of course, my recommendation comes before noting MJs far superior suggestion in post # 65.
Deflector Dish! (Main Deflector and Deflector Array are okay too) Could you name Kirk’s fish “Fred” in honor of me? :D
BobO, you actually reading these?… I bet they sound really good… (or bad) after a few cocktails.
I still like my “tachyon” thing. A tachyon is a theoretical faster than light particle. ( I think)
I think Navigational Deflector works just fine. It combines both “main deflector dish (BOBW)” and “navigational sensor array (Yesterday’s Enterprise)”.
boborci:
How about a character with a last name starting with “Mc”? I can’t recall any names from any series or movie ATM where any ones last name contained that.
Here’s a suggestion….how about “McGurran”? ;)
Deflector Dish. KISS seems to apply here, this movie will be for non geeks too, not just us!
How about “Main Forward Navigational Deflection Node” or “Main Forward Navigational Deflection Emitter”? They could call it a “Nav Deflector” or “Main Nav Deflector” for short.
…call it the “Repeller Platter”. Has a nice ring to it don’t you think?
This is one of those rare times when I wish I lived in LA. I’d actually go looking for them! What fun!
Navigational Deflector, or Main Deflector would be my vote.
And if boborci or any of his cohorts are reading: LESS LENS FLARES IN SEQUEL… please :)
How about a real Navy term..
Coner: Pronounced “Cone-er”(Submarine Service) A submarine crewman who is not part of the engineering department (see Nuke below), especially Torpedomen, because they are stationed in the forward cone of the Sub, and pretty much prohibited from wandering into the rear engineering spaces. Also known as “Forward Pukes” (as opposed to “F*****’ Nukes”) or M.U.F.F.s (My Up Forward Friends).
My son is on a submarine, somewhere…
Oh btw, Bob, I have a favor to ask. In TOS, Bones always referred to the nurse as “nurse” only. Could you give her a name if you ever use one?
While I do respect MOST Dr.s immensely, we nurses have had to bow to Drs. for so long! While today it is much better and I have several Dr.s as good friends, it would be a great statement for us nurses to have an identity with the title.
Thanks so much and enjoy your evening!!
PS. I dont think we on this board will be able to sleep much tonight for trying to think of some names for your deflector/dish! Let us know when you have decided on one so we can get some sleep too- :D
The term deflectors is sometimes used in the context of defense, suggesting they are similar to or used in conjunction with shields. For that purpose the ship must have deflector emitters that give 360-degree coverage. The dish, then is not a deflector but a collection (or array) of deflectors focused forward by the dish to clear the path ahead. In Star Trek TMP Ilia says “navigational deflectors” (plural). The dish itself could be described as distinct from its component deflectors.
I seem to remember someone from ILM or similar calling it a “collection plate” about a year or two ago in some interview. I was like “wtf?” But.. I’ve always called it a deflector dish.
#83 makes an excellent suggestion….worth considering. At the very least, use the name for some widget in the next movie.
Others:
-After Nikola Tesla……..The Death Ray….
-The Shat Array
-Deflector Shield Emitter
-The Dish
-The Raw Nervenator
-The Negotiator
-The Main Deflector Dish
-The Main Sensor Array
-The Multi Emitter
-The Repulsor Array
-The Mugato Dish
-The TRS-80
-The Commadore64
-The Electric Bugaloo
-The Atari 2600
-The Array
-The Blue Thing…….On the other hand, you could really irritate people by making the dish Red and keeping the nacelles blue….
-The Big Blue Thing
-The Blue Dish that matches the Main Saucer pattern…..
-The Multinator Array
-And my personal favorite…..The CapesKicksAssitron Dish……(Please use and donate my residuals to the fund for underprivileged fanboys…..Thank you)
No, you fools! It was a trap and you all walked right into it! They’re trying to get us to bicker over the name of fictional technology so they can use this pages as evidence to some nefarious plot to discredit Trekies!
Speaking of which, I agree with Dennis Bailey that “main deflector” is best. It’s shorter than “navigational deflector,” and “nav” sound weird. I don’t think it’s essential that we expressly state that it’s used for navigation. The fact that it’s a giant blue thing on the front of a faster-than-light starship kind of implies that.
71. Commodore Mike of the Terran Empire – February 21, 2011
Hey Bob. Del J. Trame, “British Naval Dude” Passed away back in December and he was only about 27.
I am genuinely saddened to learn this Mike. I enjoyed reading his comments here as well as the occasional notes we exchanged.
May God rest his soul.
Sincerely,
C.S. Lewis
PS: Its name is “Main Sensor”. Always has been.
Haha, I actually liked “Pascale Syndrome.” And, I’d always assumed the dish was just called the Main Deflector Dish. Also? If you could throw in the name “DeMoor” somewhere, that’d probably make my summer. =)
Boy, one drop of blood in the water and the sharks go wild.
Of course Orci knows what the dish is called. He just likes screwing around with this site. Can’t say I blame him. Fanboy speculation can be a lot of fun… to watch.
Deflector array is better than deflector dish, I think.
I don’t know what else to say. Good luck on the film, and Godspeed!
Anthony and his family already have “Pascale’s Triangle.” Isn’t that enough geek fame?
Deflectors have always been plural, viz. Spock ‘Where No Man Has Gone Before”:
Spock’s order: “Deflectors – full intensity!”
Navigator’s confirmation: “Deflectors, full intensity.”
A single dish does not lend itself to a plural installation, although quantum physics can justify anything.
Sincerely,
C.S. Lewis
As stated by others, “deflector array” or “navigational deflector” are descriptive and have worked fine in the past.
If you have to “name” it something, agree with 18… a Gene Coon or Bob Justman reference seems nice (if not for the dish, perhaps elsewhere).
(yes, I know there is not an “e” for Blaise Pacscal) :-)
Navigational Deflector Dish or Deflector Dish
John
Bob? May I suggest Lt. Cooley? :)
Much as I like the “Coon” reference up at posts 18 19, I don’t think it should be re-named.
I think #103 nailed it with Matt Jeffries calling it the Main Sensor. Checkmate.
I’ll go break out the ol’ Franz Joseph 1975 Star Fleet Technical Manual (1st edition, thankyouverymuch),
It already has a name, boys. Don’t over think it.
From Memory Alpha:
“The navigational deflector (also called the deflector dish, the deflector array or the nav deflector) is a component of many starships, and is used to deflect space debris, asteroids, microscopic particles and other objects that might collide with the ship. At warp speed the deflector is virtually indispensable for most starships as even the most minute particle can cause serious damage to a ship when it is traveling at superluminal velocities.”
Why don’t they name a character “Justman L. Coon”? Sounds like a pretty cool Admiral’s name.
“Signed,
Rear Admiral Justman L. Coon, commanding.”
I like the sound of that!
warp deflector dish
The ship’s crotch.
Would an “Admiral Roddenberry” be entirely out of order as a mentioned person in the sequel (not seen) ? :)
There should also be a U.S.S George Kirk.
Deflector dish, all the way
#122. It is very sad he passed away. That’s why I want bob Orci to use his name in the new Movie. Del J. Trame, “British Naval Dude” He is Missed. I could only imagine what he would be coming up with on this thread.
What about a Star Ship called the U.S.S Roddenberry.
Despite the original references to it being a sensor array, I think that would be a bit ridiculous, and you would have to reorient the entire starship to point the fixed dish towards any planet or other item of interest that you wanted the main sensors to focus on…and when in Trek did we ever see the Captain give the order to reorient the ship to get sensor coverage?
Deflecting masses that could hit the ship makes a lot more sense to me since the the ship would be in the proper orientation for the dish to create a funnel like force field out in front of the the ship.
So logic dictates that it should be called the DEFLECTOR DISH or DEFLECTOR ARRAY.
@140. Sure, but even better, how about if there is space battle in on of the next movies, that the USS Berman gets destroyed rather easily. :-)
Who else here thinks Sam Kirk will make an appearance in either Trek 2012 or Trek 2015?
#142. Funny. How about the U.S.S Braga and Taylor and the U.S.S Berman. All get destroyed by the bad guys. It takes the U.S.S Enterprise and U.S.S Roddenberry and Constalation to find out what happened.
Giant Space Colander.
Foward Looking Accelaration Guidance System it could also be used as an acronym “Flag” ie. Flagship- my husband’s thoughts! I will turn him into a Trekker/Trekkie yet ;)
My son suggests: Dark Energy Repulsion Array or Deflector- He is already a die hard fan- my work is done with him, bwahaha. :D
Vultan and Dr. Cheis, I thought of that too before posting my first post, and if they are yanking the proverbial chains, it has been fun anyway!
Now I really do have to go to bed, have to work soon. Guess we’ll all find out if this was for real in 2012. Can’t wait, so good to hear about the progress!
How about as Capt of the U.S.S Roddenberry be Del J. Trame, “British Naval Dude”
I vote to name it “Bill”. That way Shatner can get his “cameo”! LOL :)
.
My guess is that it should be called “Marshall Dish” or “Mashall Deflector” or even “Oak Primary Sensor” all this named after the cientist tha invented the device, Dr. Marshall Oak.
That’s it.
.
I bet $200 the polarity of that deflector dish will be reversed at some point during the movie.
Anyway, I always thought “deflector array” sounded the most natural.
How about the Shat Array.
@ 145
-The Main Deflector Wok
How about. The Khan Deflector.
@152
A wok’s as good as a dish, in space.
Maybe that should be the tag line for the movie.
Deflector Dish.
An “array” implies that there is more than one. But, more importantly, it sounds a little informal – “Hey, redshirt, get out there and reconfigure the discombobulator on the ‘dish.”
Star Trek: The Sequel
“A wok’s as good as a dish, in space.”
Rated PG-13
D – Deflecting
E – Energy through
F – Fusion above
L – Lightspeed and
E – Ejecting
C – Celestial
T – Trash
O – or
R – Radiation
How about the “get the plot right” array……?
71 et al:
Del was 37 and he died in September of a long-standing heart condition. We all miss him very much. Agree 1000% that it would be a wonderful comfort to have a character, maybe a one-liner ensign or something, named Del Trame or DJ Trame, as he sometimes went by. His mom and family would be thrilled.
141: “when in Trek did we ever see the Captain give the order to reorient the ship to get sensor coverage?”
1. But it’s called the MAIN sensor, not the ONLY sensor.
2. In what episodes was the Enterprise ever in a situation where it needed to be reoriented to sensor something with the Main Sensor?
I always thought that an energy beam shooting out of a parabolic antenna whose focal length was quite obviously much shorter than the beam length shooting out of it was kind of absurd. I think Jefferies had the right idea which the writers just ignored. Or, more likely, which the SPFX people ignored.
And if you look at the TOS Enterprise, it had a sensor package at the focal point of the parabolic antenna which has since been lost. Apparently they had forgotten to reinstall that piece when they “refitted” the Enterprise.
Now, since this is another example of one part of canon not playing nice with another part of canon, a choice has to be made one way or the other to ignore one part of canon or the other, and I’d rather see Jefferies’ nomenclature honored.
However…
That we are even being asked may mean that that part of the ship plays a very specific role in the plot that is not in accord with calling it a MAIN SENSOR. For example, if Bob and Damon are having light beams shoot out of it, then it may not make sense to use Jefferies’ nomenclature.
But if the reference is trivial rather than crucial, I’d suggest going with Matt Jefferies’ term: MAIN SENSOR.
Spanky.
Officially, they can call it the ‘navigational deflector array’. Unofficially, they can call it the Dish for that all-important advertisement tie-in to Dish Network!
Yes. Sorry i got his age wrong. i just mistyped it. I loved his post as they always cracked me up. I would not mind seeing a Capt Del Trame.
Primary RadIative Multispectral Emitter Deflector,
or PRIME Deflector.
The “I” in “Radiative” is capitalized to serve as the “I” in PRIME.
The PRIME Deflector utilizes multiphasic graviton emissions to generate small but critical warp envelopes around particles ahead of the vessel, ensuring a clear path for the ship.
Because the PRIME Deflector is essentially a specialized application of the warp engine, it can also create super-tractor beams that can tear apart enemy vessels, shape the space ahead of the ship to serve as energy conduits, and otherwise be adapted to serve as a weapon of vast potential. As illustrated in TNG, it can also open up the spacetime continuum itself by pouring the resources of the warp core into a focused area, allowing the vessel to travel through time.
And if they ARE going to use it as a sensor, then that suggests a SPFX visualization of the ship orienting itself toward the object/planet being surveyed.
First time for everything! Would love to see that too. Would give it more depth.
!63. You are on to something. I can see the Dish Network Commerical now. Join the Dish Network and have an Enteprising time for only 49.99 a month and have a Star Trek Adventure.
What difference does it make – the ship is ugly and so now is the franchise.
Not understanding a basic component of the Enterprise is just another sign that Star Trek is in the care of the wrong people. They should have the fans help write the entire movie script instead!
Its nice we are getting to help out with the big questions!
As we all know Khan is going to be back in the next movie (we do, don’t we? :D ) and clearly the deflector is going to be used in a way not envisioned by its designers, i’m voting we call it The Khan Masher Device.
Kirk need not give the game away when asking for the Khan Masher Device to be deployed in one last desperate attempt to save the ship.
He’ll just say ‘deploy KMD’. So we’ll be sitting there thinking, ‘ wow, I wonder what the KMD is?’
At which point the defelector starts spinning faster and faster and detaches from the front of the ship. It then slams into the Reliant (or whatever its named this time round) and proceeds to blend it up like some kind of insane, wildly out of control, cuisinart.
Sure, the critics will be surprised at the gory nature of the climax of the movie, but I think they’ll enjoy it.
You can have that one for free, Bob.
Anti particle array, APA
Federation expertise in the uses of warp technology eventually allowed it to adapt warp technology to previously unknown uses. Control of this technology was only possible through the massive computing power of Federation starships, which allowed particularized tracking of individual populations of gravitons in such manner as to allow the Heisenberg compensation devices to shape their final topology. The warp engine, secondary deflectors (otherwise known as “shields”), and the PRIME Deflector were all based on the same fundamental technological understanding, research, and development. Communication across vast distances with minimal time lag was made possible only by the ability of Federation engineers to select time-specific gravitons and associated subatomic particles “native” to the time required. For example, if a speaker was located thirty light years away, Federation processors were able to identify the specific “flavor” of gravitons and associated particles necessary to compensate for the thirty-year time lag otherwise required. While nearly instantaneous communication across interstellar distances were referred to as “subspace” communication, this was a misnomer, since it was the gravitons themselves that created the subspace context for the communication.
Quantum Flare Generator or Klingon Warbird HypnoDisk.
Or how about just calling it TREVOR.
To Remove, Evaporate, Veer or Render.
The Allguire Array (named after my friend “Bob”.
I haven’t read all the posts here, but………I keep thinking that the Deflector Dish would have been around on Starfleet vessels for so long that all bridge staff would have shortened it to almost a slang nickname…….one that everybody has become conditioned to and accepts………
FLECTOR
Yeah, as in, “Ensign, bring the flector up to full!”
That seems both realistic and fitting.
Satellite dish. Which can recieve channels from as far away as Quo’ Nos.
Roberto Sir My real first name is JEFF
It should be called J.E.F.F. dish Array
Stands for Jeffries
Encoded
Front
Forcefield dish
hehehe
Or maybe just call it the GNDN DISH
GOES NOWHERE DOES NOTHING ehheeh
That could be a good allusion to all the okudagrams
OSCILLATION OVERTHRUSTER!
174
FLECTOR?? How many bottles of wine did you need to come up with that?
How about FLICKER instead? The crew can flick it on and off to let the captain know that they’re ready to leave space dock? Or it could be used to “flick” small asteroids and other space debris at enemy ships!
How about the Abrams Lensflare Emitter. Sheesh.
Subspace communications and warp engines, therefore, shared a common basis. While tachyon particles had been theorized since the late 20th Century, it was later determined that tachyons and gravitons were simply several aspects of the same kind of “particle,” or, more properly, virtual particle. (Neither tachyons nor gravitons can exist in spacetime, and therefore they are not actual particles, but simply collections of properties of a number of dimensions intersecting in the tangible universe.)
Since on a number of levels space and time were interchangeable, control of tachyons (with their origins in future-time) and gravitons (with their origins rooted in the past and “present”) also implied control of the existence of objects and information in spacetime, at any given point or series of points. For example, displacement of spacetime so as to create the “shield” effect was simply an aspect of the displacement of spacetime that also permitted nearly instantaneous communication across interstellar distances.
Some Federation scientists believe that there could exist, in theory, sufficient quantitative potential (computing power) to allow what amounts to omnscience — that is, since whatever has happened, has already happened in this universe and needs only be perceived through selecting the “right” tachyon or graviton population. This theory is highly controversial, since future-communication (communication from the future) is, at best, apocryphal. Moreover, the creation of an “omnicience” machine that could generate, Hari Seldon-like, reliable predictions of the future would in turn create a new order of magnitude of probabilities which would need to be processed, ad infinitum, ad nauseum.
179.
How about FLUCK YOU?
“Bug Shield to maximum, it’s about to get messy!” I can totally hear Chris Pine saying that.
180
How about the anti-Vernon Wilmer deflector instead? Sheesh!
#173
Buzz, I don’t know about Khan, but I did hear that The Stig will be taking the Enterprise round the solar system test track in the sequel. He does work for Starfleet now, you know.
;)
Q: What’s the last thing to go through the the space flys mind when he hits the Enterprise viewscreen.
A: His ass.
#185 lol yeh, I can hear Clarkson now, Vults… ‘and this Starship is quite literally the fastest thing in the GALAXY. Powerrrrrr’ !
132 – You are correct, if you need a clue, just see the VOY episode “Year of Hell, part 2″, when an asteroids rain hits and damage the hull. Janeway go to defelctor control room and reactivate it again, suffering several burns.
168. Vernon Wilmer – February 21, 2011
Right, Vernon. I’m guessing that you are very familiar with the maxim that “a camel is a horse designed by committee”.
I *dare* these two guys to borrow from early 1980s Saturday morning TV and call it the “Electro-Magno-Zapatron” ray :)
Deflector dish. Plain, simple.
#187
Yeah, and May would be in engineering droning on about the history of the warp coil, with Hammond checking his hair in the reflection of a com panel.
:)
Just watched last week their little journey through the Middle East. Dear Lord, that hurt watching May fall down and hit his head on those desert rocks. :(
How about naming the Deflector Dish as “that bright thingy on the ship”?
They must be marinated to the hilt at that hotel bar they’re holed up at – we haven’t heard back from Bob since post #8. LMAO!
Ok. Reflector Array. Well. Someone has to reflect the Lens flares
Space Swifter.
Ok. Here is the perfect name.
The Lens Flare Array.
Hey. we need it for all of the Lens Flares.
Maybe they will actually turn on the deflector dish this time around so debris doesn’t bounce off the hull all over the place like it was doing when they arrived at Vulcan.
I’ve always said deflector dish. Array is for “sensor array”, which sounds like it covers many systems that work together. The blue glowy thingy on the ship is a dish.
For Harry it could be called the Durance Array.
…where’s Alex Kurtzman?
Kirk. Mr Spock. Where are these Lens Flares coming from.
Spock. Unknown Capt.
Kirk. Activate the Lens Flare Array.
I would think that the correct dictionary term would be Navigational Deflector Array and that the term “deflector dish” would be simply the slang terminology of the time. We relate the names of many objects to their shape, it looks like a dish hence the dish name. Its only natural that it would still happen 200 years in the future.
Refer to it as the dish…i like dish.
Main deflector dish
And also not just in that its an array or sensor but that it has an array of functions.
lol @ 85 “Eye of Thundera” hahaha
#191 yeh, I felt properly sick watching James landing on his head. I felt guilty because my initial reaction was to laugh- until I saw how serious that could so easily have been.
The Christmas Specials were very good i thought. The rest of this series not so much I’m afraid.
Well, to be consistent with previous film of minimizing techno-babbling, I would think something like a this can be labeled a “debris deflector”.
Navigational Deflector should be OK since GPS/navigation systems are pretty much mainstream. But there probably will need for a quick one-liner explain what it is. Remember in one of the newer 007 episodes (Tomorrow never Die?) that the British intelligence per mentioned “GPS”, and immediately followed by “Global Positioning Satellite”. I assumed that was to explain to the audience….
But if the dish is to be shown and have more action, then I think “Deflector Dish” works better because people can associate “dish” when hearing “Deflector Dish”, and seeing a component that shapes like a dish…
Call it “Siggi” from Quantum Leap…
I could imagine Chris Pine running through the ship.. “Al…. Al… where are you”
;-)
navigational deflector. :-)
@161
But DM, what about post @188 — Juan Wolf — the Voyage episode mentioned. This would seem to create a contradiction within canon, wouldn’t it?
Also, here is an interesting discussion on deflector dishes from Star Trek Online — go to the point at 15:15, and they have an interesting take on 4 different types of deflector dishes, all of which provide both deflection and sensor capabilities, and some of why have tachyon emitters:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q2PEg9ZI274&playnext=1&list=PL9279DCA29F288AC4
It’s the “main deflector dish” or just the “deflector dish”.
A “deflector array” would be a concentrated group of these & since it serves many other functions than just “navigational” deflecting, neither of those seem accurate.
What was it in TOS?
Whatever they called it, that what it should be in this movie.
@184/Red Dead Ryan – February 21, 2011: “180 — How about the anti-Vernon Wilmer deflector instead? Sheesh!”
Agreed. We need to watch out for the Vernon Wilmer gaseous anomalies as well. :-)
LOL
@ 124 Vultan
Yeah, that’s astute. Thankfully, this topic has brought out the Rodney Dangerfields in us.
@ 214. The other possibility is that they are looking for a Trek technobable way out of a plot situation, and doing something with the deflector dish is something that they are considering.
It’s the main Deflector and it is shaped like a dish, hence Deflector Dish. It serves more than one purpose on the ship pertaining to all types of deflectors. I think deflector dish is appropriate.
“quantum deflector array”
hows that!
any chance of a adrimal archer cameo?!
Call it the ‘Ronco Fondue Siphon’, ‘The DirecTV Signal Collector’, or ‘That Thing The Sham-Wow Guy Sells At 3 A.M.’………..
Just think, right now they are in some panel, probably panicking that the script isn’t going well, and then someone says: “what do you think about doing something along the lines of that ‘Spock’s Brain’ episode; perhaps combining it with elements of the ‘And the Children Shall Lead’ episode?”
;-)
I wonder what’s it like to hang out in a bar with those guys. Hey, I got an idea for a prize. “Get drunk with Bob and Damon.” It would include drinking games with the orginal series. Take a shot every time Kirk says, “Spock.” Or drinking game with TNG. Take a shot everytime Picard does the “Picard Maneuver.” You know where he straightens out his uniform.
196 and 201. Commodore Mike
Red Dead Ryan had your idea way back at 184.
If I was in LA, I bet I could locate them. I live 2.5 hours north, but am there all the time for business, and I know the major hotels, eating establishments and bars. I know I could find them if I could get down there, and if somebody would cover my expenses. :-))
I always felt that the the official term “main navigational deflector” was good for schematics and such, but in conversation, main deflector, or deflector array. Deflector dish is my least favorite
No one has been speculating on the Bob / Damon pairing instead of the usual Bob / Alex team. What does this mean? We were told that Damon was going to help with story duties but now he is co-scriptwriter? Will Damon’s more ‘out – there’ sensibilities have an effect on the sequel we’re going to see?
#206 Buzz Cagney
Yeah, those guys seem to do their best work on the road. Just watched the Albania episode tonight. Had some good moments, including a short tour of some very rusty submarines and a MIG graveyard.
My favorite TG “field trip” is still the Vietnam episode, with South America coming in a close second.
@224. Well that would be quite interesting if John Locke showed up alive in the 23rd century.
@ 226 MJ
If Kirk meets his father in a church, then let me be the first one to say it, “Jim you’re dead.”
Instead of naming it after someone who has worked on the show/movie, isn’t there a theorist or physicist who theorized particle deflection that it could be named after? (Like Robert Bussard and the ramscoops that bear his name.)
“Zefram Bow Deflector” or “Cochrane Bow Array”, shortened to “Deflector Dish”.
Cool!
The ‘Main Deflector Array’ aka “Dish” consists of an array of deflector modules, including the ‘Navigational Deflector’, the ‘Deflector screens’, ( a series of screens that displace, or ‘filter’ heavy particals,) and last but not least, the ‘repulsor emitter’ or ‘particle emitter’ used to displace heavy elements in the path of the vessal.
It is, without question, the Main Deflector Array.
The Main Deflector, or Main Deflector dish.
I saw you guys.
Admiral Chris Fawkes rolls of the tongue kind of nice.
The Main Navigational Deflector Dish Sensor Array -tecno babble
The Dish -Kirk pun
The Piston -Scotty pun
Anti Matter Disk/Dish
The Umbrella
Ionic Pulse Cannon
Field Generator
The Flux Capacitor
I’d keep it a bit raw and simply call it the deflector.
“Main” adds a word we don’t really need. “Deflector array” doesn’t roll off the tongue very easily. It doesn’t seem to play a key role in navigation, so I wouldn’t use that word either.
“Deflector dish” would be my second choice, but that sounds a bit wimpy. It is dish-shaped, however.
@122.
I’m also shocked and saddened to hear about British Naval Dude. He was my favourite poster on the site and I’d like to second Mike suggestion about using his name in the movie. R.I.P. mate.
On another note deflector dish has the best sound to it.
I’d say Deflector Dish is just the dish, Navigational Deflector is the whole system, and Deflector Array is the components in/on the Deflector Dish.
Idk, maybe the TNG technical manual could say.
It seems to me that it has repeatedly been referred to as the main deflector dish… and that’s good enough for me!
Has. To. Be. Navigational deflector. That’s what it is and what it does. Simples.
Failing that, “The big blue thingy on the front that gets bigger when we warp” is a close second. ;)
#237
That is quite a good breakdown of the system.
I like the TNG technical manual. Even after all these years I still break it out for the odd read.
Admiral Lynch does have a certain resonance to it, n’est-ce pas? However for the sake of the story I am more than happy to just be Captain Lynch of course. ;)
Perhaps I could be the Grandfather of poor Ensign Lynch who met an untimely end in “First Contact”. Very unlucky chap, after all he gets assimilated by the Borg in the morning and then by the afternoon his captain kills him with a holographic bullet and would have smashed his face in with the butt of the machine gun if Lilley had not intervened.
Between deflector dish and deflector array, there’s no wrong answer: as with many things in Star Trek, there’s no one and final answer. So, it’s a question of what sounds right. ‘Deflector array’ sounds more like sci-fi and more technical; but ‘deflector dish’ is less technical and therefore less off-putting to the casual fans.
Guys, I’d just call it the ‘deflector’: forget dish or array.
Then have one crewperson explain, in one sentence, what it does: which should anyway be obvious from the title. This would be best for the mainstream. And the fans can be left knowing the full title, following the meta-Trek theme that Trek 2009 used: my non-Trek friends simply enjoyed a good film; I enjoyed the film but also got the references that added to my enjoyment.
I know i’m very late into this, but I always preferred “Navagatinal Deflector Dish”. . . It does exactly what it says on the tin…
Is it a Klingon Dish?
No that’s bets served cold………………………
Yes, ‘Deflector’ on its own is the best.
As for names, I’ve checked with memory-alpha, and the following haven’t yet been used in Trek (and shoud be):
USS Edison
USS Gagarin (good for American-Russian relations?)
USS Columbus
USS Baffin
USS Aristotle
USS Volta
USS Fiennes
@ Bob Orci / Damon Lindelof / Alex Kurtzman
Please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please.
Can we have a real Engineering set and not a brewery. Those ship locations took me right out of the film last time around. Just hated it. Sorry.
It should not that be big a deal, all the other main sets have been designed and built. So there should be some pennies in the kitty for a good engineering section. Just think how fantastic the TMP engineering set looked and take inspiration from that.
I also second the previous posters suggestion about doing something about the scale of the ship. i.e. get it put right….
I know it is not necessarily your job for such things, but if you push hard enough, it might happen.
Thanks for listening. :)
Deflector Dish
just sounds better, less formal and doesn’t exclude the possiblity that it has a fuller, more technical name.
@197
Perhaps just having the shields up would have been sufficient? ;)
Definitely deflector array!
I can hear it now:
“Captain, we’ve lost power to the starboard deflector array.”
Would’ve written sooner, but I’ve had a bad case of Pascale’s. It doesn’t hurt, but I have to keep stopping to pick my spleen outta my shoe.
‘Main deflector’ works just fine. Yes, I’d also like to hear someone say in the background, “Yeoman Trame, put some pants on!”
Spockboy!!!! Been missing your entries. When will we see “Beulah and Cletus – At the Movin’ Picture Show”?
deflector array
Deflector array has a nice “ring” to it.
That’s the navigational deflector.
Porthos’ Giant Waterbowl
Navigational Deflector Dish would be my choice…which allows for Navigational Deflector or Deflector Dish as well.
The “Deuces Array.” You know, Captain Kirk ‘chucks up them deuces,’ and the Enterprise is out. lol. But seriously, I think it sounds pretty cool.
Has to be Deflector Array.
#4 True
I would say “Deflector Dish” or “Main Deflector”. As far as “Array” is concerned, I tend to argee with #33 – it’s kind of an irritating and missleading term to me.
In TOS, the dish is never referred to directly. In “The Paradise Syndrome”, Spock gives the command to activate “deflectors”, and Sulu fires a beam from the dish, or perhaps, more correctly from the projection at the center of the dish. In Star Trek: The Motion Picture, when Kirk orders forcefields up to deflect an asteroid directly ahead, Ilia tries to bring up the forcefields that could do this, the “navigational deflectors”. These two instances indicate that the dish is just a component of a system called navigational deflectors – in the first instance, Spocks just refers to them generically as deflectors, but, perhaps due to prior, unseen conversations or briefings, Sulu understands which specific ones to activate.
These two instances also indicate that the system is composed of multiple deflectors. The sequel series echoes this with references to the “main navigational deflector” – with shorter references like “main deflector” – implying the existence of auxiliary navigational deflectors.
I have read some posts and articles stating that Matt Jeffries intended the dish to be the main sensor. The Making of Star Trek supports this: in the diagram of the ship’s exterior, the dish is labeled the main sensor, and the text states that the “main sensor-deflector” is at the front of the secondary hull. This indicates that the dish is a component of two systems, the main sensor system and the navigational deflector system. Then, perhaps, the official name of the dish should be the main sensor system-navigational deflector system dish.
Deflector Dish
No idea. I usually watch Star Trek dubbed. ;-)
Since I don’t have a chance of seeing neither Bob or Damon in a bar in LA, I have a daughter who feels left out of Trek cause her older brothers are named Jean-Luc and Jules (Julian) Miles–especially since a screenwriter working with one of the Trek novel authors said he would insert her name into a script they submitted to Enterprise but it never got produced. Her name is Angelique Eileen (Schieferstein if you need a good German last name to throw in). How about it? :-)
Oh, and since the dish is predominately blue–call it the Orion Dish?
Ughhhhh….too early this morning…I didn’t mean blue for Orion but for Andorian!
Delores or Deirdre
#225 I second your choice as favourite episodes, Vults.
Both excellent.
Andorian Deflector Dish=A-D-D?
I’d go with “main deflector” as this seems to be its primary purpose and I’m certain there would be backup or auxiliary deflectors on board too. I also agree with #258 and others though, that it seems to be part of a navigational/sensor array as well.
Perhaps asking for fan input on the deflector name indicates that a refit might be in the works for the next movie including a proper engineering set and nacelle reconfiguration? I can only hope once Scotty has a good look at the ship, our miracle worker decides to work his magic on the poor girl and gives her a proper engineering room. I hope he also gives her a more graceful appearance, correcting the cheap overly-ample “nacelle-job” look she had in the last film.
Also, I loved the look of the Kelvin bridge and wondered if you guys might find a way to incorporate a more dark, claustrophobic atmosphere (less lens flares???) by setting certain tense moments aboard the Enterprise in auxiliary control rather than on the bridge.
Pretty please with Romulan Ale on it, Bob et al???
The deflector dish acts to detect any matter far ahead of the ship’s path – the further away the matter, the weaker the force needed to move it out of the way sufficiently – and apply a weak deflecting force. It is because it has to have an effect far ahead of the ship that we have the parabolic shape so that a narrow long beam is created which is essential to it’s function. Therefore it is both a deflection beam generator and simultaneously a detector of any matter in the ship’s path far ahead. Very clevere and indeed essential for space travel at high relativistic speeds – at warp there is no momentum so one would assume matter in the ship’s path would have another harmful effect, that of interfering with the warp field in some way detrimental to the field’s effectiveness. Nice touch that the new dish, then, has a different way of implementation for warp as opposed to relativistic (impulse) travel.
258. By the precedence of the sequel series and previous movies, the dish can be called in a crisis, the deflector dish.
However, the sequel series and previous do occasionally refer to a “main deflector dish”, which implies not only auxiliary deflectors, but also auxiliary deflector dishes. Since the deflectors in “The Paradise Syndrome” fired from the same axis of the ship, these dishes are probably stacked concentrically.
I would say “deflector dish” because, well, the array is…. ON A DISH!!!
“Dishy”
You should call it “dishy”
I would stick with the terms main deflector dish and navigational deflector. They are the terms most commonly used throughout Star Trek. Simple and to the point.
Deflector Dish, definitely. Main deflector is OK too.
If possible please name a crew member after my girlfriend who passed away over nine years ago at the age of 24. She was Asian (Thai) and her name was Sumalee, pronounced Sue-malee. Or just Malee, which is what we called her everyday.
If I hear that name I will break down and cry, just like I did when Kirk’s dad died. People in the theatre around me (I saw the movie in Bangkok) must have wondered what in the world was wrong with me.
Best of luck with your script.
Oops, I mean:
258. By the precedence of the sequel series and previous movies, the dish, in a crisis, can be called the deflector dish.
However, the sequel series and the previous movies do occasionally refer to a “main deflector dish”, which implies not only auxiliary deflectors, but also auxiliary deflector dishes. Since the deflectors in “The Paradise Syndrome” fired a combined beam from the same location on the ship, these dishes are probably thin and concentrically stacked.
Deep Dish Nine
- W -
* heh heh heh heh heh heh heh heh heh heh heh heh heh heh heh *
On the subject of last names for characters, I suggest using the top surname in the world, Zhang.
Deflector
Realizing I am way behind the power curve, I vote “navigational deflector.” The dish is only one component of the navigational deflection system.
I’ve always referred to it as ‘The Navigational Deflector’ and with good reason. I checked a bunch of my Trek reference books and, most of the classic Trek reference books (including ‘Mr. Scott’s Guide to the Enterprise’) refer to it as such.
Regarding Enterprise D, the ‘STTNG Technical Manual’ refers to it as the ‘Main Deflector’.
Since the new films are based on classic Trek, I say you guys stick with classic Trek nomenclature and go with ‘Navigational Deflector’.
80 I like that.
Or, how about the Monroe Dish (after Marilyn Monroe) She was quite a dish.
I’m with #280
If they were really looking to honor TOS, they’d've named it Feinberger before even throwing the question open to the fans.
It was the sensor dish in TOS. The deflectors (if my memory of Gene Roddenberry’s sketches in various sources) were lines or points along the primary hull. This is best illustrated in TWOK when Khan screams about the shield and we see some DOS-like illustration of dots around the Reliant’s perimeter. I know TNG made it the deflector dish, but the parabolic thingie on the TOS E just looks like a radar dish. Anyway, I ramble. Since later iterations trump earlier ones, then that thing must be the ICBITCVD… “I Can’t Believe It’s Tetryons, Chronotons, and Verterons Dish.”
It’s the main navigational deflector.
Seriously, do we have to rename and retcon EVERYTHING that has to do with TOS? Calling Sickbay the “Medical Bay?” (Why not call it the “Michael Bay?” LOL) Come on, guys, reuse the tech! Navigational deflector, bridge, transporter, tricorder, sickbay, turbolift, etc., etc., ad nauseum! It’s all already there!
I’m surprised the Enterprise wasn’t renamed the Yorktown.
I still say Ryan Church needs to get with Tobias Richter and change the proportions of the Big E to something that is more TOS-like, and not as unbalanced as the ’09 model. The 2012 Enterprise needs to have some new features, like a completely redesigned engine room, a briefing room, some crew quarters, and, oh, yes, Microsoft Sync. (Just kidding about that last one. Majel Roddenberry might come back and smite me from the grave.)
I think it should be called Roddenberry Array.
If it’s about back-story then I would suggest something like the “Selvidge Particle Array” given that all its purposes seem to indicate a wide-ranging manipulation of various particles. As back-story, perhaps the array was named after a 22nd century scientist recognized for “mapping” the specific ratio of tachyon-to-graviton properties for all known cosmic particles at the time. It was this “mapping” that lead to the technology used to manipulate those particles for each purpose stated in earlier posts…….
Main navigational deflector dish.
http://memory-alpha.org/wiki/Deflector
Navigational Deflector…. that is the most common name in all the Trek technical manuals and prints.
i think you should call it “bob”.
or maybe: “that round blue fukker at the head of the dick shaped part of the ship”
“Navigational Sensor and Deflector Array,” but they also call it the “Main Dish” for short. Or as already suggested, the Feinberger Array.
Or go the Phineas & Ferb route, call it the Sensorinator-inator. Hey, if Beastie Boys can have a song in the first Trek film, why not a Dr. Doofenschmirtz shout out in the second?! :)
Boborci & co.: May the wind be at your backs. Enjoy the writing, you lucky bastards!
hey b’orci:
it seems likely to me that in the new timeline tribbles have evolved into large, viscous bastards with giant maws and 27cm fangs. think of the drama.
also, if you must use kahn, maybe he could grow up on fire island and end up a fey, one-gloved michael jackson type of guy, used for plucky comic relief.
oh, and of course, space tits.
Cliched as it sounds:
The Roddenberry Deflector
Cow Pusher
267. Chris Pike – February 22, 2011
also on the orignal E saucer forward edge are three lit circles – these are secendary versions and must be used when the saucer separates. That detail has been thoughtlessly lost on nearly all previous subsequent 1701′s apart from the D which has some a little lower down on the saucer front.
Boborci,
You should pay tribute to Trek producer Harve Bennett by naming an important character after him. Chancellor Bennett or something impressive.
Sincerely,
Paul Bennett
(No relation)
292 – I think they should use Gene’s name as a nickname for the Prime Directive–you know, the “Roddenberry Rule.” :)
Hey everybody.. just an idea here..
Try to think of what it would be called if Scotty was trying to impress the ladies with his vast engineering knowledge.. not just “deflector dish”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CERN
looking at the wiki on CERN (Hardon Collider) for inspiration I get:
inter-spatial antipro-positron flotilla
The Star Gate
But not Atlantis
@9: but seriously, if pushed I prefer “deflector dish” because I like alliteration, and “array” is just another bit of technobabble.”
Anthony, names that sound technical are not the problem when Star Trek is dealing with Technobabble. The real issue is when your characters pull something scientific out of thin air that just some how magically fixes the problem their stuck in. This for instance I find acceptable.
Scotty: Divert power from all non-crucial systems to the deflector array!
That makes sense. Non-crucial systems is easy to understand and since the deflector array is a component that has been on the Enterprise from the very beginning, the writers aren’t using random elements. They’re using what the Enterprise has. Now, on the other hand….
Scotty: There’s no power left! Wait, I got it! If we reroute the subsidiary matter anti-matter diffusers through the plasma coils, we can generate enough energy to power the deflector array!
THAT is where Technobabble rears it’s ugly head. I don’t know what anti-matter diffusers are, and I have no idea what plasma coils are or why they’re related. As far as I’m concerned, they just made that up and completely robbed any sense of urgency out of the scene. It’s not a matter of what it sounds like, it’s a matter of association. Heck, the writers even had that Trek09 with Pike’s order to “Divert power from port nacelles to forward shields”. The warp engines make the ship go fast, so that would supply a lot of power to the ship’s shields. Where the Enterprise got more than one Port Nacelle I think is a goof, but it makes sense. If the story associates the deflector array with the blue dish thing on the Enterprise, it’s not going to be technobabble.
Also, the Transwarp Equation and Red Matter are good examples of bad Technobabble in Star Trek. The only thing they’re missing is the long list of technical terms. You don’t need to have technical terms to fall victim to bad technobabble.
Back on topic, I’ll go with Deflector Array. Or the Main Deflector Array. Since deflectors vary from ship to ship, not all of them are in the shape of a dish (i.e. The Defiant’s deflector, or the Reliant’s lack of a dish completely).
300 – And just once when they shut down “auxiliary systems” or “non-crucial systems,” I’d like to hear someone on the intercom evacuating labs or warning people in “non-crucial” areas that they’re about to lose power. (We see all those vat-adjacent people with Uhura shutting down their terminals and leaving just before the power goes out…)
Then it’s not just words about more power, it’s like…well, a rolling blackout.
or for more gravitas:
The Higgs Inter-Spatial Antipro-Positron Flotilla Rig
feel free to play with the hyphens :)
hmmmm
Hyphens Antipro-Positron Flotilla Rig
and so on
The Tucker Array :)
“Billy” I say we call it “Billy.”
I mean, honestly it always seemed unnecessary to me. If they “warp” space to travel faster than light then aren’t they warping all the material in “normal” space around them as well? Since warp drive literally takes the ship out of normal space-time there is no need to deflect something that isn’t there. When on impulse engines the shields should be more than able to do the job of deflecting debris. I say put a big assed observation dome there and let the off-duty crew stand around in it going “ooh” and “aah” and all that.
I vote for the “main deflector”. It is simple and as others have said, the crew knows what it is. It might have a more proper name but the crew knows what it is and would use the shorthand for the device.
The Main Deflector alludes to their being secondary (and more) deflectors that could be used as other plot devices later.
Star Trek has rarely explained how things work or, by nomenclature, pounded ideas into our heads.
If it is a case of having to educate the non-trek audience of the what, why and how of the deflector…hmmmmm….we need a non-starfleet individual to receive that information.
This is very interesting though as the deflector is the most unappreciated of the Trek tech.
–
Now, if we are moving at warp speed moving our bit of space along with the ship (within the warp fields) would we not have any objects outside of the bubble pushed to the perimeters of our warp field??? Just wondering.
304. Thogar – February 22, 2011
actually a good point…warp travel means no momentum, no velocity, no impacts/collisions with normal space
I would speculate, however, that any particulates at all may well interfere with the warpfield so maybe the warpfield should operate in as near a perfect vacuum as possible to function optimally??
mainly don’t say Dish. It has not looked like a dish since TOS.
Navigational Deflector is better because Main Deflector sounds like it sound like it generates the shields. Call it by what is does
oh, sorry 304, I didn’t see your posting.
Navigational deflector
It’s the Deflector Dish, so therfore I think you should call it… oh I don’t know. The Deflector Dish.
Seriously why change what has already been established.
Main Deflector has the added benefit (for me) of being two letters shy of the family surname. GRIN.
Yes, when we hit Ellis Island they renamed my great grandfather Deflectorio to simply…Deflector.
Seriously though, don’t over think the tech. People will get it.
THe Dish sounds better because it is dish shaped and it’s part of t he iconography.
Type 66i Coon Main Deflector Emitter
Me again. I have time on my hands.
I have always thought the TOS deflector work on a sonic principle. What I mean is a massively amplified wave that is “broadcast” out to push asided or obliterate space debris.
Additionally, I have thought that its power could be modulated. So, if needd, it could nudge near space object as if a reverse tractor beam. So a plot device it could launch small pods, larger shuttles, even individuals that need a boost across a short distance of space.
Any ideas on how else the Main Deflector might be used?????
@AP, well, you are almost a metric unit of pressure, so I’m sure the ship under heavy stress (fly it apart, mister!) is experiencing at least 1.2 gigapascal”e”s of pressure! :)
@boborci: I sense you’re asking for the non-obvious, that since of course we’ve all mentioned that the “common parlance” would be Main Deflector, Deflector Dish, or any other combination of its “full” name, probably something like Main Navigational Deflector Dish and Primary Transponder Beacon Array… but I’d say it the technology was invented by Lily Sloane (the scientist working with Cochrane in ST:FC, after all, you can’t travel at warp if you can’t deflect stuff)… they could be the Sloane Deflectors, just like Trek’s established Heisenberg Compensators, cochranes as a unit of warp field intensity (the bending index of space), or Jeffries’ Tubes.
315 – Win!!! Sloane would be awesome. I love Lily.
Or the Woodard Deflectors.
from what i understood the “deflector array” terminology referred to the grid lines along the hull for the deflector shields…the “deflector dish” referrers to the navigational deflector dish that pushes space debris out of the way during warp flight?
@314 You couldn’t send a “sonic” wave without a medium. Although Trek uses ‘subspace’ as a sort of medium. Tempting to call it ‘subsonic’ but that word is reserved in the real world for velocities below the speed of sound in a given medium, so you’d have to say a subspatial wave.
I would suspect that Lily Sloane‘s theory working alongside Cochrane, was that if you could generate a warp field to bend space and travel superluminally, that you could set up a forward-propagating subspatial wave using a dish-like structure that would repel away from the directed path any matter that might be in the forward direction of travel.
And of course you’d do it in such a manner that your Bussard scoops on the front of your ample nacelles would “suck in” any stray antiprotons (that’s antimatter anti-hydrogen) to use in your reactor coils. Your kilometrage may vary.
Then again, I think Mr. Scott would prefer to kid with “Your light-yearage may vary.” :)
Partical Array – Since it has been used for about everything from deflectors to nav sensors to energy beam projector seems a good name for it.
It should be called the Doggie Dish
Agree with #34, #70, #94, #121 (and probably others. )
“Main Deflector”. Lose the “dish”.
the blue thingy, as the ship is butt ugly and it does not matter.
In TOS, the dish was supposed to be the “Main Sensor.” All that “warp deflector” stuff came with TNG – but in TOS, it shouldn’t be a warp deflector. It’s a sensor.
Not like they actually give a sh*t about how TOS really was, but whatever.
I have gone back to the original Star Trek Technical Manual (the one before Paramount required their imprimatur on all publications) and in the specifications for the Constitution Class Heavy Cruiser, the name for the dish is listed as the main sensor.
However, I believe that it should have an acronym for an official designation and my two cents would be the Omni-directional Resonance Conduit Inverter or the ORCI Dish.
But then again it could be the Komptrolling Universal Reimagining Time Zone Mother of All Newness but that would be just silly. Sorry Alex, but Bob’s name just works better.
Name for the Deflector Dish? How about the “Challenger Dish” named after the space shuttle.
Easy. Call it the Beryllium “Dish.”
#326 – “Miners, Not Minors!”
argh. 327
I would call it the Clydesdale Defector Array .. powered by a nitrous liquid supplement (amber and frothy) that is stored in those giant kegs, I mean neutomium storage tanks in comunications, that is then superheated by the nuclear tanks located near the Budweiser plamsa injectors in the brewery, I mean engine room.
Serously, how about the Okuda Deflector array .. name it after Michael Okuda for all of his design work over the years!!
I can’t believe it has taken so long to write this goddamned movie. Finish it already!
DFED – Deflection Field Emission Dish or DFED Array
The Main Sensor, also know as The Main Sensor Array is the dome under the primary hull (the saucer section).
The Navigational Deflector is the dish on the bow of the ship’s secondary hull, used for sweeping anything that might be a Navigational hazzard out of the way of the ship as she travels through normal space or subspace.
Navigational hazzards are a problem for spacetravel even now and the designers of the Enterpise knew that.
#331 – If writing the sequel is anything like trying to get ONE single page of backstory text through my office of 25 developers….I feel for them.
By the way…is this question the reason for the delay with the script?
Wow, Bob…you have my phone number. Just call man! :)
John
Here again is an interesting discussion on deflector dishes from Star Trek Online — go to the point at 15:15, and they have an interesting take on 4 different types of deflector dishes, all of which provide both deflection and sensor capabilities, and some of why have tachyon emitters:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q2PEg9ZI274&playnext=1&list=PL9279DCA29F288AC4
They had done a pretty good job it seems in combining much of the Trek technobabble into these 4 options for deflector dishes.
327 posts in under 24 hours, it may not be a record but this seems to be one of the top threads.
my $0.02, Navigational Deflector Array would be my choice based on appearance, without the moving parts I would have said Navigational Deflector Dish. For short form in script I would simply chose “the deflector” with the longer form reserved for labeled schematics or Spock’s lines.
It’s there to deflect objects out of a ships way, not act as a sensor – purely because I don’t see how a single piece of equipment can logically perform both functions as the deflector energy would seem to interfere with the sensors.
Main Deflector would be more of a TNG term as the 1701-D had a secondary deflector array on the saucer.
Wow, number 336 already. Everyone wants there name in there!
How about: The VZX Array! Or the Nav Array, VZX class!
#336 please leave the game out of this. I love the game, don’t get me wrong (have 3 VA alts) but STO tech has little to do with trek tech other than using many of the same words.
Timmy.
The Deflector Array makes design sense because you got to have some sort of field protecting it against dust and smaller rocks that it’s flying by. Maybe the reason it opens up right before warp is to increase the strength of the field in the new velocities?
I dunno, they’ve probably got it all figured out now! Best of luck!
333: “Navigational hazzards are a problem for spacetravel even now and the designers of the Enterpise knew that.”
Walter Matt Jefferies designed the Enterprise. He called it the MAIN SENSOR.
It’s also a bowl, which means it has a focal length although with the original sensor package now removed there is nothing to focus anything ON, and the nipple in the center is obviously too far under the focal length to receive anything focused by the dish.
But because it has a concave shape, it is difficult to see how it could focus anything to do some sort of deflecting work. So if you want your engineering on this ship to make sense, Bob’s got some thinin to do.
Yay I was hoping you’d chime in here Chris (Doohan) since your Dad made Engineering cool!
I like deflector dish personally… Anthony you should put up an official poll so we can see the net results, I’m sure this thread is gonna blow up
Unless these guys are just pulling our legs and/or tossing something out there for the geeky types (of which I’m one) to debate, I’m really starting to doubt that they have a clue what matters in a good Trek movie. please..PLEASE call Nick Meyer..Before it’s too late! You need a WRITER. You need a compelling STORY!!!!! I can’t believe they’re holed up in a hotel, cramming to crank out a script to a multi-million dollar film like a beer-soaked college student cramming for a final exam…Then, debating of all things, what the hell to call the deflector thingy. Hope I’m wrong, but I smell an effects ridden film coming with a sucky script. Yet another roller coaster ride without substance. Bad enough when Star Wars does it. With Trek, it’s unforgiveable.
It should be called:
The Fibonacci Array.
And when the dish lights up as it does something cool, it can have F/X that make it glow like one. Seriously, how cool would THAT be?
I vote for “Main Deflector Dish”. I remember a book I read in the 70′s called The Making of Star Trek (still have it with various Trek autographs in it) mentioning that the function was to deflect space debris out of the way when the ship was moving in warp. Even a small dust particle at warp speed could tear a hole in the hull. So I see it less as having anything to do with navigation and more to do with “deflection”. And “dish” has a groovy 60′s lingo sound to it as an homage to the old NASA influenced Original Series.
343:
I agree, a poll.
Main Deflector or Main Deflector Dish, please. No ‘array’, that sounds too Next-Genny to me
345. Robin Raianiemi – February 22, 2011
Sci Fi and financial charting. Dosen’t get to much more obscure then that.
A quick cut scene should show a couple of sweaty guys shoveling coal into the boiler behind the dish.
Main deflector dish but their all legit names doesn’t really matter.
349. LOL; Star Trek: Steam Punk (The Former Generation)
The deflector. No dish. No array. No navigation. Deflector. Pure. Simple.
Are we all going to laugh when we hear the final decision in the movie? And, will non-trekmovie folks look at us like we are wacko?
The term “array” is never used in reference to the main deflector (or deflector dish) that protrudes from the front of the engineering section. The Array (or deflector array) appears atop the saucer section of the refit enterprise in Star Trek The Motion Picture. It pulls energy from the top of the main engine core to be used in the min deflector at the front of the engineering section. It also serves as a deflector for the saucer section in case of emergency separation of the saucer section from the engineering section.
303. David Scrimpshire – February 22, 2011
The Tucker Array :)
lol we should then go with Reed Alert.
Official name: Main Navigational Deflector. Starfleet slang: the Dish. When I was in the Navy we had offical and slang for various things onboard ship, drinking fountain became scuttlebutt. Food bought from the ships store became geedunk in Navy slang etc.
Figure out whatever Kirk called it in TOS, and then figure out if he’d use the same thing based on the timeline changes.
Deflector Dish.
Which would also be a great name for a Trek news gossip site.
@342 You absolutely can send signals using a concave dish. It’s called a transceiver or transducer… it can both send and receive.
I’d still suggest it functions in subspace, sending subspace communications and receiving, and also sending subspatial deflection waves, clearing the path through an almost-electrostatic-repulsion process. The Sloane deflectors I argue is cool on so many counts: it takes a bit of ST:FC, and it honors a really great black woman role model hidden in the long run of Trek.
To stick with the TOS Jeffries minimalist term “Main Sensor” doesn’t make sense with even episodes of TOS, such as “Paradise Syndrome” and many others, where it was used as a non-weapons beam.
Perhaps give the dish a direct reference to real science ….. the Bamford Deflector Array:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/27811652/ns/technology_and_science-space/
‘The Orci Array’
@BobOrci: re: “Pascale” – less “wink-wink” and more “think-think” this time would be good… ;-)
re: Navigational Deflector – now that it is articulated, “dish” is less applicable (old terminology / technology); “array” is more correct, sounds better… ;-)
…but in the heat of battle, “DEFLECTOR!” or “MAIN DEFLECTOR!” should suffice, similar to “PHASERS, FIRE!” or “SHIELDS UP!”
The ‘anti-collision-machine’. The ‘bounce-a-graviton-particle-beam-off-here’-device. ;P
This dish is best served cold. Call it ‘Revenge’.
Main Deflector – Let’s cut down on the technobabble.
On Matt Jefferies’s early drawings, the entire assembly was labeled the Main Sensor and Navigational Deflector, with the dish apparently the sensor unit and the deflector mounted just behind it.
It wasn’t until TMP that the main sensor array was relocated to the base of the primary hull, ringing the lower navigational dome.
I sort of like the original combination idea for the new version of the ship, because the opening up of the dish as the ship prepares to enter warp could be seen as clearing the sensor hardware out of the way to provide an aperture for the deflector itself. Yeah, I know there are TMP-esque mountings at the base of the saucer, too, but maybe on this ship they’re still auxiliary sensors. :)
Best,
Alex
@dmb1138: “Main Deflector or Main Deflector Dish, please. No ‘array’, that sounds too Next-Genny to me”
So using the word “Array” in a Star Trek movie is a no go, simply because it comes from a Star Trek series…
I thought the Deflector Dish was the whole thing and the array was the center of it??
@122
Saddened to hear about British Naval Dude passing away. I had been wondering where he was since he hadn’t posted in awhile. I frequently laughed at his posts. I was just in his town of Louisville this morning. Sorry I will never meet him.
Cheers to British Naval Dude!
Arrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr. He kids because loves!
Navigational Deflector Dish or Deflector Dish, I agree that Array is to TNG
The Zefram deflector or Coch deflector
What would they call this in the navy…
SONAR?
It’s hard to believe there have been over 360 posts on this uber-trivial point.
Name it whatever you like, or just have Kirk say “Deflectors fuil intensity!” Concentrate on better capturing the spirit and tone of Classic Trek. That’s what matters.
I believe it’s mostly called the Main Deflector. I don’t think that it’s called the Deflector Disk much. Perhaps in later ships, it is an array, that is more than one deflector emitter working together, but on TOS, it is clearly one device.
Of course, with ST 2009, they’ll do whatever the heck they want, including removing the defector and putting a bust of a naked lady, if they think that it will make a better story.
@339. Did you even watch the video? Get over your preconceived notions about the game and watch the video, then you can come back and bitch about it if you want. :-)
Since someone just invented a “coherent perfect absorber” (think anti-laser). I am thinking that it should integrate that into its name. “Deflector” would mean that it deflected the shot. In theory, if you can absorb something, then you should be able to take that energy and re-use it.
So, in short a C-PAD or Coherent Perfect Absorber Dish.
A little off-topic: Could anyone explain to me why the new dish expands before Warp? It sure makes sense that the deflection field should be intensified for Warp. But for that it would be sufficient to power up the dish. Good engineering minimizes the number of moving parts.
xxXX The Shatner Gape. XXxx
#89, Captain Dunsel.
Great minds think alike. See #18/19.
376
Certain parts of the 09 Enterprise are “stimulated” by the order to go to warp.
“I like this ship! It’s excited!” :-D
I’ve always known it to be referred to as the Navigational Deflector
How about the “VLA” or Very large Array,named after the VLA in New Mexico
The VLA is a multi-purpose instrument designed to allow investigations of many astronomical objects, including radio galaxies, quasars, pulsars, supernova remnants, gamma ray bursts, radio-emitting stars, the sun and planets, astrophysical masers, black holes, and the hydrogen gas that constitutes a large portion of the Milky Way galaxy as well as external galaxies. In 1989 the VLA was used to receive radio communications from the Voyager 2 spacecraft as it flew by Neptune. It is not, despite depictions in popular culture, used to assist in the Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence (SETI).
The Space High Intensity Transit dish….yep, the s*** dish…
The official name is “navigational deflector”. HOWEVER, a character on the bridge would most likely just say “dish” or “deflector dish” (except maybe Spock) – just the same way we wouldn’t say “cellular telecommunications device”…we’d just say “cel phone”.
Well, I think the “ship’s deflector” is all that need be said.
If the writers need to go into detail for the sake of the story, then they can show the “dish” on a screen display while the characters talk about it. If it’s not integral to the story, then referring to it as “the ship’s deflector” is all that is required.
And I agree, from the parabolic/ satellite TV design (talking TOS design here..not the spin offs or movies) I always thought it was an information gatherer, like the ship’s sensors, rather than some type of deflector emitter. And since TOS never referenced the dish, specifically, as the source of the “defelector screens” , and since it IS a TOS reimagining, I see no real need to adhere to that post-TOS, all-in-one, it-does-it-all Deflector-dish line of thinking anyway.
How we in the military would name/define the deflectors:
Navigation is the use.
Deflector is the function.
Array is the fixture.
Dish is the shape.
Which is why, if you ever look in an Army Quartermaster (supply) catalog to requst a replacement item,. For example a zipper for a jacket, it is not under “Z” but “I” because we name it not a zipper but an Interlocking Plastic (or metal) Slide Fastner.
The deflector. Period.
When you want to stop the car, you hit the brakes. Not the “carbon-lined hydraulically assisted kinetic friction inducer.” You need more deflection, you pump up the deflector.
It doesn’t need any enbabblefication.
This ain’t TNG.
@342 You absolutely can send signals using a concave dish. It’s called a transceiver or transducer… it can both send and receive.
I know they can send as well, but how are you going to focus energy into a concentrated beam at a great range of distances relative to the ship to deflect using a dish with an equipment package at the focal point, and what sort of energy would that be? How come the equipment package didn’t get deflected or fried?
That’s also what we saw in TOS. But the TOS Enterprise back then, as I noted, also had a package at the focal point of the dish, which has been lost ever since TMP. And I don’t recall the package being the source of the beam. I’d have to review, so I can’t be certain, but that isn’t my memory.
Tentatively then, I’d say making perfect sense is not likely. It’s more an issue of which parts of Star Trek you prefer to honor and we obviously have different opinions on that. I think the guy who designed it knew the ship better than the people who produced the SPFX.
Who knows? That MIGHT even be something that gets revised in future editions of TOS with future revisions of its SPFX!
Hell, I’m still trying to figure out where the original Enterprise’s photon torpedoes came from. They seem to have materialized out of nowhere at some point on the primary hull. And they were as big as submarines!
I recall it being called the main deflector array. Stick with what works.
Angarus Deflector.
That’s what I came up with.
The blue thing.
Thought this deserved metion, one of the original builders of the original enterprise, part if which is now in discussion, passed away 1-24 at the age of 81.
RIP Richard C. Datin Jr Builder of the TOS Enterprise
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Richard built the large-scale models of the Starship Enterprise for filming of the original STAR TREK television series.
A 1950 graduate of New York Institute of Applied Arts & Sciences of Brooklyn NY, where he acquired a degree in Architectural and Structural Technology. Richard pursued a career of engineering and of the arts, culminating in his own long-time business of building architectural and structural scale models for firms in the Los Angeles area. Among his most noteworthy accomplishments were studio models for the original The Star Trek TV series, plus Petticoat Junction and numerous props for TV commercials such as Alka-Seltzer, and Jolly Green Giant during the 60′s. This brought him to be employed by Twentieth-Century Fox for the motion picture Tora, Tora, Tora. Later he found employment at Litton Industries, AMTD Division in Venice CA and Bechtel Power in San Francisco.
His career changed abruptly in the mid-1970′s when he moved to Nevada where he was engaged by the Nevada Historical Society as a researcher, followed by a brief stint at UNR Special Collections. His love of Nevada history, railroads and research abilities brought him to furnish weekly articles for the Carson City’s Nevada Appeal for a number of years. In 1979 he was selected as the founding curator of the Nevada State Railroad Museum. As an avid collector of old toy trains and vintage post cards, Richard became a dealer at many antique shows up and down the coast.
Following his retirement in 1989, he dedicated most his time researching a number of pet projects including writing and publishing a history of Virginia City’s International Hotel, as well as a pictorial of Reno’s past utilizing his vast collection of historical post cards.
Other projects still on the shelf included a history of the famed Reno Arch, the history of Reno and a comprehensive history of the Carson & Colorado Railroad.
In the meantime he found time to search the Datin Family ancestors who originated in France, and compiled an up to date genealogy history that included Louis XIV and others clear back to 1096, translated the Duke d’Antin’s memoirs, and was able to visit each of the French-born Noel Datin’s (his great-grandfather) early day locales from Kentucky, Missouri, to Illinois. He also initiated several informational websites telling of his past accomplishments and favorite subjects.
He treasured his travels, particularly along the Oregon Coast with his long time companion now surviving wife Margie, as well as occasional train trips to San Francisco, Denver, Chicago, and New York City.
Burial will be at Nauvoo, Illinois, among his many relatives, including great grandparents Joseph Noel and Catherine Sparks Datin.
here is his very cool website.
http://www.startrekman.us/pages/1/index.htm
Sorry about the length…
I like the sound of the Pascale Array, but prefer the Pascale Syndrome…:)
Question to Anthony: How do you pronounce your name? Just not sure about the pronunciation of the “sca” and “le” are. Thanks.
Can’t really concentrate on these Star Trek topics at the moment. Christchurch, city in the South Island of NZ (MJ will know) got hit by a massive earthquake, again, yesterday, 22 February at 12.51pm (NZ time). The official death toll is 39 but they expect there will be a lot more, a lot more… People are still trapped in buildings etc; the place is a mess, such a mess…
Sorry – got to go.
#392. Prayers for you and everyone in NZ.
I always thought it served more than one purpose, main deflector, sensor array, and communications (somehow).
You probably need “dish” in there somewhere so folks will know what the characters mean. How about either “main deflector dish” or “main sensor dish” depending on the context on the line?
Also, if the word “wise” is somewhere in the film, I’ll would be forever grateful.
The Big Blue Array.
My assumption would be that all deflector dishes are deflector arrays but not all deflector arrays are deflector dishes.
But since the 2009 Enterprise’s array is in the shape of a dish you could call it either.
The most important thing, though, for a populist movie like Star Trek XII is what the largest sector of the audience will recognize when you say it. “Dish” is the best fit, then, since as soon as you hear it even the most unknowledgeable non-fan will think “what, the big roundy thing on the front?”
Actually, who cares about what they call the deflector. 2009 Star Trek was the worst Star Trek movie ever made, and likely the worst picture of the year regardless of genre. The script was idiotic and the ships were nothing less than retarded. Not much else to say about Orci and Lindelof except they should hold up in that hotel and never come back out.
It should be called … drum roll …………….
“Big Desilu”
Explanation:
The “deflector dish” component of a starship is the primary output coupler, (a shallow concave energy extractor with reflective properties) for the Deflector Energy Field Amplification System. The output coupler resembles a dish container or large umbrella in appearance.
One of the technical names used for the “dish” component of the deflector system is the Deflector Energy System Injector (DESI). The nickname Desilu is formed by combining the acronym DESI with the acronym for large umbrella (LU).
The tradition for nicknaming a starship deflector dish is a continuation of the practice relating to tunnel boring machines, (also known as a “mole”), which were first used on Earth during the 19th century.
The first successful earth tunneling shield was invented by Sir Marc Isambard Brunel for use in creating the Thames Tunnel in 1825. The first tunnel boring machine, (nicknamed Mountain Slicer), was commissioned by the King of Sardinia in 1845 and built by Henri-Joseph Maus. Other examples of nicknames given to tunnel boring machines include Big Becky (Niagra Falls), Helene (Puget Sound-Brightwater STP) and Sissi (Gotthard Base Tunnel).
At some point during the early days of human space travel, engineers began recognizing the rudimentary similarities of using force field shields in space travel, (space tunneling), with tunnel boring machines and began fondly giving nicknames to the giant dish-like component.
BobO- bring the Okudas on board.
You guys need historians/expert Trek consultants- BADLY!!
#399-I believe that would be a good idea. Nothing agaisnt the writing team at all. I’m a lifetime Star Trek fan and in a perfect world where I would be the writer of a STar Trek movie, I’D even bring in the Okuda’s.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/B002PQ7JQK/ref=dp_olp_new?ie=UTF8&qid=1298406285&sr=1-9&condition=new
When the heck is the price going to come down for the TOS on Blu-ray, $180.99 is way to expensive for the three seasons!
I would say that it would depend on the context. A less technically-minded person such as Captain Kirk or a security officer might refer to it as the ‘deflector dish.’ Also if it is used to describe a location or physical feature of the ship, ‘deflector dish’ probably would be more appropriate because that is what it looks like – a dish.
On the other hand if it were being used by a more technically-minded person such as Spock or an engineer, they would likely use the term ‘main deflector array’. In particular they would likely use the term ‘main deflector array’ in the context of refering to one of the ships systems, as opposed to it being a location or physical feature. Note the keyword ‘main’ is important here as the ship likely has lesser deflector arrays (which are not ‘dishes’) for protecting the saucer section and warp nacelles.
The term ‘navigational array’ always bugged me because we know from the episodes that is can do so much more then just allow the ship to navigate. In addition to containing long-range and navigational sensors and projecting a deflection field, we know it can also act as a long range transmitter/receiver and project powerful energy beams. However, the name ‘navigational deflector’ might work in a colloqial sense because it acknowledges the dish’s two primary functions.
In the end, I wouldn’t sweat it too much. The fans will understand what you are talking about since we are so use to these terms being used interchangeably.
What else could it be called but: Limited Edition Hamilton Collector’s plate!
#110, vice1986:
No “Mc” names in any series or movie?
Just off the top of my head:
Lt. Marla McGivers – TOS “Space Seed”
Corporal McKenzie – Enterprise MACO
Ensign McKnight – TNG “Clues”
Detective McNary – TNG “The Big Goodbye”
and…
…
…
…
Leonard McCoy………
#399 “..BobO- bring the Okudas on board.
You guys need historians/expert Trek consultants- BADLY!!”
nah, too much history with the 24th century to blur the lines… They just to know if it feels right for TOS. Bring in Bjo Trimble for consulting. She’ll tell it like it is!
@ 392 Keachick
Glad to hear from you. I’m very sorry to hear about the eathquake in New Zealand. You have our thoughts and prayers.
The Officine Panerai Deflector or the Audemars Piaget Deflector
Should nab you two boys some nice wristie swag
In the Navy the old radars had a single dish and feed horn assembly. Newer radars have an array of transmitters and receivers with no director required to move the dish onto the target. they are now called radar arrays.
if you want to be accurate and keep with tradition they should be called arrays.
Vger jr
Obviously we have a lot of time on our hands.
I don’t have any sort of desire to read all the comments. But I would respectfully submit the following for your naming consideration:
“Jerry”
Or perhaps something more formal:
“Prentiss Q. Icebox”
Screw all that. Just call it:
“THX-1138″
Call it the Dharma Array! “Little” shout-out to Lindelof’s other project!
Reading this news brings tears of Joy to my eye.
The Creature has many lifes. And I am the only Hirogen who has ever cried.
To those asking “where is Alex?” i suggest reading the article instead of just the headline ;)
Also, since Paramount first made their deal back in April 2009, Alex, Bob and Damon were all signed on as full co-writers (all also have full producer credit along with JJ and Bryan Burk).
Vernon Wilmer, I have to say I vehemently disagree with you. The franchise, I think a lot of people would say, even Leonard Nimoy himself, is in VERY good hands, as the 2009 film was a critical and commercial success. I agree, I had some problems with the plot at times, but I really enjoyed it. Bob Orci very kindly asked the fans what the deflector dish should be named in the sequel, as it has had many different named over the years on the various series. I’m pretty sure he knows what it is. I think your comment at #168 was frankly kind of low.
Keachick, glad to see you posting on here- if just to check in to let us know you are ok.
Our thoughts and prayers are with all involved. I wish there were something we here in the States could do for the good folks there affected by this tragedy.
In the meantime, know that you and all of New Zealand are being thought of many miles away-
@387 The neat thing about thinking of the deflector assembly sending a wave rather than a beam of energy… is a wave propagates through a medium, in this instance subspace.
So, it makes sense that the aperture they’ve created opens, and “funnels” this subspace deflection wave in the same way microwave horns funnel microwaves. I can buy the concavity being more a shaping of the horn of the transmitter… because who knows IRL how one creates a wave in subspace… do you have some tubular assembly that creates a pocket of subspace in the coils, and you vibrate it? Does it shoot out a forward subspace wave in the same manner the Airzooka shoots a column of air? Airzookas have a concave shape of course….
The fun thing with pseudophysics is that there’s an internal coherence that’s lacking in the usual technobabble. That’s why I miss the Jeffries/Sternbach/Okuda lineage of trying to make the tech coherent and internally consistent.
I’m going to stick with my concept of calling them by a proper name, the Sloane Deflectors. They deflect. The concept was invented by Sloane.
This is a dish: http://eu.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fitxategi:C-band_Radar-dish_Antenna.jpg
This is an array:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:PAVE_PAWS_Radar_Clear_AFS_Alaska.jpg
So therefore, the nav deflector is a dish.
Based on the above pics, how about the Deflector Sphincter?
Kinda hard to say that three times fast.
Seriously, as many have said, it’s the both the “Main Sensor” and the “Navigational Deflector.” But, depending on context, it could also be called “Deflector Dish” or “Main Deflector,” eg.
“The Deflector Dish needs a new coat of paint!”
“The Main Deflector can’t handle all this Klingon space flotsam!”
“The Main Sensor just detected a plot-saving wormhole!”
Scott B. out.
@122 C.S., thank you for mentioning Del, “British Naval Dude”. Perhaps many of the longtime TM’ers would take note of the memorial page at:
http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=59323560
He was a very creative man… I miss his humor.
D.
Doohan Deflector array?
If it is the “Main Deflector Dish”, my question is: where is the secondary deflector dish. Is it within the main one and the larger one is used “mainly” for Warp speed? So, therefore, depending on the usage of the deflector, it is either: Deflector Dish when referring to it for uses other than Warp speed. This is my understanding.
I think “navigational deflector” doesn’t fully do the deflector justice…it does so much more than navigate! “Deflector dish”, all the way! :D
Perhaps “Buddy”?
“Terence”?
DNA – Deflector and Navigation Array… Yep. That is what it should be.
I think deflector dish rolls off the tongue the best.
The Bates Motel Deflector Saucer !!!
There you go, all sorted ;)
Mother says thank you xx
I Got it!
THE REPULSOR DISH!!
*think*think*think*think* I’m an ex-army guy (we blew crap up with big cannons), but don’t navy subs deploy countermeasures when they have an enemy torpedo bearing down on them? Hmmmm. Just spit balling here. If a deflector dish is supposed to repel galactic flotsam, could it be called a ‘repulsor array’?
Hello?
*crickets*
Navigational Deflection Dish.
I think NADD could be a good, ie Navigational Deflector Dish. Navigational Deflector gets my vote. It sounds crisp off the tounge when giving a command. Also Mr. Orci or Mr. Lindelof if could use the Surname of Irving in any shape or form would be awesome. Its a bit for me as my name is Robert William Irving and is a strong sounding Starfleet name. But it is more for my father who passed away 20 years ago this year. He was a strong man, with a good heart, that would give the shirt off his back, and he died young of a heartattack when I was a wee lad. He was a policeman and would have made a good officer in Starfleet. It would a great honor to have the Irving surname in the film.
well…it’s an ARRAY in the shape of a DISH which DEFLECTS things in the path of the ship when it’s NAVIGATING.
Take any 2-3 of those words and string them together.
Deflector Array would refer to the whole system I think while the actual “part” on the ship’s exterior would be the Deflector Dish.
As long as its not powered by budwiser I don’t care.
“The Main Deflector Dish” as spoken by Westley Crusher and everybody else in “Best of Both Worlds”. Even in the recap at the start of Part 1, it has the clip of Crusher saying “The main deflector dish”.
I would call it the navigational deflector (if I were a Vulcan) or a deflector dish (if I were human).
Deflector array when referring to the general system or what it does.
Deflector dish for the actual dish part.
On second thought, just call it “Steve.” =)
Wait, wasn’t it just the Main Deflector on TNG? No dish, no array. I like the simplicity of it.
“The Meteorite Beam”
-Joe Tyler (The Cage)
Comes straight from the pilot of the entire franchise.
@404
Haha yeah, I don’t know what I was thinking… only that I wasn’t.
I’ll just attribute that to my bottle of crown royal…seems the easiest thing to do.
here you go guys… Navigational/Deflector Dish. For ONE: The dish is meant to guide the enterprise on all courses including Thrusters, One Quarter Impluse, Full Impluse or Warp Drive to map a course. TWO: The Defector is meant to guide or map any space debris that may pose the enterprise a threat during warp drive. ( Note… When traveling at warp a ship may be destoryed without use of a deflector dish from even the smallest space particle with the vessel going faster than light ). Also the dish maybe a point for Delector Plasma Shilds during the ship’s battle or it can be used as a weapon to defend the starship against a powerful enemy.
This is quite the thread! :-)
I’ll toss in for Deflector Dish. It’s descriptive of the shape (for quick reference), has nice alliteration and conveys a function. Even if it is not the actual technical name, it sounds like the nickname it would be given by starship personnel.
I have thought long and hard on this and delved into the annals of history to give another name to the dish thingy.
Fred Garvin.
If you don’t know…look it up and enjoy.
LOL
I like “deflector dish” but you could also call it Bob.
those two are no more hold up in a hotel working on the script than i am
but good post Anthony
never seen such a debate over the dish name since who should play kirk in the the first movie
“I think NADD”
As in, “The Klingons just hit us right in our NADD”? I don’t think so.
Big Flat Christmas Tree.
@445. Sure they are in a hotel right now. It is no different then in the business world when you’ve got to get the big proposal done, you bring everyone into an off-site location or conference center to get their full concentration. This ain’t a Peanuts cartoon that they are working on — its a script for a movie that if done right, could make $400M or more — so, your damn right they are in a hotel right now finally making progress. And I bet you that Abrams insisted on it given the the slow progress to date.
How about a nickname for it like “The Dog Dish”? Sure, it’s really the deflector array but it seems likely the crew, especially Engineers, would call it something silly day to day.
There shall in that time be rumors of things going astray, erm, and there shall be a great confusion as to where things really are, and nobody will really know where lieth those little things with the sort of raffia-work base, that has an attachment. At that time, a friend shall lose his friend’s hammer, and the young shall not know where lieth the things possessed by their fathers that their fathers put there only just the night before, about eight o’clock.
@450 Huh ????? A little too much wine tonight, my friend?
@ 234. AJ – February 22, 2011
The Flux Capacitor
PERFECT!
450
I see you couldn’t quite make it as a Shakespearean actor. Ah well, not everyone can be Patrick Stewart or even William Shatner! :-)
450. Gene L. Coon was a U. S. Marine. Stand at ease. – February 22, 2011
There shall in that time. . .
also. . .
Brian: Please, please, please listen! I’ve got one or two things to say.
The Crowd: Tell us! Tell us both of them!
Brian: Look, you’ve got it all wrong! You don’t NEED to follow ME, You don’t NEED to follow ANYBODY! You’ve got to think for your selves! You’re ALL individuals!
The Crowd: Yes! We’re all individuals!
Brian: You’re all different!
The Crowd: Yes, we ARE all different!
Man in crowd: I’m not…
The Crowd: Sch!
Sorry, just a bit off topic. I like Deflector Dish, personally.
That is all.
Wow. 400 + comments about a dish. Let your minds float
Down stream and float. Keep it simple
450. Gene L. Coon was a U. S. Marine. Stand at ease. – February 22, 2011
Lol brother, thou speakest the truth.
416: “The fun thing with pseudophysics is that there’s an internal coherence that’s lacking in the usual technobabble. That’s why I miss the Jeffries/Sternbach/Okuda lineage of trying to make the tech coherent and internally consistent.”
Well my good word and $3.95 will get you a tall Cinnamon Dolce Latte at Starbucks.
But you get my vote to fill their shoes none the less.
Call it “Steve”
Bob and the gang are laughing hysterically at how we’re jumping at the chance to name the freakin’ blue thing on the Enterprise. Shatner probably put them up to it. What will be the next practical joke played on the geeky fans? Standing in line to touch one of the pens they’re using to write the script?
They should call it……wait for it…..The Big Ass Glowing Blue Thing.
BTW, if anybody here capable of analyzing images wants to give it a shot, I just got one hell of a jpeg from a friend on the rez. It was photographed with a cell phone. It’s not visually ambiguous and there’s no pareidolia involved. It’s also unbelievable. I cannot tell you what it is because I do not know. You have to see it. But if you want to give it a shot, click on my name and hit me with an email on the contact link. I’ll bet money it’s not photoshopped.
RE: hotel room
It is a real thing. Bob and Alex did it for the Star Trek movie and they have done it for other projects as well. It is part of their process. Remember these guys have multiple projects going and many distractions and this is a way to focus. And at this point, I imagine that JJ and studio are anxious to read the thing.
I went and grabbed my ’75 SF Tech manual when I read this article (looking around, apparently I wasn’t the only one!) and it’s shown as “Main Sensor”… the link is to an image I took of the page for those who don’t have it or are interested.
http://img201.imageshack.us/i/photozd.jpg/
Not sure if it’s been mentioned but the SF Technical Manual was drawn by Franz Joseph between ’73 and ’75… I checked out the book credits and did about 2 mins of google searches to figure that out :P In other words, while he gives thanks to a bunch of ST folks in the book credits (including Jeffries), he may not have had the naming convention correct for that part of the ship, and perhaps made something up?
I get that this may not gel with what you guys are writing and other series have changed things up over the years… but it’s the only reference I know of from the TOS era (besides perhaps a Revell/AMT model kit or something).
Gotta say I also like the sound of “Primary Deflector Array” :D
463. Cenobyte – February 22, 2011
Yeah, Franz Joseph was obviously following W. Matt Jefferies’ lead, since he’s using the same nomenclature Jefferies used in his 3 view blueprint of the Enterprise.
So then the writers and/or the SPFX people ignored Jefferies’ own design/nomenclature and did what they wanted, so the violation of canon began early.
I think Jefferies paid more attention to logic than the TOS writers and SPFX people did, and I wish we’d get back to his good habits for Star Trek instead of just repeating those lazy mistakes that erode credibility.
And Jefferies named it MAIN SENSOR. That wasn’t a mistake on Franz Joseph’s part. Joseph was just repeating the name given to that part by the designer of the Enterprise. Jefferies was the first one to blueprint the Enteprise and that’s the name he put on his blueprint for it.
Or, given that we have over 400 answers to the question now, maybe they could borrow a term from cinematography and call it the Circle of Confusion.
An array is a collection of devices working in unison, this is just the opposite: one device serving multiple functions.
It’s not an array.
It’s the “Deflector Dish”.
“Primary” or “Main” imply more than one, which this Enterprise doesn’t have. Those terms come from TNG because NCC-1701-D had a separating saucer that required a secondary deflector incorporated into its bow.
“Navigational” implies that it is only used to push debris out of the ship’s path, which is inaccurate because it also serves as the subspace communications & long range sensor emitter, as well as part of the defensive shield system.
Just call it the deflector dish, everything else is fluff.
This may not be news. I just watched “Journey to Babel” online at CBS. It’s free but has commercials. Anyway, IT’S NOW THE REMASTERED version with reimagined visual effects. The remasered film looks great. As for the visual effects, the CGI is okay but I’m guessing they’ll reimagine this in the future.
As for the episode, yes, you get good shots of the deflector. But it does lay down some of Spock’s backstory. And Dr. McCoy gets the best ever last line. Of course, that’s my rant for more Dr. McCoy. I miss the trinity.
How about the Baryonic Neutralizer Dish, in honor of British Naval Dude?
Gotta love those acronyms!
464. dmduncan – February 22, 2011
Ahh yeah, makes sense, I kinda figured he was using some original Matt Jefferies material or talking to him directly if needed etc.
I’m assuming that the “Main Sensor” is what Spock is activating when he’s using Long Range Sensors to “scan out one parsec”… I don’t know, I think it kinda makes sense to have the dish perform both jobs, both sensoring and deflecting that is ;)
Navigational deflector. Describes what it does, distinguishes it from the deflector shields. Done.
And thank you very much, but my name was already in TMP.
Aint no way I’m gonna read through all the comments, I’ll leave that up to better people than I.
I personally use the term “deflector dish”, although “deflector array” sounds pretty good and is probably a more precise term.
I say we put it to a vote, Anthony. Put this question up as the next poll?
Deflector Array is the best answer based on usage, but 83. is the best answer, if the goal is to pull a Jefferies.
@470. “I’m assuming that the “Main Sensor” is what Spock is activating when he’s using Long Range Sensors to “scan out one parsec”… I don’t know, I think it kinda makes sense to have the dish perform both jobs, both sensoring and deflecting that is ;)”
Exactly DM!
PS: And for the guy who bitched about my reference video from Star Trek Online on deflector dishes, this was their concept of well — combined deflector and sensor capabilities…so there! :-)
How about the Khan Array? You know, like in “revenge is a dish best served cold? Well, it’s very cold in space..”
405
The Okudas are big TOS fans, with TOS remastered they were very faithful to the Original.
Also the coloured rectangle buttons on the LCD screens on Enterprise was a nod to the Original Series bridge. I know this because I met the Okudas at Vegas in 2007 and mentioned this to them and said that I was the first one to mention it to them, as that was their intention on that.
Just because they worked on the spin offs does not mean they are not qualified to work on the alternate universe movies. The Okudas really know their Trek, along with the Reeves-Stevens.
“E.T.s Umbrella”.
What could possibly be more fun than writing a Star Trek movie? AND it’s your job! (Well, not yours, of course. Nor mine — sob, whimper, sniff sniff…) When I was 12, or so, in my naivety, I thought I’d become a writer for Star Trek. I even wrote a Trek story, thinking I’d just send it in and get hired. Well, I took a detour into music, but if I had pursued the Trek path for the rest of my life, who knows?
In any case, Bob, Damon and Alex — you have my complete support, and utter jealousy!
Personally I think “Deflector Array” sounds more technical and official, “dish” would be more a slang term. So I say go with Deflector Array.
Staff do not rock, this device has always been known as “MAIN DEFLECTOR DISH”and its main function is to protect the ship against particles in space when she is sailing at any speed, either fold or push. So he should continue to be called “MAIN DEFLECTOR DISH”.
What really makes it sound like technobabble is the lot of unnecessary adjectives, like “main”, or “forward”.
Are there other deflector dishes on the ship? Is there a rear deflector? I say go with “deflector” (dish or array, depending on the formality of the occasion).
Anyway, it would be nice if we could actually see it working, say if the ship goes through a visibly dense region and we can see the particles being swept away…
476–When they first decided to remaster the original series I was a bit ambivalent about it. I usually like to preserve what was done (i.e. I don’t like when they colorize black and white films and so on). However, I must say they did an excellent job updating the facts, and it was obvious they tried very hard to stay with the original intent of each episode (I loved what they did with the Doomsday Machine). I remember them saying they struggled with Balance of Terror because of the phaser effects, and they decided to stay true to the episode with pulses instead of beams.
There are a few behind the scenes people I wish the new team kept on. The Okudas being one of them. Another is Herman Zimmerman. I thought he did a good job with the work he did with the movies and shows. Look no further than “In a Mirror, Darkly” from Enterprise. He had to create sets from the original series from scratch. He also had to create sets that were never seen in the original series and stay true to the look of the original series. Had Abrams kept him on, Zimmerman would have given Abrams the feel he wanted while maintaining some continuity from the original series. And he would have had an engineering section that did not look like Freddy Krueger’s boiler room (sorry, that engineering section is a pet peeve of mine, it delves into 4th dimension physics by beeing bigger than the outside, and where is the freaking warp core?). Also on Enterprise, he had to backdate the ship from the original series, while at the same time make it look futuristic from today.
However, outside some of these behind the scenes guys I thought the rest of the team did a good job, from the writers, to the actors. I just wish there was more consistency with established set design from what was done since the original series on through the movies, etc.
Two things…..
I agree with the previous poster who said bring in the Okudas… They know their stuff TOS through TNG and beyond and before, backward and forward.
I think the forward dish should have dual functionality as main sensor and navigational deflector. This could be tied to why the dish expands as the ship is about to go to warp.
A larger dish diameter means a larger surface area which means you therefore extend your sensor range. Which I would imagine is an absolute necessity when you are travelling at multi light speed. You need to find where those debris particles are so you can deflect them before they slam into your hull.
So to my mind, the dish logically serves two purposes, a sensor to detect those pesky particles and a deflector beam to move them out of the way to allow safe navigation. So it can be referred to a main sensor and a navigational deflector with equal validity.
If the Okudas are unavailable, I am happy to offer my services as Star Trek technology consultant at a reasonable rate…. ;)
Seems to me if they’re just mentioning it in passing the Main Dish would do
Justman Array
Cool picture, especially in the daylight – dmduncan!!
The following is off topic, but I have seen some recent photos of something in the night sky with that same configuration- and you could see three lights where the object would make a triangle. I can find them for you.
For the record, I keep an open mind about the idea of UFO’s- I neither believe or disbelieve. With that said, what is strange is that when I was about 12- My friends and I seen something similar to your picture- and the pictures I have just seen recently of the object at night.
However, we lived in close proximity to Wright Patterson Air Force Base and later thought that it might have been an experimental aircraft we seen that night. (I learned that later on in life when my brother told me about some of the happenings there- he works there still today and worked on the F-22 and others that I was not privy to know about :( )
It still fascinates me though and I will try to find the pictures for you to check out.
Three questions:
1) Is this device also responsible for allowing air to cool the engine? Then it would be a “grill” as opposed to a dish….
2) Does it receive as well? For instance, if I want HBO, would I call the Deflector Dish Network for programming. And if the ship moves slightly, say due to solar winds, or ice builds up, does someone have to spacewalk onto the dish to turn it – as if they know what the hell they are doing?
3) If the device is multifunctional, then deflection is only one operation. Apparently is can send signals, etc. So perhaps “array” would be a summation of all it’s properties?
Oh, and the ship has a “Brousards” collector or some such thing, “Heisenberg Compensators” and as noted, “Matt Jeffery’s Tubes”….so why not name it after someone special. Like the Rodenberry Array? Just a thought.
The Navigational Deflector Array
Homer J. Simpson?
Main Deflector Array
Over the evening, something gelled. Why in the hell is it always called a dish? Well, what if originally, the starfleetspeak for it grew out of this rational acronym:
Deflector-Integrated Sensor Housing
-or-
DISH
Calling it “DISH” and then “Deflector DISH”…. finally “Deflector Dish” is as logical as “IBM machines”, “NCR cash registers”, “the ABC company”, or “SAM missiles”.
491.
“Why the hell is it always called a dish?” Maybe because it looks like one? ; )
Well, not always: the TMP Enterprise has it enclosed under a convex translucent structure…. only the TOS Enterprise had a true dish shape. The NX-01 had a squashed top-to-bottom dish.
I’m just offering up a rationale for calling the whole thing DISH even when it’s not clearly a dish. :)
♫ deflector flector, what’s your vector… ♫
so much opinion…this calls for a poll!
It’s a “Navigational Deflector”
And for pete’s sake can we please get a REAL non-brewery Engineering section this time please?
Surely an array refers to multiple dishs? Plus array seems a little too TNG and advanced… not that that makes any difference. Different universe, isn’t it?
A real fake engineering section as opposed to a real engineering section? Hate to break it to you, but the engine rooms I’ve seen are full of tanks and pipes and stuff. Why would one assume that an engine room in the future would look like a cafeteria, anyway?
Yeah, what was used in the last movie was just fine, in my opinion…ships get refitted all the time, so tweaks are okay. too.
8. BobOrci – Can we have another reference to ENT please? A picture of the NX-01 hanging on wall in the Rec Deck, the Briefing Room or something. :)
499 again, because I just thought of it -
Maybe you could canonise Doug Drexler’s Enterprise refit? From the Ships of the Line calendars and his site. Fantastic to see the NX class get a secondary hull.
How about NADA, Navigational And Deflector Array, which is spanish for NOTHING. I figure a doorway leading to the electronics room for the array on the set of the ship is basically a doorway leading to NOTHING… and #494?–Conjunction Junction..What’s Your Function? and #492 Because it’s a dish best served cold in space? and #487 Why HBO?…why not just the Dish NetWork?…..
I agree about the Engineering section being too brewery, admittedly it did serve as a comedic touch for Kirk and Scotty and #482 this movie version of the Big E is much bigger than the TOS version, so yeah your engineering section could be bigger…but yeah couldn’t you use some sort of “radiator cooling” for the coolant making the engineering section more technologically appealing for the 23rd Century?
The Caela Array
Named after a close friend who also helped me find a path and kept obstacles from smashing into me.
Homage to Gene
The Roddenberry Array
Still like “Betty” or the “blue boob”…
Or …
Rodden-B Array
For Roddenberry
If this technology is to have a name, it should be short and sweet. What does it do, btw?
@501: Countless TOS pipes labeled “GNDN”, particularly reflected when they did up a hallway for “Trials and Tribble-ations”…. You’d like GNDN:
Goes Nowhere, Does Nothing :)
Or maybe your favorite planetoid from TOS is Yonada. :)
@0
I can’t believe that Boborci hasn’t already been inspired early in the thread for what he was looking for. :) Hope he and Damon though are having a great story-room time… imagine being a fly on the wall, as they talk out the script they’re turning in! Sounding out dialogue, checking for flow between characters, storyboarding with words….
A century before it’s refered to simply as a deflector, although plans for the NX-01 call it a deflector dish.
Two instances from “Broken Bow” -
Reed: “Pardon me, but if I don’t reallign the deflector the first grain of space-dust we come across will blow a hole through this ship the size of your fist.”
(Reed in reply to Hoshi feeling little tremors on the bridge) “The deflector’s sequencing. It’s perfectly normal.”
Seriously folks the thing is called a “Bussard Collector” because it is designed to collect heavy hydrogen atoms at warp to recharge the dilithium crystals………………
Actually aren’t the “Bussard Collectors” basically just nacelle caps? Bussard ramscoops or something like that?
# 511 is right about the Bussard Collectors – or simply “Bussards”. They have nothing to do with the deflector…
I think deflector dish is okay. Or to give it a grittier name: “Deflector ram” or “navigational ram” although it indicates the opposite of what the damn thing’s good for ;-)
Kudos to dmduncan and Tony Whitehead for “getting” the quote above. All this talk of dishes, sensors, collectors, and arrays got me thinking of Life of Brian-level absurdity.
At the risk of being banned forever from this site (but “risk”…is…our business!!), I give you the perfect distillation of what this thread has become.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F8tw_bjUqOI&feature=related
I say we name it the “BARRETT ARRAY or DEFLECTOR” in honor of Majel since this will be the first piece of Star Trek where she is not at least the computers voice or alive to contribute. It’s a fitting tribute to the First Lady of Star Trek and it does sound like a good equipment name doesn’t it? You have the Jefferies Tubes and such, why not give Majel a name of the ship as well.
Navigational Deflector, Deflector Dish, or Main Deflector. :-)
507. keachick – February 23, 2011
Oh, it’s a plot hole fixer upper. Gotta sweep aside space dust, fire up the deflector. Gotta blast something, reverse a few chips and it’s a ray gun. Gotta sneak out a hidden message, change a few more chips and it’s a super secret message transmitter. Gotta escape the time trap, run a pipe from the warp core and it becomes the starship antimatter fart emitter. Now if it would just make a good cup of coffee…..
Call it whatever they called it on TOS. Problem solved.
If they called it by several different names, pick your favorite / least technobabble-sounding one & call it a day.
507. keachick – February 23, 2011
Oh, and I’m sure Vernon will be on in a bit to question your devotion to the show, because all “true” fans know all these things and how they work and what they are made of and and and ….well…don’t mind Vernon.
See post 513, and have a little fun with this. Cheers…
Deflector Array and nothing else!
@517: “If they called it by several different names, pick your favorite / least technobabble-sounding one & call it a day.”
Technical sounding ≠ Technobabble. Something that sounds technical can be cool.
I think array is the proper term… much like an array of radio towers. “dish “could be a slang term for it due to its dish shape on the ship though
World English Dictionary
array (əˈreɪ)
6. electronics- an arrangement of aerials spaced to give desired directional characteristics, used esp in radar
i think that is the best description of it
520. Jeyl – February 23, 2011
Really, name something.
http://www.spike.com/video/top-10-star-trek/3037527
Really, you are making this s*** up, right?
Parabolic Wok, Hollywood Bowl, Hypertuned Sensory Gizmometer, Blue Fiddl–
“Rick! Wake up!” *slap*
“Oh — I just had the most awful dream!”
“Deflector dish” works perfectly – not only because it describes the device itself, but it does so in a way that makes perfect sense to the casual (read: “new-to-Trek”) viewer.
There’s an obvious, big blue dish on the front of the ship – and we call it one – no technobabble to alienate new viewers (which we really want to add to ensure the series’ renaissance), and the name’s already part of Trek lore, anyway.
It’s a slam dunk, IMHO.
All right…this is from an engineer’s view point.
It is a radar, navigational system, sensor grid, particle deflection system, and a whole bunch of other systems wrapped around this dish. Like many things in the technology world it does a whole lot more than its name lets on to…in addition to that whole area of the ship (“the grid portion”) houses multiple systems. So, thinking in modern terms that is similar to a RAID array. In that it is a whole lot more than the sum of its parts and I know that I don’t call my RAID array the hard drive because it does do a whole lot more than simply be a hard drive.
So, with that in mind I would say that calling it the Deflector Array is appropriate. Again, since its primary function is that to push aside debris while the ship is flying through space and the area, as a whole, houses a whole lot of important system, ergo, calling it the deflector dish doesn’t encompass just how much goes on in that area of the ship. I would, and do, call it the deflector array…I feel like a bit of a geek going on a rant, but the engineer in my sees it this way.
Spockanella & Commodore Mike, re British Naval Dude:
Oh dear. There but for the Grace of God went I.
An aortic aneurysm was detected eight years ago after an incident during morning PT. I was about Del’s age at the time. The defect was corrected two years ago this week via open heart surgery with circulatory arrest and hypothermic suspended animation. I never knew from diagnosis to waking in the recovery room if any particular moment would be my last. Such a condition tends to focus one’s thoughts on Russel Kirk’s “Permanent Things”.
I am reminded of John Dunne. There comes a day, if we are fortunate, when we realize our mortality but do not flinch. On that day we become men. Perhaps Messers Orci, Kurtzman &al shall consider this more so than sensor dishes and deflector arrays.
Sincerely and humbly,
C.S. Lewis
160. Spockanella – February 21, 2011
71 et al:
Del was 37 and he died in September of a long-standing heart condition.
Spending way to much time here…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HsGWdGhYKtY
Blue Plate Special?
@523: “Really, you are making this s*** up, right?”
Yep. So are Bob, Alex, and Damon. Making s*** up to entertain us. Only difference is that these Star Trek writers are getting paid to do it, I’m not.
There is nothing wrong with making stuff up, or making things sound technical. As long as it’s not stupid or overly convenient, nobody is going to care. Take these space battles for example.
Star Trek II. The Enterprise and the Reliant are fighting each other in a scenario where they can’t see or aim properly. Our characters have to think and understand what they’re dealing with in order to come up with an tactical advantage.
Star Trek Generations: The Enterprise crew decide that rather firing all weapons at the decades old Klingon Bird of Prey that is DEFECTIVE, they decide to use technobabble in order to get out of the situation. It involves plasma coils, ionic pulses, and other crap. Stuff that was never set up nor hinted at.
If your story has to rely on some magical technical thing to get the characters out of a predicament that don’t involve any sort of effort, you’re robbing the story of it’s drama. That’s the bad taint of technobabble, not technobabble sounding names.
I’m coming aboard this discussion thread pretty late in the game, and thus haven’t read all the responses above — only a few. But what comes to mind in naming a large part of the SAFETY of any vessel traveling at extra-light velocities might have its roots in some of the real-life devices JPL and/or NASA are developing right now (or probably already have). Otherwise, I’d have to say, Bob and Damon, I’m REMINDED of one of the novels (I think it’s the one where George Kirk was First Officer for Capt. April or something), where the IMPULSE drive was described as “Internal Metered Pulse Drive.” Yeah, I know that’s not the deflector dish, but that’s the TYPE of background material that comes to mind when I hear you asking for our input. I.M. for Internal Metered… that could mean a LOT of things, just like some of the responses above note that “Partical Array” could mean — multiple facits of the device which SWEEPS space debris and other “particles” out of the way of the vessel during warp travel, even if such a ship is “encased” in a warp bubble. Does that make any sense?
All our hopes, guys, for a terrfic Star Trek adventure!
I’m coming aboard this discussion thread pretty late in the game, and thus haven’t read all the responses above — only a few. But what comes to mind in naming a large part of the SAFETY of any vessel traveling at extra-light velocities might have its roots in some of the real-life devices JPL and/or NASA are developing right now (or probably already have). Otherwise, I’d have to say, Bob and Damon, I’m REMINDED of one of the novels (I think it’s the one where George Kirk was First Officer for Capt. April or something), where the IMPULSE drive was described as “Internal Metered Pulse Drive.” Yeah, I know that’s not the deflector dish, but that’s the TYPE of background material that comes to mind when I hear you asking for our input. I.M. for Internal Metered… that could mean a LOT of things, just like some of the responses above note that “Partical Array” could mean — multiple facits of the device which SWEEPS space debris and other “particles” out of the way of the vessel during warp travel, even if such a ship is “encased” in a warp bubble. Does that make any sense?
All our hopes, guys, for a terrfic Star Trek adventure!
Oh, my: Did I type “Partical Array” above? That should have been “Particle Array.” My bad. I’ve been working too long today, LOL!
BTW, Bob and Damon: as long as we’re on the topic of technical jargon as concerns the USS Enterprise NCC-1701, when might we hear what “NCC” stands for spoken aloud in a show (or in this case, a movie)? Is it really “Naval Construction Contract” as was described by, I seem to recall, G.R. in one of the old “making of” books for the original series? That, while many argue that’s too strange for whatever reason, seems to make the most sense – 17th starship design since the Federation began, and 01 being the first “revenue” ship of the Constitution Class (NCC-1700) series….
Just Askin’.
RC
Just a note. I find it interesting with past trek’s it was all about the actors, its who the fans wanted to see. The writers were so much more secondary. With the new court, I feel most of us hardly care about the actors and are more intrigued at what the writers have to say. We already know most of the actors to be honest don’t really care for trek. We know Pegg and Urban care, and maybe Yelchin and Cho are the only real fans, the ones who would correspond with us or show up at conventions. We know Pine, Quinto and Saldana don’t really give a rats ass about staying in touch with fans the way past actors did or the way Orci does. Just an observation I find interesting as a 23 year trek fan I was always interested in the actors, now I don’t care to hear from anyone except Orci and Kurtzman. Debate me if you will.
Big blue do-hickey.
#5
Pascale Array?
Your “ancestors” invented it? Another damn time travel story?
Can’t we just keep it simple and say your descendants invented it?
I haven’t read all the entries but I’ll go with The Okuda
Have the guy who runs the deflector dish control room come from Chicago Il
He will simply refer to it as “da dish”
The “deflector dish” would seem most in keeping with Gene Roddenberry’s guidance in the Writer’s Guide to keep it simple, to keep the focus on people, not about science and gadgetry … “Joe Friday doesn’t stop to explain the mechanics of his .38 before he uses it.”
It’s the Navigational Deflector Array.
Mike Okuda ought to be working on any Star Trek project that he wants to work on.
How about… Main Deflector Dish?
@513 GLC: So what, you quoted Life of Brian. I just get the sense that you’re a Roman. Or an ex-leper. What you are now, sure isn’t beggable, it sure isn’t leprosy. Leprosy is… a pain in the ass to be blunt and excuse my French, sir.
@541 DB: Amen, brother. Preach on. Okuda would be worth every quatloo in that Trek 2012 will have a lot more closeups on panels and displays since one presumes most or much of the story will take place on the Too-Big E. Or Bigger E.
The Cyanin Deflector.
Chloroplasts in plants reflect sun energy and lets through the green that we see. it also reflects a pigment called phycocyanin which gives of a blue shade.
Blue for the normal color of the deflector dish. :)
Call the dish “Big Bertha”! I know it’s a Deflector Dish, but a nick name wud be nice.
It’s the Dradis Array
@543 French excused. But I haven’t the foggiest idea what you just said. Please explain. Cheers.
I have to say (wayyyyy back at #5) that I like the Pascale Array. If that’s not good then Navigational Deflector Dish is good too.
Seems like a silly question to me.. Like, “What should we call Bob Orci?” (Umm.. “Bob Orci”?) LOL
But, I’ll play along. In ST:TNG “The Best of Both Worlds”, in the fight against the Borg and Locutus, Riker asked how the Enterprise could generate a powerful enough blast against the Borg cube, and Wesley Crusher replied, “The Main Deflector Dish”.
I don’t think the original series, or original movies, ever referred to it at all. Not that I can recall.
@549. Well your post here points out some of the difficulites of the logic of the Enterprise design as we know it. So, if we accept that it is the Main Deflector dish, then where on ship is the backup smaller set (or even just one backup) deflector dish(es)?
The original purpose of the deflector dish (if I recall correctly from old Star Trek tech manuals) was to ‘repel’ any debris in front of the ship. To keep a clear path, free of debris, micro-meteorites, etc, or anything that could penetrate and damage the hull of the ship.
Should we just call it a bumper? The “Front Bumper”? LOL
@ 550
Well, I was thinking about that, too. Maybe the word “Main” is just referring to the word “Deflector” (and, not the word “Dish”). Maybe there are other kinds of “Deflectors”? I don’t know. The person to ask would be Mike Okuda, I would think (the inventor of the LCARS computer and other TNG tech)
You know I also must say, for all the criticism that JJ and company took for the fairly minor changes to the Enterprise, the fact that the deflector dish actually dynamically does something when the ship goes to warp does seem to me to indicate that indeed they thought about navigational deflection of masses (micrometeorites, etc.) in space travel.
I would not be at all surprised if when they designed the ship that way that Orco and company already had some cool plot device in mind for the deflector dish for a future movie…and low and behold, they are now using this web site to perhaps gauge fan interest and commentary on this topic?
The original series used to say “Deflector Screens” a lot. I guess the question is, are “Deflector Screens” the same as “Shields”? If they are, then the deflector dish could be the ‘shield generator’. Or, maybe deflector screens are only when the shields aren’t up?
I think “Shields” was used in the movies. Does anyone remember if they used the word “shields” on the original show? In The Motion Picture, Sulu said, “The new ‘screens’ held” after V’Ger tried it’s first attack on them.
That might be something we need to answer.. are ‘screens’ and ‘shields’ the same thing?
@554. That is another sticky problem — where are the shield generators, and wouldn’t you need some on multiple parts of the ship to get full coverage….i.e. “number 4 shields are out, Captain.”
From Wikipedia:
In the Star Trek fictional universe, shields refer to a 23rd and 24th century technology that protects starships, space stations, and planets from damage by natural hazard or enemy attack. They are sometimes called deflectors, deflector shields, and screens (the last of which is used only during the original series) as synonyms for shields.
A frequently-used plot device holds that ships with shields raised may not use their transporters. This often prevents the protagonists from simply pulling endangered colleagues out of danger and running away, for to do so would require lowering shields, resulting in the possible destruction of the ship.
History
The term shields first appears in the Star Trek episode “Balance of Terror”. They were used by a Federation outpost under attack by a Romulan bird of prey but proved ineffective. The first shown use by a starship appeared in the Star Trek episode “Arena”, in which the USS Enterprise (NCC-1701) raises its shields after being attacked by an alien warship of unknown origin. Shields are not used by Starfleet at the time of Star Trek: Enterprise. Starfleet ships of that time period use “polarized hull plating”, in effect an energy charge applied to a ship’s hull to make it more resistant to weapons fire. However, some alien powers were known to use primitive shielding systems.
The technology
Like most technologies in the Star Trek fictional universe, the exact nature of how shields work is never directly cited. Characters discuss the existence and manipulation of these technologies while only superficially explaining the exact physics behind them. Essentially, some form of energy is projected from a ship or other body so as to deflect or disperse incoming projectiles. Energy based weaponry such as phasers, lasers and disruptors as well as solid ballistic weapons (i.e., torpedoes) and solid objects can be blocked. Shields are invisible until struck by an attacking force, and are then often shown briefly for dramatic effect as a translucent “field” of energy.
Visuals in LCARS displays and various accounts by characters imply that shields operate by emitting a layer of energy distortion containing a high concentration of gravitons around the object (such as a ship or city) to be protected. Shield energies can be emitted from a localized antenna or “dish” (such as a ship’s navigational deflector) or from a network of “grid” emitters laid out on the object’s surface (such as a ship’s hull).
Shields can be lessened by repeated attacks, and can go offline completely. Prolonged exposure to hazards weakens the shields and may eventually cause them to collapse.[1][2] Shields may not be effective against certain types of weapons. For example, until upgrades to Starfleet shield technology, shields were completely ineffective against the phased polaron weapons of Dominion ships.
Mr. Scott’s Guide to the Enterprise stated that shields on post-refit Constitution-class vessels were generated by the subatomic scan and replication of an alloy known as diburnium-osmium, and then projected as a force field beyond a ship’s hull along the shield grid. In “That Which Survives”, the alloy of diburnium and osmium was discovered by Kirk to be the hardest alloy known to the Federation.
The USS Defiant introduced in the third season of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine was said to use ablative armor in addition to shields; this technology also appeared in the alternate time line of the early 25th century shown in the Star Trek: Voyager series finale “Endgame”, where it was capable of withstanding repeated assaults by Borg weaponry and tractor beams.
They could even throw a ‘saucer separation’ in the movie. From what I remember reading in a book about the original series, I think Rodenberry had originally come up with that idea for the original series, but they couldn’t afford to do FX like that? I could be wrong, but I think I remember reading it.
Some things about the design of the original Enterprise were thought out, but just never carried out on-screen. Like, the Enterprise-D on TNG.. I think the “Captain’s Yacht” was on the Enterprise-D, but we never heard it referred to or saw it on TV. It was on the underside of the saucer section.
How about “High Beam”?
It is very cold in space.
Anthony, 132, and 417, despite what Memory Alpha states, none of the episodes or movies uses the term “nav deflector.”
372, I agree with you that what matters is concentrating on better capturing the spirit and tone of TOS.
96, 471, as mentioned in 118 and 258, TMP actually refers to the navigational deflector in the plural, as “navigational deflectors”.
As mentioned in 258, “The Paradise Syndrome” refers to the navigational deflectors simply as “deflectors”. The episode implies that the crew planned and prepared to use the navigational deflectors to deflect the asteroid. So when Spock says “deflectors”, Sulu knows which ones.
357, Kirk never called the dish anything.
337, 467, the term “main deflector (dish)” is not just a TNG term. In Star Trek: Generations, TOS characters refer to the main deflector (dish) of the Enterprise B.
266, 305, I agree that “main deflector” alludes to backup, auxiliary, or secondary deflectors. I noted this in 258 and 274.
171, because “The Paradise Syndrome” and TMP refer to multiple navigational deflectors, the secondary deflectors could also refer to secondary navigational deflectors as well as the deflector shields (or screens.)
421, as suggested in 274, the secondary deflector dish is probably concentrically stacked with main deflector dish.
So, based on the shows and movies, the TOS Enterprise’s deflector system is composed of two subsystems: the navigational deflectors and the deflector shields or screens. The navigational deflector subsystem is made up of a main navigational deflector (the main deflector) and one or more auxiliary ones. The deflector shield or screen subsystem is made up of four shields or screens (shields or screens number one to four.)
@ 556
Nice! Yeah, that’s what I figured.. that ‘screens’ had just evolved over time into other techno-babble.
But, like it says, technical explanations were always vague and superficial, so Orci & Co. COULD break it all down into different things if they wanted to, and expand on it.
@559 “421, as suggested in 274, the secondary deflector dish is probably concentrically stacked with main deflector dish.”
What would be the point of that — I mean why would you co-locate your backup system with your primary system…that is not militarily logical in terms of the redundancies you would want when your starships went into battle.
@560. Agreed!
But, what does “Navigational” Deflector mean?? What would you have to ‘deflect’, in terms of navigation? Maybe that was just techno-babble gone wrong over the years, and it should just be “Navigational Sensors”? That would make more sense to me. “Navigational Sensor Array”.
Yea, but I think the word “navigation” here refers possible to having the need to get all the space dust and small particles out of the way at super high speeds so the ship isn’t destroyed…i.e, navigate safely at warp speed.
It’s like trying to figure out the logic of nonsense, this thread.
In other words, you can’t navigate without this deflector.
@565 LOL
I hope what they’re writing is friggin good, that’s all. And if they could get this thing to us before gas hits $7 a gallon, that would be nice too.
@557
If I recall correctly, Kirk even mentions something similar in “The Apple” (though not technically “saucer separation”. Something to the effect of “Get out of here Scotty. Separate the engines and crack out of there with the main section if you have to, but GET MY SHIP OUTTA THERE!”
In fact, looking at memory-alpha.org:
“During the 23rd century, separation was used as a means of abandoning either hull in the event of a catastrophic emergency. It was a one-time only event, and the hulls could not be reconnected without external support. This feature was a last-resort option aboard Constitution-class starships. (TOS: “The Apple”)”
and for “The Apple” it says:
“This episode’s original script called for an emergency saucer separation. However, due to budgeting, the effect was only mentioned but not seen. The first time it will be seen is in TNG’s pilot episode, “Encounter at Farpoint”.”
565.
Nonsense! Oh, wait…..
We KNOW that the Enterprise would need some sort of ‘protection’ from micro-meteorites, because the “Shields” aren’t always “Up”. The deflector dish could serve that purpose (and, does, from what I understand).
BUT, now that I think about it, why does that HUGE, GLOWING DISH, with all that power running through it, only generate the “deflectors” for clearing a path for the ship? What generates the “Shields”??? You would think that the SHIELDS would need a big, powerful glowing dish to generate the battle protection from enemy fire, right? Why do micro-meteorites need that big glowing dish, and the main shields are generated elsewhere, by something hidden??
But, I think I’ve heard the term “Shield Emitters” before, too.
Oh, wow, I’m confused now. LOL
@ 564
At ANY speed! Impulse is still super fast (way faster than anything NASA has ever put into space). Kirk & crew zipped out of the solar system under impulse power, before engaging warp drive to intercept V’ger. Didn’t take them long.
#565
Agreed!
Yeah, forget about the philosophical aspects of Trek. Let’s discuss what that big blue satellite dish is called!
Geez, can’t wait to see Orci’s next question to the fans: “Is it pronounced ‘photon torpedo’ or ‘phooootoooon toooorpeeedo’ like in TMP?”
sigh….
I think Orci & Lindelof are getting HAMMERED in their hotel room right about now, after realizing that can of worms they just opened.
@ 573
Geez, can’t wait to see Orci’s next question to the fans: “Is it pronounced ‘photon torpedo’ or ‘phooootoooon toooorpeeedo’ like in TMP?”
sigh….
————————————————————————————————–
Oh, great. Now WHY did you have to go and do that!? LOL :) Actually, “Photon” Torpedo probably IS wrong, since photons are just “Light”, and have no mass.
Now you’ve really done it! LOL
Main Deflector Dish!
And congrats Anthony your in the movie in some way!! A credit to a great sight
Meh.
That Nutty Fanboy says ‘Deflector Dish’ is just fine.
Hugh, I have spoken.
Not that anyone is going to listen to an European :P
Yes – Okudaflector.
Thank you all for commenting! truly appreciated. to those who cynically think we are asking dumb questions, let me say that, although u r right that we may have a pre-formed opinion before we ask, we also value input, can change our opinion, and learn from the variations in responses.
ps – Will keep british Naval Dude in mind. So sorry to learn he is not with us anymore. remember him fondly.
I think they should call the dish ‘Betty’.
@579. Glad to be of service Bob — it is truly an honor!
Oh no, Bob and Damon are learning and adapting
soon they will become sentient and try to take over the earth, turning us all into slaves
…oh wait, wrong franchise
RE: Ancestors
I knew i was going to get nitpicked on that…fair enough
With more than a few posts in support of Mike Okuda (his technical knowledge is rightly praised), I’d just like to mention André Bormanis – who worked as science consultant throughout modern Trek.
While it’s for the best that technobabble is kept to a minimum, you still have to understand and appreciate all that, to then make all the words short-winded.
I’d say “navigational defelector array” or “navigational deflector” is the technical term, whereas “deflector dish” ist the colloquial term.
I like “main navigation deflector. “
580. Si – February 24, 2011
YES!! Support is building..
Betty! Betty! Betty!!
What we really need is for Scotty to update the shields, phasers, and engineering room.
579. boborci – February 24, 2011
What I’ve learned from this thread is that from the standpoint of canon, you can basically call it anything you want and get away with it.
But when I ask your question I ask myself what it is that I want to see with this new Star Trek, and since you went back to the beginning and created a new universe, you also created the opportunity to clean up some of the logical mess that’s been made over the years about what does what and how, so that’s why I also went back to Matt Jefferies’ original vision.
Of course, we don’t know how you are using it in the story. If you’ve got energy beams shooting out of it then Matt Jefferies’ nomenclature might not work.
BUT — it could have dual functions too, and thus, dual names. On the original Enterprise you had this instrument package at the focal point of the bowl which would have worked as a sensor. Of course, if you are shooting laser beams out of the dish, you might also be frying your instrument package too, so that doesn’t quite make sense either.
HOWEVER — as I look at the model of the new Enterprise in my hands, I see that the new dish has a “nipple” in the center.
Conceivably, you could show a special effect where the nipple extends out of the center to the focal point of the dish to function as a sensor package, and then retract safely back into the ship when used as a deflector?
The dish itself also seems to be made out of all these radiating planks, so you could also show in SPFX that the planks can all change their angle simultaneously to alter the curvature of the dish to change its focal length or function as deflector.
That way you can get away with it being both main sensor and deflector?
Just some thoughts for your consideration.
I mean, you guys wanted the Enterprise to be more “dynamic” right? So make it DO stuff.
““British Naval Dude” Passed away back in December”
wait, WHAT?
So sorry to hear this. These talkbacks won’t be the same without him..
It hasn’t actually been a “dish” since TOS.
589. “the new dish has a “nipple” in the center”
Shouldn’t the ship sport one of those “bras” used on sports cars, so it doesn’t suffer scratches and chips from space dust and debris?
“Pimp my Deflector Dish”.. Put some Spinners in that baby!! LOL
589+593
It can get pretty “nippy” in space. The “nipple” would also need something to keep it warm!
I like Riddley Scotts notion (think its his) that everything in the scene DOES something or has a purpose, its not just there to look pretty. But the only thing I can think of is what they called it in TOS. I’m assuming even though this is an advanced E its still the same device and has the same function.
I knew I was taking a big chance by using the word “nipple” in here. ;-)
How about “node”? Is that better?
So the NODE which is a sensor package extends out of the center of the dish when necessary, and then the dish looks like it did on the the TOS Enterprise with the antenna shaft in the middle. But it can also retract, and the radial planks can alter their curvature (and also their focal length), and then it functions as a deflector thingy.
597
We’re all tit-illated by nipples. It’s logical, then, that we’d be making nipple jokes. :-)
Oh sheesh, did DM really just give the Enterprise a boob job?
For reference (and reverence) again:
RIP, Del Trame (1973-2010), known here as British Naval Dude http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=59323560
Oh, if only Trek 2012 could have an old wily and gentlemanly “Admiral Trame” speaking with a throaty British accent reciting orders to Kirk to get his ship in line….
#501 – you got it! Conjunction Junction..What’s Your Function! Not sure why that popped in my head. Haha!
Wow. Nice to see Del (BND) is still being remembered here on the site.
Read the first hundred-fifty or so posts on CHAT now to see the interaction we as a group had when we reached out to his mom (Thanks, Spockanella, again and again) and her response.
boborci: A nice “Arrrrrrrr!” would be sufficient just after all the Dolby and DTS logos…Why not?
Well, it could double as a Reed reference, since Reed came from a whole family of British naval dudes! Something like “Ol’ Mad Mal” Admiral Reed.”
Hey Bob Orci. Thanks for remembering our friend. I hope you can use his name in the movie. That would be a wonderful tribute to him. If anyone wants to read some of his post go to the live chat as the first 100 or so are mostly of him.
It should be called the Sperry Navigational Deflector/Array. So named for Elmer Ambrose Sperry. Since, he is considered the father of modern navigation. It just seems to make sense. Dish doesnt really make sense anymore since it hasnt been called that since the original TV series when it actually looked like current radar/radio dishes at the time. With all the parts that appear to make up the current Deflector ..array seems like a more fitting name.
Sorry Aj. I did not see you post that about BND. I could only Imagine what he would say about the Dish. Arrrrrrrr.
I would guess that the word “DISH” will be used as a nostalgic tribute to Shatneresque humour, as in:
Spock: “The enemy disabled our ship hours ago. The only hope is the deflector DISH”
Kirk: “Yes, we’ll DISH them out a world of hurt!”
Spock: “Revenge is a DISH best served cold”
Kirk grabs his stomach while giggling as the rest of the bridge crew fall about convulsing in laughter.
Yup, DISH for sure!
How about “Commander Zachary Fruhling”?
How about a Red Shirt security officer named Harry Ballz.
Just watched the last launch of Discovery on NASA TV. I swear I saw two (2) boobs sticking out from the top of the shuttle !!!!!!!!!!!
(i knew i shouldna drink allll that wee bit o scotch this morning…. )
610.
I accept the position! BOOM! DEAD! Well, that was fun! :>)
A Reed reference would be cool, since Enterprise is suppose to exist in both universes.
Be cool.
#91:
from Memory Alpha:
“The *navigational deflector* (also called the deflector dish, the deflector array or the nav deflector) is a component of many starships, and is used to deflect space debris, asteroids, microscopic particles and other objects that might collide with the ship.”
If we also consider the used of an ACRONYM (abbreviation) of the word “DISH,” the perhaps we could go to some form of what those letters might stand for, such as this idea (forgive the impertenance):
D = Diburnuim-Osmium [coated]
I = Impulse-Powered *
S = Subatomic-Scan [projecting forward from the---]
H = Hull
* As for the notion that something like this device MIGHT be powered by the Impulse Engines, think of what happened in ST:TMP when the re-fitted Enterprise was caught in the warp-imbalance-induced wormhole: since the new phasers were powered through the warp engines (which Kirk wasn’t aware of due to Capt. Decker overseeing the refit while Kirk was unhappily “playing Admiral” for Nogura), the phasers were CUT OFF, which Decker countermanded Kirk’s order for Chekov to fire phasers by using the photon torpedo instead.
If — JUST IF — a situation the writers for ST 12 are considering is along those lines, and –IF– the Impulse drive is what powers the forward deflectors (just another idea being tossed out here for the writers’ story-breaking session), what if something throws the Impulse drive offline resulting in a power-DOWN of the main deflector dish? Would THAT mean anything in the acronym I’ve shown above make any sense at all? (That acronym uses entries discussed in various response threads above this one.)
(Am I making any sense here?)
For the sake of literary argument, let’s envision the Big E in severe jeopardy in the new story, and then let’s see what Scotty and his engineers (and perhaps Spock, and/or perhaps someone like Sulu or Chekov – or even Nurse Chapel, for that matter, on a whim) can come up with to solve their dilemma. Kirk has a good crew under him, so we know they’ll succeed. However, HOW they do it is the Million Dollar (–er, Million Credit–) question. Right? As I like to say, as a writer myself, this is THEATRICAL DRAMA on an epic, cinematic scale, and in literary fiction, anything is possible — and in Science-Fiction drama, particularly where “STAR TREK” is concerned, EVERYTHING is possible!
dmduncan check out this video from Beijing- taken a Feb 13th 2011- the shape is similar it seems but this one is in the dark. The one you have posted is definately interesting.
# 579 Also thanks Bob for clarifying that you weren’t just messing with us! :D I didn’t think you were- it would have been out of character for you to do that from just the few posts I have been able to read from you. Good vibes your way from all of us here!
My name is Wes Crosswhite. Am I too late to be in the movie? That would have been the coolest thing ever.
617. Wes Crosswhite – February 24, 2011
My name is Wes Crosswhite. Am I too late to be in the movie? That would have been the coolest thing ever.
***
Oddest thing, but a guy was in here just yesterday by the name of Wes “Dollar” Crosswhite asking the same thing. Bob was feeling generous and offered to put the guy in the movie, and as far as we know, he’s on his way to Hollywood right now.
So it appears you are a day late and a dollar short.
561. In the aerospace industry, the primary (A) and redundant (B) sides of a system, like the flight computer system or the transponder system, are sometimes adjacently located. Perhaps, the feed of the navigational deflector dish has main and auxiliary sides, each side being a deflector. A variation of this assigns each of these deflectors a segment or slice of the dish.
Or perhaps, the feed has multiple configurations: one configuration has the feed at the dish’s focal point, and another configuration has the feed on the center of the dish and various secondary dishes at the focal point – like configuration of the Arecibo Observatory.
This is certainly not militarily logical in terms of reduncies, but as one can see, the ship appears to have only one dish. However, this does not preclude the existence of other dishes, but they would be much smaller. 294 suggests that the three circular lights at the bow of the ship’s main section are the secondary navigational deflectors.
105, 141, 487, in the case of Arecibo, the dish is fixed in place and is not steerable. Rather, the feed is steerable. Perhaps, the navigational deflectors function similarly.
384, true, TOS did not reference the dish specifically as the source of the “defelector screens”, but as Anthony, 258, and 359 pointed out, the dish is the source of the navigational deflectors.
563, 564, 566, Essentially, the adjective “navigational” in “navigational deflectors” means that these deflectors are used primarily for navigational purposes. However, they can be used for defensive, scientific, humanitarian, and adhoc purposes.
43, 58, 439, although “The Cage” refers to a navigational deflector as “the meteorite beam”, it should technically be called “the meteoroid beam”. A meteoroid is a solid object smaller than an asteroid but larger than an atom moving through space, a meteor is the visible trail the object would make upon entering a planetary atmosphere, and a meteorite is the remnant the object would leave behind upon impact on the surface of a solid celestial body.
619. By the way, the Arecibo dish, however, is spherical, rather than parabolic.
161, Actually, in real life, a radar or radio antenna that uses a parabolic antenna has a focal length that is much shorter than the length of the beam that it shoots out. In fact, relative to the focal length, the beam length is infinite.
589, 590, 599, in 619, I mentioned something similar to your idea of radial planks, although my idea involves slices or segments. In any case, your idea sounds like the subspace version of active optics, a technique used to adjust the huge mirrors of the telescopes of the newest optical astronomical observatories, like the WM Keck Observatory. To adjust the mirrors, the technique uses an array of actuators behind the huge mirrors of these telescopes. Another technique used in astronomy and also laser communications is adaptive optics.
@615. Rhett, if you are going to steal my concept (see #158), then at least give me some credit for it please. :-)
@620 “A meteoroid is a solid object smaller than an asteroid but larger than an atom moving through space.”
Come on dude, you’re taking your “expert scientist educating the ignorant masses” gig a little far hear by assuming we don’t know what a meteoroid is. LOL
#534 – “We already know most of the actors to be honest don’t really care for trek. We know Pegg and Urban care, and maybe Yelchin and Cho are the only real fans, the ones who would correspond with us or show up at conventions. We know Pine, Quinto and Saldana don’t really give a rats ass about staying in touch…”
Did not Zachary Quinto go to many conventions around the US with Leonard Nimoy just after the last Star Trek movie was released? Several months ago Quinto said that he would not be doing anymore conventions but will do the Star Trek sequel as Spock again. Since then, I cannot recall reading or seeing anything of him talking about Star Trek. I believe that the play “Angels in America” has almost finished its long off-Broadway season and Quinto plays(ed) one of the main characters. So he has been busy working at a job called acting.
Chris Pine is working at a job calling acting right now, on a Bob Orci production, Welcome to People. He has spoken about his role as Kirk and about Star Trek in various interviews, even when the topic had nothing to do with Kirk or Star Trek (eg Denzel/Chris video interview). Zoe Saldana has been quoted saying how excited she was about doing the Star Trek sequel.
Has Karl Urban, John Cho, Anton Yelchin or Simon Pegg been at any conventions? I don’t know. I cannot recall any of those actors posting here at trekmovie.com since I have been coming here. Have any of these people, as well as Chris, Zachary or Zoe, actually come here at any time? Perhaps Mr Pascale will be able to confirm this or otherwise?
I, for one, would absolutely LOVE to hear from any of these people, especially Chris (“my captain”) Pine. That would be so, so cool. What about one kiwi trekkie to another, Karl?!
Bob Orci, how about getting these guys/gals to drop a line or two here in the next few months.
Many, many thanks in advance to Bob and the new cast!
622, sorry about that :-)
@624. Just having fun with you — I appreciate your great info!
NA-DE-Di
Say What?
NA-DE-Di, short for Navigational Deflector Dish
The new and exciting Deflector array on the new and exciting ‘Enterprise’ was created by Folednil/Icro (fol d nill / eye crow).
Page 87 of the ST TNG Technical Manual calls it the “Navigational Deflector” on the Enterprise D. There is a labelled drawing on the same page.
Gene Roddenberry said that TNG was a better realization of his vision than TOS, so why not honor the man and his vision and go with the name he preferred? In Roddenberry’s introduction to the book, page vii, he said, “…it is one of our hopes that this volume will serve as a reference for writers of future Star Trek scripts…”
@628. Well, TNG Enterprise was ugliest looking duck in starship history and the warp engines were way too small, and TNG was so full of techno-babble by the time its run ended that I could not take much of its technical information seriously. So will all due respect to TNG Technical Manual, I would rather read the most annoying Ensign Sue comic strip instead. :-)
629. MJ – February 25, 2011
I think Wikipedia repeated mentioned “psudoscience” when referencing technobabble, and it’s Trek varient. Post to this site aside, I hope no one takes it to seriously.
@629. And please don’t get me started on the absurd holodeck.
#621 – MJ – Oh, WOW! I hadn’t read this entire thread; othewise I WOULD have noted your post above (#158). That’s excellent, and I am otherwise inspired. Good work; I think we’re on the same wavelength. Live long and prosper! (That exclamation point at the end of the Vulcan phrase may not be “logical,” but I’m not Vulcan, so I must be otherwise honest about my emotions.) Good work, MJ. Maybe we (or other readers of this thread) could somehow [realistically] combine our separate acronyms for DEFLECTOR – DISH and come up with something useful for Bob & Co.?
Damn
Efficient
Fully
Lateral
Extended
Cup
To
Offset
Rubble (space)
@632 Rhett, great idea on combining! :-)
@633
Bullshits
Allott
Like
Lame
Zany guy that he is
@633 — above meant all in fun, Harry!
MJ, I know, you and I never have a problem! But, as to those other guys…:>)
Wow!
Breaking out my dictionary, I would use the following terms to describe the device.
Navigational Deflector Array: This would be the entire navigational deflector system and all of its components, both seen and unseen, internal and external.
Navigational Deflector Dish: From outside of the ship, this would be the most visible, external component of the Navigational Deflector Array. This component could be abbreviated to be referred to as the, “Deflector Dish.”
Kirk to Scotty: “What about the Navigational Deflector Array?”
Scotty to Kirk: “Aye, the Navigational Deflector Array is on-line. But the Deflector Dish was damaged in the collision. We won’t be going anywhere until we get it fixed.”
If they do with it what I expect, they should call it the Wave Motion Gun.
@638 “Navigational Deflector Array: This would be the entire navigational deflector system and all of its components, both seen and unseen, internal and external.”
The active components of a deflector array would obviously have to be outside of the ship. And since the only piece I can see is the dish, then where are the backup external dishes or array components? Unless of course, the are located in the brewery! LOL
I think Deflecting Navigational Array should be the technical name and they could call it the DNA.
You know what, O Those Who Do Not Like Technobabble? Technobabble is part of Trek. Deal with it.
;-)
Trek was one of the first to popularize the idea of black holes, which are basically so frakkin’ unbelievable, they’ve just unreal. Besides which, some believe we are actually living in one giant black hole.
By the by, in Trek, they were called “black stars,” but this was before OJ Simpson….
642. Oops, the first three paragraphs should be:
387, if the navigational deflector system works like a parabolic or spherical antenna, then (1) if the feed is at the focal point, the rays of deflector energy would propagate radially from the feed to the dish, or (2) if the feed is on, or behind, the dish, the rays would propagate radially from the feed to a secondary concave or convex dish at the focal point, and then be reflected by the secondary dish to propagate radially to the main dish. In either case, the rays would then be reflected by the main dish forward to propagate in parallel as a beam.
And the system could work in reverse to collect energy, like Arecibo does, and thus function as the main, navigational, main navigational, or long range sensor.
As for how come equipment at the focal point does not get deflected or fried, perhaps they are protected by deflectors, too!
643, how about astrophysical and general relativistic technobabble? According to articles at xxx.lanl.gov, a black star is not the same as a black hole. It is a star that is collapsing toward forming a black hole but is frozen near its Schwarzschild horizon.
642. Hat Rick – February 25, 2011
Just because it’s there, dosen’t mean I have to like it. “Deus ex machina” been around a lot longer then Trek….
Oh, and Black Holes came into consideration sometime in the 18th century, so I really doubt that Trek psudoscience can, or should claim any credit for their discovery…..
644. Or, if the equipment at the focal point is protected by deflectors, then perhaps, by design, none of the rays propagate directly behind the focal point. In this case, the cross section of the beam is annular.
Oops, 647 should be:
Or, if the equipment at the focal point is not protected by deflectors, then perhaps, by design, none of the rays propagate to the area of the dish that is directly behind the focal point. In this case, the cross section of the beam is annular.
Stick to “deflector dish.” :)
I love technobabble in Star Trek.
Basing ideas off of real Radar technology (they’ve both got a “dish”, so what the hell):
FOAD – Forward Object Avoidance Deflector
or
CAD – Collision Avoidance Deflector
Speaking of navigation, you could include a reference to the ship’s “Galactic Positioning System”, as an allusion to contemporary GPS…
In the real world, the crew would simply refer to it as the “main deflector” since it is the ONLY main deflector on the ship. Both “dish” and/or “array” would be dropped from speech as being redundant descriptors.
We don’t refer to the car’s radio antenna as the “antenna stick”; nor do we (generally) refer to a boat’s propeller as being a “propeller fan.” Both “stick” and “fan” in these examples are redundant in the same way “dish” would be for the main deflector, and are thus usually dropped from speech. It’s obviously a dish, but the crew doesn’t need to state that since there are no other *main deflectors* from which to differentiate it.
Now, if there was a Main Deflector Dish, and also a Main Deflector Cup, a Main Deflector Salad Fork, and a Main Deflector Tupperware Product… then they would include “dish” on the end. ;)
647. Astrophysicophile – February 25, 2011
Oops, 647 should be:
Or, if the equipment at the focal point is not protected by deflectors, then perhaps, by design, none of the rays propagate to the area of the dish that is directly behind the focal point. In this case, the cross section of the beam is annular.
***
Yeah, that’s possible too, but deploying a retractable sensor package not only looks cool and makes the ship more dynamic, it also increases what the dish can do without being hindered by a sensor package in the way.
How about, “Thingy-bob on the front of the ship”? (“Thingy-bob could be replaced by “Do-hickey” if the story calls for it)
Or, if the production is a little short on cash, use a product placement and call it “DISH Network”
Does the Deflector Dish have ANYTHING to do with forward scanning on the bridge? How about what’s being projected on the Main Bridge forward viewscreen? SUBSPACE SONAR. That’s what the be-BEEP-be-beep be-beep sound being projected [apparently] from the forward viewscreen on the bridge seems to indicate that sound effect is. It’s almost like a futuristic sound that “in the old days” would be heard aboard submarines — the underwater sonar “bleep” sound effect. Subspace Sonar…..
Oh, well. I guess I’m just ‘reaching’ here….
“Interstellar Particle Deflector (ISPD)”, or, simply, “Deflector Array”
650, actually, a natural galactic positioning system might already exist in the form of pulsars.
651, as pointed out in 258, in TOS, the navigational deflectors were just called navigational deflectors.
652, a retractable sensor (or deflector) package would be analogous to the motorized equipment suspended above the Arecibo dish. See Arecibo’s website, http://www.naic.edu/.
In any case, if the Enterprise’s dish functions analogously to a parabolic or spherical antenna, it would need a package, be it sensors or deflectors or secondary dishes, at the focal point. However, from TMP on, the focal point does not seem to have any packages. Perhaps, the package is made of plasma.
655, in TMP, Uhura uses a photic sonar to detect the size of the opening into V’Ger. However, since subspace radio is analogous to radio, and radio beams sent and received by a radar can be used to detect objects, then subspace radar would be analogous to radar. Sensor would be the generic term, though.
Short Range Particular Repeller :D or Deflector or ‘The Dish’
Interstellar Gas Intake for Ale Carbonation – IGIAC.
“Scotty, the brew’s flat – boost the IGIAC flow!”
Alternately:
Deflector Radial Array Device Integrated Sensor
“DRADIS”
ducking :-)
KEEP THE LENS FLARES. I loved the look of it gave it some kinda retro funky alive feeling…KEEP IT.
howsabout
Deflector
Simple and says it all.
PS
As a retired sea service member, I want to call everyone’s attention to the fact that the deflector looks like a traditional ship’s wheel — eight spokes
I noticed it in 2009 and thought it was (perhaps) a cool tribute to all the navies and coastguards gone before ^ . ^
How about… “Preserver dish”? XD
@557 “Saucer separation” and “Captain’s yacht”…
Fascinating. It would be great to see both in the next movies! :)
I’ve read that in the “Insurrection” bonus features, Herman Zimmerman said that they always intended to use the Captains Yacht and the enterprise had always had one as far back as the Original series.
If you look for “Kirks Captain’s yacht” on youtube you will find a nice simulation, made by a fan. ;)
1) The Crap Bouncer
2) The Bouncer of Crap
3) KHAN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
4) Deflecticon
5) The Poocard Bouncer
6) The I’ve Got Too Much Time On My Hands Array
7) The Who Gives A Crapper
If you ask me, it should have a cool-sounding name to better appeal to the audience. This might sound a little bit rediculous but it’s just an idea.
My suggestion would be “Deflector Array”, as “Deflector Dish” sounds more like a type of dinnerware than a critical starship component.
Its a Deflector Dish. Main Deflector specifically in most cases, but it is a deflector dish regardless.
Some Starships, like the Miranda class (Example: USS Reliant in the Wrath of Khan is a Miranda class), have more than one, hence the main deflector distinction.
Plain and simple, it should just be a Deflector Dish on a Cruiser like the Enterprise.
They already took liberties enough with the last movie, they dont need to start renaming parts that already have a bleeding name, which more than 97% of the fanbase already knows.
I can see Simon Pegg referring to it, in a rather offhand fashion, as a “Blue Ball”.
Kirk: “Phasers aren’t enough. Scotty! Can you use the deflector dish to disable the Reliant?”
Scotty: “Are you crazy?! The deflector dish? as in the big… blue ball on the hull??”
Kirk: “Yes Mr. Scott. Can it be done?”
Scotty: “Well, I’d have to depolarize the whole deflector array, borrow power from life support, double the flow of the plasma injectors, disable the antimatter containment safety protocols, and risk overloading the starboard power coupling… but yeah, I can do it”
Kirk: “Then get on it. We’re running out of time.”
Scotty: “So that’s it then? We’re going to risk our ship just to blueball Khan? What kind of plan is th–”
Kirk: “NOW!”
MAIN NAVIGATIONAL DEFLECTOR ARRAY
It’s not strictly a dish, as seen from the oblique ellipsoidal design of the Enterprise-D’s navigational deflector array, or of Voyager’s for that matter.
colloquialisms could refer to it as a “dish” though, or the nav def, for the super cool hipster linguists of the 22nd century.
A. Lose the brewery.
B. Good luck.
C. Please name it after our 8 year whose life goal is to become an engineer so he can “make Star Trek real”. Granted, he wants to design and build the ships, but never to go into space in them! He really sympathizes with Bones. As his name is Alexander, how about the “Alexandish”? Or something with his initials, like the “A.J. Array”?
Good luck again. We cannot wait for the next movie!
Who cares? Just write a decent, adult, script for a change.
Deflector Dish is the dish itself.
Deflector array is all of the parts that come into the deflector dish. At least, that’s how I’ve always viewed it. And the Navigational array is part of the deflector array, I guess. But it seems like those would do totally opposite things, and I actually don’t remember it ever being called anything to do with navigation.
C’mon guys just keep it simple let us geeks fill in the gaps in our own heads (we’re gonna do that anyway) just refer to it as “deflector” keep the “dish,array,system, etc.. (ad nauseum) in the technical manual. If you are planning on being gut wrenchingly specific then call it whatever the official technical manuals call it.
but seriously just save yourself the headache and don’t let us write the script.
(you’ll be stuck in re-write hell forever.)
Wait, you mean I actually get to tell Star Trek writers what I think about the Star Trek universe, and you’ll listen? That is so awesome!
I’ve always called it the “Navigational Deflector.” The glowing blue thing that we actually see I would call a dish, but I don’t think that really needs to be included in the thing’s name unless you’re referring to the dish part specifically. For the whole thing, including the parts behind and around the dish which I’m assuming must be there, I’d call it an array, but “Navigational Deflector Array” is an unnecessary mouthful.
662, 667, 668, 670, 673, I agree with 674 and 675. However, as pointed out in 118 and 258, TOS refers to the navigational deflector in the plural, as “navigational deflectors”.
668, I agree that the writers don’t need to start renaming parts.
670, Actually, a dish, whether one for dining or one for communications or astronomy, does not necessarily have to be axially circular. A dish can non-circular.
I never knew what it was called or what purpose it served, but this has been a fun read. Picard said it’s charged with anti-protons; which seems worse than strapping an armed, hair-trigger nuke warhead with a bulls eye to the front of the ship.
I like:
Warp Core Deflector
Warp Deflector
Ventral Deflector
Zefram Array
and Cuisinart… since it slices, dices, purees, and just about anything else the plot calls for. :-)