Bussard collector

Multiple realities

(covers information from several alternate timelines)

Warning!

This page contains information regarding Star Trek: Prodigy, and thus may contain spoilers.

Constitution-class Bussard collectors

Constitution-class Bussard collectors (alternate reality)

Galaxy class Bussard collector

Sovereign class Bussard collector

The Bussard collector, also known as the Bussard ramscoop, or simply the ramscoop, was a device usually attached to the forward end of a warp nacelle. The Tosk variation of the Bussard collector was known as the arva node. The collector, along with the Bussard collection coil, was called a Bussard unit. (TNG: "Disaster" okudagram; DS9: "Captive Pursuit")

All Federation starships were equipped with Bussard collectors, which were optimally positioned to collect interstellar particles. Collection worked best in regions where particle density was high, such as in star systems or nebulae. The Bussard collector normally collected hydrogen, especially deuterium, for fuel replenishment, but could be reconfigured to collect various gases like sirillium and plasma particles. A Bussard collector could also be reconfigured to expel gases or plasma. (TNG: "Samaritan Snare") Bussard collectors were not capable of producing nadion emissions. (VOY: "The Haunting of Deck Twelve")

Most Bussard collectors on Federation/United Earth Starships from the Phoenix in 2063, Enterprise NX-01 and the USS Enterprise had visible spinning impeller blades in the Bussard collectors. The impeller helped bring/attract hydrogen/other gases into the ramscoop for collection, then stored them in tanks. These visible impellers were mostly gone by the late 2270s, as Starfleet had developed other means for particle collection rendering the impellers obsolete. (ENT: "Broken Bow"; DIS: "Will You Take My Hand?"; SNW: "Strange New Worlds"; TOS: "The Cage", "The Corbomite Maneuver"; Star Trek: The Motion Picture)

Aboard the Galaxy-class USS Enterprise-D, in the Engineering Systems Database, there was a folder titled "Bussard Collection Field Operations". This folder contained technical manuals relevant to the topic. (TNG: "Booby Trap" okudagram)

Bussard collectors can be painfully bright to Human eyes. On the USS Cerritos, viewports can be manually dimmed to prevent discomfort to those in rooms near the Bussard collectors. (LD: "I Have No Bones Yet I Must Flee")

Modification and exceptional uses

Bussard collectors expelling hydrogen

In 2365, the USS Enterprise-D's collectors were used to create a harmless pyrotechnic display to deceive the Pakleds into releasing Lieutenant Geordi La Forge. The collectors were set to release hydrogen exhaust, which La Forge claimed to be a "crimson force field" that would disable the Pakleds' weaponry. (TNG: "Samaritan Snare")

While trapped in a Tyken's Rift in 2367, the Enterprise-D released large quantities of hydrogen from its Bussard collectors to help some unknown aliens create a violent explosion and release themselves. (TNG: "Night Terrors")

In 2373, the USS Voyager's collectors were used to gather the sirillium from a class 17 nebula. It was described that they would "cut through that nebula like ice cream scoops." (VOY: "Flashback") They were modified to gather plasma particles from an astral eddy. (VOY: "Real Life")

In 2374, Seven of Nine determined that the collectors of an Intrepid-class starship were less than optimal. She performed a series of modifications that enhanced them by twenty-three percent. (VOY: "Unforgettable")

In 2375, Commander William T. Riker used the USS Enterprise-E's collectors to gather, and then vent, metreon gas against attacking Son'a vessels, a maneuver which Commander La Forge nicknamed the Riker Maneuver. (Star Trek: Insurrection)

In 2376, Voyager's collectors were modified to gather deuterium from a J class nebula. (VOY: "Unforgettable", "The Haunting of Deck Twelve")

In 2385, the USS Protostar's collectors were used to gather deuterium from a maelstrom to refuel the nearly powerless starship, a move which involved the crew literally sailing the starship across a vapor ocean. Despite some difficulties, the effort was successful and the Protostar's impulse and warp drives were restored, allowing the ship to leave Ysida for the first time in ten years. (PRO: "Last Flight of the Protostar, Part II")

According to the Star Trek: The Next Generation Technical Manual, p. 70, the main function of a Starfleet Bussard collector was to collect interstellar hydrogen atoms for fuel replenishment. The device consisted of a set of coils which generated a magnetic field. Collected gases were compressed and stored in holding tanks.

The alternate reality USS Enterprise is described as having Bussard collectors in Star Trek - The Art of the Film. Concept art indicates the collectors' revolving blades creating an energy field that collects particles, and a set of inner support rings reminiscent of the fresnel lens.

The basic principles behind the Bussard collector came from physicist Robert W. Bussard's design of the Bussard ramjet, a propulsion system meant for interstellar spaceflight. (Star Trek Encyclopedia, 4th ed., vol. 1, p. 110)

External links

• Bussard collector at Memory Beta, the wiki for licensed Star Trek works
• Bussard collector at Wikipedia