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ENVIRONMENTAL CONTROL SYSTEMS |
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In 2373, in [#54 Macrocosm], the environmental controls on USS Voyager fail which causes a "heat wave" on the ship since the heat from the warp plasma conduits cannot be vented. Janeway and the Doctor try to get to the environmental controls on Deck 12 so that they can distribute the synthetic antigen through the ventilation system and so counter the macrovirus. Janeway is able to get the environmental controls online but they are damaged again when the ship is attacked by the Tak Tak ship.
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| Janeway takes off the top part of her uniform - her jacket and shirt - leaving only the vest, although this still leaves her hot and she gets hotter still due to her later exertions to combat the macrovirus menace - the sweat can be seen as a large dark mark on her vest. [#54 Macrocosm] |
In 2374, in [#84 Prey], an injured member of Species 8472 who came aboard accesses environmental controls and causes Deck 11 to lose life support and artificial gravity.
In 2374, in the eventually unrealised timeline depicted in [#76 and #77 Year Of Hell], the environmental controls on Voyager continue to fail and seven decks of U.S.S. Voyager are rendered uninhabitable.
[#55 Fair Trade] | In 2373, in [#55 Fair Trade], one of the items the Voyager crew seek to obtain at the Nekrit Supply Depot is pergium, which is a rare substance vital to the operation of Voyager's environmental control system. Neelix manages to obtain 20 kilograms of pergium, although he is unhappy because he promised Chakotay he would obtain 45 kilograms of pergium. Earlier, Janeway had submitted the list of Voyager's requirements to Bahrat, the station manager. |
Bahrat, looking at the list on the PADD: "Hmm. Pergium."
Janeway: "To regenerate the filters on our environmental control system."
Bahrat: "That might be a little difficult. It's a rare commodity. Give me a few moments and I'll put together a list of potential suppliers, but I'll warn you they won't strike easy bargains."
Janeway: "I'm prepared to deal fairly."
In 2267, stardate 3196.1, in [#TOS: Devil In The Dark], operations on the Janus VI mining colony were interrupted by a silicon-based indigenous lifeform called a Horta which tunnels through rock. This resulted in severe damage to the environmental control systems. However, an understanding was reached between the Horta and the miners, and starting that year the Horta helped the Federation miners to find pergium deposits. Janus VI is extraordinarily rich in a wide variety of rare earth elements and exotic minerals and the principal source of pergium for planets throughout that part of the galaxy.
Spock and Kirk look through a tunnel created by the Horta; Spock mind-melds with the Horta.
[TOS: Devil In The Dark]
Problems with environmental-control systems have played a role in several Star Trek episodes.
to cure an infection in the bioneural gel-packs, the crew heat up the ship, resulting in perspiring crewmembers
[#16 Learning Curve]
Survival in space, or on planets with poisonous atmospheres, will depend on mechanisms that can generate oxygen for astronauts to breathe, remove the carbon dioxide they exhale, and maintain comfortable temperatures.
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Wearing environmental suits, Paris and Torres beam into space as the shuttlecraft Cochrane is about to explode; as they materialise in space, they know they must rely on their environmental suits until Voyager can rescue them.
[#71 Day Of Honor] |
Manned spacecraft carry tanks of liquid oxygen for breathing air, and use carbon dioxide "scrubbers" to remove exhaled CO2. On longer-duration space missions, such as a human mission to Mars, it will be necessary to recycle air and water to minimise the mass of consumable materials launched from Earth.
NASA and other space organizations are busy developing Closed-Environment Life Support Systems (CELSS). CELSS
technology mimics the Earth's ecosystem. Carbon dioxide
exhaled by astronauts is absorbed by plants, which convert it
into oxygen, which the astronauts breathe. The plants can also
be used to supplement the astronaut's food supply, further
reducing the amount of nonrecyclable supplies needed for the
mission. The ultimate goat of CELSS technology is to recycle all
the air, food, water, and waste products consumed and generated by astronauts on long-duration space missions.
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