U.S.S. Voyager : Engineering : Page 1

Location of main engineering is Deck 11 section 32. The section number is given in [#96 Drone].

Voyager's has two propulsion systems: and impulse drive which flies Voyager at sublight speeds, and warp drive, which flies Voyager at faster-than-light (FTL) speeds.

In 2371 Admiral Patterson informs Janeway when she first came aboard Voyager that the ship has a "class 9 warp drive with dicyclic input manifold. You'll be the first to test it in deep space." [#118 Relativity]

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Voyager's warp propulsion system consists of three major assemblies: the matter/antimatter reaction assembly, power transfer conduits and variable-geometry warp nacelles. The total system provides energy for its primary application, namely flying Voyager, as well as its secondary application which is powering such essential high-capacity systems e.g. defensive shields, phaser arrays, tractor beam, main deflector and computer cores (Voyager has a main computer core and an auxiliary computer core, more info).

The warp core houses all the essential processes and is technically called the matter/reaction assembly (M/ARA), also known as the "warp reactor", "warp engine core" or "main engine core". The warp core is "Fuelled by a matter/anti-matter reaction which produces a maximum output of 4,000 teradynes per second." [#96 Drone] Energy produced within the core is shared between its primary application, the propulsion of the starship, and the raw power requirements of other major ship's systems. It has a greater energy output compared to that of standard fusion (as used in the impulse propulsion system) in the order of 10⁸. The M/ARA consists of four subsystems:

1. The reactant injectors prepare and feed precisely controlled streams of matter and antimatter into the core. The matter reactant injector (MRI) accepts supercold deuterium from the primary deuterium store, (that supercold deuterium is used is specifically mentioned by Chakotay in [#6 The Cloud]), whose tanks are kept on deck 6.
2. At the opposite end of the M/ARA lies the antimatter reactant injector (ARI). As antimatter fuel is highly hazardous, every step in manipulating and injecting antihydrogen is done with magnetic fields to isolate the fuel from Voyager's spacecraft structure. The ARI uses the same basic structural housing and shock attenuation struts as the MRI, with adaptions for magnetic-suspension fuel tunnels.
3. The upper and lower magnetic constriction segments (MCS) constitute the central mass of the core. These components work to structurally support the matter/antimatter reaction chamber, provide a pressure vessel to maintain the proper core operating environment, and align the incoming matter and antimatter streams for combining within the matter/antimatter reaction chamber (M/ARC). A typical segment comprises sets of tension frame members, a toroidal pressure vessel wall, sets of magnetic constrictor coils, and related power feed and control hardware. As the streams of matter and antimatter are released from their respective nozzles (each of which cycles open in response to computer control signals, and can involve a complex sequence of nozzle firing depending on reaction pressures, temperatures and desired power output), the constrictor coils compress each stream and add velocity. This ensures proper alignment and collision energy for them each to land on target within the M/ARC at the exact centre of the chamber. It is at this spot that the matter/antimatter reaction is mediated by the dilithium crystal articulation frame (DCAF).
4. The matter/antimatter reaction chamber (M/ARC) is approximately 2.3 metres in height by 2.5 metres in diameter, and constructed from many structural layers phase-welded under very high pressure. (On the earlier, larger Galaxy-class starships there were twelve layers of hafnium 6 excelion-infused carbonitrium, phase-welded under a pressure of 31,000 kilopascals.) Several outer layers are also armoured for overpressure protection, as are all interface joints to other pressure-bearing and energy-carrying parts of the system. Within the M/ARC is the dilithium crystal articulation frame (DCAF), which consists of an EM (electromagnetic)-isolated cradle to hold the dilithium crystal (natural or synthesised) plus redundant sets of crystal orientation linkages. The crystal must be manipulated with very little margin for error to achieve the proper angles and depths for reaction mediation. Below is more information about dilithium. It is the only material known to Federation science to be non-reactive with antimatter when subjected to a hgh-frequency EM field in the megawatt range, rendering it "porous" to antihydrogen, thus dilithium permits the antihydrogen to pass through it without actually touching it.
5. As the engine system undergoes start-up, the energetic plasma generated is split into two streams. The power transfer conduits (PTC) are magnetically similar to the constrictor segments in that they constrain the plasma to the centre of each channel and peristaltically force the plasma toward the warp nacelles where the warp field coils utilise the energy for propulsion. Taps for the EPS (electroplasma system) are located at several places along the PTC, and the several types accept input for all kinds of systems aboard Voyager from high-energy systems to low-power input for energy conversion applications. )

There are two warp-cores: The main warp-core is accessed from the engineering control room (an area known simply as "Engineering"). There is a 'spare' warp core one carried in a space located forward of the main one reaching down to a lower deck. The 'spare' warp-core is not a direct replacement but a series of components which can be used to construct a new warp-core should need arise.

Extract of Voyager 3D cutaway drawing. Source ST:M. Full drawing in Large 3D cutaway with optional tour.

In [#170 Renaissance Man] Janeway's censure of the Doctor, for aiding two renegade Hierarchy aliens by stealing (under coercion) Voyager's warp core, suggests that Voyager has only one warp core. Strictly speaking this is so, and it is only in Star Trek book manuals not in aired episodes, that the auxiliary warp core is specifically explained, although of course it appears in the sectional diagram of USS Voyager (and other starships) on various displays such as the Master Situation Display at the rear of Voyager's bridge.

USS Voyager's warp core comes online. (pop-up window) [#164 Human Error]

Small timing discrepancies between the computer and the injectors exist during any initial start-up of the coils or change in warp factors, although in [164 Human Error] the delay is about one second. These timing discrepancies are smoothed out by predictive phase-synchronisation software routines, thereby achieving as close to real-time operation of the engines as possible. It is possible that the timing discrepancies on Intrepid-class starships as opposed to Galaxy-class starships is much smaller, possibly due to the bio-neural circuitry which speeds up response times.

In [#79 Concerning Flight] the hologram of Leonardo da Vinci obtains an object which Tuvok identifies as a plasma injector conduit, Starfleet issue. It has been stolen from Voyager by da Vinci's patron. da Vinci says that with it he can make mercury flow in three directions at once.

[Concerning Flight]

[Concerning Flight]

[Concerning Flight]

Torres is not amused when Neeelix mentions to Paris the holopicture the Doctor has of her with her foot caught in a plasma injector [#102 Nothing Human].

[#Elogium]

Plasma residue is the term used to describe the by-product of the warp propulsion process with plasma (or warp plasma) being generated by the matter/antimatter reaction that is contained within the warp core. During the encounter with spaceborne creatures in late 2371, Voyager mimics the sexually submissive behaviour of the smaller creatures by venting plasma residue. That makes Voyager look blue, the submissive colour change that placates the aggressive male. [#18 Elogium]

Deuterium is an isotope of hydrogen consisting of one proton and one neutron in the nucleus, around which circles a single electron; cryogenic (extremely cold) deuterium is the primary fuel source used in the fusion reactors of the impulse drive as well as the reaction-control thrusters ("RCS") of Federation starships [#6 The Cloud]. Federation starships have a technical support repair crew known as 'deuterium maintenance', who are responsible for the ship's supply of slush deuterium fuel. In 2373, in [#55 Fair Trade], Janeway ordered Neelix to serve two weeks scrubbing the exhaust manifolds in deuterium maintenance.

Dilithium is a crystalline substance used in warp propulsion systems (as opposed to impulse engines), and it regulates the matter/antimatter reactions which provide the energy necessary to warp space and travel faster than the speed of light. If there is an emergency warp core shutdown, as in [#13 Cathexis], according to Janeway: "It'll take at least two hours to regenerate the dilithium matrix."

About dilithium - scroll textbox to read Dilithium is the only material known to Federation science (and that of certain other species, discussed below) which is non-reactive with antimatter when subjected to a high-frequency electromagnetic (EM) field in the megawatt range, rendering it "porous" to anti-hydrogen. Dilithium thus permits the anti-hydrogen to pass directly through its crystalline structure without actually touching it. Naturally-occurring dilithium is rare and it is mined on only a few planets. Certain planets are, however, abundant in dilithium and provide supplies to the Federation: Coridan (which became a Federation member in 2267) [TOS: Journey to Babel] and Troyius [TOS: Elaan of Troyius]. For a time in the 23rd century starships were powered by lithium [TOS: Where No Man Has Gone Before] and [TOS: Mudd's Women] but this fuel-source was replaced by the more complex substance dilithium. ("Lithium" is real. "Dilithium" was introduced to give Star Trek writers more freedom.) Natural dilithium had to be used but after 2286 (thanks to Spock, who travelled back in time) synthetic dilithium was available by the process of recrystallising natural dilithium crystals by exposure to gamma radiation (high-energy photons) that were by-products of nuclear fission reactions [Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home]. In 2358 the 'dilithium crystal chamber' was designed on Outpost Seran-T-One: this is a vital component of a starship's warp propulsion system, and it is located in the matter/antimatter reaction chamber where it controls the reactions and routes the power flow to the warp nacelles; within the chamber the dilithium crystal (or, at a pinch, fragments thereof) is mounted in a device called an articulation frame: the chamber's lining must be smooth for proper operation [TNG: Peak Performance]. Other species such as the Breen (not seen in [Voyager] and the Klingons also use dilithium and use forced labour to mine it at penal institutions such as that on Rura Penthe [Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country].

[TOS: Elaan of Troyius] Kirk and Spock discover that the "common stones" in the necklace of the Dohlman of Elas are actually dilithium crystals.

Being so far from any Federation starbase, Voyager must despatch away teams in search of dilithium sources fairly often, and sometimes adventures arise as a result e.g. in early 2371 while searching an asteroid for dilithium deposits two Vidiians attacked Neelix and stole his lungs (they later transplanted one of Kes' lungs to Neelix). In 2372, in [#38 Innocence], Voyager installed a compositor which thereafter enabled them to recrystallise dilithium, but although synthetic dilithium can be used it is not ideal compared to natural dilithium. In 2374 Voyager's crew negotiated with the Vaskans in order to obtain more dilithium, offering the Vaskans medical supplies in exchange [#91 Living Witness]. In 2376 Ensign Lindsay Ballard was killed in the search for dilithium. She was found by the Kobali species who re-animated her and she escaped to Voyager where she explained: "Harry and I were on our way to a class M planet in the Ventali Expanse, to recover dilithium ore we'd detected a few days earlier. When we landed we realised it was a trap, set by a Hirogen hunting party. They'd reconfigured a power cell to give off false dilithium readings. Harry and I headed back to the shuttle. We were ten feet away when I was hit by a neural disrupter. Harry said my injury wasn't that bad - he always was a terrible liar." In 2377 Kim commanded an away team in the Delta Flyer in search of dilithium, being one of several such away teams. He did not find any but met the Kraylor [#154 Nightingale].

Being far from any Federation starbase also means that Voyager's engineers are on their own as far as maintenance, repair and running of the ship's engines. Luckily, dilithium extraction is a speciality of Lt. Torres [#138 Ashes to Ashes].

Vorilium is a substance used by the engine room, but in what capacity is unknown. In [#60 Darkling], when Voyager's crew gave much-needed supplies to certain Mikhal Travellers in exchange for information about the star systems that lay ahead, the Mikhal Traveller called Zahir informed Janeway that the asteroids of a particular star system ahead is rich in vorilium, but which star system is not mentioned on tv. The star system concerned was not on Voyager's course but Janeway said: "That might be worth a short detour. Engineering is usually short on vorilium." The Doctor determines that Kim may have been infected with a retrovirus when he was on an away mission on a planet where they found vorilium: the retrovirus changes Kim's physiology and appearance which adds to the deception by the Taresians that he is actually one of them [#62 Favorite Son].

In 2377, stardate 54553.4, in [#161 The Void], Voyager salvaged a warp core casing from an alien ship. As the casing was composed of tricesium they planned to convert it into a fuel source.

Nacelles raised ready to go into warp. [#71 Day Of Honor] This pic is excluded from the pic tally. It appears in Ship: Specifications (over 15 illustrated pages of detailed specs.).

The warp coils utilise the high-energy plasma generated by the matter-antimatter reaction assembly to generate the asymmetrical subspace field that makes faster-than-light speeds possible, but Voyager is an Intrepid class ship and this class features variable geometry warp nacelles that in addition allow the vessel to fly at speeds higher than warp 5. The vari-geometry warp nacelles creates significantly reduced stress on the time-space continuum, reducing the possibility of long-term cumulative damage to subspace - in operational terms this means that both the starboard and port nacelles fold upwards whenever warp drive is engaged. The variable geometry warp nacelles feature appeared soon after the Federation Council in 2370 imposed a Federation-wide speed limit of warp 5, following the formation of a subspace rift within the Hekaras Corridor [TNG: Force of Nature].

USS Voyager jumps to warp (pop-up window) stock footage e.g. [#104 Counterpoint]

Engineering utilises two dedicated sensor arrays, located on the ventral section.

Voyager's anti-matter supply is adequate for three years. Under normal circumstances this would be ample but as Voyager faces a long journey through the Delta Quadrant to reach the Alpha Quadrant, top-up supplies need to be obtained.

USS Voyager, in flight in the quantum slipstream, fires torpedoes at Arturis' ship and scores a direct hit. (pop-up window) [#94 Hope and Fear]     Voyager in the quantum slipstream. [Timeless]

In 2375, in [Hope and Fear] and in [#100 Timeless], Voyager's crew installed a quantum slipstream drive which cut several years off the journey home. click to enlarge Voyager's warp core with slipstream drive fixture installed At the end of [Hope and Fear] Janeway reports in her log: "Captain's log, supplemental. We remained in the quantum slipstream for an hour before it finally collapsed. Our diagnostics have concluded that we can't risk using this technology again, but we did manage to get three hundred light years closer to home." In [#100 Timeless] Voyager was (after Harry Kim changed the timeline) knocked out of the quantum slipstream: the planned journey all the way home to the Alpha Quadrant did not therefore occur but Voyager knocked nearly ten years off the journey. Voyager's crew obtained the quantum slipstream drive from the alien humanoid called Arturis in [Hope and Fear] and made certain modifications. Benemite crystals formed the heart of the system [#100 Timeless].

In an emergency a warp-core can be ejected from the ship, for which the input of a command code into the computer is required. The warp-core was ejected in [#13 Cathexis] by Chakotay (the ejection was not seen on screen), in [#71 Day of Honor] by Torres, and in [#170 Renaissance Man] by the Doctor who moments before had been masquerading as Chakotay. Although in [Renaissance Man] Janeway berates the Doctor for stranding Voyager in the Delta Quadrant (due to the loss of the warp-core), there is no mention that a new warp-core could be constructed from the auxiliary warp-core. warp core ejection (pop-up window) [#71 Day of Honor] and [#170 Renaissance Man] The ECH (i.e. the Doctor) orders the computer to eject the warp core, and the sound of the warp core disengaging and ejecting, from [Renaissance Man].

ejecting the warp-core [#71 Day Of Honor]. This is also seen in [Renaissance Man]. Click image for bigger picture. Get it even larger at WALLPAPERS. Picture: engineering without the warp core (this appears on Page 8)

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The ship incorporates many Borg enhancements e.g. power couplings on Deck 8, which Janeway ordered left installed after the Borg had adapted various of Voyager's systems [Scorpion Part Two]. Left: Voyager clad with the weaponry developed by Voyager's crew in conjunction with the Borg drone Seven of Nine for use against Species 8472. In this scene the weaponry is brought online [Scorpion Part Two].

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From the time of its creation, antimatter cannot be contained by nor touch any matter it is contained by magnetic fields. Reliable superconducting field sustainers and other measures afford a high degree of safety aboard Starfleet vessels. On Voyager's deck 6 is the primary deuterium storage area, whose tanks directly feed the warp propulsion system. During a refuelling layover at Federation facilities, the antimatter while on the facility is kept contained by magnetic conduits and compartmentalised tankage, and during refuelling these transfer fuel to the starship's antimatter storage pods, presumably through the antimatter loading port. While in the Delta Quadrant of course Voyager does not have access to these Federation facilities. (The location of the loading port is not given in canon sources but I assume that Voyager must have a dedicated loading port somewhere, as the earlier Galaxy-class starships have one on their deck 42, and refuelling while in interstellar space is possible for all starships through the use of Starfleet tanker craft which according to standard procedure are accompanied by Starfleet cruiser escorts to avoid attack by threat forces after the valuable antimatter commodity. The Galaxy-class' deck 42 is at the bottom of the ship. Voyager's loading port might be in a similar position or it might be near the primary deuterium storage area on deck 6 where the loading port might be one of those designated "umbilical hard connect ports" in the canon sources, or the loading port it might be where the cryogenic fluid storage is, on deck 10, forward of the shuttlebay, near the shuttlecraft service bay).

Drawing of the Starfleet antimatter storage pod used in the 2370s
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Canon sources do not state the number of Voyager's antimattter storage pods, but it is presumably less than thirty which is the number carried on the far larger Galaxy-class starships. Each antimatter storage pod is connected by shielded conduits to a series of distribution manifolds, flow controllers and the EPS (electroplasma system) power feed inputs. In the event of loss of magnetic containment, the antimatter storage pod assembly can be ejected from the ship by microfusion initiators at high velocity to ensure that the pod is clear of Voyager before the fields decay and the antimatter has a chance to react with the pod walls. Ejection of an antimatter storage pod is seen in [#41 Resolutions] when Tuvok successfully employed it in a strategic maneuver to disable attacking Vidiian ships:

Tuvok: "Keep this comm. line open, Doctor. When you hear me order the shields down you must complete a site-to-site transport yourself; we will be busy with the Vidiians." He addresses his officers: "Here is the sequence of events. We will drop shields to transport the medicine. At the same moment the anti-matter container will be ejected. As soon as it's clear Mr Kim will detonate it with a photon torpedo. Simultaneously Mr Paris will jump to full impulse so that we will not take the brunt of the explosion. Is everyone clear on this? Timing is of the utmost importance. We won't get a second chance."

In [Resolutions] the antimatter container (known as "antimatter storage pod") is ejected towards attacking Vidiian ships, then detonated by a photon torpedo.

USS Voyager cruises in space, flying past at impulse speed. (pop-up window) stock footage

USS Voyager cruises in space, flying past at high impulse speed. (pop-up window) stock footage

USS Voyager cruises in space, flying past at impulse speed (long with overhead pass). (pop-up window) stock footage

Aboard Voyager, like most Federation starships, impulse drive is powered by one or more fusion reactors that employ deuterium fuel to yield helium plasma and a lot of power. A ship travelling by impulse power is limited to slower-than-light speeds. Usually full impulse speed is one-quarter the speed of light. That is inadequate for long-distance space travel, for which warp drive is used by those civilisations that possess the technology. The United Federation of Planets has a total non-interference directive as regards pre-warp civilisations. One of the criteria for membership of the UFP is warp capability. Voyager's warp drive is discussed above. In Federation starships, the impulse drive usually consists of a fusion reactor, an accelerator, a driver coil assembly and an exhaust director. The fusion reaction generates highly excited plasma. This plasma can be employed for propulsion, or can be diverted through the EPS (ElectroPlasma System) via taps in order to supply other systems. The accelerated plasma is passed through the driver coils, thereby generating a subspace field which improves the propulsive effect.

Paris: "Impulse engines are at full power, Captain."

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