Galaxy as a Generation ship?

posted on October 7th, 2009, 8:00 pm

The minimum population needed to have a stable gene pool without degradation is around 5000. A Galaxy class is to small of a ship with to small a population. A generational ship needs a biosphere to recycle raw material and room for expansion. Even with converting the cargo bays it would be to cramped. Over thousands of years there would be to many chaotic changes from diverging ideologies through the generations to properly run a ship with a command structure. Due to the small size of a Galaxy class ship a rigid command structure would still be needed over thousands of years to run the ship properly.

Nah, minimum gene pool is much smaller: about 5-25 people (check out some of the genetic studies about settling the Americas or Polynesian islands for instance). Assuming the Federation has access to some well advanced genetic research, you could even do with less... it's the societal things that make it difficult, as you mentioned. Not many people want to live on a cramped ship, not to mention all the episodes that dealt with shore leave (seemed to happen every few weeks at least). I guess the holodecks can serve as a substitute for some time... but a ship that complex needs repairs and refits a lot... and the officers mentioned that nothing beats the real thing anyway.

posted on October 9th, 2009, 8:19 pm

A Galaxy can easily hold over 5,000 people.

Yeah. The normal population for the Enterprise-D was of 1400 people, more or less.

I seem to recall that one technical readout about the Galaxy class in general and the Enterprise in particular, stated that "below" the hull, there is actually a huge amount of unused space, intended for posterior refits, enhancements or simply adding more living space.

So if a Galaxy was intended to become a generation ship, it could be easy to send it to a shipyard  to add living quarters and additional space, hydroponic farms, and whatever they might feel as needed in a multigeneration travel.

There is another possibility for a Galaxy becoming a generation ship: the Federation is about to be (or is almost) wiped out, and the remaining population manages to escape in one or more Galaxies. This is a BSG-like scenario. We are talking about "stock" Galaxies, without the chance of making modifications, except field repairs.

In the first case, it could be possible to make modifications to the ship to remove or replace high maintenance systems, increasing the chances the ship can keep going without any kind of support.

The second case... Well... From what it's commented in the series, the Galaxy class requires a lot of maintenance in several key systems. That would decrease its chances as a generation ship.

posted on October 16th, 2009, 5:00 am

Well, a Galaxy could do it I think.. if it came down to it. Say worse case scenario and the Federation gets destroyed, and a stray Galaxy out on the fringe survives, it could theoreticly just keep on going. Federation engineers and crew in general were known for their compatance and adaptability to harsh situations.

More or less they would probably scavange whatever they could from derelict ships and just add them in chunks to the hull. (personally, id just look for another stardrive section of a dead Galaxy class and glue it on top of the saucer section ). Would by no means be a comfortable ride, but it could work. The ship could be adapted..