Impulse Drive is the most common form of sublight travel employed by the powers of the galaxy.
Federation Impulse Propulsion
Impulse Drive
Largely unchanged from its introduction in the 22nd century to today, Impulse Drive is the primary form of sublight travel in the galaxy and the source of secondary power for most starships. Since their creation, Impulse Engines have been utilized for travel within a solar system or for regions where faster than light travel is deemed impractical. In Starfleet and other Federation vessels the Impulse Drive is powered by Deuterium and is similar to a classic fusion rocket and typically consist of a series of fusion reactors, a driver coil assembly, and a vectored thrust nozzle powered by a proton-antiproton fusion reaction used to direct the plasma exhaust. The plasma generated by this reaction was then either transferred to the engines themselves or to the EPS power system utilized for powering internal systems. It is important to remember that Impulse flight performance is dependent on the specifications of the fusion reactors and the capabilities of the driver coils. Also, similar to the Warp Drive, this reaction also has the side-effect of producing a Subspace Field around the ship similar to the Warp Field and can allow a vessel to remain at Warp Speeds even when a Warp Drive unavailable.
While the Impulse Engines are capable of reaching speeds near that of light, the procedure is not recommended for usage due to safety risks to the Starship. This is due to time dilation effect causing time to move slower as the vessel comes closer to the speed of light, thus affecting the passage of time for those aboard the ship. Due to this risk no vessel is permitted to exceed 1/4 the speed of light while at Impulse. In addition the repair needs for an Impulse Drive exceed those of the Warp Drive itself, despite the unit requiring less power than a Warp Drive for usage.
Hyper Impulse Drive
Hyper Impulse Drive is an experimental form of Impulse Propulsion that began testing in 2410 as a potential replacement for a standard Impulse Drive aboard a starship. The Hyperimpulse System is designed to overcome the relativistic problems that a starship may experience as it comes closer to the speed of light, allowing for a vessel to travel at higher sublight speeds while not experiencing a time dilation effect. Despite these advantages the usage of Hyper Impulse Drive is severely restricted with the Federation and only a few Starfleet vessels have been enhanced with this Drive System. This is due to the high power costs associated with the usage of a Hyper Impulse Drive; however, testing continues on this form of propulsion.
Impulse Thrusters
Designed for usage on very large vessels and starbases, Impulse Thrusters may be utilized instead of a standard issue RCS Thruster System to provide low-velocity propulsion and maneuvering.
Components
Driver Coil
A Driver Coil uses energy from the Impulse Drive's Fusion Reactors to generate a low-energy subspace field designed to lighten the mass of the starship to improve the rate of acceleration.
Impulse Capacitance Cell
Similar to a battery, an Impulse Capacitance Cell could be used to cause a quick impulse burst during emergency situations to propel a starship.
Impulse Manifold
An Impulse Manifold is a vital component of the Impulse Drive that is designed to prevent the unit from overheating.
Impulse Reactor
The Impulse Reactor is a modified Fusion Reactor that is used to generate Impulse Power aboard a starship through nuclear fusion. Using Deuterium as a fuel source, the energy produced by the reactor can be used for either powering the vessel's system or to propel the ship.
Real World
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