Saucer section
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In the Star Trek fictional universe, traditional Federation starship design divided Starfleet ships into with two main sections: the "primary hull", which provides crew quarters and living facilities, science and mission facilities. The "primary hull" also has weapons arrays, impulse engines, and command facilities such as the main bridge. The "primary hull" is also known as the "saucer section" due to its resemblance to a saucer. The second part of the ship, the "engineering hull", is attached to the "primary hull" by a neck. The "engineering hull" is also known as the "stardrive section", or the "battle section." The "stardrive section" holds all warp drive-related components, as well as the navigational deflector array, shield generator and additional weapons. The "stardrive section" could also contain fuel storage, cargo bays, shuttle bays and other systems. In most cases the "saucer section" can detach from the "stardrive section" in the event of a warpdrive overload. With the introduction of the Galaxy class ship, the ability to separate and reconnect the two ships on the fly was finally possible. This distiction has become less clear in most 24th century Starfleet ships. This is most clearly illustrated by the USS Defiant.
Most Starfleet vessels that followed the saucer and secondary hulls configuration had an ability to separate the two sections as a disaster recover tactic in the event of catostrophic engine failure. In such cases reconnection was only possible at drydock facilities. More recent vessels, such as the Galaxy class had the capability to separate the two sections and reconnect the two sections on the fly. As originally envisioned, this was to be so that it would be possible to have only mission-critical functions and crew brought into a dangerous situation.
External links
- Saucer section at Memory Alpha, a Star Trek WikiWiki