Guide:Type 10 (pod)

Type 10 / T-4 Workbee
Class Overview
Category	work pod
Operational	2259 -
Constructed	35,000+
Dimensions
Length	4.11 m
Beam	1.92 m
Height	1.9 m
Mass	0.68 mt
Performance
Cruise Speed	0.00015 c ;
Endurance	10-15 hours
Complement
Crew	1
Passengers	5 ;
Canonicity
Design	TMP/Andrew Probert
Name	Timo
History	Ed Sharpe; DS9: TM ;

Background: The Hobbyist's Guide

The Type 10 work pod, originally of the Patterson-Massey PFD-200 series, is one of the great success stories of Star Fleet history. By the late 2250s, Star Fleet’s shipyard facilities were being served by a bewildering range of general service work pods of differing vintages and design lineages. This was the result of the policy of local design/acquisition for support vessels assigned to starbases and shipyards since the foundation of Star Fleet. While most of these craft were variations on a theme due to the limited nature of their remit, the designs in use still represented surprising variance.

The decision in 2258 to draw up a standard small, general purpose work pod with modular tool packs was taken for two main reasons. First, this would standardize the parts and systems throughout Star Fleet’s support facilities. New construction techniques would allow large numbers of work pods to be produced to a common design; the reasons behind the local acquisition policy (difficulty/expense of long range transmission or transportation, regional shipbuilding traditions, and support of local manufacturers) had disappeared or been diluted by the turn of the century. Secondly, the exceptionally small size of the work pod and many of its associated tool packs would allow the new Type 10 to be carried aboard starships in quantity, permitting field repairs to an extent not previously thought possible. A few starships did already embark Type 9 work pods of Genchi manufacture, but the majority had clumsy inspection pods at most, and thus relied on tenders and starbases for any repairs which could not be carried out by personnel in spacesuits.

The design was rapidly finalized and the first Type 10 work pod came into service on 21st February 2259, at the Utopia Planitia Fleet Yards. The angular, polygonal pressure shell was designed to be self-sufficient for up to 10 hours (more modern variants have extended this to 15). Power was provided by fuel cells and a microfusion reactor with an endurance of 50 hours (now 76.4 hours), allowing the work pod to be used for multiple operational runs before being refuelled and recharged. The pilot’s compartment is equipped with variable gravitational controls, although many prefer to work in null-g or close to null-g. Most find this less disorienting, especially when working on large structures and ships or in low orbit. The communications suite is also well equipped; twenty-five separate channels are provided, allowing for the maximum co-ordination on extensive engineering works. Any of these channels may be used as an emergency beacon frequency; since 2271, the health of the pilot is monitored by onboard computers. In the event that any of these lifesigns moves significantly out of normal, the emergency beacon will be activated and the workbee will return to its dock.

The workbee tool packs were based on surveys of the most commonly used and needed tool systems for exterior repairs and introduced accordingly. The basic repair pack was the first to see use, together with the cargo tow pack. Other, more complicated and specialized tool packs were introduced over the next few years. By 2265, the Type 10 work pod (now up to model number 240, and already being produced by scores of others besides Patterson-Massey) was equipped with virtually all the tools that were available to previous models; other tool packs continue to emerge to this day, often specialized rigs whose replicator patterns are designed locally and then approved and distributed by Logistics Command. By 2267, the type already was the standard work pod unit used by the UFP Star Fleet; only a scattering of specialized units remained in a few yards and starbases.

The exact numbers of Type 10 work pods that have been produced is almost impossible to estimate, especially as the advent of replicators has allowed the onboard construction of workbees and small shuttlecraft. Today, almost every Star Fleet vessel carries at least two workbees, sometimes many more; tenders may carry as many as twenty. In addition, the vast fleet yards of the UFP employed as many as 1,500 at a time during the crash building programs of the Dominion War.

The basic Type 10 has been uprated many times; only the external shell remains of the original design, the other systems having been swapped out so many times that the continued use of the Type 10 designation is really rather misleading. Nonetheless, it appears certain that the type will remain in service into the early 25th century at least.