Glossary

Star Fleet Command Glossary

Note: This specific glossary is the SFC-canon source for terms and definitions for this wiki. An import of Timo Saloniemi's glossary for his Hobbyist's Guide to the UFP Starfleet is provided here. Terms and definitions provided there are not SFC canon, but provided for research purposes.

C

Cascade Ion Drive (CID)

Any reaction or warp drive utilizing a polaric ion cascade system as the means of extracting power from the antimatter powerplant. The UESF experimented on this potential competitor for dilithium technology in the early 22nd century (see Daedalus class) and experiments were carried on by UFP Star Fleet until the 2268 ban on all polaric ion testing. No operational applications ever emerged, although several foreign powers not signatory to the treaty are known to operate power systems of this type. Not to be confused with ion drive, a generic designation for a number of reaction drives.

G

Gravitic mine

A type of explosive device used in the 23rd and 24th centuries in anti-starship and anti-personnel roles.

I

Inertial Damping Field (IDF)

A forcefield/graviton-based system for countermanding the effects of inertia on starship components (especially the crew). Vital in enabling the ships to withstand the huge accelerations of impulse and warp engines. First used by Earth in the late 20th century and applied to almost all space technology in the UFP. Closely connected with artificial gravity systems.

Inertial Mass Reduction Field (IMRF)

A subspace field for reducing the inertial forces imposed by the mass of a starship. While an IDF protects components of a ship from differential inertial shear, an IMRF lowers the mass of the entire vessel, allowing it to perform sublight accelerations otherwise impossible for a ship of a given mass. In modern 24th century vessels, the IMRF is usually projected by subspace coils included in the impulse engines. Older vessels typically utilize separate field-manipulation crystals that deflect impulse power to stabilize the primary warp field at low intensities and thus allow it to be used for inertial mass reduction.

O

Original Cochrane Units (OCU)

The original warp scale, where the warp factor cubed was the velocity in c, the speed of light.

S

Standard Cargo Unit (SCU)

A typical unit of measurement of mass (6.75 mt) and cubic volume (1.9 m³).

Swarm

An existential crisis to the planet Earth, wherein 17 metropolis-sized and attendant “flocks” of medium-sized asteroids threatened to impact the surface between the years of 2031 and 2033; a world-wide effort diverted all of the planetesimals.
See Western Alliance for greater detail.