Soliton wave

Soliton wave

A soliton wave is an experimental propulsion system developed by Starfleet. It's a technology of the week from the episode "New Ground".

Features

The soliton wave was generated by equipment on a departure planet (Bilana III in the test). The wave would envelope a test vehicle and push it through space at warp speed to the destination (planet Lemma II), where another set of equipment would generate a particle field that would dissipate the wave, dropping the test vehicle out of warp.

For unknown reasons, the wave increased dramatically in intensity, traveling faster than planned and destroying the test vehicle. The Enterprise, which was observing the test, had to accelerate through the wave (sustaining significant damage in the process) to get ahead of it and dissipate it with photon torpedoes to keep it from striking and damaging Lemma II.

Observations

The soliton wave test demonstrates a shocking lack of caution on the part of Federation engineers developing new technologies. In the first field test of a potentially dangerous technology, they built a full-sized prototype and aimed it directly at an inhabited colony. Such recklessness would result in massive lawsuits in modern society.