Warp One Mr. Sulu.?

Question

In science fiction what does Warp speed indicate when it pertains to space travell? Is warp one actually the speed of light or something else?

Answer 1

Well, if Mr. Sulu is to go at Warp One, I hope he makes sure he brings his HUSBAND with him!

Answer 2

The only thing that Star Trek has EVER stated consistently with regard to warp speed is that Warp One is the speed of light.

Beyond that, I don't think the writers have ever made two consistent references in regard to how quickly one can travel a given distance at a given warp speed.

Voyager was the only show that even tried to remain internally consistent to defining warp speed...and they had to redo the entire scale to accomplish it. (They made Warp 10 to be infinite speed...yet TOS and TNG exceeded Warp 10 more than once.)

Answer 3

It all depends on which series you watched.

According to The Star Trek Encyclopedia, the newer version of "warp speed" places warp 6 as equal to 392c (392 times the speed of light.  Under the new definition, if you travelled at warp 9.2 (supposedly the maximum sustained speed of ships like the Enterprise) you could travel to Proxima Centuri from Earth in only 22.53 hours.

By the mid-24th century, the Enterprise-D could travel at warp 9.8 at "extreme risk", while normal maximum operating speed was warp 9.6 and maximum rated cruise was warp 9.2.  he Intrepid-class starship Voyager has a maximum sustainable cruising speed of warp 9.975.

The velocity of a ship (in miles/sec, since Star Trek is American and they use imperial) is equal to the warp value cubed times the speed of light.

So warp 5 would be 625 times the speed of light.

Answer 4

IIRC from the original series

Warp 1=2^1C=2C

Warp 2=2^2C=4C

Warp 3=2^3C=8C

Warp 4=2^4C=16C

Warp 5=2^5C=32C

Warp 6=2^6C=64C

Warp 7=2^7C=128C

Warp 8=2^8C=256C

Warp9=2^9C=512C

They never went beyond warp 9, although they had an episode or two where they went speeds that exceeded their scale.  Alternatively, their impulse drives could take them from 0 to near light speed.