Apologies for asking a really banal question, but how would the massive spaceships in the movies (like the Enterprise for example) actually be launched from the earth in the first place? Would it be possible to launch something like that or would it have to be made in sections and put together in space? I can't wait for the flood of sarcastic replies... I'm not a Sci Fi buff or anything, I just happened to see a photo of the Enterprise in a magazine and wondered how something that big would actually get off the ground. (Yes, I know it's not real, I'm just asking a theoretical question on the basis that one day we might actually build things that big. Sigh...)
I note from the new Star Trek film that the Enterprise is being built on earth. I've seen the trailers.
HHHMMM you raise an interesting question.
How then are they going to get it air bourn as the Enterprise unlike Voyger was never designed to land on soild ground.
If this is the case then surely some one on here can come up with an answer.
The only thing I can think of is they built a special launching area for it.
How and with what I don't know I'm not that smart.
In reality something that big would require a comensurate amount of power to lift into orbit. In reality it would be impossible using current rocketry etc. Not withstanding the new star trek film I would say that most future space vehicles of any size would have to be assembled in orbit.
Voyager is interesting though as we know it can land so clearly has enough oomph to take off, it was probably still constructed in space though. Well that's what Janeway said any way!
In the new film apprently not.
It seems to be being constructed on earth in both trailers.
In the first the welders have no space suits on so this would discount Mars as a construction location. In the second trailer the guy playing Kirk pulls up on a motor bike out side a construction site obviously on earth. http://www.startrekmovie.com/
Yeah, in the rest of Star Trek, Mars has been terraformed. i.e. it has an atmosphere, and they have shipyards there. Haven't done an in depth check to see if this is true in the new film.
A key point to understand is that by the time we start building starships especially that size(100000MT) we will already have explored the solar system and colonized it. We will have been building ships in space for some time and will have the technology and capability to build said large vessels. We're not going to make some jiant leap from building space shuttles to building the enterprise and travelling among the stars, if that suprises you.