A heat shield was an engineering technology that protected spacecraft from excess temperatures. They were also used by probes and some lifeforms.
History and specifics[]
Spacecraft[]
A starship's warp bubble acted as a heat shield during warp travel. (VOY - Strange New Worlds 9 short story: "Choices")
Less advanced sub-light spacecraft such as the Epsilon Anubis derelict had heat shields in their hull plating. (TOS comic: "The Savage Within")
In the 23rd century, smaller ships landing on planets had heat shields made of nucleated ceramic tiles and duranium plates to withstand the heat of atmospheric entry. (TOS novel: Captain's Peril)
Starfleet vessels such as the class F shuttlecraft Galileo needed to be oriented at the proper angle for re-entry heat shields to be effective. (TOS novel: The Covenant of the Crown)
In 2268, James T. Kirk came across a 4" thick panel that could serve as a heat shield. It was a prefabricated panel that weighed 20 pounds. (TOS - Day of Honor novel: Treaty's Law)
As built by the Chiokis Starship Construction Corporation, a SW7-class shuttle's reinforced heat shield was located in the forward hull, preventing the installation of forward observation ports. (TOS references: The Motion Picture Blueprints, Mr. Scott's Guide to the Enterprise)
The HMS Bounty's heat shields were used when landing on Earth and during the ship's slingshot maneuver around Sol in 2286 to time travel back to the 1980s. (TOS movie, novelization & comic adaptation: The Voyage Home)
In 2376, a Mark 17 hauler-class cargo ship used its heat shields while landing on Bartha IX. (SCE eBook: Identity Crisis)
Probes[]
Heat shields of a Starfleet planetary survey probe split open and detached after re-entry to expose more sensitive sensors. (TOS novel: Deep Domain)
Lifeforms[]
Devernian titan cosmozoans laid eggs with ablative heat shields. Layers burned off when the eggs were dropped from orbit onto a planet. Christopher Pike learned about the phenomenon while visiting Aronnia and Devernia in 2254. (TOS - The Captain's Table novel: Where Sea Meets Sky)
The Cheronians Bele and Lokai had personal heat shields to defend each other from attack, controlled psychokinetically. During a confrontation with Captain James T. Kirk in 2268, Bele claimed that if he were knocked out, his heat shield could go out of control and damage the USS Enterprise's bridge. (TOS - Star Trek 5 novelization: Let That Be Your Last Battlefield)
Tzenkethi runaways on Ab-Tzenketh such as Hertome Ter Ata-C and Neta Efheny in 2383 wore heat shields in their clothing to avoid detection. Aircars searching for them were equipped with heat detectors. (ST - Typhon Pact novel: Brinkmanship)
Appendices[]
References[]
- TOS - Star Trek 5 novelization: Let That Be Your Last Battlefield
- TOS reference: The Motion Picture Blueprints
- TOS comic: "The Savage Within"
- TOS novel: The Covenant of the Crown
- TOS movie, novelization & comic adaptation: The Voyage Home
- TOS reference: Mr. Scott's Guide to the Enterprise
- TOS novel: Deep Domain
- TOS - Day of Honor novel: Treaty's Law
- TOS - The Captain's Table novel: Where Sea Meets Sky
- TOS novel: Captain's Peril
- SCE eBook: Identity Crisis
- VOY - Strange New Worlds 9 short story: "Choices"
- ST - Typhon Pact novel: Brinkmanship
External links[]
- Heat shield article at Memory Alpha, the wiki for canon Star Trek.
- Heat shield article at Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.