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Wasn't the Saucer section capable of planetary landing?

Maybe thats why they invented the Captains Yaucht, to stop the Captains taking the whole Saucer on a cruise to Risa.

kostmayer wrote:Wasn't the Saucer section capable of planetary landing?

Maybe thats why they invented the Captains Yaucht, to stop the Captains taking the whole Saucer on a cruise to Risa.

I wouldn't call what we saw in "Generations" a "landing". "Barely controlled crash" would be more appropriate. I doubt previous designs were any more capable

I dont see how it could land. It had no feet or anything to keep it balanced or seven a proper door.

IIRC, it wasn't designed to land.
It was designed to crash, however.

I was referring to the Constitution Class ship. Can't remember where, but I think I've read that the Saucer Section was designed to land in an emergency, but couldn't take off again.

I'd sure as hell like to see the source for that. As far as I can tell, the only "separation" mechanism for the Connie's saucer was blowing it off the ship - I doubt you'd engineer a landing ability for that.

Are there even any engines on the Connie's saucer? If not, there'd be no hope of landing that thing.

Rochey wrote:Are there even any engines on the Connie's saucer? If not, there'd be no hope of landing that thing.

The main impulse engines are on the rear edge of it on both the original and refit. The big problem would be the shape of the lower saucer - that big cone would either be ripped off or would cause the saucer to topple over. The separation mechanism is probably either to avoid antimatter containment failure or to dump useless mass if the engines are irreparably damaged.

Dump the hull and hope you can get far enough away? Yeah, that worked well for E-D!

With the front edge being so big and flat it would flip when it hit air.

Okay, I think it's safe to say we all agree that a Connie would be stupid to seperate and try to land.

Why would you want to land anyways. Space is far safer.

Deepcrush wrote:Why would you want to land anyways. Space is far safer.

The insane levels of radiation and the breathing difficulties you'd have if your ship developed a leak might have something to do with it. Humans are adapted to survive on a planet - if your ship is damaged and loses the ability to support life, then the ability to get your crew to ground ASAP would be critical.

LIFE PODS! ALL.... ABOARD....!

Yeah, M Class Planets are pretty sparse and its pretty unlikely you'll be close by to one - unless you're in Starfleet in which case one will bound to be conveniently near by.