Star Trek TNG fans - Enterprise D technical question

[Deja Q]

The saucer can separate from the main engine hull (secondary hull).

The saucer clearly has impulse engines.

Where is its warp drive and nacelles to generate the warp field?

[YankeyMCC]

1. Suggested resources

It's been a long while since I've visited these but I still had them in my bookmarks.

You might find answers or at least interesting speculations to that question at one of these two sites:

http://www.ex-astris-scientia.org/

Or

http://www.ditl.org/

I vaguely recall reading in the Daystrom Institute site something about a horizontal warp core in the saucer section, I don't recall if anything was mentioned about nacellesthough.

[Book Lover]

2. I don't think it was supposed to be capable of warp

Are you thinking of a specific instance where it is supposed to?

[Deja Q]

3. "Encounter at Farpoint'

They are doing an emergency separation. Since the engine section is pushing the saucer along; the instant the saucer disconnects, it would be in bad trouble; thrown aside by the thrust of the engine section whizzing ahead.

[Book Lover]

4. Well, the saucer has impulse engines

Now, full impulse equals 1/4 c or 167,000,000 mph (http://www.angelfire.com/nj2/startrek/impulse.html), so if you primed the saucer section to implement full impulse at the point of separation, and planned a pulling-away-and-below maneuver for the battle section, you could achieve separation at warp with some degree of safety. I think.

[Deja Q]

7. Except, in the pilot only, the ship is travelling at warp speed...

in this case, maximum warp. :D

[krispos42]

6. I think the saucer stayed in the warp field for a few seconds...

Then either the stardrive section pulled away, dumping the saucer into real space, or the saucer maneuvered free of the warp field under it's own power, also dumping the saucer into real space.

[Orrex]

8. That's correct, according to onscreen information

When Data took control of the main bridge in the episode Brothers, Picard attempted to initiate an emergency saucer separation while at warp, knowing that the saucer would soon fall out of warp, allowing them to retrieve it later with the stardrive section and thereafter deal with Data's lapse in programming.

[krispos42]

5. It doesn't

I think the general idea was, when the ship knew it was going into battle it would seperate, leaving the saucer filled with noncombatants someplace safe, like a Starbase or in a friendly solar system, and going into battle with just the drive section. The power of a large starship focused into a smaller one.

It didn't happen very often in the show. Usually not enough time to get the saucer someplace safe and/or hidden.

[Hong Kong Cavalier]

9. *Donning my Geek Creds*

My guess is that the saucer section has no warp drive, and when the two were separated, the warp field around the saucer section would collapse pretty quickly.
Thus, it's a good idea to separate the ship somewhat near a starbase, or it's going to be a very, very long trip.
I think that the stardrive section had a few moments to alter its course before there was a collision, as its warp field was keeping the saucer section
moving along at a pretty good speed.

Remember, in Encounter at Farpoint Picard asks Data if it's possible to perform a separation at warp speed and Data replies that it's unsafe at any speed, but theoretically possible.

On a side note: I thought that the ship was supposed to separate whenever they knew they were going into battle? It seems like every time they went into battle, (even when it wasn't a surprise) they didn't separate the ship.

*Removing Geek Creds*