Planetary Destruction In Star Trek

[Lucky]

How easy is planetary destruction in Star Trek?

There's also the episode called "booby trap" where a planet was destroyed during a war by two "primitive" races seemingly implies the UFP could do the same if they wanted to.
1:38
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tPeyZ7kqrCQ

[Jedi Master Spock]

Planets in Star Trek have been known to explode fairly easily. The Klingons accidentally blew up Praxis due to unsafe mining techniques(!). Ceti Alpha VI exploded for unknown reasons apparently related to its own geology. Psi 2000 ("The Naked Time") was in the process of disintegrating itself.

Intentionally blowing up a planet seems to be, understandably, a low priority. You don't actually need to destroy a planet to render it uninhabited or uninhabitable; a Klingon Bird of Prey ("The Chase") suffices to wipe out all life on a planet.

The Xindi did make a planet-destroying superweapon; it's interesting to note that while the Xindi supposedly have a significant technological advantage over 22nd century Terra, they aren't too terribly far ahead to judge by the results of a firefight between the NX-01 and a quartet of Xindi ships. We're talking about a technological power that's maybe on par with 22nd century Klingons constructing what was blatantly a knock-off of the Death Star.

It's fairly easy to infer from cases like these that if the UFP wanted to construct a specialized planet-destroying battle station, or planet-killing missiles, they could do so; but there isn't any incentive to do that.

[Lucky]

Planets in Star Trek have been known to explode fairly easily. The Klingons accidentally blew up Praxis due to unsafe mining techniques(!). Ceti Alpha VI exploded for unknown reasons apparently related to its own geology. Psi 2000 ("The Naked Time") was in the process of disintegrating itself.

Intentionally blowing up a planet seems to be, understandably, a low priority. You don't actually need to destroy a planet to render it uninhabited or uninhabitable; a Klingon Bird of Prey ("The Chase") suffices to wipe out all life on a planet.

Wes: This was the final battle, wasn't it?

Data: Neither side expected Orelious IX to be the decisive conflict.

Wes: There's not much left is there.

Data: The destruction is remarkable considering the primitive weapons of the period.

Data's statement about weapons seems to indicate something more along the lines of what was attempted in "The Die Is Cast" happening for some reason rather then some strange geology, or something planet side.

I sounds like both sides might still be around as well.

The Xindi did make a planet-destroying superweapon; it's interesting to note that while the Xindi supposedly have a significant technological advantage over 22nd century Terra, they aren't too terribly far ahead to judge by the results of a firefight between the NX-01 and a quartet of Xindi ships. We're talking about a technological power that's maybe on par with 22nd century Klingons constructing what was blatantly a knock-off of the Death Star.

Just because the Xinidi have better tech does not mean they have better ships and weapons. They would still be limited by how much power they can generate and store, and be limited by their material sciences for example.

It's fairly easy to infer from cases like these that if the UFP wanted to construct a specialized planet-destroying battle station, or planet-killing missiles, they could do so; but there isn't any incentive to do that.

Gravimetric torpedos are stated to be theoretically capable of turning protostars into wormholes. That sounds like a planet killing weapon to me.

[Admiral Breetai]

Klingons absolutely obliterated the Tribbles home world and yeah the xindi not only build a superior death star but built one smaller and were several centuries behind the UFP

the Feds have to be careful not to accidentally rip atmospheres off planets and pulverizing and moving moons is seen as no small issue

honestly who needs a deathstar

[Mike DiCenso]

The Xindi did make a planet-destroying superweapon; it's interesting to note that while the Xindi supposedly have a significant technological advantage over 22nd century Terra, they aren't too terribly far ahead to judge by the results of a firefight between the NX-01 and a quartet of Xindi ships. We're talking about a technological power that's maybe on par with 22nd century Klingons constructing what was blatantly a knock-off of the Death Star.

One thing to keep in mind here, some of the technological prowess of the Xindi did come from the assistance of the Sphere Builders, one of the factions from the so-called "Temporal Cold War". So this in and of itself is not necessarily indicative of what the Xindi or other 22nd century powers were capable on their own.
-Mike

[Praeothmin]

Just because the Xinidi have better tech does not mean they have better ships and weapons. They would still be limited by how much power they can generate and store, and be limited by their material sciences for example.

This is usually what "better Tech" means.
They have better power generation Tech, like the Defiant's smaller Warp Core still delivering sufficient power for her weapons to be more powerful then the ones on a GCS, for example...

Or just look at modern technology.
Our computer cores are smaller, yet more powerful.
Our cell phones get smaller, yet can do much much more.
Better Tech usually equals better power generation capabilities...

[Lucky]

Just because the Xinidi have better tech does not mean they have better ships and weapons. They would still be limited by how much power they can generate and store, and be limited by their material sciences for example.

This is usually what "better Tech" means.
They have better power generation Tech, like the Defiant's smaller Warp Core still delivering sufficient power for her weapons to be more powerful then the ones on a GCS, for example...

Or just look at modern technology.
Our computer cores are smaller, yet more powerful.
Our cell phones get smaller, yet can do much much more.
Better Tech usually equals better power generation capabilities...

How exactly do computer chips generate energy?

There are plenty of ways to be more advanced that don't involve reactor technology like metallurgy, biotech... The point is there are lots of ways the Xinidi can be more adavanced then Star Fleet, but the Xinidi we know the Xinidi did not think they could easily defeat Star Fleet of the time with normal ships, or they would not have had any reason to build the planet killer.

http://memory-alpha.org/wiki/Xindi_technology
Looking at memory alpha it looks like the Xinidi had an edge in biotech, and personal armor.

[Praeothmin]

How exactly do computer chips generate energy?

There are plenty of ways to be more advanced that don't involve reactor technology like metallurgy, biotech... The point is there are lots of ways the Xinidi can be more adavanced then Star Fleet, but the Xinidi we know the Xinidi did not think they could easily defeat Star Fleet of the time with normal ships, or they would not have had any reason to build the planet killer.

http://memory-alpha.org/wiki/Xindi_technology
Looking at memory alpha it looks like the Xinidi had an edge in biotech, and personal armor.

The computer core thing was just an example of better technology in general, but if you want simple power consumption, look at car engines.
Smaller, just as efficient if not more than they were before.
Look at cell phone batteries.
Smaller, yet last just as long as the older batteries.

These small Xindi ship were a threat to the bigger NX because their weapons were just as powerful, even though their power cores were smaller.
So they did indeed possess more advanced tech...

[Lucky]

The computer core thing was just an example of better technology in general, but if you want simple power consumption, look at car engines.
Smaller, just as efficient if not more than they were before.
Look at cell phone batteries.
Smaller, yet last just as long as the older batteries.

The Xinidi use advanced biotech rather then batteries. ^_^

These small Xindi ship were a threat to the bigger NX because their weapons were just as powerful, even though their power cores were smaller.
So they did indeed possess more advanced tech...

Sorry, I haven't been able to watch all of Star Trek. Memory Alpha makes it sound like it was more or less a who shoots first situation.

Is it ever explained why if the Xinidi are so powerful they created the planet killer rather then just sending a bleep load of ships?

[Praeothmin]

Lucky, while these smaller ships were powerful, they were not "planet destroying" powerful.
They were not "ICS calcs ISD" powerful... :)

So they would have likely needed billions of ships just to heavily damage Earth, billions of ships which they most likely did not possess...

[mojo]

where is swst? this kind of thread is lonely and sad without a warsie.

[User1618]

Planets in Star Trek have been known to explode fairly easily. The Klingons accidentally blew up Praxis due to unsafe mining techniques(!). Ceti Alpha VI exploded for unknown reasons apparently related to its own geology. Psi 2000 ("The Naked Time") was in the process of disintegrating itself.

Intentionally blowing up a planet seems to be, understandably, a low priority. You don't actually need to destroy a planet to render it uninhabited or uninhabitable; a Klingon Bird of Prey ("The Chase") suffices to wipe out all life on a planet.

The Xindi did make a planet-destroying superweapon; it's interesting to note that while the Xindi supposedly have a significant technological advantage over 22nd century Terra, they aren't too terribly far ahead to judge by the results of a firefight between the NX-01 and a quartet of Xindi ships. We're talking about a technological power that's maybe on par with 22nd century Klingons constructing what was blatantly a knock-off of the Death Star.

It's fairly easy to infer from cases like these that if the UFP wanted to construct a specialized planet-destroying battle station, or planet-killing missiles, they could do so; but there isn't any incentive to do that.

Why bother, when you can blow up a whole star system?
That will accomplish the same effect-- even better. But the Fed desn't need to sink all their resources into it for years, like the Empire with the Death Star, when just one itty bitty trilithium warhead will do.
They don't even need to send a ship to the star-system in question, since warp-driven probes are the norm; and it can be cloaked as well. So basically a starship could blow up any star-system in the galaxy, from ACROSS the galaxy.

It simply goes against Federation and Starfleet ethics; they're not only technologically superior to the Empire, but morally as well.

[Lucky]

Lucky, while these smaller ships were powerful, they were not "planet destroying" powerful.
They were not "ICS calcs ISD" powerful... :)

Please don't straw man to such an extreme.

Blowing up the Earth to kill humans was just a pointless waste on the part of the Xinidi.

So they would have likely needed billions of ships just to heavily damage Earth, billions of ships which they most likely did not possess...

Enterprise era Earth seems to have had no real defenses from bombardment, and only had a handful of ships that the Xinidi outgunned.

The Xinidi according to Memory Alpha had more ships, and some of those ships seem to be very large to the of being possibly the size of an ISD.
http://memory-alpha.org/wiki/Xindi-Aquatic_cruiser

The point is the Xinidi should have been able to just blast the Earth, and human settlements in general. Even the lowly NX-1 had a boat load of nukes, and Star Fleet did not have shields at the time.

[Kor_Dahar_Master]

So they would have likely needed billions of ships just to heavily damage Earth, billions of ships which they most likely did not possess...

According to trip it would take around 1000 NX-1's firepower to destroy a planet like earth.

[User1618]

So they would have likely needed billions of ships just to heavily damage Earth, billions of ships which they most likely did not possess...

According to trip it would take around 1000 NX-1's firepower to destroy a planet like earth.

I assume by "destroy" you mean "blow to smithereens," which would put NX-01 power-generation at about 4.0e+25J.

If so, then this fits in accordance with the statement in Star Trek: TMP by Decker that it would take "thousands" of Kirk's-era starships to generate a 12-power forcefield-- which the novel stated was enough to stop the sun from rotating (i.e. 8.92E+31J). So if he was talking 10,000, then that would put Constitution-class starship power-generation at approx. 8.9E+27J-- a plausible 200X increase in power-generation since the NX-01.

G2K says that the novel was non-canon because this power-figure is too ridiculous, but given the anti-matter power-yield figures from "Obsession(i.e. which stated that an ounce of their type of anti-matter could rip away half a planet's atmosphere with a force of more than 10,000 cobalt-bombs) " then it's entirely plausible.