NAVIGATIONAL DEFLECTOR

	Although the density of the interstellar medium is extremely low, 
significant hazards to navigation exist, especially for a starship traveling at 
relativistic or warp velocities. Among these are micrometeoroid particulates, 
as well as the much rarer (but more hazardous) larger objects such as 
asteroids. Even the extremely tenuous stray hydrogen atoms of the 
interstellar medium itself can be a dangerous source of friction at sufficient 
velocities.

HARDWARE

	The heart of the navigational deflector system is three redundant 
high power graviton polarity source generators located on Deck 34. Each of 
these generators consists of a cluster of six 128 MW graviton polarity 
sources feeding a pair of 550 millicochrane subspace field distortion 
amplifiers. The flux energy output of these generators is directed and 
focused by a series of powerful subspace field coils.
	The main deflector dish consists of a duranium framework onto 
which is attached the actual emitter array, constructed of a series of 
molybdenum-duranium mesh panels that radiate the flux energy output. The 
dish is steerable under automatic computer control by means of four high-
torque electrofluidic servos capable of deflecting the dish up to 7.2¡ from the 
shipÕs Z axis. Phase-interference techniques are used to achieve fine aiming 
of the deflector beam, using modulation control of the emitter array. 
Subspace field coils just upstream of the actual deflector emitter dish are 
used to shape the deflector beam into two primary components. First, a 
series of five nested parabolic shields extend nearly two kilometers ahead of 
the ship. These low-power fields are relatively static and are used to deflect 
the stray hydrogen atoms of the interstellar medium as well as any 
submicron particulates that may have escaped the deflector beam. The 
navigational deflector, also controlled by the subspace field coils, is a 
powerful tractor/deflector that sweeps thousands of kilometers ahead of the 
ship, pushing aside larger objects that may present a collision hazard.

LONG-RANGE SENSORS

	Because the main deflector dish radiates significant amounts of both 
subspace and electromagnetic radition, it can have detrimental effects on 
the performance of many sensors. For this reason, the long-range sensor 
array is located directly behind the main deflector, so that the primary axis of 
both systems are nearly coincident. This arrangement permits the long-
range sensors to ÒlookÓ directly through the axis of the fields.
	The long-range sensor array is a key element of the navigational 
deflector system because it is used to provide detection and tracking of 
objects in the shipÕs flight path. The forward sensor array can also be used to 
provide this information, but doing so results in lesser detection ranges and 
may use sensor elements better assigned to scientific use.
	The molybdenum-duranium mesh of the main deflector emitters is 
designed with areas of 0.52 cm perforation patterns so as to be transparent 
to the long-range sensor array. Note that certain instruments, notably the 
subspace field stress and gravimetric distortion sensors, will not yield usable 
data when deflector output exceeds a certain level (typically 55%, depending 
on sensor resolution mode and field-of-view.

OPERATIONAL CONSIDERATIONS

	At normal impulse speeds (up to 0.25c), navigational deflector output 
can usually be kept at about 27 MW (with momentary surge reserve of 52 
MW). Warp velocities up to Warp 8 require up to 80% of normal output with 
surge reserve of 675,000 MW. Velocities exceeding Warp Factor 8 require 
the use of two deflector generators operating in phase sync, and velocities 
greater than Warp 9.2 require all three deflector generators in order to 
maintain adequate surge reserve.
	Navigational deflector operation is somewhat more complex when 
the Bussard ramscoop is in use because the navigational deflector actually 
pushes away the interstellar hydrogen that the collector seeks to attract. In 
such cases, field manipulation is employed to create small ÒholesÓ in the 
navigational deflector shields, permitting the rarefied interstellar hydrogen to 
be directed into the ramscoopÕs magnetic fields.  Æ