MRHP

Some of you might be wondering about the oversized nacelle pylons in theEnterprise configuration drawings I posted. These pylons actually serve three functions (at least). First, they provide strength, distributing the force from the nacelles into the secondary hull. Interestingly, there is very little load bearing structure in these pylons. Second, they house a line of VASIMR thrusters... or, rather, they allow for the placement of thrusters if necessary (depending upon how much thrust a single engine will be able to produce, and how much power it can transmit). The third reason, though, is actually the most important. The Big E requires a lot of power to produce meaningful thrust for such a large vessel. The original concept at BTE suggested 3.5GW to power ion engines. The capabilities of the curret design require an order of magnitude more power (at full capacity)to meet the original specifications of 1m/s^2 acceleration. But this is the power that needs to get to the thrusters.