Star Trek franchise; in the first pilot episode of Star Trek: The Original Series, "The Cage", it is referred to as a "hyperdrive", with Captain Pike stating the speed to reach planet TalosIV as "time warp, factor 7". When beginning to explain travel times to the illusion survivors (before being interrupted by the sight of Vina), crewmember Jose Tyler stated that "the time barrier's been broken", allowing a group of interstellar travelers to return to Earth far sooner than would have otherwise been possible. Later in the pilot, when Spock is faced with the only action of escaping, he announces to the crew they have no choice but to leave, stating "Our time warp factor..." before the ship's systems start failing. In the second pilot for The Original Series, "Where No Man Has Gone Before", time was dropped from the speed setting with Kirk ordering speeds in the simple "ahead warp factor one" that became familiar from then on. Working principle The basic functional principle of the warp drive in Star Trek is the same for all spaceships. A strong energy source, usually called a warp core or sometimes intermix chamber, generates a high-energy plasma. This plasma is transported to warp field generators via lines that are reminiscent of pipes. These generators are effectively coils in warp nacelles protruding from the spaceship. The warp nacelles generate a subspace field, the warp field or a warp bubble, which distort space-time and propels the bubble and spaceship in the bubble forward. That is similar to the Alcubierre drive, but with some exceptions as the maintenance of sub-light velocity and inertia. This means that a spaceship does not come to a complete standstill after the warp flight, but that superluminal and subluminal speeds flow directly into one another. It is also possible to ram another object at warp speed that is outside the warp bubble. This necessitates the existence of fictional deflector shields that protect the spacecraft from damage from collisions with interstellar dust particles and asteroids. And in episode By Inferno's Light it is mentioned that flying at warp speed inside a planetary system is not recommended. The warp core can be designed in various forms. Humans and most of the other fictional races use a moderated reaction of antideuterium and deuterium with Dilithium. The Romulans, however, use artificial micro-black holes called quantum singularities. Fictional history The episode "Metamorphosis", from The Original