Star Trek: Teknisk manual för nästa generation , som skrevs av Rick Sternbach och Michael Okuda vem var visuella designers för showen liksom de viktigaste "tekniska konsulterna" (på en kombination av verklig vetenskap och den relativt konsekventa fiktiva vetenskapen i showen), föreslår att formen av Enterprise-D bestämdes till stor del av varpfysik, som såväl som det nya kravet på att fatet kan separera och från "Slagsektionen" och korsa i varp under en tid (se Tangos svar på den här frågan för mer om den här tanken på underlägget" kasta "trots att det saknades egna varpmotorer ). Från s. 5:
Seen from a comfortable distance of two or three kilometers, the starship takes on the graceful lines of a nonrepresentational organic sculpture. Nature has determined the flow of the design, adhering closely to mathematical formulae at work in the universe surrounding the builders. Even in the desire to expand beyond the apparent limits of the natural world, familiar forces create familiar shapes. As the rapid aquatic and avian creatures of dozens of habitable worlds independently developed the unmistakable attributes of streamlining, so too did their interstellar cousin.
The combination of forces produced within the warp engine core and the flow of space and subspace around the vessel created the particular engineering solution to the problem of faster-than-light travel. The initial Starfleet requirement that a single spacecraft be able to perform as three distinct vehicles presented some rather complex—though some engineers not normally afraid of numbers preferred the word "daunting"—computational challenges.
The docked configuration presented the most efficient use of warp flight forces, but the Battle Station was also required to perform the specifications at warp velocities on its own, and the Saucer Module would have to have the capability of high sublight speed and possibly survive a separation at high warp. Scientists and engineers throughout the Federation, with all the deportment of composers and conductors, arranged sweeping curves, described vast volumes, and summoned up fantastic energies to bring their creation into existence.
Också på sid. 66 skriver de:
Third, the shape of the starship hull facilitates slippage into warp and imparts a geometric correction vector. The Saucer Module, which retains its characteristic shape from the original concept of an emergency landing craft, helps shape the forward field component through the use of a 55º elliptical hull planform, found to produce superior peak transitional efficiency. The aft hull undercut allows for varying degrees of field flow attachment, effectively preventing pinwheeling, owing to the placement of the nacelles off the vehicle Y-axis center of mass.
I boken U.S.S. Enterprise: Owner's Workshop Manual , skrivet av Ben Robinson och Marcus Riley med Michael Okuda som teknisk konsult, finns ett sidofält på sidan. 97 med titeln "Warp Development Theory":
The warp "bubble" in which a starship rides at faster-than-light speeds is not a static structure. Rather, it is a flowing, pulsing, ever-shifting field of energy that dictates the shape of a particular starship. Even minor changes in starship design must undergo extensive testing and optimization to ensure safety and propulsive efficiency.
Field geometry is particularly sensitive to variations in the position of the warp engine nacelles. While in conventional (slower-than-light) spacecraft design, the propulsive thrust vector must travel through the vehicle's center of mass, warp propulsion is quite different. Warp drive requires the nacelle axes to be offset from the vehicle's centerline to create the propulsive imbalance. This technique usually requires the forward field lobe (normally containing the saucer section) also to be offset from the nacelle vector. In many older ships the nacelles were located slightly above the forward lobe. The NX and Constitution-class starships used this design, which yielded superior field stability, although it also resulted in reduced propulsive efficiency.
During the 2260s, the Advanced Starship Design Bureau began to experiment with field geometries that lowered the nacelle vector with respect to the forward field lobe. This approach promised improved engine performance but required several years of research into new field-stability software. Among the first vehicles to employ the new approach was the experimental Starship Excelsior, whose design lowered the nacelle centerline so it was level with the saucer module. This design was reflected in the Excelsior-class Enterprise-B. Further advances in field control software allowed even more radical designs for the Ambassador-class Enterprise-C, and the Galaxy-class Enterprise-D, both of which saw the nacelles move even lower than the frontal lobe.
Strangely enough, recent advances in deflector field technology have resulted in a reversal of this trend in nacelle position in some of the latest ships. New ultra high frequency shield generators have allowed the Sovereign-class Enterprise-E to employ higher nacelle positions, while enjoying an additional 3 per cent in engine performance.
The arcane engineering of warp field geometry continues to be a subject of intense study at Starfleet's Advanced Starship Design Bureau and will undoubtedly continue to be an area of ever-changing research and innovation.