what is tacyon drive, how does/would it operate and at what speed would a craft travel with this propulsion?

Answer 1

Well, if you REALLY want to know, work your way through this article!
http://www.npl.washington.edu/AV/altvw61.html

Answer 2

Information about Tachyon propulsion systems and related technology is closely guarded by the Bootians. Without this area of technologic superiority, some argue that the Bootian Empire would fall to the Lysithian regime. It is believed that tachyon propulsion involves the controlled intra-conversion of mundane subatomic particles to their faster-than-light counterparts. On a macro scale, the ships and their contents retain substantiality, but at any given time, they are partially unreal. The means by which this reaction is controlled and use for propulsion are classified. As a by-product of tachyon drive, the engine provides the phased tachyon streams which act as the wave-guides for the tachyon tri-beam, the Bootian's most effective offensive weapon. The maximum speed of tachyon propulsion is not known, but it is believed to be far superior to Casimir Drive. Maximum range is not known, nor are the fuel type and cost.

In theory tachyons are capable of traveling faster than light speed and being able to exist in normal space is because this particle has negative mass. Conventional mass, such as what makes up the matter in starships, cannot travel at light speed, let alone faster than light speeds. Light itself has no mass and therefore can travel at light. However negative mass, which is on the other side of the light scale, can travel faster than light.

Some have speculated that by collecting and storing enough tachyons, this will neutralize the ships natural mass to allow it to travel faster than the speed of light. However, in order to neutralize enough mass for warp 1 travel, light speed travel, a 4.5 million metric tonne Galaxy class starship would need to store -4.5 million metric tonnes of tachyon particles. And even more for it to travel beyond warp 1. This is even more difficult since tachyons cannot simply be stored, in essence, the same way deuterium can be stored.

The dream of a tachyon drive however had not died. The old M2P2 drive of the 21st century, like those used on the old DY starships, uses a solar powered electromagnetic field to gather ionized gases from the sun, and have the solar winds push the newly formed plasma field along with the ship like an electromagnetic sail. A spatial distortion field would be used in a similar fashion to the M2P2 drive to collect enough of the free tachyon particles in the field, concentrate them, and use their negative mass field to cancel out the ships mass as well as allow the ship to travel faster than the speed of light.

The tachyon drive would be simpler than conventional warp drive because it doesn’t have to maintain a proper balance between the 2 warp nacelles and won’t need to cause a deliberate imbalance in the warp field to steer the ship at warp. Steering with tachyon drive can be done by the impulse engines. In relative size, it would be more conceivable for small or medium size ships, from shuttle pods to no bigger than the Phoenix class starships, to use the tachyon drives. But it is possible for the heaviest federations ships, such as the Galaxy class and Pelagic class ships, to use this drive.

From recovered wreckage, it is believed that Borg ships may use tachyon drives for warp speeds, and use the same drive to open up a transwarp conduit.

Answer 3

You need Di-Litium crystals to operate it up to warp factor 9. The Di lithium crystals are diffused gradually in a wide expanse splitter chamber which basically acts like a super huge ramjet. In sequence with a wormhole agitator which enables the ship to approach light speed quite soon after just a few minutes acceleration.

Answer 4

Tacyon drive uses a Wobbly and a Duffer to give it a
power ratio of zero to zero-im only kidding ?
Good questuon though.

Answer 5

you talking about a caterpillar drive on a Russian Typhoon Class submarine, run silent, run deep lol

wouldn't worry about tachyons, we aren't even using nuclear propulsion for space-craft, well i think one did have radioactive material on it, was an uproar could crash back to earth lol, probe to Pluto or something

Answer 6

Tachyons don't exist....sorry !