Realistic Wormhole Protocol VS Star Trek...

[Spacescifi]

 

Star Trek is first and foremost entertainment. Nonetheless at times I find Captain behavior incompetent or borderline almost.

Wormhole example: Scifi starship detects a stable wormhole.

What is known: Stable wormholes are rare and all known ones are artificially powered somehow.

The choices:

A: Fly your starship THROUGH the wormhole to check it out even though you have no idea what is on the other side. This is the most likely option for Star Trek.

B: Send a probe and have it return with data. If all seems reasonably safe as well as the wormhole, then the ship may go through.

C: Protocol says you need at least 2 starships before sending one through. So you must find/invite another for assistance before further investigation. Sending a probe is left to your discretion.

Analysis: I get that a Captain is like God on his ship and can make the final call on matters but I cannot help but think that protocols should already be in place for KNOWN phenomena, especially if rare. Like I feel the choice to risk a starship and crew exploring rare phenomena should be something that is not merely at the behest or whimsy of a Captain but rather be structured by standard operating procedures.

Will that make for interesting scifi? It can. It all comes down to how good a writer you are and having the wit to either add interest to what should be boring or avoid it altogether.

Like I imagine how much is left to a Captain's discretion to be LESS than what he's  bound to do or face the consequences for violating standard operating procedures.

More analysis: Everywhere you go should be preplanned in your itinerary, and whatever home space port agency you work with will keep a record of that. That way if you go missing they know where to look. This is even more important when FTL is involved. If you do decide to travel OUTSIDE your itinerary then you leave "bread crumbs" so you can be found. As in space beacons you drop off that tell ships looking for you where you actually went. Or if you are Star Trek you have FTL radio comms so you can just send a message back to base.

Thoughts? Is my take versus Star Trek's more or less realistic?

 

EDIT: Like Degrassi Tyson says, "Don't risk it unless you need to." That is the wise course as a Captain, albeit not the most adventurous.

If you do not NEED to risk something don't. Other times you need to risk something because there is no reward without risk.

 

Final Edit: I guess the matter is ultimately decided by risk versus reward. At times a risk is considered worth the potential reward.

For example astronauts face all sorts of risks but the rewards they reap are for the benefit of potentially all mankind.. or at least their nation.

Edited September 8, 2024 by Spacescifi

[kerbiloid]

First of all, the ship commander must refresh his knowledge of Space Fleet Codex Of Rules And Regulations.

There he will read that in case of unpredicted contact, discovery, or unexplainable crew behavioristic or mental  malfunction, the commander must declare the state of emergency (see App. 5a of the Codex for details), disable the ship propulsion system, minimize power consumption, put the board AI into safe mode, send the emergency signal to the nearest base of Space Fleet, an refrain from any unauthorized study, investigation, or contact with possible extraterrestrial civilization or natural phenomenon until the escape and investigation team arrival.
The crew members must be isolated from any contact with the source of emergency as totally as possible.
The self-destruction system of the spaceship is controlled by the board AI even in its safe mode, so no need to activate it manually.

Upd.
After sending the emergency signal, the long-range communication system must be destroyed to prevent its usage by the potentially hostile alien civilization for the purpose of cybernetic or mental intrusion.

The quarantine mode is automatically declared from the moment of the original event of discovery or contact.
The crew is considered physically contaminated and mentally controlled by the potentially hostile force, until further decisions.
Any opposition to the escape and investigation team may be treated as alien aggression and result into physical sanation of the ship and its crew.

An attempt to hide or remain silent on the fact of the discovery or the contact equates to the active opposition to the investigation and can be treated as a complicity with the alleged alien aggression.

Edited September 10, 2024 by kerbiloid