[horatio]

Originally Posted by The Saint

Since none of these technologies even exist, it seems a bit ridiculous to try to total up completely arbitrary costs associated with them.

You say a widget costs a billion and a half dollars, your buddy says it costs a smackillion, and yadda yadda. Let's start with something a little less arbitrary, if you want the real s**ts and giggles of this exercise.

Let's assume -- just for fun -- that the hull plating of a Constitution class ship is titanium. In the story, of course, it isn't -- might as well be Wonderflonium for all we know -- but let's say it is just 'cause we can actually arrive at a real cost if we use a real material.

Now we just need somebody to calculate how much titanium it would take to skin a Connie, cost per cubic foot and voila: still an insane number -- but now at least a vaguely real insane number.

If one takes titanium as benchmark (I think in the shows the sometimes talked about tritanium, a fictional metal) and pretends the entire ship consists of this metal, a Galaxy class starhip weighs 4,5 mill. tonnes whereas a Constitution class weighs less than 1 mill. tonnes (an aircraft seems to need around 10 or 100 t of titanium).
Yearly world production of titanium is about 4 mill. t and world reserves are about 600 mill. t, so if we pretend that the NCC-1701 consists of titanium, out-of-the-envelope calculations implies that we could build 4 Consitution class starships per year if we use all titanium for it and 600 until the planet reserves are exhausted.

This was dumb but funny

[Commodore]

Assuming that the Constitution-class can be manufactured with easily mass-produced components that can lower the initial start-up costs, I figure that the Enterprise probably has an approximate value in 2008 United States dollars of:
$47,000,000,000,000*
Not including onboard equipment, like phaser pistols, tricorders, PADDs, go-go boots, etc., of course.

*Yeah, I just made that number up at random, so sue me...

[rayq81]

Your Dollars are futile we will destroy it and it will be worthless anyway.


But I reckon $121,212,158,325,1.20c should about cover it, oh add $200 if you want sat nav.

[jtrek79]

Go spam elsewhere......please?

[rayq81]

Originally Posted by jtrek79

Go spam elsewhere......please?

Excuse me, do you know what Spam is ? wht dont you answer the question that the op posted instead of accusing people of spamming ?

[Oregon_Coast_Trekkie]

Well, let's just keep in mind that the Enterprise is apporimately 3x larger than either the new Yankee Stadium or the new Dallas Cowboys stadium; both of which cost in excess of $1 billion.

Let's also keep in mind: While one mgiht be able to bribe the Law of, say: Cook County, IL or Cuyahoga County, OH (just examples) I'm not as sure one can bribe the Law of Physics.

[brenden freeze]

well the enterprise is 12 dollars at wal mart . lol

[gregcorbin]

i don't normally reply to message boards, but this thread shows gene roddenberry's ideal of the future very well. money was not an issue in it's construction and in the society we now live in it's really hard to imagine the earth uniting in such a monumental task... but it's pleasant thought.
cheers to a future where we may someday build her.

[The Saint]

Originally Posted by horatio

If one takes titanium as benchmark (I think in the shows the sometimes talked about tritanium, a fictional metal) and pretends the entire ship consists of this metal, a Galaxy class starhip weighs 4,5 mill. tonnes whereas a Constitution class weighs less than 1 mill. tonnes (an aircraft seems to need around 10 or 100 t of titanium).
Yearly world production of titanium is about 4 mill. t and world reserves are about 600 mill. t, so if we pretend that the NCC-1701 consists of titanium, out-of-the-envelope calculations implies that we could build 4 Consitution class starships per year if we use all titanium for it and 600 until the planet reserves are exhausted.

This was dumb but funny

Was pretty funny. Question is, though, what's the approximate price tag on plus or minus a million tonnes of Ti?

[Leathart]

According to my scientific calculations, the enterprise would cost $1,450. With headlights and leather $1,468. Plus or minus a few quadrillion of course. I really wish people would do more things like this here. It's fun....