Reaction Control System

The Reaction Control System (RCS) provides minor adjustments to course when holding position, orbiting planets and when entering / leaving spacedocks and ports. It also is used to make rapid course changes during emergency / evasive manuvers. Thrusters can provide (or assist) Impulse Thrust in the event normal Impulse Engines are damaged, however given their smaller size the vessel would not be capable of reaching the same velocity as normal Impulse.

Each RCS engine consists of a gas-fusion reaction chamber, a magneto-hydrodynamic (MHD) energy field trap, and upper and lower vectored-thrust exhaust nozzles.

Deuterium fuel for each fusion chamber is stored in six immediate-use supply tanks and tied to replenish lines from the main deuterium tank group in the Battle Section. Fuel transfer is managed by three redundant sets of magnetic peristaltic pumps, pressure regulators, and distribution nodes.

Ignition energy for the reaction chamber is provided by a step-up plasma compression generator, and supplied through a standard capacitance tap by the ship's power distribution net. The reaction chamber measures 3.1 meters in diameter and is constructed of Hafnium carbide 0.2 meters thick, with a 0.21cm replaceable inner wall of duranium tritanide. It can withstand a total of 40,000 firings and 5,500 hours operating time before requiring inner wall servicing. (Credit: TNG Technical Manual)

RCS arrays large "main" arrays for direct thrust, and smaller "auxiliary" arrays for smaller adjustments.

• A 'newton' (abbreviated N) is the amout of force required to accelerate 1 KG at a rate of 1 meter / second / second.

RCS Arrays

Main Array				Auxiliary Array
Mark	Usage	Max. Thrust		Mark	Usage	Max. Thrust
I	All ships before 2200 Small Utility craft Shuttlecraft	180,000 Newtons		I	All ships before 2200 Small Utility craft Shuttlecraft	12,500 Newtons
II	All ships after 2230 Shuttlecraft Runabouts	360,000 Newtons		II	All ships after 2230 Shuttlecraft Runabouts	25,000 Newtons
III	All ships after 2250 Runabouts Fighters	720,000 Newtons		III	All ships after 2250 Runabouts Fighters	50,000 Newtons
IV	All ships after 2280 Fighters	1.4 million Newtons		IV	All ships after 2280 Fighters	100,000 Newtons
V	*All ships after 2310	2.7 million Newtons		V	*All ships after 2310	225,000 Newtons
VI	*All ships after 2340	5.5 million Newtons		VI	*All ships after 2340	450,000 Newtons
VII	*All ships after 2370	8 million Newtons		VII	*All ships after 2370	700,000 Newtons
VIII	Large vessels after 2380 Small Bases, Docks and Orbital facilities	12 million Newtons		VIII	Large vessels after 2380 Small Bases, Docks and Orbital facilities	1 million Newtons
IX	Starbases / Docks Orbital facilities	16 million Newtons		IX	Starbases / Docks Orbital facilities	1.4 million Newtons
X	Starbases / Docks Orbital facilities	20 million Newtons		X	Starbases / Docks Orbital facilities	2 million Newtons