Figuring out how ÒfastÓ various warp speeds are was pretty 
complicated, but not just from a ÒscientificÓ viewpoint. First, we had to 
satisfy the general fan expectation that the new ship was significantly faster 
than the original. Second, we had to work with GeneÕs recalibration, which 
put Warp 10 at the absolute top of the scale. These first two constraints are 
fairly simple, but we quickly discovered that it was easy to make warp 
speeds TOO fast. Beyond a certain speed, we found that the ship would be 
able to cross the entire galaxy within a matter of just a few months. (Having 
the ship too fast would make the galaxy too small a place for the Star Trek 
format.) Finally, we had to provide some loophole for various powerful aliens 
like Q, who have a knack for tossing the ship millions of light years in the time 
of a commercial break. Our solution was to redraw the warp curve so that 
the exponent of the warp factor increases gradually, then sharply as you 
approach Warp 10. At Warp 10, the exponent (and the speed) would be 
infinite, so you could never reach this value. (Mike used an Excel 
spreadsheet to calculate the speeds and times.) This lets Q and his friends 
have fun in the 9.9999+ range, but also lets our ship travel slowly enough to 
keep the galaxy a big place, and meets the other criteria. (By the way, we 
estimate that in ÒWhere No One Has Gone BeforeÓ the Traveler was 
probably propelling the Enterprise at about Warp 9.9999999996. Good thing 
they were in the carpool lane.)

	Oh, very well: The current warp values are presumably much faster 
than those achieved by the original Enterprise in the first series, but the ÒoldÓ 
and the ÒnewÓ Warp 1 are the same, the speed of light. The ÒoldÓ Warp 6 is 
about Warp 5 on the new scale. The (then) amazing speed of Warp 14.1, 
achieved by the first Enterprise under extreme duress in ÒIs There in Truth 
No Beauty?Ó now works out to around Warp 9.7, which the new ship 
achieved while fleeing Q during ÒEncounter at Farpoint.Ó  Æ