Turbolift

Multiple realities
(covers information from several alternate timelines)

The turbolift, or turbo-elevator, is a device that provides rapid transport with both vertical and horizontal transportation for personnel and equipment through a system of turboshafts between key sections of starships and space stations. The equivalent technology aboard Malon vessels was known as an ascender.

Operations

While most starship turbolifts were enclosed, some turbolifts remained open when at rest, in the style of an elevator built in the early-to-mid-20th century. The Cardassians built such a turbolift on Terok Nor when it was in operation, and it was still in use by Starfleet on the renamed Deep Space 9. Once this turbolift was activated, it became enclosed as a precautionary measure. These turbolifts' positioning mechanisms were powered by multi-phase alternating current. In ships and stations that contained turbolift doors that remained closed while not in use, the doors were often unresponsive in low or no power situations. (DS9: "The Forsaken", "The Circle", "Crossfire"; TOS: "The Naked Time", "Space Seed"; Star Trek V: The Final Frontier; TNG: "Contagion", "The Vengeance Factor", "Disaster", "Genesis"; VOY: "Projections", "Macrocosm")

NX-class starships needed only a button to be pressed to specify which deck to travel to. (ENT: "Cold Front") Incorporated in the design of Constitution-class turbolifts were small handles on the interior, allowing for transport without the use of voice commands. At some point, it became necessary to use both the handle and to submit a voice command on board Constitution-class ships. (DS9: "Trials and Tribble-ations") This type of turbolift was considerably compact and could not easily accommodate, for example, immense beings with a hundred limbs. (TOS: "By Any Other Name") In the 2270s, the turbolift's tactile interface was succeeded by voice command operation, allowing passengers to use voice commands to direct the turbolift. Upon receipt of the voice command, the command queried the network, allowing for computation of the most optimal route to the destination. Such routes factored in the presence of other turbolifts already in operation. The auditory receivers also automatically scanned for voiceprint authentication, allowing for select personnel access to restricted areas. Turbolifts from the 23rd century also featured communication panels to allow communication with other sections of the ship without the need for a communicator. (TOS: "Elaan of Troyius")

Turbolifts could also be locked down in the event of a security incident, blocking access to critical areas of the ship, such as the main bridge. (TNG: "11001001")

Turbolift incidents

In 2152, Daniels transported Captain Jonathan Archer to the 31st century while Archer was in a turbolift to prevent him from surrendering to the Suliban. This resulted in a severe temporal paradox that almost prevented Archer's return to 2152. (ENT: "Shockwave", "Shockwave, Part II")

In a hallucination experienced by Ensign Hoshi Sato later that year, she imagined walking into a turbolift that didn't respond to her repeatedly pressing a button on the control pad. It was apparently not until another crewman entered the lift and operated the same control panel that the turbolift finally complied. (ENT: "Vanishing Point")

The final draft script of ENT: "The Catwalk" confirmed the likelihood that Enterprise's turbolifts were deliberately shut down as a precaution taken by the crew in preparation for the ship traversing a neutronic storm.

In 2165 of an alternate timeline, the turbolifts aboard Enterprise became non-functional during a battle between that vessel and a fleet of Xindi ships. As a result, when Jonathan Archer and T'Pol tried to access one of the turbolifts on Enterprise, the turbolift's door wouldn't even open. (ENT: "Twilight")

In the first draft script of aborted film Star Trek: The Beginning, a turbolift incident followed a devastating attack on Starfleet Headquarters. When Skon punched the panel on a turbolift door, the door didn't respond, so he had to pry the door open. When he looked through the open doorway, he saw only the gaping turbolift shaft. Moments later, the turbolift car hurtled down the shaft in a free fall and crashed at the bottom, prompting Skon to conclude that he and the personnel on the same floor of Starfleet Headquarters as him would be using the stairs instead.

In 2254, Spock and Una Chin-Riley bonded while trapped in a malfunctioning turbolift together. (Q&A)

In 2263 of the alternate reality, the USS Enterprise (NCC-1701 alternate reality) was heavily damaged and ultimately destroyed in an attack by innumerable tiny ships commanded by an "alien" warlord, Krall. During the attack, Krall ordered the swarm to "cut [the Enterprise's] throat", an action which severed several turboshafts. This resulted in a turbolift Leonard McCoy and Spock were traveling in being ejected into space. McCoy and Spock were able to escape by hijacking one of the ships when its occupants attempted to capture them. (Star Trek Beyond)

During an outbreak of polywater in 2266, USS Enterprise (NCC-1701) Captain James T. Kirk saw graffiti reading "SINNER REPENT" on a turbolift door aboard the ship. (TOS: "The Naked Time")

In 2267, Khan Noonien Singh rendered the Enterprise's turbolifts inoperative. As a result, Captain Kirk and the ship's bridge crew were unable to leave the bridge. (TOS: "Space Seed")

Later that year, Redjac caused a turbolift aboard the Enterprise to freefall. (TOS: "Wolf in the Fold")

In 2268, multiple Deep Space 9/USS Defiant (2370) crew members, searching for Arne Darvin to prevent him from killing Kirk, infiltrated the USS Enterprise (NCC-1701) by beaming into the turbolifts. (DS9: "Trials and Tribble-ations")

In 2287, after the construction of the new USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-A)1=, many systems were still nonfunctional, including the warp drive. After shore leave, when Kirk entered the main bridge with Spock and McCoy, Kirk was annoyed by the turbolift only opening partially. (Star Trek V: The Final Frontier)

In 2365, when the USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-D)1= scanned the logs from the USS Yamato, they contracted a computer virus, which severely affected all critical systems aboard the ship. One of these systems was the turbolifts, as a consequent malfunction resulted in highly increased acceleration rates and tremendous direction shifts, injuring Lieutenant Geordi La Forge inside, and practically throwing him onto the bridge. (TNG: "Contagion")

In 2367, when the Enterprise-D was trapped in a Tyken's Rift, Captain Jean-Luc Picard hallucinated the turbolift shrinking towards him when he got up to the bridge. (TNG: "Night Terrors")

In 2368, a metal parasite infested the Enterprise-D when it destroyed an asteroid about to collide with a planet. When this parasite began to ingest the nitrium from all critical systems, the turbolifts became affected, because the circuitry was being broken down as Captain Picard and Lieutenant Commander Data were still inside, although they managed to escape uninjured. (TNG: "Cost Of Living")

Also in 2368, a collection of quantum filaments collided with the Enterprise-D, disabling power to many of the main systems, including life support, main engines, and computer control. At this time, Picard and some children were in a turbolift, and Picard decided to climb the emergency shaft in case the unstable turbolift fell in the shaft. Using a makeshift rope made from optical cable, Picard and the children escaped the doomed turbolift and climbed to the upper decks. (TNG: "Disaster")

File:Lwaxana and Odo in turbolift 2369.jpg

Lwaxana Troi and Odo inside a turbolift in 2369

In 2369, Constable Odo and Ambassador Lwaxana Troi were trapped in a turbolift onboard space station Deep Space 9 for several hours after an alien probe, later called "Pup" by Miles O'Brien, damaged several of the station's systems. Kira Nerys informed Odo not to shape-shift his way out through the turboshaft, as Cardassian turbolifts have exposed multi-phase alternating current running through the positioning mechanism. (DS9: "The Forsaken")

The turbolift malfunction in "The Forsaken" was an attempt to save finances. "I figured putting two people in an elevator has got to save money somewhere," explained Michael Piller. (Captains' Logs Supplemental - The Unauthorized Guide to the New Trek Voyages, p. 54)

In 2372, the Cardassian terrorist group the True Way sabotaged one of Deep Space 9's turbolifts, as part of a scheme to assassinate Bajoran First Minister Shakaar Edon. (DS9: "Crossfire")

During the development of "Crossfire", the idea of a turbolift falling was thought up by the DS9 writers. The falling turbolift replaced a sequence involving an explosion and a fireball. (Template:Ds9c)

In 2375, Pelk reported to Fesek that the ascenders on their out-of-control freighter were offline. (VOY: "Juggernaut")

In 3189, a firefight occurred in the USS Discovery's turbolift system during the fight by her crew to retake her from the Emerald Chain. Multiple Regulators and the courier Zareh attempted to stop Michael Burnham and Cleveland Booker from rebooting Discovery's computer, but several Regulators and Zareh were killed by phaser fire or knocked into the shaft. (DIS: "That Hope Is You, Part 2")

See also

Components

• Descent stabilizer
• Electric eye
• Turbolift control
• Turbolift control system
• Turbolift log
• Turbolift shaft
• Turbolift system
• Turbolift voice receptors

Related technology

• Elevator
• Express lift
• Orbital tether