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Like something going at warp hits a planet, star, another ship, moon, satellite, alien, tribble, etc....
Basically, can stuff in subspace (warped stuff) hit stuff in real space (not warp)?

Star Trek: The Voyage Home shows us clearly that entering warp speed within Earth's atmosphere has no adverse consequences for the starship or the environment. HMS Bounty went through miles of atmosphere, dust, birds, and clouds and nothing entered the warp bubble to hit her. Enterprise did this again by dropping out of warp in Titan's atmosphere. Someone once asked why Enterprise specifically never hit things which explains some tech used, but now we have to ask if there is even a hazard of collision at warp. Has there ever been a collision in the franchise - any normal object being hit at warp speed? (This obviously doesn't include things traveling at warp together, like photon torpedoes from one ship to another).

Closest example I found: In Star Trek: The Motion Picture Enterprise attempts warp before balancing their warp drives and creates a wormhole instead. They nearly collide with an asteroid which was already inside the wormhole, but neither the ship not the asteroid were traveling at warp.

Compressing Space
Real-world (non-canon) attempts to explain ST warp technology rely on compressing space itself in front of the vessel. The image sequence below from Star Trek: Into Darkness (canon) shows Enterprise warping past the USS Vengeance and confirms that Enterprise actually gets smaller (or compresses the space around it). The light on Vengeance shows that at the instant the two ships are side-by-side Enterprise looks like a toy beside it. (Large image needed for detail - sorry):

Entering Warp

Thus objects at warp occupy less real space - possibly none at - because they now exist in subspace, which according to Memory-Alpha is implied to be the medium which FTL travel happens. Normally subspace and real space do not interact. When they do it is called a subspace anomaly.

Also, objects inside the warp bubble are not moved by the warp drive:

The observer(spaceship) is still immersed in the interior of the warp bubble and this bubble is carried out by the spacetime ”stream” at faster than light velocities with the observer at the rest with respect to its local neighborhoods inside the bubble feeling no g-forces and no accelerations. (p. 25)

It is my belief that to be consistent with warp bubble physics derived from the Einstein Field Equations in general relativity, the ST interpretation of warp speed travel should not allow collisions between n-space objects and objects within a warp bubble and remove the phenomenon from any plotlines such that warp travel is intrinsically safe for the traveller, but possibly greatly impactful for the normal world outside.

But has it happened?

Points of clarification raised by comments

Deflector Shields: Yes, ships have them. Gene Roddenberry envisioned Navigational Shields which would deflect anything in front of the ship, from a single hydrogen atom to an asteroid (see his notes below).

Gene Roddenberry Writer's Guide

It's important to note that much of what he had in this guide was changed in final production. In fact, based on this guide we could write an entire episode on a simple deflector sabotage resulting in them hitting a hydrogen atom. Real science calculations tell us that even hitting a photon of light would release incalculable energy.

These notes very much explain the many questions asking why ships don't go to warp inside a solar system. Solar systems are FULL of particles and debris, which would require a great deal of energy to deflect. Interstellar space simply draws less power because the shields work less.

Vogon Poet
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    I get what you mean (& agree that hard science treatments of warp bubbles generally claim that such collisions are impossible), but let's face it, ST doesn't have a great track record for being consistent with its own science laws. They're often bent, if the plot requires it, either blatantly, or with some feeble hand-waving, or retconning. BTW, in the real universe, space is very empty, as is demonstrated by the almost perfect uniformity of the CMB (to 1 part per 100000, once you adjust for the dipole anisotropy due to proper motion). – PM 2Ring Sep 14 '19 at 16:00
  • @PM 2Ring likewise, in the real universe, colliding with even a photon of light from a star at superluminal velocity would release incalculable energy. There is very little space, if any, which does not contain a photon of light. OTOH, your response should probably be an answer rather than a comment. – Vogon Poet Sep 14 '19 at 16:03
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    I'm not sure where the contradiction is supposed to be between "the navigational deflector can deflect small particles so that they don't destroy the ship" and "but it can't deflect whole planets". – Cadence Sep 14 '19 at 18:03
  • In the original pilot, they refer to the "time barrier", so the exact means by which FTL travel is accomplished isn't clearly spelled out and to some extent evolves and fills in over franchise history. For Roddenberry's purposes, all that mattered is that the ship could take people places over reasonable time frames and that time passed uniformly aboard ship and everywhere else. "Warp drive" was likely inspired by something heard or read without any details of how it would work or what implications or conundrums it raised. Our current perspective allows us a very different view than he had. – Anthony X Sep 14 '19 at 19:13
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    ... and Alcubierre sought to explore the possibility that our current best model of physics (Einsteinian) permits something resembling the warp drive as depicted in Star Trek. The issues concerning momentum and isolation between space inside and outside the bubble come from investgations into and understanding of Alcubierre's work which didn't exist when the nature of ST warp drive was effectively being defined by TOS stories, and effectively grandfathered into ST canon for all subsequent series and movies. – Anthony X Sep 14 '19 at 19:23
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    If you couldn't hit things at warp, you wouldn't need the navigational deflector. – Valorum Sep 26 '19 at 06:10
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    The first episode of Enterprise mentions that without a deflector shield hitting a piece of "space dust" would punch a hole in the ship the size of a fist. – eshier Sep 26 '19 at 11:53
  • @eshier I know and I incorporated your note into the question. Thanks. I also posted that Roddenberry originally considered collisions dangerous. I'm hoping to find any in-universe account of it happening - even as a historical log entry – Vogon Poet Sep 26 '19 at 15:08
  • Do torpedo impacts count? – Valorum Sep 26 '19 at 22:03
  • @Valorum - First paragraph. Obviously stuff traveling together doesnt count – Vogon Poet Sep 26 '19 at 22:27
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    If you could pass through solid objects using conventional warp travel, there wouldn't be anything special about the phasing devices in "The Next Phase" and "The Pegasus". The fact that these are highly experimental devices implies that they do something ordinary warp drive cannot. – Cadence Sep 27 '19 at 01:25
  • I'm not sure what 'conventional warp travel' actually means because warp is not technically traveling through normal space. I know ST has been trying to stay within the laws of physics, so nothing can "travel" faster than light even in ST. 'Warp' was invented to move around while presumably keeping the laws of physics. – Vogon Poet Sep 27 '19 at 03:09
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    I mean "conventional" by the standards of the characters in the universe. Conventional meaning the warp travel that humans, klingons, cardassians, even pakleds manage without issues (most of the time...) as opposed to the highly dangerous, highly experimental technology in those two episodes. – Cadence Sep 27 '19 at 03:16
  • @Cadence: You go really fast at warp. Also, ships don't seem to stop on a dime when dropping out of warp. So, that hypothetical scenario is not nearly as simple as you suggest it could have been. Phasing through things at impulse speed would be extremely valuable. – Ellesedil Sep 27 '19 at 17:24
  • @VogonPoet: In the Star Trek reboot, the Enterprise travels at warp and drops out inside of Titan's atmosphere: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LjUQ4RtmLiU – Ellesedil Sep 27 '19 at 17:30
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    Non canon but, one of the Lost Era Novels indicates that the Tomed Incident spoken about on TNG involved crashing a Romulan Warbird (The Tomed) into a planet at high warp. – geewhiz Sep 27 '19 at 19:07
  • @geewhiz - Good find, The Tomed is the closest thing yet. However it was not a collision per se. It was an explosion due to the quantum singularity containment failing within an active warp field. The Tomed was literally turned into a time-space bomb. It's not conclusive that the ship actually hit anything except the uncontained singularity in front of it. Also not sure if the containment field failure is a natural consequence of a collision or if it was sabotaged/deactivated to make the bomb. According to Memory-beta, the Memory-alpha account is canon. – Vogon Poet Sep 27 '19 at 19:57
  • @eshier Is that hitting a piece of dust at warp or at impulse? – Lexible Oct 01 '19 at 21:02
  • @Lexible - Actually you're right. Reed never says it will happen before or after warp. "TUCKER: Warp four. We'll be going to four five as soon as we clear Jupiter. Think you can handle it? TRAVIS: Four point five. REED: Pardon me, but if I don't realign the deflector, the first grain of space dust we come across will blow a hole through this ship the size of your fist. TUCKER: Keep your shirt on, Lieutenant. Your equipment'll be here in the morning. – Vogon Poet Oct 01 '19 at 21:15
  • Adding additional text in order to invalidate an existing answer is not appropriate conduct. I've rolled back to the prior version. – Valorum Oct 02 '19 at 19:55
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    People are free to vote how they wish and how well they believe it answers the question whether it matches the OP's wishes or not. I've rolled back your edit. – TheLethalCarrot Oct 03 '19 at 09:38
  • You're welcome to bounty whatever you like, but adding in extra stuff in order to invalidate an existing answer is not appropriate behaviour. – Valorum Oct 03 '19 at 10:31
  • @Valorum - please stop interfering with the fundamental intent of the post for your own benefit. The words you removed were already part of the accepted question, they were moved from the bottom of the post to the top for a more logical flow and for readability. Rolling back now. – Vogon Poet Oct 03 '19 at 13:43
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    Your clear intent is to invalidate my answer. That's Inappropriate behaviour and you should stop doing it. I get that you're grumpy that your original question wasn't scoped to your liking, but that's not cause to change the question post-facto – Valorum Oct 03 '19 at 14:21
  • The bounty definition is not confusing. "A detailed canonical answer is required to address all the concerns" That is the scope. Please stop these needless edits. Rolling back, last time. – Vogon Poet Oct 03 '19 at 14:28
  • Adding a bounty requiring a canonical answer does not change the scope of the original question. – Valorum Oct 03 '19 at 14:36
  • Given that "A detailed canonical answer is required to address all the concerns" existed before your answer, you are right. It has not changed at all since your post. Stop rolling back for no reason. I am not change the scope of the question you answered. – Vogon Poet Oct 03 '19 at 14:42
  • Per the highest voted meta answer; "*There was no reason to add the comment in the question re: the bounty because the bounty already contains the conditions for which it will be awarded.*". I have removed it. – Valorum Oct 04 '19 at 06:32
  • Restored useful links. Please do not unlink references. – Vogon Poet Oct 21 '19 at 18:29

4 Answers4

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To the best of my knowledge there has never been a direct collision between a warp object and a non warp object within the main canon of TV shows and films in Star Trek, with the exception of warp capable torpedoes hitting static objects.

In the EU novel The Romulan Wars: To Brave the Storm, a captain sacrifices his vessel by flying it directly into a planet at warp speed. The resultant explosion is nothing short of catastrophic, especially when combined with the planet's uniquely volatile crust.

Archer stood before the main viewer, arms at his sides, clenching and unclenching his fists. On the screen, an entire world was aflame. What had once been a cradle of life was rapidly becoming a planet-sized crematorium. A volcanic fissure was opening right before Archer’s eyes, spewing magma skyward for tens of kilometers. According to T’Pol’s initial report, the multiwarp impact that Galorndon Core had just endured was even creating havoc with the planet’s magnetic field, unleashing all manner of unpredictable and potentially lethal atmospheric effects. Even the oceans appeared to be igniting.

...

“I can’t believe that the Raon just … rammed the planet at better than warp four,” Malcolm said, his tone tinged with shock. “Why would anyone do that?”

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Valorum
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    ... It's canon? – Vogon Poet Oct 01 '19 at 21:56
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    @VogonPoet - EU means that it's officially licenced, not that it's canon to the TV and Film universe. – Valorum Oct 01 '19 at 21:59
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    I really wish you would edit your answer showing that it's not canon. It's Apocrypha. Thanks – Vogon Poet Oct 02 '19 at 05:31
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    @VogonPost - it says it right there on the front line in the first words that it is from an EU novel (all of which are not canon to the TV shows/films) – Valorum Oct 02 '19 at 06:02
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    No one automatically knows this. The expectation is that unless stated we are referencing legitimate authoritative sources. New voters will take the post of someone with 447k as gospel. – Vogon Poet Oct 02 '19 at 06:07
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    @VogonPoet - since there is no 'officially recognised' canon in the Star Trek universe it is down to individual users how they choose to take this paramount licensed work – Valorum Oct 02 '19 at 06:59
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    @VogonPoet You appear to be assuming that Memory Alpha and their rules are in some way authoritative. – T.J.L. Oct 02 '19 at 15:54
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    @VogonPoet You're demanding that another user change his answer to reflect your particular biases. You can use your votes and your acceptance checkmark (as the original poster of the question) to do that. You've gone beyond asking for clarification to arguing, and arguing in comments is not appropriate behavior for this Stack or any other. – T.J.L. Oct 02 '19 at 17:32
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    @VogonPoet - Memory Alpha is a fan-site, run by people who have zero connection to Paramount or Star Trek other than an interest in it. The EU novels are exclusively authorised by Paramount and have their own creative coordination to ensure that they don't go above and beyond acceptable limits imposed by Paramount on hand-picked authors. I'd argue that the novels are a light-year ahead of Memory Alpha in terms of canon. – Valorum Oct 02 '19 at 17:39
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    I'd prefer not to argue altogether so I just made my problem more clear. The answer is fine but misses the problem, which I originally stated too vaguely, making assumptions about scope. If ST technical directors have sanctioned Martin's events then that is fair and should be stated in an answer. – Vogon Poet Oct 02 '19 at 18:05
  • fwiw @VogonPoet - there likely isn't a Memory-Alpha reference to the work anyway (except tangentially via it's reference to TV canon Galorndon Core, and TV characters)- but Memory-Beta - which covers the novels, comics, etc...also fwiw - I found the answer perfectly clear – NKCampbell Oct 02 '19 at 18:07
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    "Novels, licensed or not, are fanfic and ineligible" - Says you. "If a question specifically asks for canon on this site, non-canon answers are automatically off-topic and low quality" - No they aren't. – Valorum Oct 02 '19 at 18:17
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    You seem to have confused/conflated licensed properties (written with the permission of the studio and where they get a cut of any proceeds) with fanfic(where people write and publish their own parodical versions for free). – Valorum Oct 02 '19 at 18:25
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    @VogonPoet - As I said before, you seem to be confused on this issue and my repeated attempts to explain the difference don't seem to be helping. While you might personally consider an EU novel written (and published) with the permission of Paramount to be "fanfic", do be aware that this isn't the accepted definition. Declaring something officially produced to be fanfic is generally referred to as 'headcanon' (that is to say, something that exists *in your own head but not outside*) – Valorum Oct 02 '19 at 18:37
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    @VogonPoet - you should use a different tag in your question then - given that you only have this one: https://scifi.stackexchange.com/tags/star-trek/info - this answer is perfectly on topic – NKCampbell Oct 02 '19 at 18:42
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    @VogonPoet - And that would be the case if this was fanfic, but it's not. It's an officially licensed novel written for the profit of the studio. – Valorum Oct 02 '19 at 18:45
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    @VogonPoet - https://pbs.twimg.com/media/D6EZSm2UYAAhcl5.jpg :D ;) (meant as a joke) – NKCampbell Oct 02 '19 at 18:45
  • fwiw @VogonPoet - imo it's fine to say that this answer doesn't meet the criteria for the bounty because the bounty does request canonical info. But - the question doesn't limit itself to just traditional canon (tv, film) so it's an on topic answer. And - even if the question did specifically limit to tv / film only, it's still an acceptable answer because it addresses the fact that it does come from second tier canon licensed, consulted, and paid for (EU != fan-fiction) and thus is still useful for people interested in the topic – NKCampbell Oct 02 '19 at 18:51
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    right @VogonPoet: it IS EU - which is distinctly different from fan-fiction. And, as I demonstrated above, is currenty an on-topic answer to the question as asked, and would still be a useful answer if the question was modified. Think of it this way - the author can sell this book and CBS won't sue. Contrast that to the Axanar fan-fiction film which was sued out of existence. By all reasonable, clear-thinking precedent (especially on this site) licensed material published with the approval of the content owner is not defined as fan-fiction under any normally accepted definition – NKCampbell Oct 02 '19 at 19:06
  • @NKCampbell - Long comment trails can be averted with clear definitions. I rely on public opinion, not undocumented SE jargon. My very first comment was simply, "Is it canon?" all this time we've stubbornly refused to qualify that very simple request. – Vogon Poet Oct 02 '19 at 19:13
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    @VogonPoet from your own source "creative material featuring characters [from] works whose copyright is held by others". If the work is licensed by Paramount the copyright is not held by others. – Edlothiad Oct 02 '19 at 20:16
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    @VogonPoet - on this site, we should first look to the already established understanding of the public opinion of the users of this site, then look to outside resources. That's what the meta sub site is for - to answer / establish the general / public opinion for this site. To that end - you're wrong in your definition of "fan-fiction" as it relates to officially licensed works :) - Valorum answered your comment question in the second post. The rest has been obtuse arguing :D – NKCampbell Oct 02 '19 at 20:39
  • @NKCampbell - Agreed. I am getting moderator intervention to stop the obtuse arguing and edit abuse. – Vogon Poet Oct 03 '19 at 14:34
  • @Valorum - Thank you. ... Photon torpedoes do have their own warp engines BTW ... Oh, nevermind... :/ – Vogon Poet Oct 03 '19 at 15:08
  • @Edlothiad - Martin's novels use Enterprise and Archer under a license. That license doesn't magically make any of his stories "true" within the ST universe. It's the difference between saying "I don't disagree with this" (licensed story) and "I agree with this" (copyrighted story). – Vogon Poet Oct 03 '19 at 15:43
  • @VogonPoet A warp sustainer is not a warp engine. – T.J.L. Oct 21 '19 at 16:51
  • @T.J.L. - Some warp torpedoes have their own engines. The kind that Kirk was planning to fire at Kronos, for example – Valorum Oct 21 '19 at 16:53
  • @Valorum I have no recollection of the events you are referring to. :) – T.J.L. Oct 21 '19 at 16:56
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In "The Best of Both Worlds, Pt. 2" Riker fully intended to cause a warp / non-warp collision.

RIKER: Mister Crusher, ready a collision course with the Borg ship. You heard me. A collision course.
WESLEY: Yes, sir.
RIKER: Mister La Forge, prepare to go to warp power.
LAFORGE [OC]: Aye, sir.

Presumably, this would have been damaging to the Borg Cube and Enterprise.

Sava
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Jack B Nimble
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    and / or Enterprise. Still unsure how the whole thing would have played out. It's also possible that they were so close to the Borg cube that they would collide before reaching warp 1, meaning Riker wanted an extremely fast normal space collision. Reed in Enterprise: Broken Bow reminded us that warp speed isn't instantaneous, the ship accelerates and can hit stuff. – Vogon Poet Oct 03 '19 at 17:45
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    @VogonPoet If it was only going to destroy Enterprise and not affect the Borg ship, I doubt they would have considered it a useful option. The original warp drives DID have to accelerate, but this was changed after TOS (with Excelsior class) having a Trans-Warp drive (different from Borq tech), which basically went from 0 to Warp instantly ( no acceleration). – Jack B Nimble Oct 03 '19 at 17:47
  • great point, so... unknown. Still not automatic that Enterprise would be hurt, they will be behind a singularity after all. – Vogon Poet Oct 03 '19 at 18:21
  • If they expected Enterprise to be undamaged, they wouldn't consider this a desperation tactic; instead it would just be routine. – Cadence Oct 06 '19 at 22:24
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    The Last Jedi Gambit Which, in both instances, begs the question why aren't asteroids with warp nacelles on them the default weapon? – GordonBennett Oct 07 '19 at 09:57
  • Its also likely that warp speed was ordered to smash into it fast, the Borg do have a habit of stopping ships with tractor beams. It doesn't necessarily mean it will do more damage but simply the best bet to stop the ship being blown to pieces or frozen in a tractor beam once iit becomes a higher threat, after-all once the collision occurs at least you got there and to do it the warp field would collapse when you go boom), a collision course is pointless unless you collide after-all so stopping interception is a good reason too – Matt Jan 27 '20 at 02:42
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The only time I am aware of (and I am currently rewatching ST, it's been quite a while before):

In Voyager - Think Tank (S5E20), the Think Tanks station is in subspace when the Voyager and the Hazari attack them. From Memory Alpha article about the episode:

The Hazari fire spatial charges, and the Think Tank's vessel is pulled out of subspace.

Important: they fire spatial charges. In the description of spatial charges of Memory Alpha, it is noted:

Spatial charges (or subspatial charges, when fired into subspace)

So, they fire spatial charges and are able to hit something in subspace. I.e., it is possible to hit something in subspace from space. Of course, this was not a natural phenomenon but one fabricated by Janeway but still demonstrates that it would theoretically be possible.

Looking at another way: transporter. Non-Warp to Warp is difficult (Memory Alpha Transporter Article):

Using transporters when a ship was at warp speed was very dangerous because warp fields created severe spatial distortions. (TNG: "The Schizoid Man") Therefore, transport at warp generally violated safety regulations. However, at-warp transport was attempted a handful of times, by making a few adjustments. These attempts were usually made under high-stakes combat conditions. (TNG: "The Best of Both Worlds", "The Emissary")

  • If both ships maintained exact velocity (that is, the warp field on both vessels must have the same integral value/factor), transport at warp speed was possible. Failure to maintain the same velocities would result in severe loss of the annular confinement beam (ACB) and pattern integrity.

  • If the ship was traveling at warp speed and the object to be beamed was stationary, transport was possible by synchronizing the ACB with the warp core frequency. This would cause difficulties in obtaining a good pattern lock. The Maquis were known to have used this method. (VOY: "Maneuvers")

  • Sometime before 2387, Montgomery Scott discovered the necessary formulas enabling transwarp beaming. These were passed on to his alternate reality counterpart, but using these to beam onto the USS Enterprise caused him to become stuck in a water pipe leading to a turbine. (Star Trek)

The important part is synchronizing the ACB with the warp core frequency. So, theoretically, if something were to have the same frequency as the warp core, it should be possible to enter the Warp field. If that has ever happend, I don't know. But I'd say, it's possible but very unlikely.

Shade
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  • Where? What I could find: 'They could try using the multispatial probe but it would take weeks to scout the area. Subspatial charges could force the Think Tank's vessel into the open, but they'd need to find the ship first, which is almost impossible with their advanced technology.' However, there is no mention that the used charges were planted in subspace I could find. – Shade Oct 01 '19 at 21:09
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    Well, it is the only time I am aware of we could say that something in subspace (and not warp) could've been hit by something out of subspace. So yeah, it might very well be that there never has been a warp / non-warp collision. – Shade Oct 02 '19 at 06:19
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It could be argued that while in warp, a spacecraft does not exist in the same space as non-warp objects. It is sort of in a warp bubble (is the way "real" warp drive might work) and so such collisions are not possible.

This solves also the problem of the ship dealing with tiny rocks that at 100 or 1000 times the speed of light would annihilate the ship. (We really can't say what the effect of a golf ball-sized rock hitting something at a relative speed even of light because wouldn't the kinetic energy be infinite?)

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  • If it could be argued, then do so. Provide supporting statements from the show or related materials that support your position. – T.J.L. Dec 18 '19 at 13:22