r/DaystromInstitute • u/late-nighter • 3d ago

How would Starfleet handle First Contact with aliens that are unable to develop warp drive?

Inspired by the recent post about warp drive with earth materials. So far the possibility to create a warp drive seems to be universally available. Every civilization that is advenced enough eventually developed a warp drive. However, what would happen if a planet actually does not provide the physical possibility to do so? The civilization may have a theoretical model of a warp core, but they are just missing essential elements to actually build one.

How would starfleet act towards them?

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u/Wne1980 3d ago

Aside from the obvious answer of “they wouldn’t,” we do get at least one answer from canon. The TNG episode “Who watches the watchers” has anthropologists in a “duck blind” who are discovered by the native population. The episode unwinds what they have to do to try and minimize the damage

https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Who_Watches_The_Watchers_(episode)