[Graeme Dice]

Originally posted by tbontob:
Let's try again
1. To deactivate (as a ship) and prevent deterioration chiefly by dehumidification.
2. To withdraw from use or service and keep in reserve.

My understanding of mothballing is that basically the ship is sealed off. If so, you cannot upgrade a ship and still have it sealed off.

Of course you could do so. It's not as though opening a ship to space is going to let any moisture or oxygen in to cause deterioration.

So, if we want to be really accurate, I guess we could build the spaceship, and then have the ship hang around the planet for a year while its crew are being trained (to the basic minimum) and only then venture out into deep space.[/QB]

Which is what happens, because mothballing removes crew experience.