Nobody loves the Enterprise bridge more than I do, but if it were a real ship, the perimeter station assignments might need more thought. I would move and alter a couple of things.
A. Spock's station, "Command Intelligence," currently gives him three main jobs:
1. Radar Ops, to detect spaceships, debris, asteroids, etc. Tell their distance, speed, and size.
2. Science Data Collection:
- Planet atmospheres, temperatures, geology, radiation, life signs...
- Astrometrics / Star mapping (as in "The Corbomite Maneuver").
3. Search engine / browser, to look up known facts on the computer.
In production terms, Spock wore so many hats because it cut down on costly speaking parts, and it gave Leonard Nimoy a star's share of the dialogue. It made TV sense.
For Navy-like realism, however, I would take the Radar job and move it to the station at Spock's left. It is blueprinted as Navigation, but that's redundant. The Command Module already has a Navigator station. And we could use a dedicated Radar operator whose job is to detect other ships and such.
I would also give this little-used station the Astrometrics and Star Mapping job (feeds data to Chekov's Navigator station), because space is so big, and you go long stretches without seeing other ships. So now Spock is less burdened, and the guy to his left has a useful job.
B. Defense Subsystems Monitor, the unmanned half-station on the starboard side forward, is redundant. We already have a full-size Defense and Weapons station.
I propose changing this half-station to Telemetry. This automated panel would have four main jobs:
1. Share sensor data with nearby sister ships, to extend the range of what we can detect.
2. Take in real-time sensor data from landing party Tricorders.
3. Transmit Enterprise "black box" data to Starfleet resources when they are within range.
4. Monitor Shuttlecraft operations:
- Act as a remote "black box" that records real-time Shuttle flight data.
- Provide Shuttles with big-picture flight path info (analogy to air traffic control).
- Allow remote log-on access to the Enterprise's computer resources.
Note that all external Telemetry transmissions are encrypted. The Telemetry panel's sensor data products are routed internally to Spock's station for access when desired. That's why this machine works silently in the background and nobody fusses with it, and yet Spock knows everything.
So what do you think? Does all this add functionality and realism to the Bridge layout? And would you make different changes?
A. Spock's station, "Command Intelligence," currently gives him three main jobs:
1. Radar Ops, to detect spaceships, debris, asteroids, etc. Tell their distance, speed, and size.
2. Science Data Collection:
- Planet atmospheres, temperatures, geology, radiation, life signs...
- Astrometrics / Star mapping (as in "The Corbomite Maneuver").
3. Search engine / browser, to look up known facts on the computer.
In production terms, Spock wore so many hats because it cut down on costly speaking parts, and it gave Leonard Nimoy a star's share of the dialogue. It made TV sense.
For Navy-like realism, however, I would take the Radar job and move it to the station at Spock's left. It is blueprinted as Navigation, but that's redundant. The Command Module already has a Navigator station. And we could use a dedicated Radar operator whose job is to detect other ships and such.
I would also give this little-used station the Astrometrics and Star Mapping job (feeds data to Chekov's Navigator station), because space is so big, and you go long stretches without seeing other ships. So now Spock is less burdened, and the guy to his left has a useful job.
B. Defense Subsystems Monitor, the unmanned half-station on the starboard side forward, is redundant. We already have a full-size Defense and Weapons station.
I propose changing this half-station to Telemetry. This automated panel would have four main jobs:
1. Share sensor data with nearby sister ships, to extend the range of what we can detect.
2. Take in real-time sensor data from landing party Tricorders.
3. Transmit Enterprise "black box" data to Starfleet resources when they are within range.
4. Monitor Shuttlecraft operations:
- Act as a remote "black box" that records real-time Shuttle flight data.
- Provide Shuttles with big-picture flight path info (analogy to air traffic control).
- Allow remote log-on access to the Enterprise's computer resources.
Note that all external Telemetry transmissions are encrypted. The Telemetry panel's sensor data products are routed internally to Spock's station for access when desired. That's why this machine works silently in the background and nobody fusses with it, and yet Spock knows everything.
So what do you think? Does all this add functionality and realism to the Bridge layout? And would you make different changes?
