Bridge Positions

[Bry_Sinclair]

I'm curious, has any explanation been given as to why there wasn't a Navigator onboard the NX-01?

Given it's dated before the original Enterprise using a less advanced navigational array and sensor systems, surely having an officer/department that specialised in the field would have been logical.

 

[DonIago]

I have one theory that's going to be going a bit out there and is based on non-canon material...

The novels explain that during the Romulan War the Romulans developed a telecapture device that could remotely take control of enemy starships. As a way of defeating this technology, and a way of "explaining" the apparent regression in tech between ENT and TOS, ship's systems were actually decentralized and integration was reduced.

I therefore postulate that the systems in ENT were integrated to a point where only one position was needed, but the decentralized systems on Constitution class ships required two people.

YMMV.

 

[Michael]

Navigating the Enterprise? Isn't that what Mayweather is doing? The captain tells him where he wants to go and Travis lays in the course (= navigating). Or am I misunderstaning you?

 

[Mage]

Navigating the Enterprise? Isn't that what Mayweather is doing? The captain tells him where he wants to go and Travis lays in the course (= navigating). Or am I misunderstaning you?

In TOS, there was (basicly) somehow who plotted courses and laid them into the helm, and someone seperate who did the actual flying.

 

[eyeresist]

Navigating the Enterprise? Isn't that what Mayweather is doing? The captain tells him where he wants to go and Travis lays in the course (= navigating). Or am I misunderstaning you?

In TOS, there was (basicly) somehow who plotted courses and laid them into the helm, and someone seperate who did the actual flying.

In the same way someone else builds a railway, and the driver just controls the accelerator?

I assume Travis works in collaboration with science officer T'Pol. They'd both have access to the Vulcan star-charts; Travis would use simple software to plot an optimum course, and T'Pol would modify this course based on data not contained in the charts (i.e. astrometric and/or political events).

 

[Jeffe525]

I guess we could explain away the discrepancy in many ways, but I think it just boils down too the fact that it worked well in VOY so they wanted to recreate that in ENT. I personally think it worked well.

Plus, I think by VOY they had a pretty good sense of what kinds of bridge stations work well in Star Trek (for story-telling purposes). If you look back to TOS, the navigator/ helmsman also fired weapons, but Spock was the science officer, ops, and tactical all rolled into one. It was a bit chaotic and inconsistent. So I think the consolidated pilot is just a way to free up a speaking role to more relevant and appropriate stations. That my opinion anyway.

 

[DonIago]

Though Sulu and Chekov did have a fair amount of fun banter with each other. Perhaps TPTB worry that they wouldn't be able to recreate that in any case. Or worse, that they'd try and it would come across as a cheap knock-off.

TNG didn't quite manage that with Wesley and Data, certainly.

 

[RoJoHen]

On a starship run by very complex computers, it always seemed weird that there would need to be both a pilot and a navigator.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

I'm curious, has any explanation been given as to why there wasn't a Navigator onboard the NX-01?

Given it's dated before the original Enterprise using a less advanced navigational array and sensor systems, surely having an officer/department that specialised in the field would have been logical.

I assumed it was to cut down on the number of actors required for bridge scenes.

 

[Jeffe525]

Though Sulu and Chekov did have a fair amount of fun banter with each other. Perhaps TPTB worry that they wouldn't be able to recreate that in any case. Or worse, that they'd try and it would come across as a cheap knock-off.

TNG didn't quite manage that with Wesley and Data, certainly.

Data's station was Operations, but I think the Data-Geordi combo was originally supposed to be TNG's Sulu-Checkov. It seems to me that it didn't work and in all the confusion I guess they forgot to cast a Chief Engineer. Oops. Hence Geordi's fast track to Lt-Commander and the opening for Wesley on the bridge.

I personally prefer the VOY setup with a single pilot up front and matching Tactical and Ops in the rear. It also helps that, by VOY, the writers were much better at choosing the appropriate dialog for the appropriate station/character.

I also think that ENT did a very good job bringing dedicated communications and science stations back to the bridge, as they were more relevant to ENT's stories.

 

[Bry_Sinclair]

I assumed it was to cut down on the number of actors required for bridge scenes.

I've always thought that would be the real reason as well.

There is also the fact that in TOS they never really seemed to defined just what Helm and Navigation did, as at the beginning it was the navigator that dealt with firing weapons then it seemed to switch to Sulu--functions that were covered by Reed, so having two flight control officers to sit in front of Archer and not really do much different from one another would just be too confusing.

 

[SPCTRE]

I have one theory that's going to be going a bit out there and is based on non-canon material...

The novels explain that during the Romulan War the Romulans developed a telecapture device that could remotely take control of enemy starships. As a way of defeating this technology, and a way of "explaining" the apparent regression in tech between ENT and TOS, ship's systems were actually decentralized and integration was reduced.

I therefore postulate that the systems in ENT were integrated to a point where only one position was needed, but the decentralized systems on Constitution class ships required two people.

YMMV.

So, basically ripped right out of nuBSG!

(I like this explanation.)

 

[Timo]

We could of course also argue that the crew requirements went steadily down as technology progressed. It just so happened that back in the 2150s, Navigation required something like eight people at a minimum, so they were given a room of their own...

Timo Saloniemi

 

[stardream]

Dumb question time. What exactly was Seven doing in Astrometrics? I know what the purpose of the lab was supposed to be but it seemed she was always 'plotting courses'. How was that different from being a navigator?

 

[Bry_Sinclair]

Astrometrics seemed to be a combination of telemetry analysis, stellar cartography charting, astrogation plotting, and whatever else the script needed to get Seven as much screen time as possible.

 

[Timo]

One would think starship navigation would involve a couple of different "layers". There'd be practical navigation where the ship is steered by consulting existing databases and position-finding sensors; exploratory navigation where the ship expands the databases by constant sensing (or, as in "Corbomite Maneuver", the occasional intensive starcharting mission); and perhaps also navigation support where regular starships (rather than dedicated tenders) re-chart spaceline time and again for pop-up hazards, maintain route markers etc.

Not all ships need be involved in all layers of this work, but if the smallish Intrepid class has the necessary gear aboard for the second layer, then it's probably a common task for starships.

Timo Saloniemi

 

[RoJoHen]

Dumb question time. What exactly was Seven doing in Astrometrics? I know what the purpose of the lab was supposed to be but it seemed she was always 'plotting courses'. How was that different from being a navigator?

Probably charting and exploring the Delta Quadrant. Voyager was headed in the direction of Earth, but that doesn't mean there wasn't other shit to see along the way. Wormholes to find...enemies to avoid...Borg ships to loot...