An Informed and Reasoned Rebuttal/Nerdgasm

On the porch of my plantation house, we slowly rocked, we sipped our mint juleps, we twirled our ivory-handled canes, and Tison and I had a genteel discussion regarding the design of the bridge of the Enterprise.

We discussed the finer points of the captain's chair, and as previously written, he was not taking Federation starship design into account. See, there is a hundred years of design and progress between the original Constitution class USS Enterprise NCC-1701 captained first by Robert April, followed by Christopher Pike, and finally, and most famously, James T. Kirk and the Galaxy class USS Enterprise NCC-1701-D captained solely by Jean-Luc Picard. Let us discuss how the design of the bridge in both ships requires a swiveling captain's chair on a Constitution class ship, and precludes such a feature on the Galaxy class.

Built on 2254 above earth (in the Star Trek reboot movie of 2009, this was changed to a planet-based shipyard in Iowa, homestate of James T. Kirk. Riverside, Iowa, to be exact...), the USS Enterprise NCC-1701 is one of the most famous and storied ships in Federation history. She and her crew saved the galaxy on more than one occasion. The crew of the Enterprise are legendary. But we're not here to heap praise on these brave men and women; we're here to discuss bridge design.

USS Enterprise NCC-1701

The bridge of a starship is the nerve center of the entire ship and it's operations. Command and control functions are routed through the bridge. On the Constitution class Enterprise, various stations were dedicated to specific functions. In an arc along the back wall are the science station, communications, engineering, and other auxiliary stations. In the front of the bridge is the viewscreen, which displays sensor information as well as a view of space outside the ship. Also set to the front are the helm and navigation stations. In the center stands the captain's chair. It makes sense, as the captain is the center of the crew. In this design the captain of the ship can receive information from all sides in order to make decisions. Being alone in the center of the bridge, he can swivel his chair to have a better view of various screens and stations. The swiveling post under his chair affords him 360 degree rotation. As you can well see, the design of this bridge allows swiveling.

Starship design changed little for the next 70 years. New advances were made in the interfaces and aesthetic of the command deck, but the basic layout of two stations to the front, stations circling the back wall, and the stand alone captain's chair in the center remained constant. Until we come to the Galaxy class USS Enterprise NCC-1701-D. Built at the Utopia Planetia Shipyards on Mars, the Galaxy class ship (like her predecessor) was the flagship of the fleet, and the most technologically advanced craft built up to that time. Able to achieve speeds in excess of warp 9, this Enterprise was in every way a better ship than the Constitution class of a bygone era.

USS Enterprise NCC-1701-D

You can see, on this Enterprise, the design of the bridge stays basically the same, save for two features. On this ship, there are three chairs, the center one being the captain's chair, of course, and he is flanked by the first officer to his right, and usually the ship's counselor to his left. This allows for more personnel on the bridge, which of course leads to more advice and expertise the captain has at his disposal. Behind the captain, Starfleet designed a horseshoe shaped tactical station. This is where the tactical officer monitors ship security as well as carry out his duties during battle. The tactical horseshoe rises high above the captain's chair, supported by a wide pylon coming up from the deck. This is important, because AS YOU CAN SEE the captain has a virtual wall behind his chair, as opposed to previous starships. This makes it extremely bothersome to have a full rotating chair, as its needs would be limited to say the least. On many occasions, Captain Picard can be seen sitting forward in the chair, and turning around to address the tactical officer, but he does not swivel, because this would mean looking at a wall...plus, where would his legs go?

My friend makes the point that if a ship can travel faster than the speed of light, then it should have a swiveling captain's chair. This is patently specious and irrelevant. The design of the bridge has zero impact on warp design. He also asks starship designers to design a more swivel-friendly look for the bridge. This has already been answered.

In the film "Generations", the NCC-1701-D was destroyed via a warp core breech. For hundreds of years the Federation flagship has been named Enterprise, and the next one was no different. The NCC-1701-E is a Sovereign class ship, capable of much more than even the vaunted Enterprise-D. Now, the Sovereign class of ship was not discussed during our debate, but I will address it here anyway.

USS Enterprise NCC-1701-E

You can see, the three chairs remain in the center of the bridge, but the tactical horseshoe has been replaced by a standard station back and to the right of the captain. Even in this drawing, you can see the captain's chair swiveling. (Also, in a deleted scene in the movie "Nemesis", a seat belt system was installed in the captain's chair, the first seen.) So Tison: your prayers have been answered. The future of the Federation is well guarded by Thomas Jefferson's most important invention. Besides democracy, of course.

Oh, and just to drive the point home that I am a loser with no prayer of a normal life, I wrote that entire essay from memory, with the only bit of information looked up being the date of the original Enterprise from the ex astria scientia site where I found the drawings. I've never felt so proud/depressed in my life...

A Chair by any other Name

Mine swivels. Does yours?

The other day, Russell and I got into a polite argument over whether or not the captain’s chair on the USS Enterprise from the TV shows and movies Star Trek swiveled or not. We also expanded on that notion to include the reasoning behind why they did not swivel, if indeed they did not.

Had human science taken us to a place where everyday creature comforts, like not having to turn your neck to look all over the bridge when trying to command whatever it is that might need commanding on the damn ship, no longer held importance? Did people not suffer from neck strains and sprains, or whip-lash in the future?

It seems to me that they get into some pretty heavy shit in the future and I would think that a swiveling captain’s chair would be a minor, but important, detail for the always in peril Federation captain.

As it turns out I found evidence that the chairs do indeed swivel, but only on the Enterprise NCC-1701. Now, I had no idea what the hell that actually meant at first but according to Russell it was the ship that Captain Kirk was commanding way back in the 1960s.

So apparently this does not count because, according to Russell, we were quietly discoursing on the USS Enterprise NCC-1701-D, which didn’t have a swiveling chair for the captain. I hate to be redundant because as I am sure everyone knows this, but this is actually the ship that Captain Jean-Luc Picard commanded on the 1980s series Star Trek: The Next Generation, which we were watching at the time.

There are two important facts that I think are worth mentioning here:

A) A)I was not aware that we were intelligently and quietly discussing that specific ship.

B) B)I do not know the difference in terms of technology or whatever. I assumed that all the ships were roughly the same because once we get to the point where we are going past the speed of light and beaming people up out of thin air while traveling at said speed how much further do we need to advance?

Nevertheless, it doesn’t make sense to me, no matter what generation of Enterprise we are talking about, that there would be no swiveling captain’s chair.

I didn’t even bother to bring up the rest of the crew because if the captain wasn’t afforded a swiveling chair you can bet your ass little ole blind Geordi La Forge isn’t going to get one. Hell, he probably has to sit on a cushion less, backless old potato crate.

Is it too much to ask that the most elite and advanced ship in the Federation’s arsenal did not come with a swiveling chair for the captain?

It makes no sense. The damn thing can go well beyond the speed of light; shouldn’t the captain of such a vessel be free from the inherent risks of neck trauma when constantly having to turn one’s head from side to side while traveling at such speeds?

To make matters worse, and frustratingly more perplexing, only a certain class of the Enterprise had swiveling chairs?

Why?

I mean, was 1980s TV prop technology not on pace with that of 1960s TV prop technology. Why would an earlier version of the Enterprise come with swiveling captain’s chairs but a later, assumedly more advanced version, not?

Did the Federation’s scientist learn that swiveling chairs in deep space lead to trouble for the captain and, thus, the ship as a whole? Is there some canonical Star Trek scientific space reasoning behind this or did the 1980s TV prop guys really just drop the ball?

Perhaps it was the Federation that dropped the ball. If I put my life at risk day in and day out while traveling through the vast emptiness of space, the least I would want is a comfortable chair that gives me some freedom of movement so that I may properly command my ship.

I understand the possible need to make sure that the captain isn’t taking cat naps while on the bridge, but I am not asking for a Laz-E-Boy with a built-in fridge here.

I just think that the guys down at Federation R&D might want to consider swiveling chairs in future incarnations of the Enterprise. You know, for the captains' sakes.