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How does Star Trek bridge crew spend their time when on duty?


It's implied that the Enterprise bridge crew, in any of the TV series, spend long durations at their duty stations, either sitting or standing.


What exactly are they doing for hours on end while the Enterprise is en route between destinations? Is it me or does this seem like an incredibly tedious if not fatiguing job, sitting in a chair staring at the same view screen? Couldn't these tasks be automated?



Answer



There's more automation on the TNG era shows than in the TOS era. There is still plenty to do, though.


In the TNG era, the Conn officer (Wesley Crusher) constantly checks the course and adjusts it as necessary. the Tactical officer (Tasha Yar, Worf) scans for possible threats even in normal flight. The Ops officer (Data) allocates ship resources for mission requirements. The stations at the rear of the bridge are for more specific usages. There are two science stations for performing scientific research (What Spock's station on TOS). Mission Ops is a bit more detailed than regular ops. The bridge Engineering station is an excuse to get Geordi LaForge on the bridge for dialog. There was also a control station for the Environmental systems. Any computer station can be reconfigured to do any job.


Some extras just seem to be hanging around in case one of the main cast members need to beam down. I'm sure that the writers could come up with their duties if they needed to do so. Just as a real world Navy ship is going to have people doing duties on the bridge at all times when underway, so too will fictional ones.


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