# Star Trek: security of the Enterprise's bridge **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 19, 2015, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-security-of-the-enterprises-bridge/740856 "2015-12-19T17:28:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2015, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-security-of-the-enterprises-bridge/740856/21 "2015-12-20T01:19:25Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > Realism is overrated. **Reality** is a bitch! :mad: ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2015, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-security-of-the-enterprises-bridge/740856/22 "2015-12-20T02:36:54Z")
Nothing in Star Trek was secure. Shuttles were constantly being stolen. Transporters could be used without authorization or alarm. Barrels in the cargo bay were not strapped down. I don’t remember how the Tribbles got into the grain, but I’ll bet it was preventable. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2015, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-security-of-the-enterprises-bridge/740856/23 "2015-12-20T03:20:59Z")
> [@Tom\_Tildrum](#): > > Nothing in Star Trek was secure. Shuttles were constantly being stolen. Transporters could be used without authorization or alarm. Barrels in the cargo bay were not strapped down. I don’t remember how the Tribbles got into the grain, but I’ll bet it was preventable. Through the air vents, of course. But hey, that was a comedy, so they could stretch things a bit! 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2015, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-security-of-the-enterprises-bridge/740856/24 "2015-12-20T03:26:59Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > **Reality** is a bitch! :mad: No, but it’s boring in a space opera ---
**Author:** ![Hail\_Ants](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/dc4da7/32.png) [@Hail\_Ants](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hail_Ants)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2015, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-security-of-the-enterprises-bridge/740856/25 "2015-12-20T03:30:51Z")
Something interesting about the episode _Day of the Dove_ and the transporter: Not only is it the only TOS episode to feature intra-ship beaming, it’s also the only one to ever show a foreign (i.e. Klingon) transporter beam, and the only one to show that the transporter can leave individuals de-materialized in its ‘memory’ indefinitely (something they later said Scotty had jury-rigged in TNG episode _Relics_). > [@terentii](#): > > The transporter in _ **TOS** _ may have lacked the precision for intraship beaming, but closed circuit beaming was certainly possible. We saw that in “Trouble with Tribbles”: Kirk and Spock didn’t just beam into Lurry’s office, they were received by his own unit. All you need is a booth on the other end and _ **Hey, presto!** _ you can easily get from one point in the ship to another! That’s a whole 'nother can of worms. Even if you accept the magically futuristic idea of a matter-energy teleporter, when you think about it, the idea that it can also both de-materialize and re-materialize the matter _ **at a completely remote location** _ without needing another transporter unit is an order of magnitude more ridiculous… ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2015, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-security-of-the-enterprises-bridge/740856/26 "2015-12-20T03:56:22Z")
> [@Hail\_Ants](#): > > Even if you accept the magically futuristic idea of a matter-energy teleporter, when you think about it, the idea that it can also both de-materialize and re-materialize the matter _ **at a completely remote location** _ without needing another transporter unit is an order of magnitude more ridiculous… Such [del]magic[/del] technology does require a _lot_ of energy, though. That’s why they didn’t use it casually. ---
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2015, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-security-of-the-enterprises-bridge/740856/27 "2015-12-20T04:14:09Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > Bridges have always been exposed and vulnerable. That’s why modern vessels have Combat Information Centers below decks. This was even alluded to once in _ **TNG** _, when a temporal disturbance put the _Enterprise-D_ into a war with the Klingons. Which is exactly what the reimagined **Battlestar Galactica** did; the CIC was buried deep within the ship, and there was a ceremonial bridge at the top that was used primary for stargazing (also the only place on the ship with windows). This was not the case in the original BSG where the Galactica’s bridge was in the conventional place and had a giant window. ---
**Author:** ![Dale\_Sams](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/779978/32.png) [@Dale\_Sams](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dale_Sams)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2015, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-security-of-the-enterprises-bridge/740856/28 "2015-12-20T04:18:08Z")
> [@alphaboi867](#): > > Which is exactly what the reimagined **Battlestar Galactica** did; the CIC was buried deep within the ship, and there was a ceremonial bridge at the top that was used primary for stargazing (also the only place on the ship with windows). This was not the case in the original BSG where the Galactica’s bridge was in the conventional place and had a giant window. At least they could drop that heavy metal sheild or had negative shields when they needed to watch another Battlestar explode. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2015, 5:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-security-of-the-enterprises-bridge/740856/29 "2015-12-20T05:49:38Z")
> [@Hail\_Ants](#): > > The transporter can leave individuals de-materialized in its ‘memory’ indefinitely (something they later said Scotty had jury-rigged in TNG episode _Relics_). I always wondered what that dog-thing (and later Kirk) thought about temporarily being placed in stasis, as it were, in “Enemy Within.” Consciousness must exist on the quantum level, since Picard’s was able to function within the instrumentation of the _Enterprise_: “Oh, look! He’s sending us a message! ‘P’ for Picard!” I mean, do you, like, actually still _think_ once you’re inside the transporter? How did it feel for Kirk and the animal to be “thrust” back together again after they’d been split in two? Is that something the shock of which could actually kill you? Wasn’t Moriarty conscious of being held indefinitely in the memory of the Holodeck? He didn’t like it very much, as I recall. Unfortunately, your pattern does tend to degrade over time. Apparently, 75 years is the longest anyone has spent in a buffer. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2015, 5:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-security-of-the-enterprises-bridge/740856/30 "2015-12-20T05:52:58Z")
> [@Hail\_Ants](#): > > Even if you accept the magically futuristic idea of a matter-energy teleporter, when you think about it, the idea that it can also both de-materialize and re-materialize the matter _ **at a completely remote location** _ without needing another transporter unit is an order of magnitude more ridiculous… You are not thinking according to the teachings of Chairman Roddenberry! 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2015, 6:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-security-of-the-enterprises-bridge/740856/31 "2015-12-20T06:01:29Z")
The bridge crew needs to be concentrating on their jobs, especially if the ship is under attack. If the possibility of hostiles entering the bridge is even on your radar at all, then you secure against it by having Marines whose entire job is to watch the entrance. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2015, 7:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-security-of-the-enterprises-bridge/740856/32 "2015-12-20T07:00:50Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > I always wondered what that dog-thing (and later Kirk) thought about temporarily being placed in stasis, as it were, in “Enemy Within.” > > Consciousness must exist on the quantum level, since Picard’s was able to function within the instrumentation of the _Enterprise_: “Oh, look! He’s sending us a message! ‘P’ for Picard!” > > I mean, do you, like, actually still _think_ once you’re inside the transporter? How did it feel for Kirk and the animal to be “thrust” back together again after they’d been split in two? Is that something the shock of which could actually kill you? > > Wasn’t Moriarty conscious of being held indefinitely in the memory of the Holodeck? He didn’t like it very much, as I recall. > > Unfortunately, your pattern does tend to degrade over time. Apparently, 75 years is the longest anyone has spent in a buffer. Wasn’t there an episode in which Barclay was aware of time passing while being transported? Not in stasis, but during the normal course of transportation. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2015, 7:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-security-of-the-enterprises-bridge/740856/33 "2015-12-20T07:39:13Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > Wasn’t there an episode in which Barclay was aware of time passing while being transported? Not in stasis, but during the normal course of transportation. Something about the annular confinement of the matter stream being out of whack, I think… :dubious: 😕 ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2015, 8:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-security-of-the-enterprises-bridge/740856/34 "2015-12-20T08:12:22Z")
Found it. [Realm of Fear](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Realm_of_Fear) ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2015, 10:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-security-of-the-enterprises-bridge/740856/35 "2015-12-20T10:23:40Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > Wasn’t there an episode in which Barclay was aware of time passing while being transported? Not in stasis, but during the normal course of transportation. Yes. And there’s Star Trek II or IV where Kirk continues talking during transport. It’s why I posit that the “convert to energy and then convert back to matter” concept is incorrect. I argue that the transporter energizes them to a different energy state, probably moving their matter somewhere in subspace. There’s only one episode that I know of that makes this interpretation difficult: the one where the crew cannot be rematerialized in the transporters, but is sent to the holodeck. Their minds and bodies are clearly separated in this situation. The ones where they produce two people are fairly easily explained by the previously shown ability to transport between dimensions. The one where two crewmembers are combined into one works as a problem bringing both people back–though it does mean they were effectively not the same people when this process was reversed. That last part is the main reason for my fanwank. Because, if they really are dematerialized and then reconstructed, then the transporters are killing one person and duplicating them. Continuity of consciousness is required, unless there is some sort of spiritual dimension that can contain one’s consciousness–something Star Trek does not seem to have. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2015, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-security-of-the-enterprises-bridge/740856/36 "2015-12-20T15:06:00Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > Continuity of consciousness is required, unless there is some sort of spiritual dimension that can contain one’s consciousness–something Star Trek does not seem to have. McCoy’s Paradox: A difference that _makes_ no difference _is_ no difference! ---
**Author:** ![Flyer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/flyer/32/7298_2.png) [@Flyer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flyer)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2015, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-security-of-the-enterprises-bridge/740856/37 "2015-12-20T15:28:37Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > The bridge crew needs to be concentrating on their jobs, especially if the ship is under attack. If the possibility of hostiles entering the bridge is even on your radar at all, then you secure against it by having Marines whose entire job is to watch the entrance. But the guards **didn’t** watch the entrance. They watched the bridge area as a whole. There are surprisingly few pictures that actually show guards around the door. This is the best one. [![](http://vignette1.wikia.nocookie.net/memoryalpha/images/2/25/ISS_Enterprise_%28NCC-1701%29_bridge.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20090703142035&path-prefix=en) ](http://vignette1.wikia.nocookie.net/memoryalpha/images/2/25/ISS_Enterprise_%28NCC-1701%29_bridge.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20090703142035&path-prefix=en) Any intruder who came through the door could certainly kill one of the guards, and likely both, before anybody realized that something was wrong. If the entrance was even off to the captain’s side (maybe opposite the ready room), far more people would be able to see at a glance that something was wrong, instead of having a phaser blast be the first indication. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2015, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-security-of-the-enterprises-bridge/740856/38 "2015-12-20T17:29:08Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > There’s only one episode that I know of that makes this interpretation difficult: the one where the crew cannot be rematerialized in the transporters, but is sent to the holodeck. My vote goes to “The Savage Curtain,” where Kirk explains to Lincoln how a matter–energy scrambler works. 😃 It just occurred to me how cool it would have been if they had referred to the device as “the scrambler” instead of “the transporter.” Even better than “the descanner” in _ **MAD Magazine** _. Imagine the fun they could have had with McCoy and “the scrambler”… :o ---
**Author:** ![Hail\_Ants](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/dc4da7/32.png) [@Hail\_Ants](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hail_Ants)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2015, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-security-of-the-enterprises-bridge/740856/39 "2015-12-21T03:27:49Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > My vote goes to “The Savage Curtain,” where Kirk explains to Lincoln how a matter–energy scrambler works. 😃 Remember that it’s all ‘plot drive’, as when Lincoln hears the music and asks where the band is, Kirk tells him it’s _“…taped”_ music\*!\* Taped?! In the 23rd century?!? ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2015, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-security-of-the-enterprises-bridge/740856/40 "2015-12-21T03:40:47Z")
Just because it’s not stored on a strip of magnetized plastic, doesn’t mean they won’t call it “tape”. I mean, we still speak of a “tape delay” in almost-live media, and watch “footage”, and “dial” our phones, and so on. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-security-of-the-enterprises-bridge/740856.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-security-of-the-enterprises-bridge/740856.md?page=3)