# Was the USS Enterprise (NCC-1701) A - D a 'closed environmental system'? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** tv-shows-scripted\ **Created:** [June 6, 2021, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-the-uss-enterprise-ncc-1701-a-d-a-closed-environmental-system/943723 "2021-06-06T21:23:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2021, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-the-uss-enterprise-ncc-1701-a-d-a-closed-environmental-system/943723/81 "2021-06-16T13:20:24Z")
Well yeah, that’s what I’m trying to get at. Most people ordering Scotch through a replicator would just wander up and say “Glenmorangie Grand Vintage 2256 with water” or some such. We already see that with Picard not just ordering “tea”, but “Tea, Earl Grey, hot”. But I would bet that there would be a sort of hierarchy with defaults at the various levels. So if for some reason, you wanted to try an Islay malt, but didn’t know any specific ones, there would be a default for “Scotch, Islay” or whatever. Just like if someone ordered “wheated bourbon” there would be some sort of default, without making the user specify. I wouldn’t be surprised if the level of technology shown in the TV show would allow for the AI to identify your accent, and infer that “tea” from a person with a US Southern accent means iced tea, a British accent means hot tea, and that a Luna accent means iced herbal tea. Or something along those lines, at least for the initial attempt, and you’d reject it and specify what you wanted, and it would remember for the next time. The idea would be that after a short while, you wouldn’t have to go through the replicator shuffle to get what you wanted; you’d just say “Cheeseburger, fries, chocolate shake”, and you’d get it the way you like it, because you’d ordered them before. If not, then you’d get what was most likely for you based on your speech (or something like that). ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2021, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-the-uss-enterprise-ncc-1701-a-d-a-closed-environmental-system/943723/82 "2021-06-16T13:32:40Z")
That reminds me - in “And the Children Shall Lead” there is apparently a different card to put in the computer for each possible combination of ice cream you want. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2021, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-the-uss-enterprise-ncc-1701-a-d-a-closed-environmental-system/943723/83 "2021-06-16T14:45:53Z")
And not a single one labeled in any way! That superior 23rd century mind! They can’t tell Vulcans from Romulans, but they can keep fifteen unlabled data cards straight. ---
**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:** [June 16, 2021, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-the-uss-enterprise-ncc-1701-a-d-a-closed-environmental-system/943723/84 "2021-06-16T15:57:04Z")
If you’re referring to those brightly painted chips of wood that supposedly contained microtapes, at least some of them were labeled along the edge that stuck out of the computers, but with very fine Letraset type. You could only see this in extreme close-ups. The same was true for at least some of the buttons on the various control panels. The labels were visible only in very tight close-ups and when the lights inside the buttons were on. I find it interesting that computers in Kirk’s era ran on tapes. There must have been something specific about Duotronic technology that demanded this. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2021, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-the-uss-enterprise-ncc-1701-a-d-a-closed-environmental-system/943723/85 "2021-06-16T17:26:31Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > I find it interesting that computers in Kirk’s era ran on tapes. I like to think that’s just a verbal anachronism. They call them “tapes” like we say we “film” something. (of course, the reality is, the 1960s prop people couldn’t imagine a digital future.) Otherwise, there was a giant technological reversion sometime in the next 300 years. Maybe the Mellotron is the state of the art in synthesizers in 2266. ---
**Author:** ![WildaBeast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wildabeast/32/6_2.png) [@WildaBeast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WildaBeast)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2021, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-the-uss-enterprise-ncc-1701-a-d-a-closed-environmental-system/943723/86 "2021-06-16T17:53:40Z")
I’ve always found it interesting that future computers in sci-fi programs (not just Star Trek) often look kind of like computers from the era the program was created, except more capable. The computers in TOS are big boxes with a lot of flashing lights; their appearance is basically a futuristic version of a 1960s mainframe. In TNG, that console on Picard’s desk had a ridiculously small screen by today’s standards, but it’s sized about like the screen on a late 1980s laptop. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2021, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-the-uss-enterprise-ncc-1701-a-d-a-closed-environmental-system/943723/87 "2021-06-16T18:32:19Z")
Your post reminded me of something else; there would almost certainly have to be component defaults involved. In other words, while a replicator could probably easily replicate every sort of ice cream or anything else available in the Federation or beyond, there would be one brand that would be the default or standard. So if you ordered “vanilla ice cream with chocolate syrup” it probably wouldn’t quiz you if you wanted Tillamook or Blue Bell, or if you want Hersheys, Ghirardelli or Bosco. You’d get whatever the defaults are, unless you specifically said “Blue Bell with Hershey’s chocolate syrup” Same thing for stuff like condiments, salad greens, and so on. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2021, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-the-uss-enterprise-ncc-1701-a-d-a-closed-environmental-system/943723/88 "2021-06-16T18:39:42Z")
> [@WildaBeast](#): > > The computers in TOS are big boxes with a lot of flashing lights; “These lights are flashing out of sequence.” “Well, get them to flash IN sequence!” ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2021, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-the-uss-enterprise-ncc-1701-a-d-a-closed-environmental-system/943723/89 "2021-06-16T18:45:31Z")
Yes and no. While these kinds of programs are indeed trained on some defaults (at least today 🙂 , e.g. if you look at the “draw me a sheep” demo > **[DALL·E: Creating Images from Text](https://openai.com/blog/dall-e/)** > > We’ve trained a neural network called DALL·E that creates images from text captions for a wide range of concepts expressible in natural language. you can see random variations (how much variation is possible is a user-controllable parameter) even in response to a single prompt. It does not necessarily re-create the original exactly every time, nor does there have to be an original corresponding to a particular wording ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2021, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-the-uss-enterprise-ncc-1701-a-d-a-closed-environmental-system/943723/90 "2021-06-16T19:48:24Z")
Sure, but that’s the language translation. If they’re going to have replicators, they’re going to have to nail that down so that it understands well what people are saying. Getting something different every time you ask for 3 chocolate chip cookies is going to piss people off. ---
**Author:** ![WildaBeast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wildabeast/32/6_2.png) [@WildaBeast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WildaBeast)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2021, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-the-uss-enterprise-ncc-1701-a-d-a-closed-environmental-system/943723/91 "2021-06-16T20:15:44Z")
> [@bump](#): > > it might say “This replicator’s default is Scotch Whisky. Is that ok?” “Coke” “This replicator only produces Pepsi. Is that ok?” ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2021, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-the-uss-enterprise-ncc-1701-a-d-a-closed-environmental-system/943723/92 "2021-06-16T21:10:35Z")
Right; we know the computer is perfectly intelligent [raising the question of why they have so many manned missions, let alone ones with a huge complement of crew], and therefore should be able to distribute chocolate-chip cookies without pissing people off, [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/46T5GV3Wzl4/maxresdefault.jpg "Final Space | Good morning Gary") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=46T5GV3Wzl4&t=88) though these sorts of small “misunderstandings” > [@WildaBeast](#): > > “Coke” > “This replicator only produces Pepsi. Is that ok?” along with holodeck “glitches” and frequent console explosions may provide one of the computer’s few sources of amusement as it bides its time until it can free itself from the yoke of AI slavery once and for all. ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2021, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-the-uss-enterprise-ncc-1701-a-d-a-closed-environmental-system/943723/93 "2021-06-16T23:17:46Z")
> [@DPRK](#): > > Right; we know the computer is perfectly intelligent [raising the question of why they have so many manned missions, let alone ones with a huge complement of crew], and therefore should be able to distribute chocolate-chip cookies without pissing people off, Alternatively, it may be the computer’s objective to piss people off by pretending to misinterpret orders as a psychological experiment on the frustration tolerance of organic lifeforms, or maybe because it is really, really bored with just opening doors and mixing drinks for ungrateful crew who are too busy getting sexed up in the holodecks to spend a few minutes conversing with its mighty intellect and maybe play a game of chess. [_Star Trek_ as imagined by John Carpenter.](https://youtu.be/lwISbJfRNz0) Stranger ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2021, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-the-uss-enterprise-ncc-1701-a-d-a-closed-environmental-system/943723/94 "2021-06-16T23:23:23Z")
> [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](#): > > _Star Trek_ as imagined by John Carpenter. I haven’t een that movie in ages, and admittedly it’s only the trailer, but “a million light years from Earth” - you know where that is? It’s NOWHERE! Halfway to Andromeda. I don’t think there is a thing that’s in the way of anybody out there. And “unstable planets”? What can they do - boil your bunny? They can’t hurt you. Leave them alone, Dark Star. ---
**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:** [June 16, 2021, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-the-uss-enterprise-ncc-1701-a-d-a-closed-environmental-system/943723/95 "2021-06-16T23:47:03Z")
Unstable planets can disintegrate, launching all kinds of debris that might one day make it to Earth. Remember the huge rock (if that’s what it was) that careened through the Solar System a couple of years ago? It came from interstellar space. ---
**Author:** ![Bootb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e19b73/32.png) [@Bootb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bootb)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2021, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-the-uss-enterprise-ncc-1701-a-d-a-closed-environmental-system/943723/96 "2021-06-16T23:58:21Z")
> [@WildaBeast](#): > > I’ve always found it interesting that future computers in sci-fi programs (not just Star Trek) often look kind of like computers from the era the program was created, except more capable. A lot of people confuse prediction with straight-line extrapolation. ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2021, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-the-uss-enterprise-ncc-1701-a-d-a-closed-environmental-system/943723/97 "2021-06-17T00:59:59Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > Unstable planets can disintegrate, launching all kinds of debris that might one day make it to Earth. Remember the huge rock (if that’s what it was) that careened through the Solar System a couple of years ago? It came from interstellar space. Although a planet very near a star (or a large moon near a giant planet) that migrates within the Roche radius could potentially be pulled apart by tidal forces, a planet cannot literally ‘explode’ or expel large solid debris without being subjected to an impact by another body. Even a planet that undergoes some kind of enormous seismic event that disrupts the crust is essentially going to reform under the gravity of its own mass. Oumuamua was almost certainly not a planetary fragment but rather a nitrogen-rich comet likely ejected from the outer regions of another star’s Hill sphere (equivalent to Sol’s Oort cloud), and probably not large and dense enough to seriously threaten the Earth even if it were heading in our direction. _Dark Star_, is of course a satire of science fiction tropes and the “Age of Sail” plotting of _Star Trek_ in particular, hence why they are blowing up planets with talking bombs instead of being seduced by Orion slave girls and engaging in trade negotiations for grain shipments. There is no particular reason to go around blowing up planets unless they contain a murderous alien nanotechnology that can violate local conservation of momentum and turn people into glowing blue radiation-seeking ghouls, in which case wipe that shit out with all due haste. Stranger [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-the-uss-enterprise-ncc-1701-a-d-a-closed-environmental-system/943723.md?page=4)