# What’s the point of the transporter room in \*Star Trek\*? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** star-trek-paramount\ **Created:** [April 13, 2024, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-the-point-of-the-transporter-room-in-star-trek/1000238 "2024-04-13T18:30:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**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:** [April 16, 2024, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-the-point-of-the-transporter-room-in-star-trek/1000238/41 "2024-04-16T01:53:06Z")
> [@Quimby](#): > > In the TOS era (at least until Strange New Worlds retconed it). You could only beam to or from the transporter room (or cargo bay which presumably had its own transporter). Not quite true. I remembered it being used at least once, and Memory Alpha backs me up. In “A Piece of the Action,” Scotty directly transports one of the mob bosses from their office to another one, and then all the rest have been beamed in in the next scene. And if the movies still count as TOS era, then Scotty used the transporters on the Bird of Prey to beam the crew at the hospital to just outside the ship in Star Trek IV. That said, we can fanwank it with it being easier on the Bird of Prey, and assume the mob bosses did briefly stop on the transporter pads but didn’t notice. In the regular series (before the movies), transporters did freeze you in time when transporting. (This was due to how the effects worked.) And @Chronos is apparently right about how they supposedly pull it off in TNG. According to Memory Alpha, they are dematerialized, taken to the transporter buffer, but then they send another beam to rematerialize them elsewhere, rather than on the pads. It does seem to be an extra step that is less efficient. > **[Site-to-site transport](https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Site-to-site_transport)** > > A site-to-site transport was a special type of transport in which an object or person was transported from one site directly to another, neither site being a transporter platform. A site-to-site transport was accomplished by first transferring the... ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2024, 5:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-the-point-of-the-transporter-room-in-star-trek/1000238/42 "2024-04-16T05:27:18Z")
> [@markn\_1](#): > > I’ve never understood why materializing inside a bulkhead was considered a danger, but materializing in the air was not. How do they avoid gas embolisms every time they transport? When someone beamed down from the transporter room, their sudden absence would leave an area of vacuum. The air rushing into that space would lead to a sudden pressure decrease noticeable to anyone still in the room, but no one ever mentions that effect. It seems likely to me that as a person beams down, an equivalent volume of air beams up, solving both problems at the same time. > [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](#): > > Realistically, almost none of the crew are needed for ship operations (except the engineering staff, and that is just because of the inexplicable lack of robots). Oh please; we have better things to do. ---
**Author:** ![phs3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8491ac/32.png) [@phs3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phs3)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2024, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-the-point-of-the-transporter-room-in-star-trek/1000238/43 "2024-04-29T14:42:41Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > When someone beamed down from the transporter room, their sudden absence would leave an area of vacuum. I always assumed it swapped places with the contents of the target location. So a wee bit of planet air would appear in the Transporter Room. Which might be another reason for a special room–in case you pulled someone out of a hostile environment and wanted to contain it. Nobody has so far mentioned the main point of the Transporter, which avoided every episode starting with them having to “drive” down to the planet’s surface. From a story-telling perspective, that’s a brilliant innovation! Oops, sorry Robot\_Arm, I somehow missed you saying the same thing about swapping places! It’s Monday. ---
**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:** [April 29, 2024, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-the-point-of-the-transporter-room-in-star-trek/1000238/44 "2024-04-29T16:28:32Z")
> [@phs3](#): > > I always assumed it swapped places with the contents of the target location. So a wee bit of planet air would appear in the Transporter Room. Which might be another reason for a special room–in case you pulled someone out of a hostile environment and wanted to contain it. > > Nobody has so far mentioned the main point of the Transporter, which avoided every episode starting with them having to “drive” down to the planet’s surface. From a story-telling perspective, that’s a brilliant innovation! Except there is no special security in the transporter room. It’s a basic set of sliding doors with an obvious gap at the bottom, and anybody can walk in or out at will. There is also no indication that material is beamed up from the planet or wherever someone is being transported. In The main point of the transporter was that the production didn’t have a budget to build a full-size shuttle prop, shuttlebay set, or perform FX work for a shuttle flight, so they came up with a gadget which just required some simple animation and a sound effect. There was clearly no thought put into this in terms of details of how it physically functioned, nor all of the plot complications that would arise in this show (and the then-uncontemplated franchise of related shows, films, novels, comics) from such a magical technology. Stranger ---
**Author:** ![mozchron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c2a13f/32.png) [@mozchron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mozchron)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2024, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-the-point-of-the-transporter-room-in-star-trek/1000238/45 "2024-04-29T17:07:28Z")
I always assumed that you died in the transporter beam and the tech built an exact copy of you at the destination. ---
**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:** [April 29, 2024, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-the-point-of-the-transporter-room-in-star-trek/1000238/46 "2024-04-29T18:30:14Z")
Known as **McCoy’s Paradox** : “A difference that _makes_ no difference _is_ no difference.” Coined in James Blish’s original novel _ **Spock Must Die** _. Strange because it’s actually uttered by Scotty in response to McCoy’s observation that “The first time we put someone through the Transporter, we’re committing murder.” In “Day of the Dove,” Spock affirms that intraship beaming is indeed possible “but is rarely done because of the pinpoint accuracy required.” You could easily find yourself materialized inside a bulkhead. I’ve always thought it interesting that there was a receiving booth in Mr Lurry’s office in “The Trouble with Tribbles.” I wonder if they used that for intrastation beaming on board K-7. ---
**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:** [April 29, 2024, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-the-point-of-the-transporter-room-in-star-trek/1000238/47 "2024-04-29T18:46:06Z")
In addition, using the ship or a shuttle to transport crew to a planet’s surface would have taken much too long while stretching the budget. The Transporter was conceived as a way to get in and out of stories quickly at minimal cost. Never mind that the _Enterprise_ was designed to operate in space only. Interesting that _Voyager_ was capable of landing on a planet, though. And that the time needed to land and retrieve shuttlecraft didn’t matter when it came to NX-1. ---
**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:** [April 29, 2024, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-the-point-of-the-transporter-room-in-star-trek/1000238/48 "2024-04-29T18:47:12Z")
> [@mozchron](#): > > I always assumed that you died in the transporter beam and the tech built an exact copy of you at the destination. It is much worse than that; you are discorporeated atom by atom, conscious of the blood and intracellular fluids gushing out while still somehow being conscious of the entire experience. Fortunately, the copy at the other end of the transport has no memory of this, and instead is provided with constructed memories of a pleasant journey, except for the time Chief O’Brien inserted a program with cthuloid worms latching onto people being transported to get back at Barkley for hitting on his wife. > [@terentii](#): > > You could easily find yourself materialized inside a bulkhead. And yet, somehow people being transported down to a planet don’t find themselves stuck half in a foam boulder or falling because they arrived several centimeters above the surface, notwithstanding the energy that would be release if one solid material were to be transported interspaced with another. So, somehow these things have a precision that can be measured on the range of micrometers or better across many thousands of kilometers. Stranger ---
**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:** [April 29, 2024, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-the-point-of-the-transporter-room-in-star-trek/1000238/49 "2024-04-29T18:50:39Z")
They were really lucky every time they beamed into a cave or a tunnel underground. Materializing inside solid rock would ruin your whole day. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2024, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-the-point-of-the-transporter-room-in-star-trek/1000238/50 "2024-04-29T18:50:54Z")
I thought the transporter room was a security feature? You wouldn’t want people randomly beaming on and off the ship. The transporter room is the gate. Apparently they can allow beaming onto the bridge or a different deck. But it probably requires changing the security shields. ---
**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:** [April 29, 2024, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-the-point-of-the-transporter-room-in-star-trek/1000238/51 "2024-04-29T18:53:41Z")
Deflectors should have been able to stop intruders from beaming onto or off of a ship. Unless, of course, the story demanded otherwise, like in “A Taste of Armageddon” and “The _Enterprise_ Incident.” ---
**Author:** ![Dorjan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dorjan/32/12440_2.png) [@Dorjan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dorjan)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2024, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-the-point-of-the-transporter-room-in-star-trek/1000238/52 "2024-04-29T18:56:34Z")
> [@engineer\_comp\_geek](#): > > thinks that sound waves are somehow superior to a solid piece of metal when installing and removing screws. Well you’ll never strip a screw with sound! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2024, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-the-point-of-the-transporter-room-in-star-trek/1000238/53 "2024-04-29T21:41:11Z")
> [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](#): > > The main point of the transporter was that the production didn’t have a budget to build a full-size shuttle prop, shuttlebay set, or perform FX work for a shuttle flight, so they came up with a gadget which just required some simple animation and a sound effect. There was clearly no thought put into this in terms of details of how it physically functioned, nor all of the plot complications that would arise in this show (and the then-uncontemplated franchise of related shows, films, novels, comics) from such a magical technology. That may have been the original impetus for creating the transporter, but it didn’t take long for it to become a plot point on its own. It was only the fifth episode when a transporter malfunction split Kirk into his good and evil parts. ---
**Author:** ![zimaane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a3d4f5/32.png) [@zimaane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zimaane)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2024, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-the-point-of-the-transporter-room-in-star-trek/1000238/54 "2024-04-29T21:59:48Z")
I think that this was mentioned in the Cloud Minders, and maybe some other episodes. Special care was taken when beaming underground. ---
**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:** [April 29, 2024, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-the-point-of-the-transporter-room-in-star-trek/1000238/55 "2024-04-29T22:18:21Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > That may have been the original impetus for creating the transporter, but it didn’t take long for it to become a plot point on its own. It was only the fifth episode when a transporter malfunction split Kirk into his good and evil parts. And how exactly does that work? How does it produce two bodies from one, or create a functioning brain in each that lacks some metaphorical component of psychology, or somehow ‘reintegrate’ them back together in the end? For the original _Star Trek_ series it is fine because there was very little attempt at continuity (especially in the first season) or offering even minimal technobabble explanations for their technology, and of course many of the stories were as blatantly metaphorical as _The Twilight Zone_, but once you start trying to come up with a mechanism that has any degree of plausibility it falls completely apart, not to mention the complications of having to regularly come up with _ad hoc_ limitations to explain why a transporter can’t fix most of your plot conflicts. Stranger ---
**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:** [April 29, 2024, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-the-point-of-the-transporter-room-in-star-trek/1000238/56 "2024-04-29T22:21:12Z")
In “Return to Tomorrow,” it was okay because Sargon “fixed” everything for them in advance. ---
**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:** [April 29, 2024, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-the-point-of-the-transporter-room-in-star-trek/1000238/57 "2024-04-29T22:23:22Z")
“Plausibility”? You want “plausibility”? _Really?!?_🤣 ---
**Author:** ![abcdefghij](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/43a26b/32.png) [@abcdefghij](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/abcdefghij)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2024, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-the-point-of-the-transporter-room-in-star-trek/1000238/58 "2024-04-29T22:33:49Z")
> [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](#): > > How does it produce two bodies from one, or create a functioning brain in each that lacks some metaphorical component of psychology, or somehow ‘reintegrate’ them back together in the end? Brain and brain. What is brain? ---
**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:** [April 29, 2024, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-the-point-of-the-transporter-room-in-star-trek/1000238/59 "2024-04-29T22:35:19Z")
When the writers go to such lengths to ‘explain’ the technology and use it to resolve the plot complications, then yes, I think they also need to have a degree of consistency. This is why it generally doesn’t make sense to explain how an advanced technology works in science fiction; it is better to just treat it like something that the people using it don’t understand any more than the average person can explain how a smartphone works. Stranger ---
**Author:** ![RitterSport](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rittersport/32/6326_2.png) [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2024, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-the-point-of-the-transporter-room-in-star-trek/1000238/60 "2024-04-29T22:40:46Z")
> [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](#): > > than the average person can explain how a smartphone works. I unlock the phone and make calls or text people or play games. I know how it works. LMK if you need a lesson or something. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-the-point-of-the-transporter-room-in-star-trek/1000238.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-the-point-of-the-transporter-room-in-star-trek/1000238.md?page=4)