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According to this VR walkthrough of the Enterprise-D — which is amazing by the way — it appears the bridge has a top window. Is that accurate?

Praxis
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Jerry Nixon
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2 Answers2

41

Yes

There is a small window at the very top. Below, you can see the remnants of it in Star Trek: Generations, after the crash landing of the saucer section:

enter image description here

Praxis
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  • https://vignette2.wikia.nocookie.net/memoryalpha/images/b/b2/Probert_Bridge_Sketch.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20050427124721&path-prefix=en – Valorum Aug 09 '17 at 15:17
  • http://vignette4.wikia.nocookie.net/memoryalpha/images/7/74/Enterprise-D_bridge_under_construction.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20130924043838&path-prefix=en – Valorum Aug 09 '17 at 15:20
  • I guess that's supposed to be glass. It's a virtual miracle that it didn't break in one of the previous battles or adventures that the ship had. What a terrible design feature. – Ham Sandwich Aug 09 '17 at 17:39
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    @T-1000'sSon : Or transparent aluminum? – Praxis Aug 09 '17 at 17:47
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    @T-1000'sSon That begs the question why the bridge is anywhere near the outside of the ship in the first place. For maximum protection of the command staff, it should be located in the center of the saucer's mass. That's the subject of another question, though, I suppose. – Steve-O Aug 09 '17 at 19:50
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    @Steve like where the battle bridge is... I've also often wondered why an enemy just wouldn't go all guns blazing on that sun roof bit... Seems a bit like the exhaust pipe in the death star kind of thing... – Jon Clements Aug 09 '17 at 19:57
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    @Steve-O Because Starfleet is about exploration, and puts their bridge out as a display of good will – Azor Ahai -him- Aug 09 '17 at 19:59
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    @JonClements: That's what the shields are for. If they are up, a glass window or anything to hold the air in is enough. The shields will repel all attacks. If the shields are down, any enemy can cut through the ship easily, and there is not much you could do with armor. At least that is my head canon. Also explains why they don't just ram each other with shuttles (when crashes have been shown to be very destructive) - weapons and shields are both incredibly strong. – jdm Aug 09 '17 at 20:13
  • @Praxis It's very clearly supposed to be glass in the movie. – Ham Sandwich Aug 09 '17 at 20:55
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    This skylight recently caught my eye during a rewatch of Encounter at Farpoint. At about 6:30 when Q freezes that crewman, you can see it over Data's shoulder. i had never really noticed it before, they seem to conspicuously crop bridge shots just below the skylight, might just be a limitation of the space though. – Dpeif Aug 09 '17 at 21:23
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    @Steve-O It doesn't beg the question. It raises the question. "Begging the question" means assuming a particular answer to the question, aka "circular logic". – Monty Harder Aug 09 '17 at 21:57
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    @Steve-O Bridges on real world combat vessels are in the open, and yes, there is some risk of loss of command personnel. A real world example would be the loss of Admiral Norman Scott on the bridge of the USS Atlanta at the First Naval Battle of Guadalcanal to friendly fire from USS San Francisco. – Davidw Aug 09 '17 at 22:02
  • The Combat Information Center is usually somewhere else. – Davidw Aug 09 '17 at 22:04
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    @MontyHarder, the first definition of "beg the question" is "raise a question or point that has not been dealt with; invite an obvious question." The second definition is "avoid the question; evade the issue." What you describe is only the third definition: "assume the truth of an argument or proposition to be proved, without arguing it." This is SFF SE, not a formal logic class. Please clear up standard English definitions of words and idioms before applying specialized pedantry, okay? :) (Definitions are from New Oxford American Dictionary.) – Wildcard Aug 09 '17 at 23:34
  • @Dpeif That's more likely because they had lots of sound equipment up there and you don't want that on camera. – JAB Aug 10 '17 at 00:37
  • @Steve-O Why are Starfleet bridges positioned so vulnerably? - whatever the reasons, it's practically a terribly dangerous place to be. (Even if "it's not vital, you can still control the ship from engineering" whoever was previously in charge on the bridge would be gone, and maybe the new engineer-captain doesn't want to join them so would leave, or at least couldn't continue the fight without a brief pause.) – Xen2050 Aug 10 '17 at 06:13
  • @Damon: True. I'd argue even in universe it is supposed to look cool, or at least representative. – jdm Aug 10 '17 at 09:55
  • @jdm: they have the holodeck technology. They can make it look like glass and Mahagoni without making it that fragile. It would be even possible to create the impression of sitting on the outside in chairs mounted on the hull. That would be impressive. And at the same time, the human bodies could be safe in a shelter in the center of the ship. – Holger Aug 10 '17 at 10:21
  • @Steve They even show how vulnerable it is in Enterprise in the episode Twilight. Entire bridge crew is sucked into space when the bridge is attacked. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twilight_(Star_Trek:_Enterprise) and https://www.cheatsheet.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/Destroyed-bridge-of-Enterprise-1-e1468872132670.jpg – user001 Aug 11 '17 at 08:12
12

Yes, it's visible in Season 6 Episode 16

Birthright Part 1

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