When TOS began, it had a rotation of various crew members perform the task of Navigator and Helmsman. After a while, the writers settled on two regular crew members, Chekov and Sulu, but we can recognize those two crew members wouldn't be able to reliably perform that duty 7x24. In a non emergency situation, how long do the TOS Navigators maintain their duty stations before being relieved? To put it another way, what is the duration of their standard shift?
asked Feb 12, 2015 at 22:57
-
3Sulu and Chekov are not both navigators when sitting in front. One is the helmsman, the other is the navigator. A shift change would replace both of them with another pair.– OldcatCommented Feb 12, 2015 at 23:39
-
1In-universe, you could argue that they seem to deliberately time conjunctions (meetings with other ships, arrival at destinations, etc) with the Alpha shift, which explains why we always see the same crew on duty.– ValorumCommented Feb 12, 2015 at 23:58
-
Yeah, Sulu was always helmsman (and usually tactical officer as well). Checkov, who wasn't on the show until season 2, was the eventual navigator/conn officer. In the extended universe books, Checkov was actually part of the crew prior to season 2. He was the night duty officer on the bridge. That's usually the excuse given as to how Checkov recognized Khan in the second movie when he wasn't part of TOS for the Space Seed episode from season 1.– BBlakeCommented Feb 13, 2015 at 18:12
Add a comment
|
2 Answers
According to the memory alpha article on Duty Shifts, typical Starfleet ships days are broken up into thirds, therefore 3-shift days.
You would therefore expect (probably) 3 different people rotating in.
-
Does the article confirm a three shift rotation on the TOS Enterprise?– ValorumCommented Feb 13, 2015 at 18:32
-
@Richard undiscovered country says kirk was on alpha shift apparently according to the article its the only reference to a shift in all of TOS. "In 2293, around stardate 9521.6, Captain James T. Kirk was on duty during the alpha shift. (Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country)"– HimarmCommented Feb 13, 2015 at 19:05
-
i have no idea where in the movie this happened, or how/why it was said, but it appears to be the only TOS-ish reference.– HimarmCommented Feb 13, 2015 at 19:08
The Star Trek TNG Technical Manual (considered a canon source of information about the Star Trek universe) has a small section about duty shifts on board Starfleet vessels:
This refers to the normal operating condition of the USS Enterprise. During Cruise Mode, ship's primary operational personnel are organized into three distinct working shifts. Each shift is assigned to duty status during one of three eight-hour work periods. Primary operations are defined as those functions that must be performed or enabled at all times. These are generally to insure the spaceworthiness of the vehicle, environmental support, propulsion systems operations, and the ability to perform primary missions.
Other support functions including secondary mission operations are not necessarily required to be maintained on a twenty-four-hour-a-day basis. Many such departments will confine themselves to one or two operational shifts to increase the interactivity among working personnel.
Navigation would be one such duty that would require manning on a 24/7 basis (other than while in spacedock) and therefore a duty shift would be expected to last around 8 hours, barring interruption. There's no obvious in-universe reason why this would be different on the TOS Enterprise.
Note that on DS9 (where the day is 26, not 24 hours) Major Kira moves the crew over to a 4-shift rotation to prevent fatigue:
Where Sisko and Kira are going over PADDS, talking station business. He seems impatient, distracted.
KIRA : ....the four-shift rotation also seems to be improving performance. Fewer mistakes due to fatigue.
-
-
1Not me, but I would assume because the question asks about TOS and you don't reason have any useful information on that except speculation. Commented Feb 13, 2015 at 16:04