Following up on Why are quarters on the Enterprise-D so spacious?,
What about officers below Lieutenant who have families?
asked Jan 6, 2015 at 19:33
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3Cargo bays. Or transporter buffers.– OmegacronCommented Jan 6, 2015 at 19:37
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I was under the impression that officers below Lieutenant aren't allowed to have their families on board.– ValorumCommented Jan 6, 2015 at 19:40
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1Cargo bays would be fine until they try to make their own booze!– GhanimaCommented Jan 6, 2015 at 19:40
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@Richard unless you are Chief O'Brien– Jack B NimbleCommented Jan 6, 2015 at 19:51
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2@JackBNimble - Ah, but he met his wife (an existing civilian consultant) on board the Enterprise. It's hardly fair to kick them off just because she got pregnant.– ValorumCommented Jan 6, 2015 at 20:03
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1 Answer
As far as I know, "The Lower Decks" is one of the few times we see junior officer quarters of any kind, and have it confirmed that, at least on a Galaxy Class ship, they have to share quarters. To my knowledge, we never see a junior officer with a family, and so there cannot be a canonical answer to the question.
That said, I can think of two equally plausible alternatives:
- Instead of bunking with another junior officer/noncom, they room with their family, but in the same space.
- Junior/noncoms who aren't married to a more senior officer or a civilian consultant (e.g. Keiko) can't have their family aboard.
The former makes sense in the context of the originally intended "mission" for the Enterprise-D, which was long-range exploration with only rare contact with home. This conception of the Enterprise was almost-but-not-quite a generation ship and was one of the major reasons for families being included at all.
The latter makes more sense in the context of the way the series actually played out, where the Enterprise-D was in regular touch with Star Fleet and often put in to Federation worlds and bases, meaning that junior officers could visit their families on leave, and also eventually get promoted and bring their families on-board later.
answered Jan 6, 2015 at 20:29
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1We do see Ensign Daniel Sutter with his daughter Clara in the TNG episode "Imaginary Friend". Their quarters seem to be as spacious as the senior officers. Maybe it's as simple as, if you have family with you, you get family quarters. Commented Jan 6, 2015 at 22:42
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2I suspect honestly that was just a case of, "Well...we already have the set up..." :-D Commented Jan 6, 2015 at 23:30
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It may have something to do with the ship's size. In TNG Ep. 6x24 Second Chances, Thomas Riker makes a reference to some time frame after which he could bring family aboard. Then again, there's some contradictory information about what class the U.S.S. Ghandi was.– T.J.L.Commented Dec 11, 2015 at 16:00