I was 11, 12 years old. I'm 47 today, the same age Patrick Stewart was in the 80s. I'm mind blown by this. I saw him as an older man back then, very fit, but still an older guy. But hey I was in middle school. Though I thought of people in their 40s as "older" until I was mid or late 20s.
@@John-ct9zs His gray hair and posh voice gives him an older air… plus, he was supposed to be a 70 year old in TNG if I remember correctly. 70 years old doesn’t look so bad in the Star Trek Universe!
Smart by Picard. Allowing Riker to demonstrate his expertise and cool in a clutch situation to the bridge crew and win their respect right away. Also, a test of Riker to make sure his new first officer is, in fact, cool under pressure. Yeah, very smart by Picard.
Of course, if riker hadn't kept his cool they could have died. Picard's unrelenting trust in Starfleet protocol was in and by itself, incredibly risky.
Data: Who said anything about the Battle Bridge sir, I am headed to the transporter room and beaming over to the saucer section. Section 10 paragraph 5 of the Galaxy Class handbook states in the event of a catastrophe emergency the saucer section can be used as a life boat. Good luck sir, from my calculations you will need it.
One of the best things about TNG was the fact that they made the Enterprise into 2 sections. First time I saw it separate I got chillbumps. I remember when my parents bought me a model of this Enterprise, I used to separate the saucer and fly both sections around my room at night with the flashlight as my backdrop
I mean it would have been nice if they did it more than 3 times total in the whole show, but it was such a non feature I honestly forgot about it half the time.
@@markfox1545 are you talking to me? If so, I would think, being I was 8 in 1987 when this aired, getting laid and moving out of mom’s house wouldn’t be on my list of things to do at the time
@@bob1986 The saucer separation was hugely expensive in the special effects budget. ILM had to have double crews every time a separation sequence was filmed. That's why it was a rare occurrence.
Picard: "Commander Riker will dock the saucer section manually!" Riker: "Fly towards the saucer section and dock! Remember the correct angle!" Data and O'Brien: Aye, sir! *sections dock* Everyone: Wow, this guy is good!
@Scottish Football Songs went right over your head huh? He didn't do anything. He couldn't even see a computer display. The people amazed by him are the ones that actually docked the ship
@@drflaggstaff9008 were you watching something different? He gave the precise velocity & pitch angles just by sight, amended O’Brien’s course, mitigated speed & inertia, and docked. Of course they were impressed.
@@Shelsight half meter per second velocity when they are 1000 meters from the dish... yeah that'll dock up in a 3 minute video... Then he says velocity zero... inertia will do it... well if the velocity is zero... so is the inertia!
if you know anything about orbital mechanics, you'll know that you don't simply point where you want to go and increase speed to get there. of course, they don't represent this accurately in the show either, but a real life docking is very complicated. it took the entire Gemini space program to develop the basic techniques
I love the no-automation sequences, it's so fun watching them have to account for and do everything the computer would otherwise be handled by the computer. I wish there were more of them. At least DS9 had a whole no-automation episode.
@@erichanastacio9695 Not if he follows Riker's orders exactly. Meaning he won't hear Riker say "half impulse" and only do "one quarter impulse" if Riker was wrong.
@@ChibiabosWolf Except inertia matters when their velocities are at zero. Which means they aren't moving, relative to each other, which means they have no relative inertia.
Riker makes the saucer section reattach like he sits on chairs. Orders the saucer to come up from behind, go over the top, and then sink back down onto the lower half.
Can I point out that, looking at where he crosses from and to, O'Brien seems to have had the Battle Bridge - making it very likely he had command of the federation flagship for a few moments
O'Brien was just taking commands. It's a test of his command-taking skills and a test of his pilot operation skills, of course, but *not* his skills of knowing exactly how to dock the saucer section in any scenario simply by looking at the viewscreen. Riker: "Adjust pitch angle....-3 degrees" Riker's precision is down to the *degree* here simply by EYEBALLING it. His temporal precision is down to the second. Not to mention his ability to correctly communicate all this to the crew verbally at the right times and in the right ways so that they can do the job simply by following commands. Not to be disrespectful, but everyone else involved, including O'Brien, were acting as inputs to a machine. Nothing more. Yes, their ability to do that well is commendable, but it is not more important than the ability of the person behind the machine in giving the correct inputs. P.S. O'Brien was not the only person putting in inputs. Note the entire crew working under Riker's leadership. This was a test for him, their only order was to follow exact instructions.
You've determined the computer layout of a system that's hundreds of years in the future? Here, let's go scene by scene with your theory that they buttoned-pressed a lot "without being ordered to": 1:11 - First beeps. Riker just told everyone he'd be taking it in manually, as ordered. Their job at this point was to approach the saucer section. 2 beeps. 1:15 - As they approach the saucer section but still at a safe distance, they need to turn towards it more and approach it along the correct heading, getting into position where the two sections are *relatively* aligned so that Riker can take over where the automatic program would have before. 5 beeps, (the first two of which are much fainter and could be argued as indicator beeps, not input) and later at 1:19, a double beep. Up until this point, a grand total of 9 beeps in order to do everything I just said, everything an acting helmsman should be able to do without micromanagement by the First Officer. This is when Riker takes over, when the stardrive section was already approaching the saucer section at a *relatively* correct heading. Again, relatively--doing it accurately at this distance would be near impossible without computer automation, that's why Riker has to make the corrections as the stardrive section approaches: 1:23 "Velocity to 1/2 meter per second" 6 beeps. 1:33 "Adjust pitch angle, -3 degrees" 5 beeps. 1:47 "Watch your roll angle, Conn." 2 beeps. 1:59 & 2:04 Three beeps. I'm going to assume this is Data and O'Brien switching over to different control panels as they approached much closer, in preparation for the minute and specific controls needed here. 2:07 "All stations, prepare for re-connection." 4 beeps. 2:23 One beep. Likely a new control panel. 2:24 "Thrusters to station-keeping. All velocities zero. The inertia should do the job now." 6 beeps. 2:33 "Lock up...now." ZERO beeps. Clearly they forgot to add this one in in post-production; at 2:36, O'Brien looks down at his display. We'll count this as a beep. Every single beep can be accounted for. None of the button presses after Riker takes over were "button presses they weren't ordered to do".
Meaney's character in the pilot docks the Stardrive section with the Saucer and in the DS9 pilot maneuvers the Station to the mouth of the wormhole...such an honour 🎖
@@don312000 Firmly establish ? Are you serious ? Rank is a matter of record, and Rank insignia is quite visible on the uniform, especially when you consider Rank issues oftentimes involve penalties, soooo.
@@carminemurray6624 Well, in "All Good Things" in the flashback scenes set during "Encounter At Farpoint" Picard addressed the character as "Mr. O'Brien." That's pretty firm.
Been through a few navy ship evolutions, including mooring the ship (which is similar). I like the technical approach to rejoining both halves of the ship.
I really liked the battle bridge. I know it was tough for them to think of reasons to separate the ship but they could have done an episode where the ship was hijacked and crew gained control from the battle bridge or the main bridge had to be evacuated and the crew had to relocate to the battle bridge.
They didn't have access to the set all that often, as was one of the problems with the whole gimmick (the other was that the model that seperated was annoying to work with and the smaller easier filming model couldn't do it) was that the Battle Bridge set was not only used for the TOS movies (which were still filming for much of the shows early run) but was also frequently redressed for other things in the show itself.
I've always been annoyed by the fact that, the one time they DID do a story that required the bridge to be evacuated ("Brothers" in season four) they had the bridge crew go to engineering instead of to the battle bridge.
For me Picard was, of all ST captains, the most convincing one. Kirk was not a real capt, more of a buddy/friend, Cisko was fine too but Janeway was terrible. Patrick Stewart had really some authority.
The music in this scene is great! There's not that much happening on screen and yet it heightens the intensity of the operation and the grandeur of its success
In Nemesis, Riker says the first time he saw Data was in the holodeck trying to whistle, which is a scene later on in this pilot episode. He seemed to have forgotten about first meeting him during this scene.
@@-RD After the saucer reattachment as Riker informs Data in the holodeck there's some puzzles down on the planet Picard wants answered. Which leads to Riker, Data, Geordi, Troi and Tasha beaming down to the planet AFTER Riker and Troi's reunion scene on the main bridge.
I've always enjoyed the fact that in the very first episode they demonstrated the Enterprises capabilities. You got to see what she was capable of right off the bat.
Gene Roddenberry put that into the pilot to make sure they could do that in the series . That was supposed to be a feature in the original series, but they hadn't put that in the pilot it would have cost way too much to do in the series
Since the star-drive section is basically it's own full ship, the saucer could be described as just a big mission module, this one fitted with crew facilities for long voyages. Imagine other 'saucer' modules that could be installed instead. Perhaps one with more hanger bays for shuttles/fighters. Or one with more weapons systems. Etc.
Not a crazy thought. That’s pretty much what the Nebula Class various modules were for. A weapons/torpedo module, science/sensor module and I believe there was a module with extra nacelles as well as one with an extra shuttle bay.
Having a bunch of attachable front sections would be like building a bunch of half-ships which will have to stay at a dock most of the time until called upon, why not just build full ships specifically designed their purpose. The enterprise is a long-term scientific, exploratory, and diplomatic vessel, so I'm guessing its engine design is made to be a balance between efficiency for long travel, resiliency in case of damage far from port, and maneuverability in case of hostilities. Why build a massive module that will gather dust until wartime to make a subpar warship when you can just build a full warship that can throw out everything to focus on quick maneuverability in its engine design, and be able to operate at the same time as the enterprise?
But apparently Starfleet considers the saucer section the actual ship, as the salvage of the Enterprise-D from Veridan and its restoration with a spare Galaxy-class stardrive section by Geordi LaForge demonstrates.
Each ship had to have something. NCC: 1701 Fastest ship in the fleet (at its time), 1701 D: Could separate the saucer section, Defiant could cloak and had blade armor, and Voyager could land on planets.
Yes, Michael White, you're right! They all had something! NCC 1701-A, while faster and more advanced than her predecessor, was constantly falling apart. NCC 1701-B, though she had an impressive look and 2 torpedo launchers in front, had a gung-ho idiot for her first captain, who left spacedock for a trial run without a full crew or a tractor beam, and got Kirk killed. NCC 1701 C had a BOSS of a captain who sacrificed her ship kicking Romulan backside and stopping a war. NCC 1701 E was built to fight the Borg, and did a good job of it.
The original 1701 (and models A, B & C) also had saucer sections which could separate. But they could not reattach to stardrives on their own. Both sections had to fly to a Starbase for that.
Sections out of alignment, doesn't connect properly. Picard "Will, what the hell are you doing !?!" Riker "Will? My name is Thomas. I've never done this before, I've been on a marooned on a Space Station for the last 8 years."
I don't get why Data and O'brien look impressed after the manual docking. They were the ones at the controls who actually docked the ships. Riker's most important contribution was to make an announcement to the rest of the crew.
Sulu would have done the job himself. Reversed the saucer with one hand on the wheel and the other demonstrating some sweet ass fencing moves... How else do you think he was promoted to captain?
Obrien wears the rank of an ensign, but later we learn he was formerly a soldier and on DS9 he was an enlisted man, not a commissioned officer. Even Wesley Crusher gets and acting ensign commission.
I think the writers were impressed with Colm Meany's acting ability, and the flexibility was there in the episodic nature of Season 1 to allow for intentional gaps in continuity.
I would love to see them two more episodes in the Battle Bridge every time they had a serious problem they would always transfer everything to engineering
There was no real cost issue, because all of the footage for doing it is stock footage. The problem was coming up with story reasons that didn't seem stupid.
During the war they didn't have nearly as much crew on board, so the saucer was likely unstaffed. That said, the saucer DOES have additional phaser arrays, which would of boosted the firepower, and a mostly empty saucer would work well as a 'bullet sponge'. Doesn't help when the Dominion's drug addicts decide to just ram the thing, but the logic is there.
@@OpenMawProductions Well, yes. In reality, the Galaxy class starship shouldn't ever need to separate. As for story reasons... there are many plausible reasons why it would need to do so. A planet on the Federation/Klingon border needs medical aid - ok, the saucer section docks with a station to deliver the supplies, whilst the stardrive section does patrol duty. Diplomats need transport to some location, but a convoy of ships also needs escorting to some location near the Romulan border. Fine, the saucer section can be used for the diplomats, and the stardrive section plays 'escort' for the convoy. Both sections are perfectly capable of defending, but the stardrive section is better suited to 'combat' roles. I think TNG lost much in trying to have everything done 'by the book'. Too many rules and regulations, there was simply no room for imagination?
Even today, piloting 'manually' with 'no automation' doesn't mean no electronic readings or cues for visual operations. Transposing modern methods to future fiction can be erroneous I know (TOS), but logic dictates a human would still be looking at readings to instruct such a maneuver - at least the same readings his helmsman is seeing. Not just eyeballing a screen
Basically they have to tell the commands that the computer usually does automatically when performing reattachment. No different than landing a jet on an aircraft carrier back in the old days.
0:52-1:00 When Riker said "As ordered." thats his way of saying "Look. I don't like it either, but I have orders, so if we mess this up know it wasn’t because I wanted to show off."
Riker: dang it I hate driving manual. Years later, in the Briar Patch: what the hell, it's not like I am crashing the saucer section into a planet or anything. Gimme the joystick of doom.
With a computer with a voice like Majel Barrett why is that surprising in the future ? When I had My first advanced computer I was wowed at the music 🎶 I could access on the Internet and how it sounded with a digital sound system.
Something I would do on the Holodeck. "Position the ship in front of the saucer rear haul. Ahead thrusters on ahead full, Data lock phasers on target and fire when I give the word."
Early Data seems so out of character with all these reaction shots and his pointless dialogue. In a later season, Data would have communicated his concerns. Instead of saying "you say you will be doing this manually?" As if he is having trouble believing it, he would say something like "Commander, I advise against performing a manual reattachment of the saucer section."
After Data's question to Riker about doing the docking manually I still can't get over that little head jerk he does before he goes over to his station.
Just docking a very large boat at a marina is scary to me. Manual saucer re-connect ? Gives me chills to even think about it, I expect full telemetry data in real time, and view screen markers and cross hairs to indicate you are on target, all zero indicators and velocity, a Manual docking is an unwarranted risk.
Crew morale and trust in the command chain is so important on these ships that are so far away and in an ocean of the vacuum of space just as it was in the age of sail and early age of steam.
The writers are treating the crew as rank amateurs where they are tried and tested space pilots and operatives. The tension is there but you know that it will end well.
I think that Picard ordering Riker to do it sucks the drama out of the scene. Because it's just routine. If it came up more organically in the story, when Riker has to do something heroic such as manually docking the two sections, despite all the odds. Then you show how calm under pressure he is, and how skilled he is as a pilot. Rather than Picard just doing it because....well, because the Script Gods ordered him to do it.
To those not getting it... Velocity to ZERO.... Means No ferther output from engines or thrusters.... It does not mean no further movement FORWARD...... That's what inertia is for.
i like how Picard ignores the crap out of Riker when he walks in. Never understood why they had Data and Geordi laying in beds while they piloted the ship.
Why do I have an overwhelming urge to think of the "dock departure" scene in "Galaxy Quest". "I don't believe it - you broke the bl**dy ship!" What an excellent historical document.
