franchise-star-trek-tng-technical-manual1

• Reaction control system (RCS). Although the actualvector and sequence control of the system is normally automated,Conn has the option of manually commanding theRCS system or individual thrusters.Conn also serves as a liaison to the Engineering departmentin that he/she is responsible for monitoring propulsionsystem status and providing system status reports to the commandingofficer in the absence of an engineering officer'spresence on the bridge.FLIGHT INFORMATION INPUTThere are five standard input modes available for specificationof spacecraft flight paths. Any of these options maybe entered either by keyboard or by vocal command. In eachcase, Flight Control software will automatically determine anoptimal flight path conforming to Starfleet flight and safetyrules. Conn then has the option of executing this flight plan ormodifying any parameters to meet specific mission needs.Normal input modes include:• Destination planet or star system. Any celestialobject within the navigational database is acceptable as adestination, although the system will inform Conn in the eventthat a destination exceeds the operating range of the spacecraft.Specific facilities (such as orbital space stations) withinthe database are also acceptable destinations.• Destination sector. A sector identification number orsector common name is a valid destination. In the absence ofa specific destination within a sector, the flight path will defaultto the geometric center of the specified sector.• Spacecraft intercept. This requires Conn to specify atarget spacecraft on which a tactical sensor lock has beenestablished. This also requires Conn to specify either arelative closing speed or an intercept time so that a speed canbe determined. An absolute warp velocity can also bespecified. Navigational software will determine an optimalflight path based on specified speed and tactical projection oftarget vehicle's flight path. Several variations of this mode areavailable for use during combat situations.• Relative bearing. A flight vector can be specified asan azimuth/elevation relative to the current orientation of thespacecraft. In such cases, 000-mark-0 represents a flightvector straight ahead.• Absolute heading. A flight vector can also be specifiedas an azimuth/elevation relative to the center of the galaxy. Insuch cases, 000-mark-0 represents a flight vector from theship to the center of the galaxy.• Galactic coordinates. Standard galactic XYZ coordinatesare also acceptable as a valid input, although mostship's personnel find this cumbersome.3.4.2 Bearings are measured relative to the ship's attitude.Azimuth anglesElevation angle,Spacecraftorientation000°Spacecraftorientation.000°Object is at bearing024, mark 35Most of our control panels and displays are large photographic transparencies designed by Mike Okuda and Cari Thomas usingAdobe Illustrator, as well as conventional pen-and-ink techniques. These large sheets of film are mounted on Plexiglas sheetsand backlit with electronic "blinkies" by the Star Trek special mechanical effects department under the supervision of DickBrownfield. The result is a very clean "high tech" look to our panels. When a panel must be seen in close-up, Mike often createsanimated readouts on his Macintosh II computers using such programs as Macromind Director, Supermac's Pixel Paint, andParacomp 's Swivel 3D. The resulting graphics are directly outputted to videotape using a Raster Ops board. The visual effectsdepartment is then responsible for digitally superimposing these displays onto the control panels in postproduction.