Things you got "wrong"

[Robert Comsol]

As far as a sideways sliding turbolift on the bridge level, I don't believe the motion indicator ever show lateral movement when approaching or leaving the bridge. Unless it wasn't designed to do so.

We also saw, in the Enterprise Incident, about 20 vertical deck-lights go by on a trip from the bridge to deck TWO.
It's a TV show.

Yes, but that was Engineering Deck 2 in the dorsal.

The "pilot" Enterprise had the original Deck 2 under the Bridge, but the lowering of the Bridge for the regular series (VFX model) displaced what had been on this Deck 2 (WNM conference lounge?).

Since an accessible Main Deck 2 no longer existed, only Engineering Deck 2 remained, so when Spock said "Deck 2" the Computer understood he could only refer to E-Deck 2.

Also, according to my calculations / illustration in my TOS Enterprise WIP thread, the overall length would have to exceed the 1,080' figure to have a "centered" Bridge the way you suggest it, unless you lower the Bridge further to create the necessary space.

There is visual evidence that has not been mentioned yet, IIRC, from "Requiem for Methuselah".

Here we see the ship reduced in size with Terratin technology () and Kirk is approaching from the port side.

He probably knees down (not seen) but from within the ship that is the image we see: http://tos.trekcore.com/hd/albums/3x19hd/requiemformethuselahhd1157.jpg

Next, Kirk gets up.

Looks to me like the 30° offset is still a good compromise, as the footage would otherwise suggest it's even worse than we usually assume.

Bob

 

[Forbin]

^Wouldn't that scene also indicate that the viewscreen IS a window?

 

[Forbin]

And, well, if the Jupiter II can have three decks, the Enterprise can be 947 feet long and have a front-facing bridge. IMHO.

 

[Robert Comsol]

^Wouldn't that scene also indicate that the viewscreen IS a window?

Oops...you're right, that scene from "Requiem for Methuselah" probably just shows a camera angle from the port side (maybe the same one usually used for planet views on the main viewscreen?).

Frankly, I'd also love the viewscreen to face front, but when the original VFX model was built, somebody felt the urge to put this "bottleneck" between the turbo shaft and the bridge dome (i.e. a turbo lift cab in the shaft couldn't move forward because of the bottleneck).

OTOH you had this black rectangle on the bridge dome which might be a transparent window reflecting the scenery via mirrors or else onto the main viewer below.

Looks like a rotating bridge platform would be the best compromise to make everybody happy, although that would inevitably limit turbo lift use.

Bob

 

[Forbin]

Yeah, that bottleneck disturbs me too (good word to use for it, too).
In fact it doesn't even look like there's enough of a connection to the dome for the doors to be as wide as they are!

I'm as much a TrekTech-head as anybody, but I'm willing to do some hand-waving to make things work.

 

[PicardSpeedo]

I always assumed that the Enterprise-D had more than one toilet. And that the failure of a toilet aboard ship would make an excellent disaster story.

*cue mid-nineties TNG promo music*

"Next time, on Star Trek: The Next Generation, Worf is in harm's way when the pressure seal on his toilet fails catastrophically, leaving only his Klingon butt cheeks standing in the way of the ship's explosive decompression. Will Geordi win the race against the clock to save both his friend AND the Enterprise? Tune in next week to find out!"

 

[T'Girl]

In Balance of Terror, when the depleted Romulan fireball hits the Enterprise head-on, Kirk and Rand are thrown forward against the bridge railing. The railing they run into is to the right (clockwise) of the viewscreen, directly opposite of the lift doors.

Just saying.

 

[Shawnster]

I saw Wrath of Khan in the theater. Here are two things I got wrong instantly was corrected as the movie played out.

1. At the end of the Kobyashi Maru simulator test, when Kirk says "Open her up," I thought the Klingons were boarding the Enterprise and were coming through some kind of front hatch (or they were cutting their way in.)

2. When the Reliant makes it screen debut, my first thought was "did they remodel the Enterprise AGAIN?"

 

[PicardSpeedo]

When I was a kid, it took me a while to work out that the main deflector dish of the Enterprise-D was not where the main viewscreen was located...