Why the exploding consoles?

Stormbringer · Post by **Stormbringer** » 2003-01-14 09:12am

Why? What possible reason is there for the consoles seemingly lined with C4. I know it's a brain bug but I'm wondering what the in-universe reason is.

Post by **Mr Bean** » 2003-01-14 09:34am

There's high energy plasma in them thar consoles!

No one knows why but is the equivanlt of building Reactive Armor(Armor with explosives in it to lesson the blows of shots) into a screen door and then have it set to go off at anything over five pounds of pressuer per square foot(A good wind can do that)

Post by **Darth Wong** » 2003-01-14 10:06am

Imagine working in a nuclear plant where they route some of the high-pressure steam through thin-walled piping in the control room for some reason.

TheDarkling · Post by **TheDarkling** » 2003-01-14 10:07am

Those consoles are just far to over powered, in one episode Ro takes power directly from the phasers and dumps it into the engineering station - shockingly even SF has safety regs that frown on this.

Post by **Mr Bean** » 2003-01-14 10:39am

Imagine working in a nuclear plant where they route some of the high-pressure steam through thin-walled piping in the control room for some reason.

But Lord Wong! We can use that high pressure steam to heat the Desks and chairs of our loyal Crew!

THINK! FREE FOOTWARMING!

*Probably how the conversation went when they changed the plans between TOS and TNG

Jason von Evil · Post by **Jason von Evil** » 2003-01-14 10:48am

Think of the captains needs, they need a jacuzzi.

=op

Stravo · Post by **Stravo** » 2003-01-14 11:16am

The RL reason is to build tension and drama in a fight...funny thing is...TOS didn't need exloding consoles to create this tension and drama in a space battle...chalk up another fine B&B idea as utter shit.

Oberleutnant · Post by **Oberleutnant** » 2003-01-14 11:39am

Stravo wrote:The RL reason is to build tension and drama in a fight...funny thing is...TOS didn't need exloding consoles to create this tension and drama in a space battle...chalk up another fine B&B idea as utter shit.

Actually the exploding console brain dug started with the simulator battle in Wraith of Khan and TNG continued the tradition, from its first season, I think.

Sir Sirius · Post by **Sir Sirius** » 2003-01-14 12:00pm

Proudly presenting...

...the exploding console from TOS: "Where No Man Has Gone Before".

Stravo · Post by **Stravo** » 2003-01-14 12:10pm

WOW

I stand mucho corrected. I just remember Shatner and Nimoy flinging themselves around the bridge everytime they took a hit. My memory must be failing in my old age.

Jason von Evil · Post by **Jason von Evil** » 2003-01-14 01:04pm

Yes, but with an old ship like a connie, it was expected that a console would explode. I mean, Roddenberry had to splurge alittle. =op

Post by **Ghost Rider** » 2003-01-14 02:54pm

Well to add some drama...but not every console has to explode

Anyone want to count how many times the Helm exploded on the Enterprise?

Dennis Toy · Post by **Dennis Toy** » 2003-01-14 03:59pm

Actually, I believe the exploding console thing in ST actually is a science-fiction cliche, i mean i saw other Space-based sci-fi movies that had this problem, whether it was Alien, Star Wars, Event Horizon or others. IN ST i think the C-4 Explosive yield as seen in TNG didnt really begin till season 5, i saw instances where the ship was rocked like shit and the consoles didn't explode (Tin Man, Disaster, Cause and Effect) I think the explosive yield actually began in Deep Space Nine because it was meant to be a "Hard Edged" Star trek. Watch any episodes with the Defiant and you will see the explosive yield. In Voyager, that ship was notorious for exploding consoles(And it was riddles with problems, like the Warp Core always on the verge of exploding, the Computer Processor being stolen, or shuttles being destroyed)just watch episodes with battle sequences in them.

AWACS · Post by **AWACS** » 2003-01-14 06:36pm

Well, it probably comes from the idea in the scriptwriters minds that if you jam a huge overload of power (whether it be plasma or electricity) into a device, it sometimes goes up. Ever seen what a television does when the power lines feeding it get struck by lightning?

The only problem is that such things, in layman's terms described as equipment "blowing up" typically consist of a flash, a bang, and a few sparks. In the case of something with a CRT (tv/computer monitor etc.) the glass tube may implode. However, in ST for some reason this is exagerated out of all proportion, so that instead of a shower of sparks and a flash-bang, you're getting highly destructive explosive yields out of the frying equipment - sufficiently powerful to hurl grown men across the bridge.

Not to mention the fact that on a military vessel such blowouts would not happen anyway, since there is a vast quantity of circuit breakers, fuses, surge suppressors etc. to protect vulnerable electronics. For example a superspike suddenly delivered into the power grid of the USS Nimitz would NOT result in the bridge computer consoles exploding. They would be shielded from it by a bunch of safties.

Since Starfleet is a quasi-military org it's ships should by rights be so equipped to protect their computers such equipment from surges and overpressures. But they don't.

paladin · Post by **paladin** » 2003-01-14 08:07pm

Stormbringer wrote:Why? What possible reason is there for the consoles seemingly lined with C4. I know it's a brain bug but I'm wondering what the in-universe reason is.

Because having a console explode in someone's face is considered funny to SF.

Post by **Darth Wong** » 2003-01-14 08:55pm

Hang on a minute, the exploding console syndrome is common in sci-fi, but not in the sense that these consoles actually kill anyone. Consoles blew out in TOS, but all we got was a harmless shower of sparks and smoke. Nobody fell to the ground dead with a piece of console lodged in his head.

Alyeska · Post by **Alyeska** » 2003-01-14 09:12pm

ST:6 even had some nice exploding consoles, but no one was really killed. It got somewhat bad at the end of TNG, but when it took a nose dive was when the Defiant was introduced to DS9. Then Voyager just took it on a nose dive from there.

However things MIGHT have improved. In Nemesis the Enterprise did quite well in the battle and I noticed very little, if any, exploding consoles or damage of that sort.

aerius · Post by **aerius** » 2003-01-14 09:14pm

True, the TOS consoles would go up in a shower of sparks and the crewmen would get blinded a bit but that's about it. The TNG and later consoles were like fragmentation grenades, the poor crewmen would get blown out of their seats and end up with chucks of console in their heads. I notice that the TOS consoles use actual pushbuttons and switches, something must've gone seriously wrong when they switched over to the TNG style touchscreens.

Post by **Darth Wong** » 2003-01-14 09:16pm

Oh

My

God.

Something just occurred to me; you don't think the people who write Star Trek heard about a developing technology called "plasma displays" more than 10 years ago and interpreted it all wrong, do you?

Grand Admiral Thrawn · Post by **Grand Admiral Thrawn** » 2003-01-14 09:17pm

Darth Wong wrote:Hang on a minute, the exploding console syndrome is common in sci-fi, but not in the sense that these consoles actually kill anyone. Consoles blew out in TOS, but all we got was a harmless shower of sparks and smoke. Nobody fell to the ground dead with a piece of console lodged in his head.

The worst console injury in TOS was burns to Sulu's hands in "City on the Edge of Forever" IIRC.

neoolong · Post by **neoolong** » 2003-01-14 09:42pm

Darth Wong wrote:Oh

My

God.

Something just occurred to me; you don't think the people who write Star Trek heard about a developing technology called "plasma displays" more than 10 years ago and interpreted it all wrong, do you?

Given the ability of the writers for ST....

Stormbringer · Post by **Stormbringer** » 2003-01-14 09:53pm

Darth Wong wrote:Oh

My

God.

Something just occurred to me; you don't think the people who write Star Trek heard about a developing technology called "plasma displays" more than 10 years ago and interpreted it all wrong, do you?

Given that plasma seems to be one of the most volitale substances in the Trek Universe it wouldn't suprise me if that's exactly what it was.

Master of Ossus · Post by **Master of Ossus** » 2003-01-14 10:31pm

Alyeska wrote:ST:6 even had some nice exploding consoles, but no one was really killed. It got somewhat bad at the end of TNG, but when it took a nose dive was when the Defiant was introduced to DS9. Then Voyager just took it on a nose dive from there.

However things MIGHT have improved. In Nemesis the Enterprise did quite well in the battle and I noticed very little, if any, exploding consoles or damage of that sort.

Who was the first fatality caused by an exploding console? I remember Riker "died" in the alternate universe shown in "Yesterday's Enterprise," but I don't think he was the first one because that was too late in the series. Was there an earlier one?

Slartibartfast · Post by **Slartibartfast** » 2003-01-15 01:19am

Sir Sirius wrote:Proudly presenting...
http://www.ydg.com/trek5/images/caps/to ... GB_053.jpg
http://www.ydg.com/trek5/images/caps/to ... GB_054.jpg
...the exploding console from TOS: "Where No Man Has Gone Before".

Did the explosion kill anybody? It might be all sparks and burning insulation. If the explosion wasn't strong enough to kill or injure seriously a person, then it's not the same brainfart.

Real reason: TNG writers wanted a device that allowed them to kill nameless crewmembers at will, to increase drama during combat or malfunctions.
"Suspension of disbelief reason": hm, maybe during the 21st century they forgot how to make leds and other low energy instruments, so they need a huge power source and 99% is wasted on inefficiencies.

Slartibartfast · Post by **Slartibartfast** » 2003-01-15 01:28am

paladin wrote:
Stormbringer wrote:Why? What possible reason is there for the consoles seemingly lined with C4. I know it's a brain bug but I'm wondering what the in-universe reason is.
Because having a console explode in someone's face is considered funny to SF.

Hm, I think that's the most logical explanation so far

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