Windows?

[Grundig]

If you were on a starship for a long-term assignment, would you want lots of windows so you could look out at the stars, or not so many because of the whole Alaskan Winter syndrome?

I can see myself getting really bummed out by it being night all the time, and also by constantly being confronted with the oppressive vastness of space.

I'm curious because all the recent talk about ship design has made me realize that like 90 % of the living space inside a starship (the enterprises for example) can't have any windows. Those areas on the top of the saucer can have ceiling windows, but the rooms on the bottom mostly don't have any windows. Not to mention those rooms not exposed to the outer hull. So, is this even a bad thing?

[Tyyr]

Personally I want a window. I like night, I like space. Being out in space with no way to look out on it, no thanks.

[Sionnach Glic]

It depends a lot on just what this assignment is.

If it's to study some nebulae in the ass-end of UFP space, then sure, windows would be nice.

If it's patrolling the borders for hostile intruders, I'd rather not have glaring weak points in the hull. Just go with one dedicated observation area that has an armoured blast door cover the window during combat, like on the Galactica.

[Bryan Moore]

Some of the more recent books suggest that the windows/lighting can be changed to give the appearance of daylight. Obviously not seen in the series, but with the technology available, I'd imagine this would be easily done. A quick projection through the windows, and boom. It would slove that problem. I never much thought about the "Alaska Winter Syndrome" but I suppose that would be a bummer after a while.

[stitch626]

I'm with Rochey. It a;l depends on assignment. If I'm going to be around some pretty stuff, then I'll install the window myself. On the battlefeild, no thanks.

[Aaron]

I'd definitely want a window, even on a combat vessel. Just put a dome or an observation lounge somewhere and make it so it can be sealed off in combat. nBSG and BSG79 both had excellent takes on that.

[Grundig]

I'd rather be exploring as an astronomer or something, personally. And I'd have as transparent a ship as possible.

[Captain Picard's Hair]

I'd like to have somewhere to go where I could see outside - but the ship doesn't need to be a spacegoing crystal palace.

Now, what I'd like to know is what goes down when the big E runs into a spacegoing game of baseball and someone hits a homer into Captain Picard's quarters.

[Mikey]

A few windows would be nice, as long as they are able to be sealed and are in non-critical locations. In general, Seasonal Affect Disorder can be overcome with regular phototherapy (per University of Ohio, et. al., studies.) I think a regular diurnal lighting schedule a/o some intensive broad-specturm lighting isn't too much of a stretch for 24th-century Fed tech.

[RK_Striker_JK_5]

Yeah, an armored observation deck that can have an armored plate slide over it during an emergency would be good for me.

[Aaron]

Actually the E-refit in TMP and TWOK had what looked like a fragging pool at the bottom of the secondary hull with massive windows. That's perfect, you can swim and stargaze and if it gets blown out, well your ship just got lighter.

[Bryan Moore]

I don't see a huge problem with windows on starships. Do we have any real evidence that these are significantly weaker than the hull material? Remember this isn't a NESCOR polyvinyl house window, this is [Insert Quantum] Dura-Plasta-Transparent-Trans-Aluminum. It seams reasonable to believe the window material has a good amount of strength to avoid being blown out into splace. Do we even hear of this happening due to a fracture in a viewport?

[Mikey]

The windows may be super-strong; but one wouldn't think that they are as strong as the material of the rest of the hull. Additionally, a 10 x 10 piece of material "x" isn't as strong as a 10 x 10 piece of "x" with a hole cut out, even if the hole was filled with a different piece of "x."

[Aaron]

I don't see a huge problem with windows on starships. Do we have any real evidence that these are significantly weaker than the hull material? Remember this isn't a NESCOR polyvinyl house window, this is [Insert Quantum] Dura-Plasta-Transparent-Trans-Aluminum. It seams reasonable to believe the window material has a good amount of strength to avoid being blown out into splace. Do we even hear of this happening due to a fracture in a viewport?

Well in TOS the view ports had an armoured shutter, in...that episode with the super-crowded planet. But in all honesty, why the fuck would you aim at a tiny window? It's easier just to aim at the largest portion of the ship and fire away.

I think the only instance in the original Trek canon is a crewman flying out the busted viewscreen in NEM.

[Bryan Moore]

I don't see a huge problem with windows on starships. Do we have any real evidence that these are significantly weaker than the hull material? Remember this isn't a NESCOR polyvinyl house window, this is [Insert Quantum] Dura-Plasta-Transparent-Trans-Aluminum. It seams reasonable to believe the window material has a good amount of strength to avoid being blown out into splace. Do we even hear of this happening due to a fracture in a viewport?

Well in TOS the view ports had an armoured shutter, in...that episode with the super-crowded planet. But in all honesty, why the f**k would you aim at a tiny window? It's easier just to aim at the largest portion of the ship and fire away.

I think the only instance in the original Trek canon is a crewman flying out the busted viewscreen in NEM.

Thats what I was thinking, the Nemesis bridge scene, but the viewscreen isn't a real window on the E-E, right?