Battlestar Galactica also had a good idea: the bridge where they commanded battles from was deep inside the ship. Unlike in Star Trek and Star Wars where the bridge is at the front top, Battlestar’s bridge is nearly impossible to target from other ships. This is especially baffling for Star Trek because they used screens, not windows.
Star Trek is modeled after Naval warfare, “photon torpedoes”, and all. So they have a bridge, which at sea needs to be high and with wide windows to provide the greatest situational awareness and long uninterrupted lines of sight for the officers.
Star Wars is modeled after aerial warfare, thus bombers can “open the bays” to bomb another spaceship in the vacuum of orbital space (god, I hate the new trilogy so much), and spaceships have roaring sounds, and fighters need to roll to turn in space, and their wingtips leave trails in vacuum. So you mostly have cockpits, front and center, like in airplanes. Big ships also have naval influence.
BG, and other franchises like The Expanse, are more realistic that space warfare will probably be more similar to submarine combat. There really isn’t much to see in space at all, so windows are useless in a confrontation. Space is also more likely to involve such enormous distances and complex movement, like when in orbit, that really you depend on a lot of sensors and machines to visualize and keep situational awareness. Much like a submarine, that depends on instruments, sonar and a lot of strategical maneuvering to succeed, and at the same time, the most basic hull breach can mean death for the whole crew.
True. Galactica is built like a bunker that happens to be spaceworthy.
Enterprise has a bridge with a proud vantage point so that they … :: checks notes :: … don’t run aground in shallow water or plow into things when coming to port. Wait a sec…
Battlestar Galactica also had a good idea: the bridge where they commanded battles from was deep inside the ship. Unlike in Star Trek and Star Wars where the bridge is at the front top, Battlestar’s bridge is nearly impossible to target from other ships. This is especially baffling for Star Trek because they used screens, not windows.
Star Trek is modeled after Naval warfare, “photon torpedoes”, and all. So they have a bridge, which at sea needs to be high and with wide windows to provide the greatest situational awareness and long uninterrupted lines of sight for the officers.
Star Wars is modeled after aerial warfare, thus bombers can “open the bays” to bomb another spaceship in the vacuum of orbital space (god, I hate the new trilogy so much), and spaceships have roaring sounds, and fighters need to roll to turn in space, and their wingtips leave trails in vacuum. So you mostly have cockpits, front and center, like in airplanes. Big ships also have naval influence.
BG, and other franchises like The Expanse, are more realistic that space warfare will probably be more similar to submarine combat. There really isn’t much to see in space at all, so windows are useless in a confrontation. Space is also more likely to involve such enormous distances and complex movement, like when in orbit, that really you depend on a lot of sensors and machines to visualize and keep situational awareness. Much like a submarine, that depends on instruments, sonar and a lot of strategical maneuvering to succeed, and at the same time, the most basic hull breach can mean death for the whole crew.
True. Galactica is built like a bunker that happens to be spaceworthy.
Enterprise has a bridge with a proud vantage point so that they … :: checks notes :: … don’t run aground in shallow water or plow into things when coming to port. Wait a sec…