Who can use the holodecks at their discretion? I've never seen a holodeck numbered higher than five. Lieutenant Barclay can obviously use them whenever he likes, though he got in trouble for it. Are they just for officers? Does an ensign have to surrender a holodeck if a Commander want to use it? [I'm sure there are more than 5 holodecks. Also, judging from DS9, you generally would schedule use on a holodeck. Finally, though incredibly cool to us, that's pretty routine for the TNG crew. They read, play instruments, take fighting classes, dance lessons, put on plays, do personal research projects, etc to fill their off-duty time. Getting in holodeck time might be pretty easy! We never see average crewmen using the holodecks as the stories just aren't about them. I'm sure they use them too. I imagine the only way someone has to surrender a holodeck is if the officers need it for research (like the episode where the subspace aliens were kidnapping them or Geordi turned into one of those glowing blue aliens) or when using it in conflict with accepted StarFleet conduct (as Barclay did by using the crew in his fantasies).] Answered by Grumpy Scot

Whenever anyone wants to contact someone else from another part of the ship, they hit their badge and say (for example), "Picard to Engineering." In no episode ever is there an instance where we hear somebody call someone else who is not involved in the current scene. We should assume, therefore, that when communication like this is initiated, it is only heard by the recipient of the page. So the question is, how can the ship's communication system know ahead of time who the person is paging? In other words, if Picard says, "Picard to Engineering," what keeps sickbay from hearing his call? There can't be a time-delay (i.e., the computer does not make the page until it hears the entire page, and then directs it only to the intended recipient) because in many episodes we hear the reply right away. Can anyone explain this? Are we simply "lucky," in that we only hear pages made by or sent to people in the scene we're watching? [Enterprise's computer directs the call to the aforementioned department. It is then answered by the ranking member of the department. For instance, if Engineering was contacted, and Geordi was in sickbay or off duty, the call would be answered by whoever was "officer of the watch" in Engineering. Mainly, it wouldn't do much for the show to say, "Picard to engineering", "This is engineering, go ahead." "Yes, I'd like to speak to Geordi about some more phaser power, please", "One moment, I'll transfer you."] Answered by Grumpy Scot

This actually applies to every Star Trek series but it features most prominently here: Exactly what purpose do the little dots seen moving across the bottom of every bridge main viewer serve? There's no mention of them in any technical manual or website that I've seen yet they seem to be a fairly standard feature of Federation starships from any era. [According to Micheal Okuda (technical supervisor of Trek) they are the future's version of a computer monitor's "refresh rate".] Answered by Grumpy Scot

All of the computer monitors on TNG are referred to as "LCARS." What does LCARS mean? [It is short for "Library Computer Access and Retrieval System", the ship's computer system.] Answered by Twotall

Is there a reason why all planets (except earth) have a number attached to their names? Or is that never explained? [Planets that don't actually have a specific name tend to be referred to by the name of the star which they orbit and a number indicating how far out they are - so the planet Tau Ceti IV would be the fourth planet out from the star Tau Ceti. Under this system, our planet could be referred to as Sol III, but as it has a given name, that is used instead.] Answered by Tailkinker

At the end of one episode, Picard orders the helmsman to set course for "Archer 4." What TNG episode did Picard say this in? [It's the beginning of "Yesterday's Enterprise".] Answered by Sierra1

I have a question about the cloaking technology all through the Star Trek universe. Does the cloak actually turn the ship using it invisible, or does it just hide the ship from being "seen" by other ships sensors? In other words, if a ship was cloaked and invisible to the view screen on the bridge, could someone looking out of a porthole still see the ship? [The cloaking device makes the ship invisible to other ships' sensors and to the naked eye. This was evidenced in Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home where the Klingon vessel Kirk time travels back to the 20th C. in is hidden from humans while it is in Golden Gate Park and when it hovers over the whaling vessel.] Answered by raywest

Does anyone know what is the order of replacement for the captain on the Bridge? All I know is that Riker is the first, but is it the captains choice after that. [According to rank and seniority, the chain of command is: Picard, Riker, Data, LaForge, Troi and Worf as of the series finale. Troi was added when she took command school, Tasha Yar would have been between Geordi and Worf, and Wesley or Ro Laren would have been after Worf had they not left the Enterprise.] Answered by Grumpy Scot

This has been lingering on my mind since I saw "Conspiracy." What happens if a "Captain-eyes-only" message comes in and the captain is off the ship and not easily accessible? Is the message transfered, or does the captain give his first officer permission to view the message? [It would depend on just how innaccesible the Captain was. If possible the message would be transferred. Otherwise, in the Captain's absence, the first officer would be the acting Captain and would be permitted to view the message.] Answered by Phixius

Is Jonathon Frakes actually playing the trombone in the night club scene? [Yes - he's played the instrument for many years.] Answered by Tailkinker

When Picard is preparing to use the Stargazer to attack the Enterprise, Data states that all its main systems are intact, and that only some minor damage was caused by fires during the earlier battle. If the Stargazer's in such good shape, why did Picard have to abandon it? [The Stargazer was seriously damaged in the previous battle, which is why she had to be abandoned. When the Ferengi salvaged her, they repaired the damage to the major systems in order to get her functional, but didn't bother with the minor fire damage.] Answered by Tailkinker

Can anyone tell me why Dr. Crusher was written out for all of series two? [According to the "Star Trek: The Next Generation Companion," Gates McFadden was replaced as ship's Doctor by Dr. Katherine Pulaski (Diana Muldaur) because some of the show's producers were able to convince Gene Roddenberry that the character of Dr. Crusher was not developing well. Fans began a letter-writing campaign to bring McFadden back, and at the end of the second season, Roddenberry decided to replace Dr. Pulaski, saying the chemistry just wasn't good. Rather than finding a third doctor for the Enterprise, the decision was made to ask McFadden to return, and she accepted. Roddenberry later said, "It was always our intention to leave the door open for her to return to the show."]

Even though Worf keeps jumping from parallel universe to parallel universe, he never encounters his double (i.e., the Worf from the universe he jumped into). At the end, when the Enterprise from Worf's final alternate universe contacts the "real" Enterprise, there's a Worf on the bridge with the "real" crew. Does this mean that every time Worf moved into a different reality, all the other Worfs shifted around as well? [Correct. When Worf jumps, the other Worfs jumped also. That is how the other Enterprise (the one with the same signature as the Worf the episode follows) knew what was going on.] Answered by Bruce Minnick