The two forward stations on the bridge of aGalaxy-class starship. Ops was usually on the left, with conn on the right
"I enjoy the view."
Helm (orhelm control) was aterm derived from oldEarthnavyparlance used todescribe the person either steering orcommanding asailing vessel. By the age ofspaceflight, the term was used to describe the flight control operations on board astarship orshuttlecraft, located on thebridge. (TNG: "Lonely Among Us")
Role[]
On a number of occasions whenever theCaptain left the bridge, he would tell hissecond-in-command that they had the helm.
This was the case in2254, when CaptainChristopher Pike leftNumber One in command of theUSSEnterprise, informing her, "You have the helm. Maintain present course." (TOS: "The Cage", "The Menagerie, Part I")
When the USSEnterprise was under the temporary command ofCommodoreStocker in2268, he decided to fly the ship across theRomulan Neutral Zone in a concerted effort to make it toStarbase 10 to save CaptainJames T. Kirk and hissenior staff, believing it to be the best way to save the crew in question who were suffering from premature advancedaging. Following the restoration, Kirk explained to Stocker that "there's very little aStarbase can do that a starship can't," to which Stocker replied, "If I may say so, Captain, I am now quite aware of what a starship can do with the right man at the helm." (TOS: "The Deadly Years")
In2364, on two occasions when CaptainJean-Luc Picard excused himself from the bridge of theUSSEnterprise-D, he toldData "you have the helm." (TNG: "Code of Honor", "Where No One Has Gone Before")
While speaking toWorf of the power of theEnterprise-D,KlingonrenegadeKonmel spoke of "what magnificent battles we could have at the helm of this ship." (TNG: "Heart of Glory")
Position[]
The helm was responsible for controlling the flight operations of a ship, includingwarp,impulse andthruster control. The helm was also responsible for controlling the ship during a landing sequence ordocking procedure. (VOY: "The 37's")
In the23rd century, inStarfleet, the helm was usually manned by ahelmsman. Sometime during24th century, the position became merged with thenavigator position creating a singleflight control officer orpilot (DS9: "The Passenger";VOY: "Thirty Days") position, and the station itself referred to as theconn. (TNG: "Encounter at Farpoint") Nevertheless, the term "helm" was still generally used to refer to flight control operations and the position manning it. (TNG: "The Naked Now", et al.)
Aside from piloting the ship, the helm position aboard aConstitution-class controlled thetractor beam (TOS: "Space Seed"), theviewscreen (TOS: "The Corbomite Maneuver", "The Savage Curtain"), and had ready access to the ship'schronometers. (TOS: "Tomorrow is Yesterday")
The actual helmconsole was usually positioned near the front of the ship'sbridge. On some vessels, the helm stood alone, such as aboard theNX-class,Defiant-class, orIntrepid-class. (ENT: "Broken Bow";DS9: "The Search, Part I";VOY: "Caretaker") Other Starfleet vessels had two forward positions, in which case the helm was paired with another station, such as theoperations station onGalaxy-class starships, or thetactical console onAmbassador-class starships. (TNG: "Encounter at Farpoint", "Yesterday's Enterprise")
The helm station aboard an NX-class starship had smallmonitors on which information could be displayed. In2151,Travis Mayweather used the console to display information about theTerra Nova Expedition from thehistorical archives. (ENT: "Terra Nova")
.jpg "Constitution helm station (alternate reality).jpg (165 KB)")
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