Summary

• The saucer separation feature of the Enterprise-D in Star Trek: The Next Generation was primarily designed to protect civilians and non-essential personnel during dangerous situations.
• Despite its impressive visuals and useful concept, saucer separation was rarely used in TNG due to budget constraints and limited VFX technology.
• It is disappointing that TNG couldn't utilize saucer separation more frequently, as it would have been advantageous in many scenarios throughout the series.

In the first episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation, the USS Enterprise-D separates into two pieces: the saucer section and the smaller stardrive section. Despite how impressive and useful this feature would seem to be, the Enterprise rarely made use of it. The feature-length pilot episode of TNG, "Encounter at Farpoint," introduced viewers to the new Enterprise-D and its recently assigned Captain, Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart). The omnipotent being known as Q (John de Lancie) also made his first appearance in the episode, where he put Captain Picard and the crew of the Enterprise on trial for the crimes of humanity.

As the Enterprise tries to avoid Q, Captain Picard gives the order for the saucer separation while the ship remains at warp 9.6. Leaving Lt. Worf (Michael Dorn) in charge of the Enterprise bridge, Picard and the other senior officers move to the battle bridge, allowing civilians and non-essential personnel to remain on the saucer section while the drive section deals with the threat of Q. As the two halves of the ship separate, the TNG theme music plays, making the scene feel a bit overdramatic. Still, the saucer separation looks impressive, and it's interesting to see this new feature of the Enterprise so early in the premiere episode.

Star Trek TNG's Saucer Separation Is An Awesome Move

The main reason for the Enterprise-D's saucer separation was to allow civilians and other non-essential personnel to get to safety. The stardrive section of the ship contains the warp drive, as well as most of the weapons systems, making it more equipped to handle any confrontations. Whenever the Enterprise was in a particularly dangerous situation, such as in "Encounter at Farpoint," the ability to remove the families and civilians from harm's way could save countless lives. Not only does the ability to separate make logical sense for a ship as large as the Enterprise-D, but it also creates some great visuals.

Only certain starships had the ability to separate their saucer section, and it was meant to be used only in the most dangerous situations. Although Picard's Enterprise-D was the first to try the maneuver on screen, Captain Kirk (Chris Pine) performed a saucer separation with his Enterprise in J.J. Abrams' Star Trek Beyond. The ability to perform a saucer separation sets Star Trek ships apart from many other spaceships of science fiction. It was a fascinating and useful feature that the team behind TNG unfortunately was not able to use very often.

Why TNG Never Using Saucer Separation Was Always Disappointing

Despite introducing the feature in "Encounter at Farpoint," Star Trek: The Next Generation's Enterprise rarely made use of saucer separation. In fact, the move was only used three times over TNG's seven seasons and once in Star Trek Generations. This was mainly because it was difficult to accomplish. According to the Star Trek: Encyclopedia, the team behind TNG could not afford to produce the necessary footage of the separation and the separate components of the ship. Neither could they afford to rebuild the set of the battle bridge, which had been redressed to appear as other sets after the pilot. VFX technology was also limited at the time.

It's disappointing that TNG was not able to use saucer separation more often, as there were many times throughout the series when it would have come in handy. Unfortunately, restraints of the technology of the time and budget were hurdles too big to get over. Still, saucer separation was enjoyable to watch the few times it was used on Star Trek: The Next Generation.