Situation room
The situation room was a small section located on A-Deck of some  starships in the 22nd century. () On those craft that included a situation room, it was situated at the rear of the bridge. The room was designed for officers to discuss mission details. As such, it was a precursor to the briefing room aboard Federation vessels, where senior officers could hold discussions on subjects such as the progress of a mission. (, et al.) When it was not used for briefings, the situation room was often manned by several crewmembers. ()

Layout

The situation room was marked by several computer displays and stations (including the environmental controls), with the monitors projecting status displays, and a small table. A table graphic was displayed on the table, and a plasma screen was used as a back wall monitor in the room. (, et al.) The monitors in the situation room could be turned off remotely, from the science station. ()

The situation room was additionally accessible through a door located on the port bulkhead, through which there was an entryway equipped with an intercom. () This area was easily accessible from the command center. () Forward of the door on the port bulkhead was the ship's environment station, with a hand hold on either side. ()

Variations
In the mirror universe, the NX-class  did not have a situation room, but a wall and a bank of computer monitors in its place. () NX-class starships that did have a situation room include , , and, in the mirror universe, the . ()

While Captain Archer visited Columbia in 2154, a worker wearing a faceplate was welding the central support column of the situation room's table onto the deck, and the bulkheads were hidden behind plastic drapes. ()

In 2155 of the mirror universe, the situation room of the aforementioned ISS Enterprise was almost identical to the equivalent rooms of the prime reality, although the port-side door was emblazoned with the emblem of the Terran Empire. ()

History of a situation room 

In 2151, Hoshi Sato and  communicated with the landing party on the surface of Terra Nova from within the situation room. They displayed a map of the tunnel and cave system used by the Novans on the table. Later, Captain Archer had Nadet and Jamin be brought to the situation room where he performed another attempt to suggest a move of the Novans to a different continent on their planet due to the radiation debris on their hemisphere. ()

In June of 2151, Lieutenant Malcolm Reed and Ensign Hoshi Sato argued about further actions over the table in the situation room until Travis Mayweather joined the situation. They haven't heard anything from the landing party which transported down to the monastery at P'Jem. ()

In July of 2151, the senior officers had a morning briefing in the situation room regarding phenomena worth taking a closer look. T'Pol suggested a J'ral class supernova and a cluster of three neutron stars while  was more interested in a Minshara-class planet with about five hundred million life signs. ()

In August of 2151, the senior officers had a briefing about the  and its attack by the Nausicaans after Captain Archer received instructions from Admiral Maxwell Forrest. Travis Mayweather told the other officers about life aboard an Earth Cargo Service freighter and its technical specifications. ()

In October 2151, the situation room on Enterprise was visited by Vulcan Captain Sopek. As such, the room was used for a meeting between him, Commander Tucker, and Lieutenant Reed. ()

While Enterprise was in battle against three Mazarite ships in February 2152, a panel in the ship's situation room suddenly sparked. ()

In 2152, the table in the situation room was used by Commander Tucker to detach a section of Enterprises outer hull. ()

The situation room aboard Enterprise was visited, later that year, by an Enolian official who spoke with T'Pol and Reed there. ()

En route from Enterprises command center in 2153, Archer, T'Pol, and Tucker traversed the situation room to access the bridge, rather than using the turbolift on the bridge. () Archer and T'Pol again used the situation room to journey from the command center to the bridge later that year. ()

Later the same year, a spatial anomaly passed through the situation room, suddenly creating some sparking overhead and causing a crewman who was in the room to stumble. () Another spatial anomaly passed through the situation room in December of 2153. The room was unoccupied at that time, though the anomaly caused sparks to fly from the room's wall-mounted equipment. ()

During a mutiny in January 2154, the situation room was used by Reed and another Starfleet security officer to storm onto the bridge, which was currently occupied by MACO soldiers; Reed and his crewmate rushed into the situation room through its doorway. ()

The situation room was one of numerous areas aboard Enterprise which was damaged in the Battle of Azati Prime. Shortly following that confrontation, the room was used for a staff meeting during which a surge in the EPS grid on A-Deck caused an explosion in the ceiling, showering sparks and debris down on the room's table and the area's occupants, who – thanks to an intercom warning from engineering about the surge – managed to quickly take cover by ducking. ()

Background information
In the script for , the situation room was said to be included as part of the NX-class bridge, within sight of the bridge stations. It was also described as "a tactical center off the Main Bridge, filled with various read-outs and a large table graphic." 

The design for the situation room obviously took cues from the aft section of the  from , also designed by Herman Zimmerman. He, however, likened it to such comfortable retiring rooms located off the bridge as the observation lounge on the   from . "By putting it in the bridge itself it gives you the opportunity to have quiet officer meetings close to the center of command," Zimmerman stated. "And it also gives extreme depth to the look of the set: you can shoot both from the viewscreen through the bridge to the Situation Room, and from the back of the Situation Room all the way to the viewscreen." ()

The set of the situation room was built on Paramount Stage 18.

Table 
The situation room's plotting table was designed by illustrator John Eaves, who described it as "a really cool piece" and "really a great project to work on." Recounting the table's genesis, Eaves exclaimed, "Herman just said: make us a nifty table to have meetings at!!!" Though this item of furniture is slightly similar to another table – used in engineering of TNG's Enterprise-D, an item often nicknamed the "pool table" – Eaves took no inspiration from that table in coming up with the design of the NX-class plotting table.

John Eaves initially sketched two variations of the table, a pair of drawings that described the item of furniture as a "conference table". Whereas the first of these illustrations had a raised plotting surface, this area was flat and recessed in the second picture. Once the first suggestion was approved, Eaves produced a final drawing that took cues from this image while also adding more detail. The table underwent more alterations between this couple of similar illustrations and the final product. Explained Eaves, "The early ideas were of the same layout [as the final table] except the rounded table top had plotting rules and sliding scales that would be able to move and plot across the entire surface. The curved surface would be made of milk plex and the images would be projected from underneath so it would act like a big hands-on cartographer’s mapping system. This was axed to be instead a clear covering with a flat screen system under glass, and the sliding scales were thought of as too out of date." Eaves also clarified that the evolution away from the idea of the table incorporating a projection setup was due to the amount of flat screens used elsewhere aboard the NX-class.

The plotting table was built by Construction Coordinator Thomas J. Arp's set construction team and was detailed by Michael Okuda and Anthony Fredrickson. The size of the table was dictated by how big its screen was, so it turned out smaller than originally conceived. The table also featured swing-out chairs built into its structure, though those never appeared in the series. Ultimately being of the opinion that the table "has a definite sub feel," John Eaves found the building of the table to have been "beautifully" achieved and thought the process of Okuda and Frederickson adding their finishing touches was "stylishly" done. Eaves was disappointed, though, that he couldn't take the actual table home with him as a keepsake, after the making of  ended.

Rear screen 
The situation room's rear screen was designed by Michael Okuda and James Van Over. Eaves described their collaboration on this screen as "awesome work".  Footage of Van Over designing a computer readout to be displayed on the screen can be seen in the documentary On the Set, available in the ENT Season 1 DVD and Blu-ray.

Other areas 
In the scripts for Star Trek: Enterprise, various other areas were termed "situation room"s. One example was in the script for , which not only featured the Starfleet situation room aboard Enterprise but also a room in the White House bearing the same name (in the script of , the same part of that building was referred to as "situation room" and "conference room"). Another instance was in the script of , which included a scene description commenting, "Sickbay has been turned into a temporary Situation Room." A Kazon situation room was featured in .
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