Core command

Omega at a console at the top-most tier of Galactica's core command center ^{(TOS: "The Long Patrol")}.

Core Command (colloquially known as "the bridge") is the central nerve center of a Colonial battlestar, organizing, executing and overseeing operations aboard ship as directed by the commander and their operatives.

Egg-shaped, narrowing toward the bow, Core Command is separated into three tiers. The upper tier is a small rotating platform. It has a command chair and a keyboard and scanner setup. It is often manned by either Adama, Tigh or Omega on Galactica. The middle tier consists of various scanners and stations, surrounding the room in a ring. People walking into core command enter at this middle level. Athena often mans a scanner at this level.

Also on the middle level, immediately forward of the Command Chair, is a two-place combined helm/astrogation console with joysticks at both positions to steer Galactica through the three spatial dimensions.

The starboard side of the middle level has a chamber extending outward from the level's circumference, with a number of computer or communications consoles staffed by standing personnel—these are not seated positions. The bottom tier is recessed in the middle of the room and is below the level of the forward window. There are several stations on this level, including one where Rigel coordinates Viper launches from a station.

During a battle, the commanding officer can order that the shield be activated, with the "positive shield" command: it drops down to protect the Core Command forward window from direct attack by laser fire or ramming ^{(TOS: "The Living Legend, Part II")}.

No fewer than three battlestar core commands have been seen in the series, including Atlantia ^{(TOS: "Saga of a Star World")} and Pegasus ^{(TOS: "The Living Legend, Part I", "The Living Legend, Part II")}.

Atlantia

The battlestar Atlantia's core command is briefly seen during the Battle of Cimtar, featuring distinctly colored wall panels and other minor flourishes to differentiate it from Galactica's core command. Otherwise, the configuration and layouts are similar.

Atlantia's core command is breached to the vacuum of space before its destruction by a phalanx of Cylon Raiders identified as the Atlantia Death Squadron ^{(TOS: "Saga of a Star World")}.

Pegasus

The battlestar Pegasus mirrors Galactica's, with exception of the presence of the ship's winged sword crest adorning bulkheads ^{(TOS: "The Living Legend, Part I", "The Living Legend, Part II")}.

Galactica 1980

Core command facilities were restructured during the 30 year exodus with additional compartments. Beginning circa 1970 CE, these portions were in use, notably during the Battle near Planet Starbuck^{(1980: "The Return of Starbuck")} and later during the Battle for the Delphi ^{(1980: "The Super Scouts, Part I")}.

While not as ostentatious as the primary sections, these sections consist of multiple monitoring stations with access to communications and other functions aboard ship ^{(1980: "Galactica Discovers Earth, Part II", "Spaceball")}.

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  Adama and Boomer argue about Starbuck's rescue during the Battle near Planet Starbuck ^{(1980: "The Return of Starbuck")}.
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  Operatives perform damage control during the Battle near Planet Starbuck ^{(1980: "The Return of Starbuck")}.
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  Adama issues an order during the Battle near Planet Starbuck ^{(1980: "The Return of Starbuck")}.
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  Colonel Boomer on watch ^{(1980: "Galactica Discovers Earth, Part II")}.
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  Adama and Boomer during the Battle for the Delphi ^{(1980: "The Super Scouts, Part I")}.
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  Adama meets with Nash ^{(1980: "Spaceball")}.

Behind the Scenes

The set for core command was the most expensive one used in the series, featuring over $500,000 U.S.D. worth of equipment provided by the measuring equipment manufacturer Tektronix, including a large number of oscilloscopes (studio publicity handouts quoted in magazines at the time often claimed that it had cost a million dollars to construct Galactica's). According to Battlestar Galactica's public relations representative, Joe Santley, the computers were run by "a central computer and cued into the actors' lines".

The helm/astrogation console had some working switches which altered patterns of lights on the console: these switches were protected with wire guards similar to those used in NASA Gemini and Apollo spacecraft. Keypads not actually connected to the "central computer" mentioned immediately above were molded solid from vacuum-formed plastic and could not be depressed. The use of vacuum-formed plastic also explained the non-depressible Turbo, IM, and Fire buttons on the helm joysticks, as they were cast from the same mold as the Viper joysticks.

The set was entirely self-contained: when an actor walked into Core Command, he or she was literally walking in from a bare soundstage outside the set—the entrances to Core Command shown in the program were the only way to enter the set, and were wide enough to accommodate a camera, cinematographer, and camera operator.

There was no glass in the forward window so as to not to reflect the studio lights. A black velvet curtain represented "space" with varying-sized disks of glass-beaded reflective material glued to it for "stars". There was a roughly three-foot distance between the window opening and the curtain, leaving room for a catwalk: occasionally one could witness through the window a uniformed Universal Studios security guard on patrol walking between the window and the "stars"!

When not filming, a small A-folded sign saying "Don't sit here!" was left on the seat of the command chair.

Related Imagery

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  An overhead view of Core command ^{(TOS: "Saga of a Star World")}.
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  Omega reports scanner readings from the top tier of Core command ^{(TOS: "The Long Patrol")}.

Technical Journal Supplement

Realm Press, a former licensee circa 1998, commissioned the Colonial Technical Journal, Volume 1. While non-canonical, it endeavored to make sense of the technologies seen and referenced in the Original Series. Previews of the journal were released in earlier issues of their comic book series before the company dissolved, which include computer-generated renders of Core Command with diagrams and notations.

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Notes

The set was reused in Glen A. Larson's 1978 miniseries Evening in Byzantium as a NATO command center. It is the only known re-use of the set outside of Battlestar Galactica, as it was struck following the series' cancellation.

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  Filming of the set used a large-format glass world map to frame footage of the re-used Core Command set (Evening in Byzantium).
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  An executive officer at the mid-tier on the re-used Core Command set (Evening in Byzantium).
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  An executive officer using a Stentofon phone on the re-used Core Command set (Evening in Byzantium).
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  Operators of the lower stations on the re-used Core Command set (Evening in Byzantium).

See Also

• CIC, the counterpart of Core Command in the Re-imagined Series.

 

Original Series definition: interchangeable term for a computer monitor and television set (see: scanner)

Galactica 1980 definition: Troy attempts to use a phone booth near a gas station prior to their first run-in with Jamie Hamilton ^{(1980: "Galactica Discovers Earth, Part I")}.