away team
In the Star Trek fictional universe, an away team (also known as a "landing party") is a group of individuals sent off a starship to accomplish a mission, either on a planet's surface or another starship. Starfleet protocol requires away teams to be armed with weapons (usually hand phasers) and tricorders and some away teams may require environmental suits, depending upon the nature of the mission. The away team may vary in size from two to dozens, although a size of three to six is most common. The demands of storytelling often mean that the Captain is on the mission; however, in Star Trek series set further in the future, the Captain more often remains on the bridge.
On Star Trek: The Original Series, the landing party usually consisted of Captain Kirk, Mr. Spock, Dr. McCoy, plus at least one "redshirt" who would be the victim (often fatally) of the planet's dangers. This occurred less frequently in later series, especially Voyager and Enterprise, where the ship could not easily replenish crewmembers.
That original series landing parties often included Captain Kirk was seen as unrealistic. This was one reason for the creation of the "First Officer" role, occupied by Commander Riker on Star Trek: The Next Generation and Chakotay on Voyager, which would allow a central, but more believable, character to go on away missions. [citation needed]
Away teams usually went on missions to explore unknown planets to find resources (especially on Voyager), or for diplomatic and first contact missions. It was normal for them to travel by transporter, though it was often necessary due to "atmospheric interference" for the team to make use of a shuttlecraft, which was more than likely to crash.
Star Trek: Away Team was also a computer game developed by Activision where the player chose and controlled an away team on a number of missions.
Cultural References
Members of the Heaven's Gate cult wore arm patches saying "Heaven's Gate Away Team" when they committed suicide in 1997, believing they were headed for a UFO trailing the comet Hale-Bopp.
External links
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