3.9 Mission Ops
Describes the Mission Ops aft station, which supports the Operations Manager by monitoring secondary missions, allocating resources, monitoring Away Team telemetry, and assisting security during alerts.
The third aft station is Mission Ops. This station provides additional support to the Operations Manager, and is specifically responsible for monitoring activity relating to secondary missions. In doing so, Mission Ops acts as an assistant to the Operations Manager, relieving him/her of responsibility for lower-priority tasks that must be monitored by a human operator.
Mission Ops is responsible for assignment of resources and priorities according to guidelines specified by the Operations Manager and by operating protocols. For example, Ops may determine that a particular research project is to have usage of specific sensor elements, subject to priority usage of those same sensors by the bridge. Although the actual minute-to-minute assignment of resources will be automatically handled by the Ops panel software, Mission Ops will monitor the computer activity to ensure that such computer control does not unduly compromise any mission priorities. This is particularly important during unforeseen situations that may not fall within the parameters of preprogrammed decision-making software.
Mission Ops is responsible for resolving low-level conflicts, but will refer primary mission conflicts to the Operations Manager.
A Mission Ops tech generally serves as relief Operations Manager when the duty Ops officer is away from station.
Other Mission Ops Duties
This station is responsible for monitoring telemetry from primary mission Away Teams. This includes tricorder data and any other mission-specific instrumentation.
Mission Ops is also responsible for monitoring the activities of secondary missions to anticipate requirements and possible conflicts. In cases where such conflicts impact on primary missions in progress, Mission Ops is required to notify the Operations Manager.
During Alert and crisis situations, Mission Ops also assists the Security Officer, providing information on Away Teams and secondary mission operations, with emphasis on possible impact on security concerns.