Workbee

Workbee
Owner:	United Federation of Planets
Operator:	Starfleet

A cargo management unit, or CMU, was a small utility craft in use by the Federation from the mid-23rd century to the 24th century.

Service history

File:CMU rear.jpg

A CMU with arms working on the Enterprise

CMUs were first used in the mid 23rd century, assigned to Starfleet shipyards in orbit of Earth. They assisted in the refitting of the original USS Enterprise at the San Francisco Fleet Yards as well as the launch of the USS Enterprise-B. (Star Trek: The Motion Picture; Star Trek Generations)

A CMU outside Deep Space 9

CMUs continued to be used into the 24th century and were numerous at Utopia Planitia Fleet Yards (VOY: "Relativity") and Deep Space 9. The CMUs at DS9 were generally gray in color. (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine season 4 credits)

File:Work bee.jpg

A CMU at Utopia Planitia in 2371.

Silhouettes of CMUs could be found on the master systems displays of the USS Enterprise-E and the USS Equinox.

In 2364, the USS Enterprise-D acquired a CMU from Support Services on Relva VII in order to eliminate three older and bulkier units from the cargo bays. (TNG: "Coming of Age")

By 2379, new silver craft resembling CMUs were in use at the spacedock where the Enterprise-E was repaired following the Battle of the Bassen Rift. (Star Trek Nemesis)

Technical data

A cargo management unit (aft view)

The CMU is a single-occupant vehicle with seating for the pilot only. Generally, the pilot must be spacesuited, especially if the pilot is planning to perform a space walk. The front of the CMU features several large windows. The craft also has a large headlight at its extreme forward end for illuminating a work area.

As the CMU is primarily a maintenance craft, it can be equipped with a variety of tools, including a set of dual remote manipulator arms called the Grabber Sled. The CMU can also serve as a tug for cargo modules with the Cargo-Train Attachment.

The CMU can operate both in the vacuum of space and within the atmospheric and gravitational conditions of a starship cargo bay or planetary surface. (Star Trek: The Motion Picture)

Appendices

Appearances

• Star Trek films:
  • Star Trek: The Motion Picture
• TNG:
  • "Coming of Age" (display only)
• DS9: (opening sequence Season 4-7)
  • "Hard Time"
  • "The Muse"
  • "For the Uniform"
  • "Doctor Bashir, I Presume"
  • "A Simple Investigation"
  • "Ties of Blood and Water"
  • "Resurrection"
  • "His Way"
  • "Profit and Lace"
  • "Afterimage"
  • "Treachery, Faith and the Great River"
  • "Covenant"
  • "The Changing Face of Evil"
• VOY:
  • "Relativity"

Background information

The Cargo Management Unit was never identified by name in dialog; the name was only seen, on a display in the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode "Coming of Age". During the absence of a name, the moniker "Work Bee" was adopted by many publications, official and unofficial, including the reference work Star Trek: The Motion Picture Blueprints, co-created by Andrew Probert and David A. Kimble.

The CMU was designed by Probert for Star Trek: The Motion Picture. He later remarked, "The work bee turned out just fine." [1] The studio model of the CMU was filmed in the summer of 1978, on one of Douglas Trumbull's stages at Future General Corporation. (The Making of Star Trek: The Motion Picture, p. 206)

Despite being proud of the CMU's design, Probert also felt that, in The Motion Picture, not enough articulation was shown in the craft. For instance, he believed that "it would have been fun" to see the CMUs enter a garage area that was included in the film's drydock. "There were supposed to have been numerous Bees, doing whatever tasks with their manipulator arms, or towing things, or whatever, and they didn't show enough of that," Probert commented. "And [...] I would have liked to have seen them drifting, or moving, or gliding/crabbing sideways through space, or rotating. They do have one that kind of rolls... but there should have been a lot more of that." [2] An unused design for the Enterprise cargo/shuttlebay showed several docking ports where CMUs could attach to the ship, which were described in Mr. Scott's Guide to the Enterprise.

The CMU was additionally seen in footage recycled in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan and during the Enterprise-B launch in Star Trek Generations. The craft was physically brought to the 24th century when it was included in a montage of different scenes during the main titles of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, beginning with that series' fourth season. These scenes were also used for external shots of the station in various episodes. A computer-generated model was also created, and seen at Utopia Planitia during the flashbacks to the USS Voyager's launch during "Relativity".

Probert designed a follow-up craft to the CMU, dubbed the Sphinx Workpod, during the first season of Star Trek: The Next Generation. Although it was never built as a miniature or explicitly seen, it may have been included in the matte painting of Starbase 74 in "11001001". The new workpod was also featured in the Star Trek: The Next Generation Technical Manual and Star Trek: Starship Creator.

Apocrypha

In Star Trek: The Experience's Borg Invasion 4D exhibit, Sphinx Workpods can clearly be seen repairing Copernicus Station after its brief encounter with a Borg cube. It remains the most visible and intricate use of this design.

Other similar craft to the CMU include the Arkaria shuttle seen in "Starship Mine" and the aforementioned Star Trek Nemesis vehicles.

In the Star Trek: Armada game series, Work Bees construct the Federation installations.

External link

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