Away team

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An away team was a team of specialized starship or starbase crewmembers assembled to perform missions on planet surfaces and other starships. An individual who participated in an away team was identified as an away team member. ()
These missions, deemed away missions, might include exploration, first contact, diplomacy, scientific research, or even combat. These missions are typically launched using a ship's transporter to send the crew to their destination, or by shuttlecraft, when use of the transporter was impossible or undesirable.
See also: List of away teams
== Common away team procedures ==
In the 23rd century it was common for the commanding officer to join the away team on its' mission. In the 2260s for example, Captain James T. Kirk constantly joined other crew members on a landing party or boarding party. For flag officers, doing so would be against Starfleet regulations, unless joined by an armed escort. ()
In the alternate reality it was against regulation for the captain to join the away team. When told he was "going with him." Spock told him that he would cite regulation to him, but he knew that he'd "ignore it." ()
In the 24th century, the first officer usually formed and led the away team. () It was standard procedure for the second officer to be part of such a team and for captains not to accompany. () On the it was custom for the leader of the away team to have total control over the mission, including the allocation of personnel to the team. ()
Starfleet regulations, specifically Starfleet Code Section 12, Paragraph 4, recommended against the captain joining away missions. () Data once reminded Commander Riker of the captain's place on the bridge, as did Counselor Troi. ()
It was both the personal policy of Captain Kathryn Janeway and recommended Starfleet protocol that away teams should consist of more than one member. () Despite this, Captain Jean-Luc Picard specifically sent Data as an away team of one to Vandor IV due to the nature of the temporal distortions occurring there and his unique nature as an android, preventing him from feeling the disorientation that would be experienced by other crew members. () Similarly, The Doctor was once sent as the lone member of an away mission to a Garan mining colony. His unique status aboard the crew as a photonic lifeform gave him protection from the macrovirus that was infecting the Garan, though the virus was not detected by the biofilters of the upon his beaming back, resulting in its spread. ()
A passing proficiency requirement was necessary to participate in an away team. ()
== Types of away teams ==
*A-6 excavation team
*Assault team
*Boarding party
*Damage control team
*Engineering team
**Diagnostic team
*Forensic team
*Landing party
*Observation team
*Rescue team
*Security team
*Survey team
== Background information ==
The type of team tasked with performing away missions was, during preproduction of , to be called an "away-mission team," before this was simplified to become "away team." (Star Trek: The Next Generation - The Continuing Mission 1st ed., p. 17) The latter term entered common use at the beginning of The Next Generation, and continued its usage throughout the subsequent television series, up to and including the prequel .
A recurring plot device throughout was that a red-shirted member of the landing party would be dead in the first ten minutes of the episode.
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