Star Trek - What are those narrow slits on Spacedock exterior?

[amdfe]

On the outer hull of Spacedock, each gangway door is flanked by what appears to be several, relatively narrow slots that are usually depicted with internal blue glow.



I have been assuming that these features are for small vessel access. It's a fact that the shipyard is routinely populated with shuttles and other small flyers, and so there must be a way for these types of vessels to enter and leave Spacedock without having to use the big doors..

However, this is all conjecture, as I've been unable to find any sort of diagram or schematic that could confirm this. These things also could be big office windows, so the structures might have nothing to do with access at all.

I'd like to know what they are, because I have to consider what those locations would look like from the inside of Spacedock.

[CrippledPidgeon]

Originally Posted by amdfe

I have been assuming that these features are for small vessel access. It's a fact that the shipyard is routinely populated with shuttles and other small flyers, and so there must be a way for these types of vessels to enter and leave Spacedock without having to use the big doors..

However, this is all conjecture, as I've been unable to find any sort of diagram or schematic that could confirm this. These things also could be big office windows, so the structures might have nothing to do with access at all.

I'd like to know what they are, because I have to consider what those locations would look like from the inside of Spacedock.

My assumption would be small vessel access as well. It would be wasteful and time consuming to have to open the starship-sized dock doors for every shuttle that wanted to enter or exit.

I would also tend to doubt that they're office or arboretum windows because of the thickness of the hull. The docking area's hull is probably about as thick as the Enterprise's saucer. So while you could fit a fair number of rooms in that thickness, the wall is fairly steeply angled, so windows in those locations would not have a ton of space behind them.