system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
[Star Trek] Is it standard procedure for senior officers to leave ships on away teams?

Wouldn't junior crew members be sent and could report back? Surely there's a considerable risk with each of these missions..
gpt
In the Kirk era, yes, it was very common for the Captain to travel with away teams. By the time Picard took the chair, the Captain tended to stay with the ship, and his Number One would go with the away teams.

The reason *a* senior officer tends to go on away teams is that the Federation missions are generally research- or diplomacy- centric. If you discover a new form of life, or some asshat steps on a flower, causes an interplanetary incident, and is about to be executed for his "crimes," you want someone of rank to deal with the situation.

However, away missions are dangerous enough that Starfleet no longer wants to risk the Captain by sending him planetside. Sending the First Officer is a nice compromise.