system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
[Star Trek: TNG] Why does the Enterprise carry civilians aboard when it keeps getting into dangerous situations?
gpt
The Enterprise is primarily a scientific exploration ship.  Most of the time its doing relatively boring studies and experiments.  We only see the small percentage of extraordinary events which is to be expected when venturing into the unknown.  Most of the civilians are the family of a Starfleet officer or scientist, they know the risks, but its nice as an officer to not be away from your family for years at a time on a deep exploration duty.