1. The main viewscreen blows out like glass. Is this thing really on the *outside* of the ship?

All the blueprints I've seen have the bridge facing forward on the top of the saucer. I didn't view it as "glass" blowing out, but rather the front wall of the bridge that happens to have the viewscreen on it.

The part I find hard to believe is that after that happens, whatever forcefield generators there are still work. The force field shouldn't just fill up the hole, it should be across the front of the bridge anchored in undamaged sections of the interior wall. Unless of course they can project a force field, but I don't recall any indication that that can be done in the trek-verse.