Horizon
Affiliation:	United Federation of Planets
Status:	Destroyed (2168)

The Horizon was a Federation starship that was in service in the mid-22nd century. Horizon discovered the planet Sigma Iotia II, located on the outer reach of the galaxy, in 2168.

While there, the crew of the Horizon made first contact with the planets inhabitants, the Iotians; a civilization that was in the beginning stages of industrialization. It was also reported that the Iotians were an extremely intelligent and somewhat imitative species.

The Horizon's contact came before the Non-Interference Directive went into effect, and the ship inadvertently interfered with the normal evolution of the planet. The source of contamination was a number of textbooks and technical manuals on how to make radio sets. The most damning was a text published in 1992, called "Chicago Mobs of the Twenties". This text would serve as the "Bible" of the Iotian culture for the decades to come.

The Horizon was only equipped with conventional radio, in the days when only certain vessels had subspace communication. The Horizon was lost shortly after leaving Sigma Iotia II and Starfleet would only manage to receive her radio reports nearly a century later, in early 2268.

A month later, the USS Enterprise was dispatched to investigate the Horizon's reports, only to discover the break down of Iotian society that had occurred as a result of the Horizon's influence. Because the breakdown of Iotian society was the fault of a member of the Federation, the crew of the Enterprise was obligated to correct the Horizon's mistake. (TOS: "A Piece of the Action")

Starships named Horizon
Horizon • ECS Horizon • USS Horizon

External links Edit

• USS Horizon (NCC-176) at Memory Beta, the wiki for licensed Star Trek works
• ECS Horizon at Memory Beta, the wiki for licensed Star Trek works