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Navigation is the science of locating the position and plotting the course of ships, aircraft, and spacecraft; in the latter case, the proper term is sometimes referred to as astrogation.

By the mid-23rd century, the Medusans had developed interstellar navigation to a fine art. (TOS: "Is There in Truth No Beauty?")

Hikaru Sulu was considered a specialist in navigation and weapons. (TOS: "The Way to Eden")

Navigating

Historically, the navigator was responsible for the navigation aboard sea going vessels, and later lighter than air craft.

During ancient times mariners navigated by the stars. Later maps and globes would be utilized, and with the advent of advanced technologies, the use radar. (VOY: "Year of Hell")

Once beings began to travel the stars, the navigator continued the role in space, while new technologies were developed to aid in that advancement.

An early form of navigation technology, referred to by Chakotay as "the old-fashioned way", was by use of optical scanners. (VOY: "Unity") LIDAR was another form of early navigational technology. (VOY: "One Small Step")

By the 22nd century, auto-navigation systems were utilized aboard starships. (ENT: "Doctor's Orders", et al.)

File:Astrogator.jpg

The astrogator, a 23rd century navigational component.

The astrogator was used in plotting courses aboard Template:ShipClass starships and Class F shuttlecrafts during the mid-23rd century. (TOS: "And the Children Shall Lead", "Metamorphosis")

Subspace sensors would later become a key external component in assisting starship navigation. (VOY: "Year of Hell", "The Fight") When the USS Enterprise was taken beyond the galactic barrier, they were unable to return due to the unfortunate lack of lack reference points on which to plot a return course, which came as a result of the extreme sensory distortion, originally caused by crossing the barrier. (TOS: "Is There in Truth No Beauty?")

Alternative navigation

On occasion, when navigational sensors became inaccurate, inoperative or obsolete, alternative means could be used to assist in navigation.

In 2268, the Federation considered the possibility of employing Medusan navigators aboard starships as a means of solving many navigational problems. (TOS: "Is There in Truth No Beauty?") Prior to this, the ship's computer banks were utilized to "solve our problems of navigation." (TOS: "The Way to Eden") During a ruse performed by Captain James T. Kirk in 2268, where the USS Enterprise crossed into the Romulan Neutral Zone, Kirk explained to the Romulan Commander that the inadvertent excursion across the zone was due to an "instrument failure caused navigational error." When the Romulan Commander questioned how an instrument failure as radical as Kirk suggested went unnoticed until you were well past the neutral zone, Kirk explained that "Accidents happen. Backup systems malfunction. We were due for overhaul two months ago." When again questioned by the Romulan Commander regarding the Enterprise's ability to navigate with said malfunction, Kirk explained that "the error was corrected." (TOS: "The Enterprise Incident")

During the Cardassian Occupation of Bajor, Kira Nerys learned "a little trick" that was used to evade the Cardassian ships while hiding in the Badlands. In effort to compensate for the limited sensor range in the Badland, the Bajoran pilots used an active scan system to navigate, a system which worked by echo location. According to Kira, this was accomplished by sending out "a modulated tetryon pulse and if it reflects off the hull of a ship we can approximate its location." To prevent the pulses from giving away the ship's position, they would alter course and speed following every scan. (DS9: "Starship Down")

In 2374, Seven of Nine and Harry Kim merged Starfleet and Borg ingenuity to create this new technology that incorporated "returning to that tried-and-true method" of navigating by the stars. The technology worked by using the astrometric sensors to measure the radiative flux of up to three billion stars at one time. The ship's computer would then calculate the ship's position relative to the center of the galaxy. The new mapping technology was considered to be ten times more accurate than current technology, and was able to eliminate five years from the ship's journey to Earth through the Delta Quadrant. (VOY: "Year of Hell")

The following year, when the USS Voyager became trapped in chaotic space, it was suggested that they "drop a series of beacons" to assist in their navigation out of that region of space. (VOY: "The Fight")

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