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In the Star Trek fictional universe, a shuttlecraft is a small auxiliary spaceship carried by the larger craft such as the Enterprise. Shuttlecraft were documented in the writer's guide for the series in 1966 and first appeared in the episode The Galileo Seven.[1] Galileo was the name of the shuttlecraft in the episode and had the registry number NCC-1701/7. Facsimiles and models of shuttlecraft have been built to serve as props, toys and rides, such as the shuttlecraft simulator at Star Trek: The Experience.[2]
Its role on starships is analogous to the use of naval helicopters on modern warships of the present day, as shuttlecraft often possess their own weapons and intelligence capabilities, and undertake a variety of missions—such as scouting/reconnaissance, search & rescue operations, and on a few rare occasions to fly ahead of the mother ship to provide forward navigational sensory data, map a safe flight path, and to provide course corrections to the mother ship. Most starships have shuttle bays for the launching and docking of shuttles as well as to serve as vehicle hangars, similar to the way large naval ships are often equipped with helicopter pads and aircraft hangars.
Additionally, shuttlecraft also serve as landing craft since most starships are not designed to land on planetary surfaces or to even enter dense atmospheres. Although Starfleet personnel typically use transporters to teleport themselves directly to and from a planet's surfaces for away missions, they do occasionally rely on shuttlecraft when the destination is beyond transporter range, such as distant planets or space stations, or when atmospheric disturbances or other conditions prevent the use of transporters. Shuttlecraft are also frequently used for planetary and stellar surveys. When sent on a planetary survey, the away team will often transport themselves to the surface and leave the shuttlecraft in orbit. Then when the team is ready to depart, they can activate the shuttlecraft's transporters by voice command.
Larger classes of shuttlecraft usually have their own weapons, defenses, and communication systems, as well as emergency transporters in case of a crash. As of Star Trek: Voyager, advanced shuttles are capable of speeds of up to Warp 4.
The USS Enterprise traditionally names its shuttlecraft after renowned explorers and scientists. The three original named shuttlecraft were Galileo and Columbus, which appeared during the original series, and Copernicus, which appeared in the Star Trek: The Animated Series episode "The Slaver Weapon". Galileo and Copernicus remained traditional names for USS Enterprise shuttlecraft among the many incarnations of that starship. During Star Trek: The Original Series, several episodes depicted missions for the shuttlecraft. It was shown performing planetary exploration and search and rescue in "The Galileo Seven", and carried out a survey mission in "The Immunity Syndrome".
Many other shuttlecraft (or shuttlepod) names were introduced during Star Trek: The Next Generation such as Magellan. Also, as homages to more contemporary scientists, names such as El-Baz, Curie, Onizuka,[3]
Goddard, Feynman, Cousteau and Hawking were introduced.
SC-4 is the designation of a 25th-century Federation Starfleet shuttlecraft which appears from the future in the Star Trek: Voyager episode "Endgame". The craft belongs to a future Admiral Kathryn Janeway and sports advanced weaponry and defensive systems, designed to fight against the Borg.
The shuttle is equipped with transphasic torpedoes capable of destroying a Borg cube, which the crew adapts for use on USS Voyager. The ship is equipped with a stealth device which is incompatible with Voyager's systems. Admiral Janeway uses it to hide "on the door step" of the Borg Queen's Unimatrix 01 when the Queen attempts to trick Janeway. The SC-4 is also fitted with ablative hull armor generators capable of withstanding the disruptors of a Klingon Negh'Var class battleship. When used by Voyager, the ship withstands an attack by three Borg cubes with minimal damage to the armor.
The Delta Flyer is an advanced custom-built shuttlecraft attached to the USS Voyager. It was built by chief helmsman, avid pilot, and self-professed "grease monkey", Tom Paris, in response to the inadequacies he saw in the ship's standard complement of Class 2 Shuttles.
Romulan shuttles are known to be in use in the 2370s and are similar in size to a Federation Danube-class runabout.
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