Friendship One

Friendship One was a probe launched from Earth by the United Earth Space Probe Agency in 2067, four years after Zefram Cochrane's first warp drive flight.

After launch, Friendship One left the Sol system on a heading towards the Delta Quadrant of the Milky Way galaxy. After Earth became a member of the United Federation of Planets, Starfleet maintained contact with the probe for the next 180 years - communication was lost in 2247. Eventually the probe entered into orbit of the planet Uxal. The people of Uxal were able to decipher the data contained within the probe, which included instructions on how to construct warp drives and antimatter based power systems. However they had not developed far enough technologically to handle what they built safely, and poisoned their planet with antimatter radiation.

In 2367, the Federation learned that the starship USS Voyager (NCC-74656) was in the area of the Delta Quadrant where communication had been lost with the probe. Starfleet sent Voyager to locate and retrieve the probe, and Voyager learned about the damage done to Uxal when they encountered the probe. Voyager helped neutralize the radiation in the atmosphere, beginning to reverse the damage done by the human probe. Afterwards they retrieved the probe and took it back to the Alpha Quadrant. (VOY episode Friendship One).