Black box

A black box was a piece of Federation technology, an advanced flight recorder in Starfleet service from the 27th century. (DSC novel: Wonderlands)

History and specifics

Black box of the USS Yelchin (NCC-4774-E).

By the 23rd century, Starfleet starships were equipped with flight recorders.

All Federation ships constructed after the 26th century were equipped with a black box. It incorporated navigation and flight-control recorders but were practically indestructible.

The black boxes of several 31st century Starfleet ships survived their destruction in the Burn in 3069. The time-displaced Starfleet officer Commander Michael Burnham learned about black boxes from the courier Cleveland Booker during a salvage operation in the Necropolis in the year 3188. Book told Burnham that these black boxes were more robust than previous flight recorders and could tell her the stories of the wrecked ships.

Burnham then began searching for black boxes. (DSC novel: Wonderlands)

Commander Burnham hoped that recovering black boxes would allow her to triangulate the point of origin of the Burn. In 3189, she was reunited with her ship and crew aboard the USS Discovery, and told Captain Saru of what she had learned. (DSC episode: "The People of Earth")

Working with science officer Ensign Sylvia Tilly, Burnham learned that in three-dimensional space, the number of black boxes she had acquired were insufficient to triangulate the Burn's origin. (DSC episode: "Unification III")

Appendices

External links

• Black box article at Memory Alpha, the wiki for canon Star Trek.
• Black box article at Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.