Recorder Marker:  S.S. Valiant

Because of the dangerous nature of deep space exploration, Starfleet vessels are sometimes lost when they are out of contact with the Federation.  As a consequence, Starfleet ships carry recorder markers (also known as flight recorders) that can be ejected when the crew believe their ship is in imminent danger of destruction.  These small devices carry valuable data that is recorded in the ship's last moments.  When they are recovered, this information can be used to reconstruct the events leading up to the disaster.

Flight recorders were particularly valuable in the early days of space exploration, when communications were severely limited.  For example, the fate of the S.S. Valiant, a Daedalus-class ship that explored the outer edges of the Galaxy, was only established when its recorder marker was recovered.  Designed as a squat, three-legged cylindrical housing about one meter in diameter, the recorder marker of the Valiant era was furnished with a casing built of metallic alloys that could withstand debris and radiation as severe as that found withing the energy barrier at the edge of the Milky Way.  It's ship's identity was stenciled in white letters around the outer edge of its 'lid'.  Records could be stored in the form of tapes and in more permanent databanks.  Both could be retrieved by remote downlink.  When the Valiant's recorder marker was recovered in 2265 it was damaged, but relatively intact.  Its tapes were burned out, but its databanks survived to reveal the mystery of the ship's loss:  the Valiant's captain gave the self-destruct order after one crew member assumed godlike powers after passing through the galactic barrier.  The Valiant's flight recorder provided sparse details that indicated a connection between crewmen with high ESPER abilities and the mutation of godlike powers.  This information helped Captain James T. Kirk of the U.S.S. Enterprise NCC-1701 to avoid a similar fate after his ship crossed the barrier.  In this case, the data downlink was accessed by the main bridge science station and relayed via the console in the transporter room where the recorder marker was initially brought aboard.

By the 2280's flight recorders developed to include complete visual records that were automatically stored and tagged with a stardate and time index code.  Vessels as small as Starfleet flight training craft were then fitted with flight recorders and were able to record telemetry from external scans, as well as data records from systems as diverse as power flow lines and coolant interlock status.

Even the most modern flight recorder data does not always survive a vessel's loss.  For instance, in 2368 only one of five flight recorders aboard a group of training craft that were in an accident involving Starfleet Academy's Nova Squadron survived the mishap, and only a third of its data was recoverable.  Federation ships are not the only vessels that use flight recorders; several other cultures posses similar devices.  For example, the Klingon Defense Force is know to use devices that contain a subspace transponder to attract attention.