The most powerful scientific instrument aboard the USS Matrix are probably those located in the long-range sensor array. This cluster of high-power active and passive subspace frequency sensors is located in the Engineering hull directly behind the main deflector dish.
The majority of instruments in the long-range array are active scan subspace devices, which permits information gathering at speeds greatly exceeding light. Maximum effective range of this array is approximately five light years in high-resolution mode. Operation in medium-to-low
resolution mode yields a useable range of approximately 17 light years (depending on instrument type). At this range, a sensor scan pulse transmitted at warp 9.9997 would take approximately forty-five minutes to reach its destination and another forty-five minutes to return to the
Matrix. Standard scan protocols permit comprehensive study of approximately one adjacent sector per day at this rate. Within the confines of a solar system, the long-range sensor array is capable of providing nearly instantaneous information.
Primary Instruments in the Long-Range array include:
Wide-Angle active EM Scanner
Narrow-Angle active EM Scanner
2.0 meter diameter Gamma Ray Telescope
Variable frequency EM Flux Sensor
Lifeform analysis instrument cluster
Parametric Subspace field strss sensor
Gravametric distortion scanner
Passive neutrino imaging scanner
Thermal imaging array
These devices are located in a series of eight instrument bays directly behind the main deflector dish on decks 18-22. Direct power taps from the EPS conduits are available for high-power instruments such as the passive neutrino scanner. The main deflector emitter screen includes perforated zones designed to be transparent for sensor use, although the subspace field stress and gravimetric distortion scanners cannot yield useful data when the deflector is operating at more than 55% of maximum rated power. Within these instrument bays, ten mount points are nominally unassigned and are available for mission specific or future upgrades. All instrumant bays share the use of the navigational deflector's three subspace field generators located on deck 22, providing the subspace flux potential allowing transmission of sensor impulses at warp speeds.
The long-range sensor array is designed to scan in the direction of flight, and it is routinely used to search for possible flight hazards such as
micrometeoroids or other debris. This operation is managed by the Flight Control Officer under automated control. When small particulates or other minor hazards are detected, the main deflector is automatically instructed to sweep the objects from the vehicle's flight path. The scan range and degree of deflection vary with the ship's velocity. In the event that larger objects are detected, automatic minor changes in the flight path can avoid potentially dangerous collisions. In such cases, the computer will notify the Flight Control Officer of the situation and offer the
opportunity for manual intervention if possible.
Sensors - Part Two
Navigational Sensors
The Matrix sensor system constantly process incoming sensor data and routinely performs
billions of calculations each second in an effort to
mimic the biological solution to the problem of navigation. While an equivalent number of
Matrix sensors and simulated neurons (and their interconnections) within the main
computers are still many orders of magnitude less efficient design than a organic brain,
nonetheless, the Matrix system is more than adequate to the task of traversing the galaxy.
Sensors provide the input; the navigational processors within the main computers reduce
the incessant stream of impulses into usable position and velocity data. The specific
navigational sensors being polled at any instant will depend on the current flight
situation. If the starship is in
orbit about a known celestial object, such as a planet in a chartered system, many
long-range sensors will be inhibited, and short-range devices
will be favored. If the ship is cruising in interstellar space, the long-range sensors are
selected and a majority of the short-range sensors are powered down. As with an organic
system, the computers are not overwhelmed by a barrage of sensory information.
The 250 navigational sensor assemblies are, by design, isolated from extraneous
cross-links with other general sensor arrays. This isolation
provides more direct impulse pathways to the computers for rapid processing, especially
during high warp factors, where minute directional errors, in hundredths of an arc-second
per light year, could result in impact with a star, planet or asteroid. In certin
situations, selected cross-links may be created in order to filter out system
discrepancies flagged by the main computer.
Each standard suite of navigational sensors includes:
Quasar Telescope
Wide-Angle IR Source Tracker
Narrow-Angle IR-UV-Gamma Ray Imager
Passive Subspace Multibeacon Receiver
Stellar Graviton Detectors
High-Energy Charged Particle Detectors
Galactic Plasma Wave Cartographic Processor
Federation Timebase Beacon Receiver
Stellar Pair Coordinate Imager
The navigational system within the main computers accepts sensor input at adaptive data
rates, mainly tied to the ship's true velocity within the
galaxy. The subspace fields within the computers, which maintain faster-than-light (FTL)
processing, attempt to provide at least 30% higher proportional energies than those
required to drive the spacecraft, in order to maintain a safe collision-avoidance margin.
If the FTL processing power drops below 20% over propulsion, general mission rules dictate
a commensurate drop in warp motive power to bring the safety level back up. Specific
situations and resulting courses of action within the computer will determine the actual
procedures, and special navigation operating rules are followed during emergency and
combat conditions.
Sensor input processing algorithms take two distinct forms, baseline code and rewritable
code. The baseline code consists of the latest version of 3D and 4D position and flight
motion software, as installed during Starbase overhauls. This code resides within the
protected archival computer core segments and allows the starship to perform all general
flight tasks. The Matrix has undergone one complete and two partial reinstallations of its
baseline code since its first spacedock departure. The rewriteable code can take the form
of multiple revisions and translations of the baseline code into symbolic language to fit
new scenarios and allow the main computers to create their own procedure solutions, or add
to an existing database of proven solutions.
These solutions are considered to be learned behaviors and experiences, and are easily
shared with other Starfleet ships as part of an overall
spacecraft species maturing process. They normally include a large number of predictive
routines for high warp flight, which the computers use to compare predicted interstellar
positions against realtime observations, and from which they can derive new mathematical
formulae. A maximum of 1,024 complete switchable rewrite versions can reside in the main
memory at one time, or a maximum of 12,665 switchable code segments. Rewritable navigation
code is routinely downloaded during major Starbase layovers and transmitted or physically
transferred to Starfleet for analysis.
Sensor pallets dedicated to navigation, as with certain tactical and propulsion systems,
undergo preventative maintenance and swapout on a more frequent schedule than other
science-related equipment, owing to the critical nature of their operation. Healthy
components are normally removed after 60-70% of their established lifetimes. This allows
additional time for component refurbishment, and a larger performance margin if swapout is
delayed by mission conditions or periodic spare unavailability. Rare detector materials,
or those hardware components requiring long manufacturing lead times, are found in the
quasar telescope (shifted frequency aperture window and beam combiner focus array) wide
angle IR source tracker (cryogenic thin-film fluid recirculator) and galactic plasma wave
cartographic processor (fast Fourier transform subnet). A 6% spares supply exists for
these devices, deemed acceptable for the foreseeable future. Compared to a 15% spares
supply for other sensors.
Lateral Sensor Arrays
The Matrix is equipped with the most extensive array of sensor equipment available. The
spacecraft exterior incorporates a number of large sensor arrays providing ample
instrument positions and optimal three-axis coverage.
Each sensor array is composed of a continuous rack in which are mounted a series of
individual sensor instrument pallets. These sensor pallets are modules designed for easy
replacement and updating of instrumentation. Approximately two-thirds of all pallet
positions are occupied by standard Starfleet science sensor packages, but the remaining
positions are available for mission-specific instrumentation. Sensor array pallets provide
microwave power feed, optical data net links, cryogenic coolant feeds, and mechanical
mounting points. Also provided are four sets of instrumentation steering servo cluster and
two data subprocessor computers.
The standard Starfleet science sensor complement consists of a series of
six pallets, which include the following devices:
Pallet #1
Wide-angle EM radiation imaging scanner
Quark population analysis counter
Z-range particulate spectrometry sensor
Pallet #2
High-energy proton spectrometry cluster
Gravimetric distortion mapping scanner
Pallet #3
Steerable lifeform analysis instrument cluster
Pallet #4
Active magnetic interferometry scanner
Low-frequency EM flux sensor
Localized subspace field stress sensor
Parametric subspace field stress sensor
Hydrogen-filter subspace flux scanner
Linear calibration subspace flux sensor
Pallet #5
Variable band optical imaging cluster
Virtual aperture graviton flux spectrometer
High-resolution graviton flux spectrometer
Very low energy graviton spin polarimeter
Pallet #6
Passive imaging gamma interferometry sensor
Low-level thermal imaging sensor
Fixed angle gamma frequency counter
Virtual particle mapping camera
The standard Starfleet sensor complement comprises twenty-four-redundant suites of these
six standard sensor pallets. These 144 pallets are
distributed on the Primary hull and Engineering hull lateral arrays. The instrumentation
is located to maximize redundant coverage. A total of 244
pallet positions are available on both hulls.
