USS Voyager's multi-spatial probe
Long range sensor scan of a multi-spatial probe
A multi-spatial probe was an advanced probe carried by USS Voyager. Apart from incorporating multi-spatial technology, it was equipped with unimatrix shielding designed by Lieutenant Commander Tuvok. Other features were a telemetry link, and the ability to emit a polaron burst.
During a 2375 flight, a Malon export vessel, eleventh gradient attempted to steal it. It was speculated that they hoped it might help them find new places to "dump their garbage". To stop them, the crew of Voyager sent the probe into the atmosphere of a class 6 gas giant. The probe was later retrieved by the newly-constructed Delta Flyer, ahead of a competing salvage team sent by Malon Controller Vrelk. (VOY: "Extreme Risk")
Later in 2375, the crew of Voyager used the multi-spatial probe to explore a pocket of subspace beyond a subspace sinkhole, where a shuttlecraft carrying Tuvok, Tom Paris and The Doctor had crashed. The probe subsequently served as a transporter relay, allowing them to be rescued. (VOY: "Gravity")
When Voyager and the bounty hunter race known as the Hazari began to think of plans to defeat a smart group known as the Think Tank, Tom Paris suggested they use the probe to scout subspace, where the group's ship was known to hide. However, B'Elanna Torres dismissed it, due to the supposition that it would take weeks to scout the area. (VOY: "Think Tank")
In 2376, B'Elanna Torres piloted a shuttle on a solo mission to retrieve the multi-spatial probe, after it entered an ion storm. (VOY: "Barge of the Dead")
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Background information[]
The script for "Extreme Risk" described the probe in the following detail:
A strange object approaches CAMERA. Round with spikes protruding from it on all sides, it resembles a jack – as in the child's game "Ball and Jacks." But as it gets closer, we see that the protrusions are high-tech telemetry-gathering devices. An insignia becomes visible: USS VOYAGER. It's a probe.
For more information on the studio model, see VOY studio models.
Apocrypha[]
"Brief Candle", a short story in the Distant Shores anthology, reveals that the probe was created from the remains of One, explaining why the crew always went to great lengths to recover it as it was literally irreplaceable. The probe is subsequently lost in the same story when an attempt to use it to scan a Voth transwarp drive nearly causes a rift in subspace.