For centuries, the large interstellar ships that comprise the backbone of Starfleet have primarily been orbital ships that lack the ability to land on, or take off from, planetary surfaces. Due to their size and purpose, they were built in space and remained there until decommissioned. These starships relied on transporter technology or smaller shuttles for planet-to-ship transit.

Because of this limitation, external repairs for these massive starships could only be done in space-dock, or in space itself by crewmembers in environmental suits; a risky and dangerous effort that has cost many lives since humanity's first forays into space. Also, before transporter technology was perfected, starship captains had to rely on shuttlecraft for travel to planet surfaces when the use of transporters was not feasible or, in some cases, technically impossible. With necessity being the mother of invention, the advances of 24th-century technology led to the development of a new solution.

The advent of the Intrepid-class in early 2371 changed the face of starship technology. This powerful, fast and streamlined vessel represents the Federation's state-of-the-art technology from stem to stern. Able to travel at a steady Warp 9.975 and designed for a complement of 141 crew members, this majestic craft now had the ability to land safely on most planetary surfaces.

In this documentary we take you step-by-step through the procedure of landing an Intrepid-class Starship.