360-degree axes
Romulan scoutship at relative bearing 270/mark 014
A bearing, sometimes referred to as relative bearing, was a common way to describe a specific direction in relation to a starship. (TOS: "Balance of Terror"; TNG: "The Defector" display graphic)
It was also used to describe a direction in subspace. (VOY: "Eye of the Needle")
Uses[]
Bearings were commonly used to define the direction at which another object or the origin of a transmission was located in space, in relation to the current orientation of the ship. Bearings have also been used to indicate a direction on a planet by an away team on the surface or from the planet's atmosphere. Bearings were also used when the ship made a course correction in its current heading. (TOS: "Balance of Terror", "By Any Other Name"; Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home)
The Picard Maneuver included a sensor bearing. (TNG: "The Battle")
In space, bearings were given in one or two 360-degree angles, sometimes with one or two decimal place accuracy, with various other information. For example:
- Mark-73.5 (TOS: "Elaan of Troyius")
- 0-mark-4 (VOY: "Once Upon a Time")
- 001-mark-.03 (TNG: "Sins of The Father")
- 004-mark-009 (DS9: "Sacrifice of Angels")
- 05-mark-231 (TNG: "The Emissary")
- 010-mark-271 (TNG: "Identity Crisis")
- 010-mark-273 (TNG: "Reunion")
- 012-mark-6 (VOY: "Thirty Days")
- 013-mark-015 (TNG: "Suddenly Human")
- 017-mark-346 (DS9: "The Way of the Warrior")
- 019.73-mark-62.32 (PIC: "Vox")
- 23-mark-217 (DS9: "Emissary")
- 067-mark-24 (VOY: "Ex Post Facto")
- 102-mark-4 (TNG: "Face Of The Enemy")
- 111-mark-14 (TOS: "Balance of Terror")
- 123 degrees-mark-18 (TOS: "The Changeling")
- 125-mark-21 (VOY: "Prime Factors")
- 162 mark-7 (VOY: "Message in a Bottle")
- 180-mark-0 (DS9: "For the Uniform")
- 187-mark-025 (DS9: "The Way of the Warrior")
- 219-mark-47 (VOY: "Resistance")
- 235-point-7 (TNG: "Haven")
- 240 degrees-mark-6, port (Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country)
- 316-mark-4 (Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan)
- 320 degrees-mark-2 (Star Trek)
- 358-mark-269 (DIS: "The Vulcan Hello")
On a planet, bearings were also given in one or two 360-degree angles, with various other information. For example:
- 300-mark-7 (TOS: "By Any Other Name")
- 94-mark-7, angle of elevation 6 degrees. (TOS: "Obsession")
- About 11 miles, bearing 121 from the mining company. (TOS: "Mudd's Women")
- 283 degrees. 15.2 kilometers. (Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home)
- 327 degrees. Distance 600 nautical. (Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home)
Appendices[]
See also[]
Background information[]
The first use of the term bearing to indicate a direction occurred in Star Trek: The Original Series episode "Balance of Terror". The meaning of bearings has been further defined in the writer's guides and several reference books, such as Star Trek: The Next Generation Technical Manual (p. 36). Bearing 000-mark-0 is directly in front of the ship and bearing 180-mark-0 directly behind the ship. Coming about to bearing 090-mark-0 would be a sharp turn to the right or starboard. Coming about to bearing 270-mark-0 would be a sharp turn to the left or port. The second figure after the "mark" is the elevation angle. Coming about to bearing 000-mark-90 would be tilting the ship directly upwards and 000-mark-270 directly downwards.
Deleted references[]
According to the script for Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, a second patrol formation of Klingon cruisers approached the USS Enterprise on a bearing of "090-mark-20" to the USS Enterprise in the Kobayashi Maru scenario.
According to the script for Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, as the HMS Bounty was leaving Earth, Uhura detected an unidentified aircraft in Earth's atmosphere at "range 30 miles, bearing 010".