Trainee quartermasters (helm operators) are now able to experience what it will be like to have a starship under their control. Engine prototyping has provided sufficient data to enable simulations of vessel maneuvering at impulse (sublight) speeds.

“We were anticipating the experience to be more like operating a large submarine,” says Master Chief Sonya Akakios, the ISDC’s most senior quartermaster. “What we’re actually seeing isn’t too far off that, with the most obvious difference being momentum.”