Probes

Starfleet standard general use probes, are divided into nine classes, arranged according to sensor types, power, and performance ratings. Probes are automated spacecraft used to gather information remotely and feed that information back to a ship. Probes are often used for tasks that star ships are not suited to handle or to minimize the risk to the ship when gathering information. These tasks might include:

A microprobe is a type of probe carried aboard Federation starships, that are used in cases where conventional probes are too large to be effective.
 * Collecting information in environments that are too small for starships to examine.
 * Collecting information in environments that are too dangerous for starship to examine.
 * Extreme long-term deep space exploration.