The civilian freighter whose simulated distress call lies at the heart of Starfleet's no-win training test.
The Kobayashi Maru was a Federation civilian freighter whose distress call formed the centrepiece of a Starfleet Academy training simulation. In the scenario, the ship is disabled and stranded inside the Klingon Neutral Zone, its crew and passengers in danger.
Cadets commanding the simulated rescue must decide whether to violate the zone, after which overwhelming Klingon forces attack, making the situation impossible to win. The test measured how officers faced certain defeat. James T. Kirk was the only cadet to beat it, by secretly reprogramming the simulation, and Saavik took the test in 2285.