The USS Heart of Gold (NCC-42) was a Federation starship that was in service with Starfleet in the mid-24th century. In 2364, this starship was commanded by Douglas Adams.
In that year, prior to stardate 41775, this starship was assigned a survey mission of Sector 500. Prior to its survey, it received an order from Dent Arthur Dent of the Sirius Cybernetics Corporation. In this order, the captain was ordered to avoid a range of subsectors and to refrain from using strong interferometry scans of another subsector. That order had been supported by Fleet Tactical Command and dealt with diplomatic negotiations with the Antican government. This captain was to acknowledge this order on subspace com net security code 045, code 100 alpha.
At the end of that year, Data read this order received by the Heart of Gold and several others to investigate claims of a conspiracy among the highest members of Starfleet Command. (TNG: "Conspiracy")