Landing struts were the
support systems on starships that are used in planetary landings. Normally
inside the ship, the landing struts are exposed by moving panels when
needed.
Klingon Birds-of-Prey were equipped with landing
struts, and the Bird-of-Prey rechristened as the HMS Bounty by the senior
staff of the late USS Enterprise used its two struts to land on Vulcan in
the mid 2280s. (Star Trek III: The Search for Spock; Star Trek IV: The
Voyage Home)
Starfleet's Intrepid-class was equipped with landing struts, and the USS
Voyager used these several times while stranded in the Delta Quadrant in the
2370s. These occasions included an attempt to investigate the origin of an
SOS on a planet with a turbulent atmosphere that would prevent shuttles and
transporters arriving safely, when the Kazon temporarily stole the ship and
abandoned the crew on a barren planet, when attempting to mine fuel supplies
with limited power reserves available, to escape an attack by entering the
hostile atmosphere of an abandoned world, and when performing vital
maintenance on the ship's warp core. (VOY: "The 37's", "Basics, Part I",
"Demon", "Dragon's Teeth", "Nightingale")