A Mutara class nebula was encountered by the USS Voyager in 2374 on the starship's return journey to the Alpha Quadrant. The nebula emitted subnucleonic radiation which greatly affected humanoid skin. The nebula was about 110 light years long and would take one month to travel through. It would take a month for the starship to travel through the nebula, opposed to a year to go round. Unfortunately the radiation emitted by the nebula had a damaging effect on most of Voyager's crew. Unwilling to add a year to their journey the crew opted to be put into stasis for the time it took to traverse the nebula, leaving Seven of Nine and the Doctor to operate the vessel. During the trip, the ship suffered many problems due to the radiation including gel pack randomization problems and computer errors