Captain to the bridge. You receive a distress signal from a civilian freighter, The Kobayashi Maru, that has struck a gravitic mine. Venturing into the Klingon Neutral Zone where the ship is stranded could be considered a declaration of war. The Kobayashi Maru is losing life support.

The Kobayashi Maru is a training exercise in the fictional Star Trek universe designed to test the character of Starfleet Academy cadets in a no-win scenario. The Kobayashi Maru test was first depicted in the opening scene of the film Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan and also appears in the 2009 film Star Trek. Screenwriter Jack B. Sowards is credited with inventing the test. The test’s name is occasionally used among Star Trek fans or those familiar with the series to describe a no-win scenario, a test of one’s character or a solution that involves redefining the problem. [Wikipedia]

Be sure to click the flowchart below for an enlarged version!

[Source: lucidchart.com]