Puddle jumper (Stargate)
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| Puddle jumper
<tr> <td align="center" colspan="2"> | |
|---|---|
| First appearance | Rising
<tr> <th>Affiliation</th> <td>Ancients |
| General Characteristics
<tr> <th>Armaments</th> <td>Drone Weapons</td> </tr><tr> <th>Defense</th> <td>Cloaking device, convertible to a shield when needed.</td> </tr> | |
In the Stargate science fiction universe, the Puddle Jumper is a small craft capable of space travel created by the Ancients. Several of these ships were discovered in the Atlantis hangar, and are used by the Atlantis Expedition.
The name "puddle jumper" is a pun on the ship's ability to travel through Stargate event horizons, which visually resemble pools of water. It should be noted that "puddle jumper" is also a term for small commuter floatplanes. The name was coined by Major John Sheppard, an experienced pilot, who found a serendipitous double meaning when describing the craft. The nomenclature of the ship was protested by Dr. Rodney McKay, who preferred the name "Gateship", although his suggestion was rejected. <ref name="Rising">"Rising" (Stargate Atlantis)</ref> However, an Asuran refered to a jumper as a "gateship", which means the Ancients may well have called it that. <ref name="The Return">"The Return" (Stargate Atlantis)</ref>
Contents |
[edit] Design
The Puddle Jumper is a small cylindrical ship with an angled front and rear, allowing it to slide perfectly through open Stargates. Similar to the Tel’tak, the craft is split into two sections, the cockpit and cargo hold, with a bulkhead door to separate them. This door is quite strong, capable of retaining atmosphere against the vacuum of space<ref name="The Siege">"The Siege" (Stargate Atlantis)</ref> or holding back the pressure of deep ocean water. <ref name="Grace Under Pressure">"Grace Under Pressure" (Stargate Atlantis)</ref>
Entry and exit to the Puddle Jumper is provided through the use of the cargo bay door on the rear. This door can be lowered and raised in normal operation, or can be jettisoned by use of the emergency release located in the rear section of the cargo bay. <ref name="Thirty-Eight Minutes">"Thirty-Eight Minutes" (Stargate Atlantis)</ref> The cargo area also serves for additional seating within the Jumper for more than the flight crew. Jumpers have a limited power supply, but it is presumably rechargeable. <ref name="The Tower">"The Tower" (Stargate Atlantis)</ref>
[edit] Control Console
Image:1stseasonJumper.jpg Image:AsuranJumperfront.jpg Throughout the series of Stargate Atlantis, there have been 3 different designs of main control consoles for the Jumpers. The reason for the changes was not explained in the show but it is most likely a design change made by the creators of the series.
- The original console from the first season featured many colored panels and knobs which would glow when the Jumper was started up by a person with the ATA Gene. Most of the console was brown-colored.
- The second Jumper console featured a rigid gray panel without any type of lights. This console was featured in the beginning of the second season of the series. The light colored buttons and dials were replaced with gray sliders and other controls. The control panels onboard the Orion and at the center of Project Arcturus were similar. It is implied by Dr. McKay that these control panels were "the Ancients latest stuff, latest being 10,000 years old". <ref name="Trinity">"Trinity" (Stargate Atlantis)</ref> This would indicate that the second Jumper console is actually more advanced then the first.
- The third Jumper console was first introduced in the Puddle Jumper stolen from the Asuran City Ship <ref name="Progeny">"Progeny" (Stargate Atlantis)</ref>, and was featured ever since. It appears as a mix of the two previous Jumper consoles with a solid panel but with many small buttons, blue lights and sliders.
[edit] Technology
Puddle Jumpers are equipped with several Ancient technologies, and are among the most advanced craft in the Pegasus Galaxy. Their propulsion systems consist of two retractable thruster pods that power the craft to sublight speeds, allowing interplanetary travel. Limited thrust is apparently possible with retracted pods, as seen on several occasions in the Atlantis control room. While the thruster pods are responsible for propelling the craft, the pods must be closed to allow the ship to fit through the Stargate. <ref name="Thirty-Eight Minutes" /> Though it has not been confirmed, it has been suggested that the Jumper operates on an auto-pilot for this maneuver, allowing people without the ATA Gene to pilot the Jumper out of Atlantis. <ref name="The Siege">"The Siege" (Stargate Atlantis)</ref> It is also possible to fly a Puddle Jumper with just one functioning thruster pod.
Image:Dhdjumper.jpg As many Stargates in the Pegasus Galaxy are located in space and therefore have no traditional Dial Home Device, the Puddle Jumper is equipped with its own DHD, enabling the passengers to activate the Stargate from within the craft. <ref name="Rising" /> The Jumper's DHD is very similar to the one in Atlantis, although without Atlantis' extra control-crystal. <ref name="Home">"Home" (Stargate Atlantis)</ref> The Jumper DHD seems to adapt itself to the galaxy it is in. Puddle Jumpers from Atlantis normally have the Pegasus set of chevrons, although the Time Jumper found by SG-1 had the Milky Way set with the Earth point of origin. <ref name="Moebius">"Moebius" (Stargate SG-1)</ref> Also, a Jumper from Atlantis can activate a Milky Way Stargate. <ref name="The Return" />
Puddle Jumpers are equipped with a neural interface that essentially reads the pilot's thoughts and controls the ship based on those commands, assisted by two control joysticks built into the ship's main control console. <ref name="Rising" /> Like a great deal of Ancient technology found in the Pegasus and Milky Way galaxies, the Puddle Jumper requires the user to have the ATA gene to initialize. After that, many of the Jumper's systems can be used by anyone. <ref name="Hide and Seek">"Hide and Seek" (Stargate Atlantis)</ref> However, since piloting requires the mental interface, only one with the ATA gene can actually fly the craft. <ref name="The Siege" /> There are also two control panels at the rear of the jumper, one on each side that appear to be used by people that do not have the ATA gene. The craft can even, at least to a limited degree, controled by a Wraith. <ref name="The Defiant One">"The Defiant One" (Stargate Atlantis)</ref>
Image:Jumper3.jpg The Puddle Jumper can also be used as an underwater submersible, although it should not be used to dive to great depths, as the front window will not be able to sustain high pressure. A damaged Jumper dove to a little over twelve hundred feet without a shield before the window cracked. Using the shield by inversing the cloaking generator, the Jumper could dive deeper, although the high pressure on the shield would soon drain the power source. However, it has been assumed that if a Jumper would be connected to a sufficient power source, the shield could be powered constantly. <ref name="Grace Under Pressure" />
Passengers inside are shielded from sudden accelerations and stops by an inertial dampening system, which can also alter the weight of the Puddle Jumper. <ref name="The Storm">"The Storm" (Stargate Atlantis)</ref> Information regarding the craft's status, course and landing coordinates is projected on a holographic HUD. The craft also carries several small Life Signs Detectors, and is equipped with advanced sensors. <ref name="Rising" /> Most of the technology in board is controlled by crystals throughout the Jumper in places behind the benches and seats, in cubbies. <ref name="Moebius" />
[edit] Defensive Systems
The Jumper's weapon systems consist of at least eight Ancient Drone Weapons, housed in two weapon pods located in front of the engine pods. These pods must be extended before the drones can be fired. <ref name="Rising" /> These drones can also be used to pilot the Jumper. Although the craft would not be very maneuverable or fast it would require very little power. This way, the Jumper can be controled through an Ancient Control Chair. <ref name="The Siege" /> Also, the Jumpers can be used as bombers by attaching explosives to the bottom of the craft and later dropping them. <ref name="Hot Zone">"Hot Zone" (Stargate Atlantis)</ref><ref name="The Return" />
Image:PJshield.jpg A Puddle Jumper has no true shields at all, suggesting that it is an exploration and trading ship. Its only defense consists of an advanced cloaking generator capable of masking the ship to both the naked eye and sensors. <ref name="Rising" /> However, the cloaking generator can be "reversed" to act as a shield, but this drains the Jumper's power far too rapidly, making it almost useless in a combat situation. The cloaking generator can only project either the cloak or the shield, as both are generated the same way, just at a different frequency. Therefore it is impossible to have both at the same time. <ref name="Grace Under Pressure" /> The shield however has enough power to deflect at least one drone, although such an impact would severely damage the craft, even through the shield. As with the Aurora class battleships, its shield is contoured around the hull instead of a bubble. <ref name="The Return" />
[edit] Earth Based Equipment
As the Jumpers are used on a regular basis by the Atlantis Expedition to explore planets in the Pegasus Galaxy, their Jumpers have been equipped with a large amount of Earth equipment. All of their jumpers possess plenty of food, medicine, weapons and other supplies on board, suspended over the seats in the rear compartment by rubber netting and behind the seats in the foward compartment.
As off-world teams are likely to come under fire, there is a healthy supply of weapons, ammunition and tactical vests on board, including P-90's, M4 carbine rifles, and Pistols. In addition, there are at least two AT4 rocket launchers on either side of the rear hatch in the back of the jumper. <ref name="Condemned">"Condemned" (Stargate Atlantis)</ref> There is also enough equipment in the jumper, including laptops and tools to fix the jumper incase of a breakdown. <ref name="Grace Under Pressure" />
[edit] Time Jumper
On two occassions, a Puddle Jumper containing an experimental time travel device has been encountered. This Jumper was capable of travelling through time using the device installed in the cargo hold. Apparently, the time device had been designed by the Ancient scientist Janus. However, the experimental technology was banned by the Atlantean Council, on the grounds that the timeline would be abused by the use of the device. One of the Puddle Jumpers originally stored in Atlantis' Jumper bay had this time travel device installed.
In an alternate timeline, when the Atlantis Expedition originally traveled to the City, the shield began to fail due to lack of power. John Sheppard, Elizabeth Weir and Radek Zelenka became trapped within the Puddle Jumper equipped with the time device. After the Jumper bay flooded, Sheppard tried to pilot the ship, and accidentally activated the time device. Weir travelled back through time to the last days of the Ancient's war with the Wraith, what prompted the Atlantean Council to destroy the prototype. <ref name="Before I Sleep">"Before I Sleep" (Stargate Atlantis)</ref>
However, another time device, also presumably constructed by Janus, was discovered on a planet in the Milky Way, where the ship had been abandoned. <ref name="It's Good to Be King">"It's Good to Be King" (Stargate SG-1)</ref> This Puddle Jumper was eventually used to take SG-1 back to ancient Egypt to steal a Zero Point Module from Ra, accidentally changing history. Fortunately, alternate versions of the members of SG-1 were able to travel back through time and correct history. <ref name="Moebius" />
[edit] Encountered Jumpers
All Ancient City Ships carry several of these small ships, stored in two Jumper bays. One bay is located directly above the Control Room, from where the Jumpers can be either sent through the Stargate or exit the City via the retractable roof <ref name="Suspicion">"Suspicion" (Stargate Atlantis)</ref>, and a secondary Jumper bay is located in the lower sections of the City. <ref name="The Return" /> As such, the Atlantis Expedition has encountered Jumpers on Atlantis, an unnamed City ship in the Pegasus Galaxy <ref name="The Tower" />, and Asuras. <ref name="Progeny" />
The exact number of Jumpers the Atlantis team currently owns is unknown. Six Jumpers were stored above the Control Room in Atlantis <ref name="Rising" />, with two of them being discovered in a secondary Jumper bay on the underside of the city. <ref name="The Return" /> Additional Puddle Jumpers have been acquired on several occasions, including several (probably the six Jumpers contained in their Control Tower) from another City Ship <ref name="The Tower" /> and one which was stolen from the Asurans. <ref name="Progeny">"Progeny" (Stargate Atlantis)</ref>
During the course of the series, several Jumpers have been destroyed or abandoned:
- One Jumper destroyed by a Wraith Dart scouting the city. <ref name="Letters from Pegasus">"Letters from Pegasus" (Stargate Atlantis)</ref>
- One Jumper destroyed by a Genii nuclear warhead in a kamikaze attack against a Wraith Hive-Ship. <ref name="The Siege" />
- One Jumper stolen by Aiden Ford, possible recovered after he abandoned it. <ref name="The Siege" />
- One Jumper shot down and Olesia by condemned prisoners <ref name="Condemned" />. Later abandoned on the ocean floor. <ref name="Grace Under Pressure" />
[edit] References
<references/>
[edit] External Links
- "Puddle Jumper" at GateWorld Omnipedia.
