| Puddle Jumper | |
|---|---|
| File:Puddlejumper.jpg A Puddle jumper in motion. | |
| First appearance | Rising |
| Information | |
| Affiliation | Ancients, Asurans |
| General characteristics | |
| Armaments | Drone Weapons |
| Defenses | Cloaking device, convertible to a shield when needed. |
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. That had already been called a "puddle" e.g. by General Hammond in "Prophecy". 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 and Lt. Aiden Ford, who preferred the name "GateShip", although their suggestion was rejected. However, an Asuran referred to a jumper as a "gateship", which means the Ancients may well have called it that.
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 or holding back the pressure of deep ocean water. Strangely, Rodney McKay once remarked that the door would "leak like a sieve" if exposed to space for a long period of time. However, as he was not yet quite familiar with Ancient technology at the time, he was probably mistaken because it was capable of holding back the crushing pressure of the Ocean when a jumper sank.
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. 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.
Control Console
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". This would indicate that the second Jumper console is actually more advanced than the first, but it is not explained how the team came across the newer design. It is possible that they were obtained from Atlantis' sister ship, seen in the episode "The Tower".
- The third Jumper console was first introduced in the Puddle Jumper stolen from the Asuran City Ship, 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. In the previous jumpers there has been two sticks controlling speed and direction. In this there is one which moves up, down, and side to side for direction and another one controlling speed. When moved completely forward it is at zero, and when pulled fully back it is at max throttle. A good example is in the episode "Echoes". This design also has only 4 bench seats in the rear compartment, as opposed to the first two designs which had 6 bench seats.
It should also be noted that since the start of the second season, the characters have been seen using the control stick to fly, instead of piloting the vessel by mental interface. However, in the episode "Sateda", drones were still required to be launched with the mental interface.
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. 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. It is also possible to fly a Puddle Jumper with just one functioning thruster pod.
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.[1] The Jumper's DHD is very similar to the one in Atlantis, although without Atlantis' extra control-crystal. 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. Also, a Jumper from Atlantis can activate a Milky Way Stargate.
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.[1] 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. However, since piloting requires the mental interface, only one with the ATA gene can actually fly the craft. 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. Some aspects of the craft can even be controlled by a Wraith, given that this wraith has the knowledge to figure out advanced technology.
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 (366 m) 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.
Passengers inside are shielded from sudden accelerations and stops by an inertial dampening system, which can also alter the weight of the Puddle Jumper. 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. Most of the technology on board is controlled by crystals throughout the Jumper in places behind the benches and seats, in cubbies.
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. It was theorised by Rodney McKay that these drones could also be used to pilot the Jumper, although this was never tested. It is assumed that the craft would not be very maneuverable or fast, however, it would require very little power. Rodney McKay discovered the Jumper could be controlled through an Ancient Control Chair in this way.
The Jumpers can be used as bombers by attaching explosives to the bottom of the craft and later releasing them.
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, much like those on Goa'uld Cargo ships and -Al'kesh bombers. 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. This situation occurred in "The Defiant One", when a wraith prevented Major Sheppard from entering his Jumper by the use of a shield which he activated with the Jumper's remote cloaking device. 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 running at the same time. 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.
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 forward 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 P90's, M4 Carbines, M249 SAWs, and pistols, usually Beretta 92s. In addition, there are at least two AT4 rocket launchers on either side of the rear hatch in the back of the jumper. There is also enough equipment in the jumper, including laptops and tools to fix the jumper in case of a breakdown.
During the brief time that Rodney McKay was being accelerated towards ascension, he designed a virtual prototype for a hyperspace window generator for the puddle jumper. In the season 4 episode Lifeline Rodney and Zelenka formulate a plan to use the experimental jumper hyperdrive, so the team are able to fly from the stranded Atlantis to the Asuran homeworld. Unfortunatly this took a lot of power and the only way they would have been able to fly it back would be to hook up the ZPM they stole. Also in this episode McKay modified the Jumper's cloak to emit an Anti-Replicator field that would destroy all Asurans in range.
Time Jumper
On two occasions, 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. They travelled back through time to the last days of the Ancients' war with the Wraith, where the Jumper was shot down, killing Sheppard and Zelenka. These actions were what prompted the Atlantean Council to destroy the prototype.
However, another time device, also presumably constructed by Janus, was discovered on a planet in the Milky Way, where the ship had been abandoned. 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.
Encountered Jumpers
All Ancient City Ships carry several of these small ships, stored in at least two different 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, and a secondary Jumper bay is located in the lower sections of the City. As such, the Atlantis Expedition has encountered Jumpers on Atlantis, an unnamed City ship in the Pegasus Galaxy, and Asuras.
The exact number of Jumpers the Atlantis team currently owns is unknown. Twelve Jumpers were stored above the Control Room in Atlantis, with at least another six of them being discovered in a secondary Jumper bay on the underside of the city. Additional Puddle Jumpers have been acquired on several occasions, including several (probably the twelve Jumpers contained in their Control Tower) from another City Ship and one which was stolen from the Asurans.
Destroyed Jumpers
- One Jumper destroyed by a Wraith Dart scouting the city.
- One Jumper destroyed by a Genii nuclear warhead in a kamikaze attack against a Wraith Hive-Ship.
- One Jumper destroyed during the second Asuran invasion.
- One Jumper crashed into the ocean near Atlantis and later abandoned on the ocean floor.
Unknown Status Jumpers
- One Jumper stolen by Aiden Ford.
- One Jumper blown out the back of a hollowed out asteroid, after John Sheppard and the Team boarded the station and the other shuttles engines were engaged. The Jumper was later seen intact floating through space, and was possibly lost in the atmosphere of the planet, as it was blown in a direction that would take it out of orbit.
- One Jumper was flooded by water after Ronon Dex destroyed its front window.
- One Jumper was shot down on Olesia and damaged beyond repair. It should be noted that in Grace Under Pressure Dr. McKay stated "This is the first flight this thing has had since it was shot down and repaired. It deserves all of your attention" implying that the Jumper - which would be a complete loss at the bottom of the ocean by the end of the episode was, in fact, this one. Also of note was this Jumper was said to be damaged beyond repair at that time as McKay did not have a replacement part he needed but there may have been more on Atlantis.
References
External links
- "Puddle Jumper" at GateWorld Omnipedia.