Prometheus: Propulsion and Maneuvering

Prometheus enters hyperspace

Summary

Earth's first intergalactic spaceship was built using both Earth-based and alien technology. Without the engineering of Earth's alien allies, the Prometheus would never have been possible. This article covers the technology which enables the Prometheus to be Earth's first line of defense against alien incursion in space.

Stargate References

Anti-Gravity Pod

Venting Sequence display screen labels Anti-Gravity Pod

Prometheus begins to clear bay doors

Prometheus hovers over SG-1's cargo ship

The Anti-Gravity Pod is housed in the lower portion of the rear of the ship, as labeled on the Venting Sequence display (7.13 "Grace"). The Prometheus most likely uses this feature in entering and exiting its subterranean bay on Earth, in softening an off-world landing, and in hovering or maintaining a stationary position above the ground as it did in Antarctica in order to protect SG-1's cargo ship during Anubis' attack (7.22 "Lost City Part 2").

Deceleration Thrusters, Inertial Dampeners, and Artificial Gravity

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Decelaration thrusters are used to slow the Prometheus down. They are situated on the front side of the large rectangular hyperdrive engine sections and were seen being used by SG-1 when they landed on the planet Hala. (6.12 "Unnatural Selection")

Hyperdrive Engines

Original naquadria-powered hyperdrive generator	Hyperdrive Status display	Venting Sequence display screen shows Engine Coolant System
Crystal navigational control systems	Hyperdrive Navigation Display	Prometheus entering hyperspace

The hyperdrive engines were first powered by the powerful, but highly unstable, mineral called naquadria (6.20 "Memento"), but then new hyperdrive technology was installed by the Asgard (8.08 "Covenant", 8.10 "Endgame", 8.11 "Gemini", 8.12 "Prometheus Unbound"). Between that time, however, the ship operated on a temporary adaptation of a hyperdrive engine from an al'kesh (7.13 "Grace").

Hyperdrive control systems are protected with codes, but these codes can be overridden by someone who is familiar with the crystals used in these control systems (8.12 "Prometheus Unbound"). Control crystals are also used in order to interface Earth's technology with the alien technology (6.11 "Prometheus"). An engine coolant system runs through the length of the slender midsection of the ship and into the rear where the engines are located (according to the Venting Sequence display screen seen in 7.13 "Grace"). Spacial gases can interfere with the even flow of power to the hyperdrive emitters and thus prevent a hyperspace window from becoming fully formed (7.13 "Grace"). When the power to the hyperdrive emitter is reduced, it is possible to create a partial shift into hyperspace which can take the ship out of the surrounding space-time temporarily (7.13 "Grace").

If the Prometheus were ever called upon to take a trip to the Pegasus Galaxy using its Asgard hyperdrive engines, it would most likely take approximately 18 days, since this is the amount of time the Daedalus is able to make the trip with their Asgard hyperdrive engines (although, the Daedalus' could take less time because it's possible that its hyperdrive engines are superior) (Stargate Atlantis: 2.01 "The Intruder").

The rectangular hyperdrive nacelles are seen on either side of the ship's rear section. The hyperdrive engines glow blue when activated. While traveling in hyperspace, the crew will see blue streaks outside their windows.

On the first shakedown cruise, the Prometheus successfully created a hyperspace window using the naquadria reactor, but the hyperdrive power buffer was overloaded when the ship passed through gravity waves emitted by a collapsing star. The buffer was designed to stablize the power generated by the unstable naquadria, and the ship dropped out of hyperspace when the overload was detected. The crew missed their target because of this premature drop out of hyperspace and decided to take the ship to the nearest planet which had a Stargate in order to obtain the proper repair and replacement equipment. According to the address database created from the Abydos Cartouche, the closest planet was P3X-744. The planet was only .3 lightyears away, so they decided to risk using the hyperdrive without the buffer. They successfully arrived at the planet, called Tagrea by its natives, but the naquadria grew unstable and they had to jettison the reactor module before it went critical. The resulting explosion's electromagnetic pulse (EMP) temporarily knocked out all of the ship's defense systems. SG-1 helped the people of the planet find and unbury their Stargate and returned to Earth, while the Prometheus and her crew stayed on the planet to await repairs. (6.20 "Memento")

With the hyperdrive from an al'kesh installed, the Prometheus began its trip back home. (The al'kesh was obtained in the episode, 7.09 "Avenger 2.0".) Because the al'kesh is a much smaller spacecraft (one tenth the size of the Prometheus), its hyperdrive could only be engaged in small spurts of about 49 lightyears each before having to be cooled down for two hours. (7.13 "Grace")

Eventually, the Prometheus made it home and was placed back into its bay on Earth for repairs. It was called into action against Anubis' fleet over Antarctica, but never engaged hyperdrive in that battle (7.22 "Lost City Part 2"). The ship was assigned to orbit Earth after the battle as a first line of defense, but it wasn't necessary for it to engage its hyperdrive engines during this watch (8.02 "New Order Part 2").

After SG-1 helped the Asgard to defeat the Replicators following their escape from the Asgard's time dilation bubble on Hala (6.12 "Unnatural Selection") and save the Asgard race (8.02 "New Order Part 2"), Gen. Jack O'Neill was in a position to ask the Asgard to install new hyperdrive engines on the Prometheus as a thank-you gift. Thor of the Asgard approached the Asgard High Council, and they approved the request, along with installing Asgard beaming and scanning technology. The installations were done in stages since the Prometheus oftentime had to be called out for various near-Earth missions which didn't call for the use of the hyperdrive engines. (8.08 "Covenant")

Unfortunately, while the Prometheus was still getting the Asgard hyperdrives installed, the ship was called into action against an al'kesh which was under the control of The Trust. The al'kesh had operational hyperdrive engines, but the Prometheus did not, so pursuit of the ship was impossible. The al'kesh, however, did not make its escape with Earth's stolen Stargate and SG-1, since the Asgard beaming technology had been installed and was used to beam them out of the al'kesh before it entered hyperspace. (8.10 "Endgame")

The Prometheus was called back out into space to locate the al'kesh which had returned to Earth with Goa'ulds onboard. The al'kesh engaged the Prometheus in a battle and was destroyed near Earth. The Prometheus did not have to engage hyperdrive engines for this battle. (8.13 "Full Alert")

After the successful testing of the Asgard hyperdrive (8.11 "Gemini"), Gen. George Hammond gathered a crew together to go on a rescue mission to the Pegasus Galaxy to determine the fate of the Atlantis Expedition Team (dispatched in Stargate Atlantis: 1.01 "Rising Part 1"). During the trip, they picked up a distress call and attempted to help, but the Prometheus was hijacked by a space pirate named Vala. During the time that she had control of the ship, the hull was damaged by Goa'uld death gliders and al'kesh, and because of this damage, the rescue mission had to be aborted because the use of hyperdrive engines was not recommended with such damage. (8.12 "Prometheus Unbound")

The next time that hyperdrive engines were needed was when the Ori attempted to build a Super Stargate through which an invasion fleet could travel from their far, far galaxy. The building of this Super Stargate came in stages: First, the Ori sent a Prior to the planet Kallana in order to convert the people. The Free Jaffa living on the planet refused to submit to the Ori, so the Prior killed them all. The Ori then began building an energy force field through the Stargate which was designed to collapse the planet into a micro-singularity in order to provide the power for the Super Stargate to maintain a wormhole which would bridge this great distance indefinitely. The Prometheus was called in to rendezvous with SG-1 at a nearby planet and transport them and a very powerful naquadah-enhanced nuclear bomb, nicknamed "Gatebuster". After the Prior refused to stop building his force field, the bomb was set off, but its energy fed the force field instead of destroying it, and eventually, the Ori got what they wanted — a micro-singularity. The Prometheus was slightly damaged by one of the segments of the Super Stargate, but its shields and distance protected it when the singularity was formed. The Super Stargate was weakened and destroyed, and the Prometheus returned home. (9.06 "Beachhead")

The Prometheus and its hyperdrive engines are on call for various missions which may or may not require their need to travel in hyperspace. Most of the time, the ship acts as a first line of defense for Earth (9.07 "Ex Deus Machina"), but the ship is prepared to go anywhere within the galaxy to rescue stranded SGC personnel (8.08 "Babylon", 9.09 "Prototype").

Landing Gear

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Sublight Engines

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Sublight engines enable the Prometheus to accelerate to 110,000 miles per second, which is over half the speed of light (186,000 miles per second). An ignition module must be calibrated to within a 1% margin of error in order for the engines to start. If outside this margin, the module will burn out, and the engines will fail to start. Sublight engines can place the Prometheus in Earth's orbit in less than 30 seconds. (6.11 "Prometheus")

The relay for the sublight engines is located on Deck 8 (6.11 "Prometheus").