Prometheus: Exploration and Transportation Technology

Prometheus explores space

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 exploration and transportation technology which enabled the Prometheus to be a platform to space exploration and Earth's first line of defense against alien incursions in space.

Stargate References

Asgard Beaming Technology

Daniel's remote locator beacon

Daniel sends signal to transport himself and Kinsey to the Prometheus

Daniel's and Kinsey's forms begin to materialize on the bridge of the Prometheus

The Asgard installed their beaming technology (transporter system) in the Prometheus. Because the Earth vessel was not equipped with the advanced sensors the Asgard used to pinpoint their targets, small remote transmission beacons, about the size of an automobile remote control, were used as locators. The use of locator beacons was introduced by the members of The Trust when they needed to transport to the al'kesh left behind by Osiris (7.15 "Chimera"). One of their undercover operatives placed a beacon on the Stargate and The Trust beamed the Stargate out of the embarkation room. The Prometheus monitored the frequency of these beacons and used the transporter to retrieve the Stargate and SG-1 from the al'kesh and place them into the ship's cargo bay. (8.10 "Endgame")

The Prometheus crew adapted the use of the remote locator beacons into their standard operations of the beaming technology. They gave one of their beacons to Daniel Jackson when he was sent to Moscow to investigate why The Trust had been interested in gaining access to the minister of defense, General Kiselev, through former Vice President Robert Kinsey. Kiselev, as it turns out, was a Goa'uld, and SG-1 discovered that Kinsey had also been implanted with a Goa'uld. Daniel's life was placed in danger when Kiselev discovered that he was interrogating Kinsey's Goa'uld. Kiselev sent soldiers to apprehend Daniel, but Daniel used the locator beacon to escape from Moscow, along with Kinsey. In order for both of them to be transported, Daniel had to make physical contact with Kinsey (he put his hand on Kinsey's shoulder). The two men materialized on the bridge of the ship, indicating that the Prometheus crew were able to determine the size of the target and materialize it in an area of appropriate size. (8.10 "Endgame", 8.14 "Full Alert")

SG-1 and bomb beam to Kallana

Carter gets transported from East Coast to West Coast

Prometheus beams out an entire building

More sophisticated Asgard sensors were installed in the Prometheus by the time that the Goa'uld, Anubis, and the Replicators had been defeated (8.18 "Threads"). These sensors permit the Prometheus to lock onto a target and beam it without the use of locator beacons. In order to follow up on the possibility that the Ancients had left a treasure of technology in the Glastonbury Tor in England, the Prometheus was called into service to scan for underground caverns. The sensors did help locate these caverns, but the beaming technology would not work because of the interference of the Ancients' shielding. The ring transporter had to be used instead. (9.01 "Avalon Part 1")

The Asgard beaming technology was used when the Prometheus was called to investigate an Ori incursion on the planet Kallana. They beamed SG-1 (makeshift team of Lt. Col. Mitchell, Daniel Jackson, Teal'c, and Vala Mal Doran) and Lt. Col. Samantha Carter's Mark IX "Gatebuster" bomb to the planet. After negotiations with the Prior of the Ori failed, SG-1 was beamed back onto the Prometheus and the bomb was detonated. (9.06 "Beachhead")

When former System Lord Ba'al was found to be living on Earth and building his power as a businessman, taking over the corporations formerly under The Trust, the Prometheus was called into action in order to search for a naquadah bomb Ba'al claimed was in a building he owned in Seattle, Washington. The Prometheus' beaming technology was used to get Carter to the building quickly from her stake-out on the East Coast and eventually, to beam the entire building into space so that it could explode without harm. It is possible that the beaming technology was used to gather and redistribute the rubble from that explosion back on the building's original location on Earth, but there was an insufficient amount of debris, causing the media, namely Julia Donovan, to create conspiracy theories. (9.07 "Ex Deus Machina")

Communications

Daniel wears hands-free radio earpiece and microphone	Col. Pendergast relays orders to bridge using internal phone system	Communication controls on commander's chair
President Hayes on ship's monitors	Brig camera feed at bridge station	Teal'c's broadcast from Asgard ship is received

Prometheus had a variety of means to communicate within and between ships.

There were traditional telephones located in corridors and rooms throughout the ship for intra-ship communications (6.11 "Prometheus", 9.06 "Beachhead"). There was also the capacity to integrate the system to wireless radio headsets (8.12 "Prometheus Unbound"). The ship also has an intercom system for ship wide messages. It could be activated on the bridge by one of the stations and could also be triggered directly from the commander's chair.

The Prometheus was equipped for both audio and video communications outside the ship as well. Despite communications satellites being down, Prometheus was able to establish a secure video transmission directly to the Oval Office (7.22 "Lost City Part 2"), which displayed on monitors above the main window/viewer display. A side viewer also displayed video communications that integrated with alien ships, such as the Asgard and Goa'uld (8.02 "New Order Part 2", 9.06 "Beachhead"). The ship could also broadcast audio-only messages on multiple frequencies (6.20 "Memento"), and included the additional feature of translating the broadcast into Goa'uld (8.02 "New Order Part 2"). The communications, however, couldn't penetrate Ancient shielding, as was evidenced upon the discovery of the caves of Avalon in the Glastonbury Tor (9.01 "Avalon Part 1").

The Prometheus had two communications arrays symmetrically placed on the rear section of the ship (see "Sensors, Scanners, and Radar" section in the "Prometheus Collection" below).

Escape Pods

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Extra-Vehicular Activity (EVA) Equipment

The team prepares to suit up

Teal'c gets help suiting up

The team on Kallana

The Prometheus traveled to all types of worlds, and it was always possible that one of them would have an inhospitable environment. The need also might arise to have "spacesuits" in case technicians needed to perform exterior maintenance on the ship while in space.

There were at least four EVA suits available on the ship during the mission to Kallana. This planet was in the process of being enveloped by a force field generated by the Ori through the Stargate on the planet. After the Free Jaffa living on the planet attempted to break through the force field with their staff weapons, the environment within the bubble of the force field became toxic, mostly consisting of carbon dioxide. The make-shift team of Col. Mitchell, Daniel Jackson, Teal'c, and Vala were sent to the planet in their spacesuits via the Asgard beaming technology to persuade the Prior to shut down the force field, but he refused. The team armed a Mark IX "Gatebuster" bomb and after they beamed safely back onto the Prometheus, the bomb detonated. The force field was not destroyed by the blast, but instead grew from the energy released by the explosion. The Ori succeeded in their plan to create a power source for their Super Stargate ("Supergate") by collapsing Kallana into a micro-singularity with the force field. Ultimately, the Supergate was destroyed, but the Kallana Singularity remained. (9.06 "Beachhead")

Ring Transporter

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The Prometheus has a ring transporter on Deck 4 (also called the Level 4 Ring Room) (6.20 "Memento", 8.12 "Prometheus Unbound", 8.14 "Full Alert"). The source of this set of rings has not been identified.