Project Arcturus
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Project Arcturus is a power generation device in the Stargate universe of the science fiction series Stargate Atlantis.
Contents |
[edit] Technical Information
Project Arcturus is capable of generating astronomical amounts of energy. Unlike the Zero Point Module, which utilizes an artificially created region of subspace to extract zero-point energy from, Arcturus was an attempt at extracting zero-point energy from our own universe. In the words of Dr. Zelenka, this could potentially make it as powerful as the scope of the universe itself. It was described as the Ancients' last and possibly greatest discovery before Ascension (recent information suggests that the Ancients had knowledge of Ascension before they even came to the Milky Way galaxy).
The Atlantis team later revised the process to try and extract zero-point energy from a parallel universe via matter bridge, which would solve the exotic particle problem that plagued the original project. This is somewhat comparable to the process exposed in the novel The Gods Themselves by Isaac Asimov.
[edit] Background
The ultimate goal of Arcturus was to replace ZPMs. Work on Arcturus began on the world Doranda when the Ancients were already a century into their war with the Wraith. Arcturus was originally intended to power the weapons of the Dorandan people.
The scientists who were working on the project did not feel that it was ready to be tested under battle conditions, but they had no choice, and Arcturus failed. Virtual particles were created inside the containment field, and because the behavior of these particles cannot be predicted, the field could not be properly adjusted to compensate for them. This resulted in these particles breaching the containment field as hard radiation.
During the original test, the weapon acted as a release valve in an attempt to prevent a catastrophic overload. The Ancients working on Arcturus barely managed to shut down the weapon, but it was too late; it had already obliterated the planet's surface. Due to the automatic containment field adjustment system the Ancients had in place, the overload finally ended on its own with a massive release of hard radiation, which killed the researchers nearly instantly. [1]
[edit] Current times
The Atlantis expedition discovered the Stargate address of Doranda in the city's database. After the discovery of the Ancient outpost still intact on the planet, Dr. McKay and a team of scientists attempted to finish the Ancients' work, not knowing about the particle containment problem.
In their first powerup, an overload occurred, and the containment field shifted asymmetrically in the direction of the command access tube, killing a scientist who was attempting to manually adjust the containment field. Despite protests from Dr. Weir and various other scientists, McKay was allowed to attempt one last powerup of Arcturus, which he attempted to do by trying to manually adjust the field to compensate for the particles. His attempt failed, and resulted in another overload, which was significantly more catastrophic than the two previous ones. The weapon armed and began firing at random targets to prevent a catastrophic overload.
Thanks to intervention from the Daedalus, McKay and Sheppard managed to escape with their lives, but it was too late for Arcturus. Because McKay had disabled the containment field monitoring system, and was adjusting the field manually, there was nothing left in place to automatically shut it down after they escaped. The power source overloaded and caused a massive explosion, which destroyed about five sixths of the Dorandan solar system. While being reprimanded by Dr. Weir for destroying "three-quarters" of a solar system, McKay (in his classic pompous precision) objected that it was actually "five-sixths, but it's not an exact science." [1]
The Atlantis team later resurrected the project using a revised system of zero-point energy extraction. The process would release exotic particles into a parallel universe with an extremely low probability of bridging to a habited universe. Unfortunately, their experiment did affect a habited universe. An alternate Rodney McKay appeared from the alternate reality to warn them of the problem and that it threatened to destroy his universe. When faced with this dilemma, the Atlantis team decided to cancel the project and close the matter bridge. In shutting down the matter stream and returning the alternate Rodney to his universe, the Atlantis ZPM was depleted. [2]
[edit] Trivia
- Project Arcturus was also the name of Hank Scorpio's global domination scheme in the Simpsons episode "You Only Move Twice".
[edit] References
[edit] External Links
- "Project Arcturus" at GateWorld Omnipedia.
| Technology in the SGC | Edit | |
| Tau'ri | GDO | IDC | Stargate Iris | Kull Disruptor | P90 | MALP | The Seeker Project | Naqahdah Generator | Wraith retrovirus F-302 | Prometheus (BC-303) | Daedalus (BC-304)-class Battlecruiser |
 |
| Goa'uld/Tok'ra | Al'kesh | Death Glider | Ha'tak Mothership | Hand Device | Healing Device | Intar | Sarcophagus | Staff Weapon Tel'tak | TER | Tunnel Crystals | Zat | Zatarc detector |
|
| Ancient | Ancient City Ship | Ancient Control Chair | ATA Gene | Atlantis | Aurora-class Battleship | Dakara Weapon | DHD DNA Resequencer | Drone Weapon | Healing Device | Project Arcturus | Puddle Jumper | Repository of Knowledge Ring Transporter | Stargate | Time Dilation Device | Zero Point Module |
|
| Asgard | Beliskner-class ship | Daniel Jackson-class ship | O'Neill-class ship | Thor's Hammer | |
| Other | Wraith Dart | Wraith Hive-Ship | Supergate | Ori Battlecruiser | |
| Lists by race | All | Tau'ri | Ancient, Aschen, Asgard, Goa'uld, Ori, Tok'ra, Tollan, Wraith | Other | |
