Puddle_jumper, Puddle_jumper Information, Puddle


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This article is about the fictional vehicle. For the land-based airplane, see commuter aircraft. For the water-landing aircraft, see seaplane.

Puddle jumper
A puddle jumper in motion.
First appearance	Rising
Affiliation	Ancients, Asurans
General Characteristics
Armaments	Drone Weapons
Defences	Cloaking device, convertible to a shield when needed.
Propulsion	2 engines of unknown construction housed in retractable nacelles
Length	24 feet
Width	16 feet

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 derived from 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". 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

Puddle jumper going through a Stargate.

The puddle jumper is a small cylindrical ship with an angled front and rear, allowing it to travel through a Stargate. 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. It was also later used as an airlock by depressurizing the rear compartment giving credence to this suggestion.

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

First type console.

Third type console.

Throughout the series of Stargate Atlantis, there have been three 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

The underside of a puddle jumper.

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.

Alternately, it is possible that the pods don\'t house thrusters at all, but rather some type of gravimetric propulsion system. In essence, this very advanced method of propulsion creates a "gravitational wave" in any direction around the ship, which then essentially pulls the ship in, thus moving it in the given direction. Such a system doesn\'t require any thrusters, merely projection points. In some other shows (e.g. Babylon 5) such engines were placed on various protrusions from the main bulk of the ship and often glowed (but produced no air shimmering or matter stream like reactive thruster engines do). This would explain the puddle jumper\'s apparent ability to fly with retracted engine nacelles, as well as some other observed properties, and would fit very nicely into the concept of a very advanced race. However, as there is little to none canon technical data in the show, it is virtually impossible to decisively say either way, thrusters or gravimetric drive.

Milky Way puddle jumper DHD console.

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. 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. 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.

A submerged jumper.

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 inverting 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 16 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 theorised 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.

Sheppard runs into a shield around a puddle jumper.

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. Unfortunately 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

Ancient time travel device.

An Ancient scientist named Janus created at least one puddle jumper capable of traveling through time, by means of a device installed in the cargo hold. In the main timeline, this experimental technology was banned by the Atlantean Council in order to prevent dangers associated with time travel.

In an alternate timeline, members of the Atlantis expedition discovered a special puddle jumper in Atlantis\'s jumper bay, one which was capable of time travel. In that reality, the expedition had suffered tragedy immediately upon arriving at the ancient city, because the shield had begun to fail from lack of power, causing the city to flood. Desperate and with no method of escape, the alternate versions of John Sheppard, Elizabeth Weir and Radek Zelenka sealed themselves in this jumper as the jumper bay flooded. They subsequently activated the time device by accident.

They traveled 10,000 years into the past, arriving at the final days of the Ancients\' war with the Wraith. Orbiting Wraith ships sieging Atlantis mistook the newly-arrived time jumper for a contemporary Atlantean craft, and opened fire, causing the jumper to crash land on Lantea. The alternate Sheppard and Zelenka were both killed in the crash, but the alternate Weir and the jumper itself were rescued by the Ancients inhabiting Atlantis, including Janus. Meeting a woman from 10,000 years in the future prompted the Atlantean Council\'s decision to ban further time-travel research, thus changing the timeline such that Janus\'s prototype would no longer be left behind for the expedition to later find. Fortunately, Janus ensured that the expedition would also be saved from drowning, in the new reality.

An identically-equipped puddle jumper, equally capable of time travel, was later discovered by SG-1 abandoned on a planet in the Milky Way galaxy. This newly discovered ship\'s time travel device was visually and functionally identical to the Janus prototype, implying that in the new timeline Janus chose to disobey the Atlantean Council\'s ban on time-travel research. The time jumper discovered by SG-1 in Milky Way was most likely the new timeline\'s version of Janus\'s original prototype, which thanks to the intervention of alternate Weir, was evacuated through the Stargate to Milky Way instead of being left behind on Atlantis as it was in the previous timeline.

Alternatively, it is also possible that the pod discovered by SG-1 is the exact same pod which was originally flown back in time by the alternate Weir, left over as a temporal orphan. Since it reverted to Janus\'s possession following its crash-landing and recovery, he was actually in possession of both iterations of the pod when the Ancients evacuated the city. Therefore, it is plausible that this is actually the same ship, repaired. If this interpretation of events is correct, it would make the jumper more than 20,000 years old by the time it was finally discovered by SG-1.

This jumper was later used by SG-1 as a means of traveling back in time to ancient Egypt, in order to steal a Zero Point Module from Ra, setting into motion the somewhat convoluted series of events depicted in Moebius, and further aging the time jumper by about five thousand years... twice.

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, but at least twenty can be accounted for in Adrift. 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 the episode "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.
One jumper landed in the underwater bay that has cracks in its hull.
One jumper was shot down by an Asuran Warship and crashed intact but damaged beyond repair; this jumper was however, from the Asuran copy of Atlantis.