posted
Yeah, I'd wondered about that, too. I think I ended up assuming it was the only one they could be sure of being able to hook up a ZPM to.
Registered: Mar 1999
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posted
I agree that it's probably the issue of the support machinery that makes the Atlantis 'Gate special, but.... the Earth 'Gate isn't special, is it? They just managed to jerry-rig a power hookup at the SGC, right? That means that if the Wraith have some sufficient power source, and they discover the coordinates, then they should be able to reach Earth from any 'Gate they want.
The only other reason I can think of for all other 'Gates in the Pegasus Galaxy being unable to dial up Earth would be if those 'Gates didn't have all of the "buttons" (constellation-symbols) present, and thus are simply hard-coded to be incapable of dialing Earth. That would be a practical defense measure if the Ancients built the Pegasus Galaxy 'Gate system after they encountered the Wraith, but I'd always assumed that they settled the galaxy first, and then encountered the Wraith. But that also seems to me to be an unwarranted assumption at this stage, seeing as how so many of the 'Gates are as yet undiscovered by the Atlantis team. How would they know for certain that all of the other 'Gates are unable to dial Earth, without taking a complete survey of all the 'Gates in the galaxy? If there's even one other 'Gate, somewhere in Pegasus, that can dial Earth, then they're screwed.
-------------------- “Those people who think they know everything are a great annoyance to those of us who do.” — Isaac Asimov Star Trek Minutiae | Memory Alpha
Registered: Nov 2000
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posted
That means that if the Wraith have some sufficient power source, and they discover the coordinates, then they should be able to reach Earth from any 'Gate they want.
And just so long as nobody tells them we have an iris, I'm just fine with that. How 'bout you?
-------------------- "This is why you people think I'm so unknowable. You don't listen!" - God, "God, the Devil and Bob"
Registered: Mar 1999
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posted
I'm guessing here that it takes more than just a whole lot of power to make the gate go to another galaxy. Typically, when you dial in an invalid address, the powerup sequence just stops. Something had to be done to the gate, in SG-1's case probably through the gizmo that O'Neil created, to enable the gate to unlock the eighth chevron. I'd say that both the SCG and Atlantis gates have been modified through Ancient technology, directly or indirectly, to enable another galaxy to be dialed up.
Therefore, this assumes that the SGC still has the gizmo that O'Neil made, or was able to cobble up the equivalent using Ancient tech. Anyone rememeber the hologram from the Atlantis pilot? I'm not sure, but she said something about Atlantis being the key to getting access back home. So, maybe the alternate IS that the Atlantis gates are hard-wired, too.
With several possible explanations to choose from, I guess it's just up to us that the characters know what they're doing.
posted
You're right, the hologram did say something about Atlantis being the only way to get to Earth. I'd forgotten about that.
-------------------- “Those people who think they know everything are a great annoyance to those of us who do.” — Isaac Asimov Star Trek Minutiae | Memory Alpha
Registered: Nov 2000
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It took me this long to notice there was SG discussion going on here... I'm really looking forward to seeing Atlantis. And the last three seasons of SG-1, for that matter. It all sounds like great fun (even if the Atlantis uniforms and sets sent shivers of Babylon 5 -class "criminal misuse of shoestring budget" fright up and down my spine).
Uh, anyway. People here are talking about Teal'c firing a grapple through the wormhole in "100 Days" to secure himself above the event horizon. Is it just my early Alzheimer's, or did not Teal'c go through the wormhole first, popping up like a cork on the receiving end, *then* fire the grapple before he fell back?
And aren't ropes and similar long objects prone to snapping when sent through the wormhole? The one that was tied to Ernest back in 1945 did that. Clearly, the wormhole didn't bother to wait until the line/airhose was "all the way through" before releasing Ernest at the other end. Is a long object subjected to great stresses or something?
Or was the wormhole just violently interrupted by some sort of a malfunction at the Earth end? Generally, those don't seem to be fatal to the traveler; witness several "nick of the time" escapes from locations where the sending Gate was about to receive major punishment.
posted
The 1945 test probably had limited power available. Remember, they had no clue what the thing was. They thought the event horizon was water, which is why they duded him up in that diving suit. In fact, the Gate could've been on the whole time they were getting him suited up and dressed (a thought which had not occured to me until just now). I was always under the impression that the line was cut when the Gate shut off. I guess I'd have to watch it again to be sure, though. But given my new revelation, it's possible that the Gate reached its 38 minute limit soon after Ernest went through, explaining why it suddenly shut off.
posted
I think you're right. In any case, they didn't know about the 38-minute limit at that time, and who knows how long they had it on before Ernest went through.
But won't the Gate shut down on its own before those 38 minutes are up if there isn't something going through it? Did the team throw a sounding line of some sort through the hole first, and forget it there for all those 38 minutes? Why wasn't it visible on the film, then?
OTOH, perhaps the Gate just doesn't stay open all that long when it receives an insufficient initial charge (this appeared to be a problem in the very same episode, with the lighting-powered return trip). Keeping it "forcibly" open with an extended hand or an airhose won't help, then. It may have been opened just before Ernest entered, but then shut down after just a few minutes, while the hose still was supposed to be holding it open.
It's still a bit odd. If this was the first time they managed to open the Gate, how did they find a DIVING SUIT (of all things) in 38 minutes? If this was the second or later activation, how did they dare attempt a longer activation on a manned mission than on any previous unmanned test? Or didn't they realize there was a time factor involved, even though they could see the thing was constantly consuming lots and lots of electricity (which must have been a scarcer resource for the research team than for the later SGC)?
Hmh. Sorry about ranting on an ages-old ep here. I'll still go and rewatch "100 Days" to see if the rope really extended across the wormhole. WITHOUT fast-forwarding. We got some seriously good stuff that season.
posted
I've just been inspired to order season 3 on Amazon. I've got 1 and 2, and my lady friend bought me season 6 in an uberGenerous display of her acceptance of my geekiness. So I need to get 3, 4 and 5 to fill in the gaps.
I wondered for a long time why they would dress Ernest in a diving suit. They knew that it was a portal of some kind because of the inscriptions they had translated, but why a diving suit? Then I realized that they probably thought the event horizon was water. Everyone else seems to. Where they got the suit is anyone's guess. Though it's entirely possible that they activated it once, shut it down, got the suit, then redialed the same address to send Ernest through.
Keep in mind too, they weren't *trying* to keep the Gate open with the hose. And they would have had no clue about a time limit. If everything happened on the first opening of the Gate (which from a scientific point of view seems unlikely), it's possible they were tinkering around with it, throwing bits of paper, peeing, tossing stray kittens or something through it to see what would happen. That could have easily eaten up 37 and a half minutes before Ernest stepped through.
posted
Well, every primitive society they come across seems to describe it as water. "The Great Wave". "The Circle of Standing Water". Drawings showing waves in the middle of the ring. I don't think anyone walked up and took a gulp of it or anything...
Or maybe they just werent' sure that he'd be able to breathe wherever it transported him to, so they put him in the only thing they had that could provide oxygen...
posted
Yeah, For all they knew, it was just a puddle of goop that didn't seem to have a measurable end - you can stick you arm in, but nothing would happen until you're actually in there completely.
posted
So, the question still remains, how did Ernest come out the other side, when his air hose never fully entered the wormhole?
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