Voyager One (Space: 1999)
Encyclopedia
Voyager One was a fictional spacecraft that made a single appearance in the Space: 1999
(1975) episode "Voyager's Return". Although the name is very similar, it does not refer to the Voyager 1
craft that was launched 5 September 1977 (nearly two years after the broadcast of this episode) by NASA
even though it did have a similar mission.
Its revolutionary propulsion system was known as the Queller Drive, an atomic engine 'used for going across space at incredible speed' by generating a stream of fast neutrons to push the craft past the speed of light. Designed to ultimately carry a crew when mankind had perfected his knowledge of interstellar navigation, the first two (and only) ships in the programme were launched unmanned into deep space.
The three scientists and engineers primarily responsible the Voyager project were Ernst Queller, Charles Borges and Neill Cameron.
, the craft's 'incredible speed (was) produced by fast neutrons spewed out into space, annihilating everything in their path. You'd survive better standing smack in the middle of a nuclear explosion.' His father, as well as both parents of Alpha Technician Jim Haines (assistant to Doctor Ernst Linden), were among the fatalites. The programme was subsequently disbanded and Voyager One was the only spacecraft successfully launched.
In 2000, the runaway Moon encounted Voyager One in deep space, on its return journey to Earth. Moonbase Alpha
was threatened with destruction by the Queller Drive (if the craft were to pass close, the fast-neutron stream would annihilate them instantly; if it passed at a distance, the Moon would be polluted by neutron fall-out and all life would be extinguished). Doctor Ernst Linden, director of the Experimental Technology Laboratory on Moonbase, stepped forward to admit he was actually Ernst Queller, designer of the deadly drive. He had been placed on Alpha and his name changed to 'Linden' by Earth Command some time ago.
Plagued with guilt for the actions of Voyager Two, he asked to reconstruct the command circuits for Voyager, override its on-board computer, and establish control of the space probe. Despite the suspicion and anger of his senior staff, Koenig gave his consent. Linden was able was remotely cut the engines in time and land the spacecraft safely at Alpha. The reward for saving Voyager would be access to the fifteen years of data accumulated in its memory banks, greatly expanding their chances for survival in the unknown void ahead.
Following the Voyager ship, an alien race known as Sidons approached the Moon. They were seeking revenge on all inhabitants of planet Earth, after all life on two of their worlds had been extinguished by the Queller Drive. (Voyager One had passed close to the Sidon worlds without the Drive shutting down, contrary to its programming.) It was their hope that Voyager would lead them to Earth for them to complete their fatal 'judgment'. In an attempt to make amends for what he created, Ernst Queller took off alone in Voyager One and, failing in his attempt to negotiate with the Sidons and end their quest for revenge, used the Queller Drive as a weapon to destroy the approaching aliens. To complete his act of contrition, he overloaded the engines and destroyed himself along with Voyager One.
Space: 1999
Space: 1999 is a British science-fiction television series that ran for two seasons and originally aired from 1975 to 1977. In the opening episode, nuclear waste from Earth stored on the Moon's far side explodes in a catastrophic accident on 13 September 1999, knocking the Moon out of orbit and...
(1975) episode "Voyager's Return". Although the name is very similar, it does not refer to the Voyager 1
Voyager 1
The Voyager 1 spacecraft is a 722-kilogram space probe launched by NASA in 1977, to study the outer Solar System and eventually interstellar space. Operating for as of today , the spacecraft receives routine commands and transmits data back to the Deep Space Network. At a distance of as of...
craft that was launched 5 September 1977 (nearly two years after the broadcast of this episode) by NASA
NASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is the agency of the United States government that is responsible for the nation's civilian space program and for aeronautics and aerospace research...
even though it did have a similar mission.
Mission Profile
Launched in 1985, the Voyager One spacecraft was on a mission 'to probe the galaxy for signs of intelligent life; to find habitable solar systems; to make man's presence known in the galaxy.' After exploring a local portion of the galaxy, Voyager was programmed to return to Earth with all the knowledge it had gathered. It was estimated the mission would take about fifteen years.Its revolutionary propulsion system was known as the Queller Drive, an atomic engine 'used for going across space at incredible speed' by generating a stream of fast neutrons to push the craft past the speed of light. Designed to ultimately carry a crew when mankind had perfected his knowledge of interstellar navigation, the first two (and only) ships in the programme were launched unmanned into deep space.
The three scientists and engineers primarily responsible the Voyager project were Ernst Queller, Charles Borges and Neill Cameron.
History
The Voyager programme soon met with disaster; when Voyager Two was launched, the Queller Drive activated too soon and destroyed a research community of two hundred inhabitants. According to Alpha Main Mission Controller Paul MorrowPaul Morrow
Paul Morrow is a fictional character who first appeared in 'Breakaway', the premiere episode of the science fiction television show Space: 1999, and was portrayed by Prentis Hancock. He is a British national who appears to be in his early thirties....
, the craft's 'incredible speed (was) produced by fast neutrons spewed out into space, annihilating everything in their path. You'd survive better standing smack in the middle of a nuclear explosion.' His father, as well as both parents of Alpha Technician Jim Haines (assistant to Doctor Ernst Linden), were among the fatalites. The programme was subsequently disbanded and Voyager One was the only spacecraft successfully launched.
In 2000, the runaway Moon encounted Voyager One in deep space, on its return journey to Earth. Moonbase Alpha
Moonbase Alpha
Moonbase Alpha is a fictional moon base and the main setting in the science fiction television series Space: 1999.-Moonbase Alpha:Located in the Moon crater Plato and constructed out of quarried rock and ores, Moonbase Alpha is four kilometres in diameter and extends up to one kilometre in areas...
was threatened with destruction by the Queller Drive (if the craft were to pass close, the fast-neutron stream would annihilate them instantly; if it passed at a distance, the Moon would be polluted by neutron fall-out and all life would be extinguished). Doctor Ernst Linden, director of the Experimental Technology Laboratory on Moonbase, stepped forward to admit he was actually Ernst Queller, designer of the deadly drive. He had been placed on Alpha and his name changed to 'Linden' by Earth Command some time ago.
Plagued with guilt for the actions of Voyager Two, he asked to reconstruct the command circuits for Voyager, override its on-board computer, and establish control of the space probe. Despite the suspicion and anger of his senior staff, Koenig gave his consent. Linden was able was remotely cut the engines in time and land the spacecraft safely at Alpha. The reward for saving Voyager would be access to the fifteen years of data accumulated in its memory banks, greatly expanding their chances for survival in the unknown void ahead.
Following the Voyager ship, an alien race known as Sidons approached the Moon. They were seeking revenge on all inhabitants of planet Earth, after all life on two of their worlds had been extinguished by the Queller Drive. (Voyager One had passed close to the Sidon worlds without the Drive shutting down, contrary to its programming.) It was their hope that Voyager would lead them to Earth for them to complete their fatal 'judgment'. In an attempt to make amends for what he created, Ernst Queller took off alone in Voyager One and, failing in his attempt to negotiate with the Sidons and end their quest for revenge, used the Queller Drive as a weapon to destroy the approaching aliens. To complete his act of contrition, he overloaded the engines and destroyed himself along with Voyager One.
Further reports
It is speculated that the Queller Drive (or an adaptation thereof) was revived for a secret 'Star Mission' with a similar goal of interstellar exploration. A manned mother ship (equipped with a faster-than-light drive system), with four short-range 'Swift' reconnaissance craft, departed from Earth in 1996, never to be heard from again. It was encounted by the Moon in 2002; the crew was dead and the derelict mother ship was stranded on a planet with a poisonous atmosphere.External links
- Space 1999 - Catacombs - Description of Voyager One.
- Fanderson - Space: 1999 Episode Guide - Voyager's Return
- Martin Bowers Model World — Creator of the original model, along with other spacecraft from Space: 1999Space: 1999Space: 1999 is a British science-fiction television series that ran for two seasons and originally aired from 1975 to 1977. In the opening episode, nuclear waste from Earth stored on the Moon's far side explodes in a catastrophic accident on 13 September 1999, knocking the Moon out of orbit and...