A stargate is a means of travel for smaller starships, such as Thunderfighters or other shuttle crafts, in use by the Earth Federation. It utilizes a space warp to shorten the distance between two gates.
William "Buck" Rogers travels through one for his first time during flight training with Colonel Wilma Deering (BR25: "Planet of the Slave Girls").
For newbies, like Buck Rogers, gate-crossing has some side effects like nausea, which should normally disappear after a few more crossings (BR25: "Planet of the Slave Girls").
Notable Stargates
- Stargate 1: Perhaps the home stargate near Earth, as Lyran Queen makes its 3 week sojourn to the gate, which will deposit them at Sutter's World in the Vega system (BR25: "Cruise Ship to the Stars").
- Stargate 4: Located "26 minutes" from Earth. Rogers makes his first return trip to Earth through the Stargate system via this gate (BR25: "Planet of the Slave Girls").
- Stargate 5: Located within the vicinity of Vistula in the Epsilon Ludi system (BR25: "Planet of the Slave Girls").
- Stargate 9: Located near Theta Station (BR25: "Space Vampire", "Twiki is Missing").
- Stargate 20 (BR25: "Planet of the Amazon Women").
Operation
The stargate is only visible when in use and consists of an equilateral diamond formed by four points linked by thin energy beams. Once "connected" these beams generate an energy field within its center, through which the ship enters.
Trivia
- Science fiction's usage of the term "star gate" is believed to originate from Andre Norton's 1958 novel Star Gate.
- The functionality of a "space gate" is common in most science fiction. For instance, the jumpgates from Babylon 5 are used similarly as the stargate for smaller crafts, such as fighters and shuttles.
- The term "stargate" is better known as a device centered around the 1994 feature film, Stargate, as well as the spin-off television series, Stargate SG-1.