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| {{disline|This article covers the [[Battlestar Galactica (RDM)|Re-Imagined Series]] launch tubes. For their {{TOS|Battlestar Galactica|Original Series}} counterpart, see [[Launch tube (TOS)]].}}
| | [[Image:Viper7961 handofgod.jpg|thumb|right|[[Viper 7961]] waits with others to be launched ([[The Hand of God (RDM)|The Hand of God]]).]] |
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| <br/>[[File:1104Tube Mini.JPG|thumb|right|A vintage Viper Mark II prepares for launch inside a launch tube]]
| | '''Launch tubes''' are extensively used on [[Battlestar (RDM)|battlestar]]s as a means of launching [[Viper (RDM)|Vipers]] and [[Blackbird|other similar craft]] in the [[Battlestar Galactica (RDM)|re-imagined]] series. |
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| '''Launch tubes''' are specially designed airlocks used to quickly catapult {{RDM|Viper}}s and [[Blackbird|other similar craft]] from their parent vessel and into space. | | ''[[Galactica]]'' has a total of 80 launch tubes, forty per [[flight pod]]. They are divided into five groups of eight tubes each. The launch tubes fit one [[Viper (RDM)|Viper]] at a time. Four launch tubes are controlled by a launch supervisor. Centrally located, the launch supervisor can observe two launch tubes on either side of the control station thru a wide view port. After running the preliminary checks on the Viper, the launch supervisor presses the launch button and a magnetic catapult throws the [[Viper (RDM)|Viper]] out at great speed. |
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| {{Clear}}
| | The following quote depicts the standard launch sequence (in this case for a launch of the [[Blackbird]]). |
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| == Design and Operations ==
| | '''[[Starbuck]]''': Instruments... in the green. Fuel pressure... nominal.<br /> |
| [[File:Launch Tube w Viper.png|thumb|A Viper is accelerated down a tube during launch]] | | '''[[Dualla]]''': [[Apollo]], Starbuck. Blackbird flight is cleared for launch.<br /> |
| Launch tubes are about 170 feet in length {{TRS|The Plan}}, and are triangular in design, built specifically for Colonial Vipers. They utilize [[Mag cellerator|magcelerators]], or "mag cats" for short, that attach to a Viper's forward landing strut, which use magnetic fields to propel a Viper down the tube and into space. By using external energy instead of the Viper's own boosters, this process preserves the Viper's crucial fuel supply, which allows the pilot to stay in combat longer. Each launch tube is watched over by a launch supervisor who determines if a Viper is ready to be launched, and if a problem arises, calls the launch off, has the Viper pulled from the tube, and closes the air tight doors {{TRS|Miniseries}}. If the Viper is cleared for launch, the supervisor presses a button, which releases the mag cat, and the Viper is thrown down the tube into space.
| | '''Starbuck''': Run-up.<br /> |
| | '''[[Aaron Kelly]]''': Maglock secure, initiate launch sequence.<br /> |
| | '''Starbuck''': Oh, don't blow up on me, you bastard.<br /> |
| | '''Kelly''': You are clear for launch.<br /> |
| | '''Dualla''': Blackbird is away.<br /> |
| | --''[[Flight of the Phoenix]]'' |
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| {{clear}}
| | The launch tubes are separated from the [[hangar deck]] by large airtight metal doors. When these doors close after the ship is in the tube, the doors at the end of the tube open, allowing the tube to open up into space. Ships are returned to the hangar deck from the [[landing bay]] via elevators. |
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| === Launch Procedure ===
| | [[Alert Fighters]] are kept in the tubes at all times just in case a threat appears and the [[Combat Air Patrol|CAP]] cannot reach it in time or require reinforcements. |
| [[File:Screenshot (99).png|thumb|right|A launch computer signals an active tube]] | |
| After Vipers are moved into the airlock by ship's deckhands, the blast doors are sealed, and the pilot begins working down their pre-flight checklist, as follows:
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| 1. Pre Flight
| | The launch tubes are used to allow the dead a military space funeral when there is no earth in which to bury them ([[Act of Contrition]]). |
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| External Inspection..................................... Okay<br/> Flight Controls............................................ Okay<br/> Tanks Filled and Sealed............................... Okay<br/> Canopy Locks/ Explosive Bolts To Safe......... Okay<br/> Seat Motors To Safe.................................... Okay<br/> Weapons To Safe........................................ <span style="background-color:#ff0000">Okay</span>
| | As of "[[Kobol's Last Gleaming, Part II]]" only the port launch tubes are operational. The starboard launch was converted into a gift shop to go with the planned museum in the starboard hangar bay prior to the [[Cylon Attack|destruction of the Twelve Colonies]]. However, the starboard launch was depressurized due to the crashlanding of a [[Cylon Heavy Raider]] through the windowed enclosure, which occured when ''Galactica'' attempted to recalculate the coordinates of the Fleet ([[Scattered]]). |
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| 2. Start Check
| | == See also == |
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| Area.......................................................... <span style="background-color:#ff0000">Clear</span><br/> Comms...................................................... UP<br/> Tacan/TacNav............................................. UP<br/> Canopy Locked.......................................... Armed<br/> Escape Pod................................................ Armed<br/> Engine Spool Up (Three Greens).................. <span style="color:#00ff00">Check 3 Greens</span><br/> Weapons To Arm........................................ <span style="background-color:#ff0000">Master Safety To Active</span>
| | * Captain [[Aaron Kelly]], the [[Landing Signal Officer]] on ''Galactica'' |
| | * "[[Final Cut]]" is a rare episode in which the camera actually follows Vipers as they are wheeled from the middle of the hangar deck and loaded into launch tubes, then take off. |
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| 3. Launch Tube Check
| | [[Category:A to Z]] |
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| Area.......................................................... <span style="background-color:#ff0000">Clear</span><br/> Blast Doors................................................ Open<br/> Heads Up Display........................................ On<br/> Tag/Nav..................................................... <span style="background-color:#3366ff">To Active</span><br/> Flaps......................................................... 15 Degree Down Angle<br/> Engines..................................................... 85%<br/> Assume Launch Position.............................. Okay<br/> LSO Launch Signal...................................... Okay<br/> Master Condition Cold Shot Warning............. <span style="background-color:#ff0000">Set</span>
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| After this list is cleared, the launch supervisor checks and clears the Viper's vitals, then communicates to the pilot that the launch is about to occur. An example of this would be: "Viper three-zero-two-one/''[[Yashuman]]'', clear forward, nav-con green, interval check, thrust positive and steady. [[Mag cellerator|Mag-cat]] engaged. Good hunting." After which, the Viper is launched, and the process begins anew when another Viper is loaded for launch.
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| ===Alert Fighters===
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| If the parent vessel faces a combat situation, [[alert fighters]] are placed in the tubes, powered up, ready and awaiting for launch at a moments notice. They are meant to provide immediate backup for the [[Combat Air Patrol|combat air patrol]] should an enemy appear, while the remaining Vipers are prepared and cleared for launch.
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| {{clear}}
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| ===Other Uses===
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| [[File:Screenshot (103).png|thumb|''Galactica'' deckhand [[James Lyman|James "Jammer" Lyman]] is executed by [[the Circle]] {{TRS|Collaborators}}.]]
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| While the primary intent of the tubes are to launch Vipers, they have been used for other purposes, including burial in space following a memorial for the deceased {{TRS|Act of Contrition|Resurrection Ship, Part II}}, and infamously as a form of execution {{TRS|The Plan|Collaborators|The Ties That Bind}}.
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| Following Admiral [[William Adama]]'s plans to abandon ''Galactica'', the Colonials plan to scrap the [[Mag cellerator|mag cats]] in the launch tubes and re-purpose them as auto loaders in the [[The Fleet (RDM)|civilian Fleet]]. However, Specialist [[Dealino]] expresses the thought that removing them was akin to "tearing the old girl's guts out." {{callsign|Lee Adama}} agreed, and assures him that they would be the last pieces removed before leaving the battlestar behind permanently {{TRS|Daybreak, Part I}}.
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| == Production Notes ==
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| === Design Philosophy and Visual Development ===
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| The Re-Imagined Series launch tubes represent a significant departure from traditional science fiction launch systems, emphasizing realism and believability over spectacle. Visual effects supervisor [[Gary Hutzel]] and his team developed a clear logic for the new ''Battlestar Galactica''{{'|s}} version of the [[Launch tube (TOS)|original series' Viper launch]] and landing sequences, ensuring that the Vipers' use of mechanical systems was convincing and scientifically accurate.<ref name="companion148">{{cite book|title=[[Battlestar Galactica: The Official Companion]]|pages=148|author=David Bassom|publisher=Titan Books|year=2005}}</ref>
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| "[[Final Cut]]" is a rare episode in which the camera actually follows Vipers as they are wheeled from the middle of the hangar deck and loaded into launch tubes, then take off. This approach was part of the series' overall commitment to a documentary-style visual approach that emphasized realism over traditional science fiction aesthetics.
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| === Set Construction and Reuse ===
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| Sets for the launch tube are modified and reused for the [[airlock]] set seen in "[[A Day in the Life]]," as denoted by the doors and control station which [[Diana Seelix]] mans in this episode. "[[Final Cut]]" also sees the control room set reused for the flight pod control during [[Louanne Katraine]]'s crash landing.
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| === Technical Integration ===
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| The launch tubes and airlocks on ''Galactica'' are not fully integrated into the internal security system. While they can be remotely controlled from [[aft damage control]], there is no alarm when they are used locally {{TRS|Valley of Darkness|Collaborators|A Day in the Life|The Ties That Bind}}. This is different on ''[[Pegasus (RDM)|Pegasus]]'', where the airlocks are integrated into the internal security system {{TRS|Razor}}.
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| == References ==
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| {{reflist}}
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| == See Also ==
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| *[[Flight pod]]
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| *[[Landing bay]]
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| *[[Hangar deck]]
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| [[Category:A to Z]] | |
| [[Category:Galactica Areas]] | | [[Category:Galactica Areas]] |
| [[Category:Galactica Areas (RDM)]] | | [[Category:Galactica Areas (RDM)]] |
| [[Category:Terminology]] | | [[Category:Terminology]] |
| [[Category:Terminology (RDM)|Terminology_(RDM)]] | | [[Category:Terminology (RDM)]] |
| [[Category:RDM]] | | [[Category:RDM]] |
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| [[de:Startröhre (RDM)]]
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