Galactica Museum

A model of a Cylon War-era Cylon basestar and centurion on display in the defunct museum.

In preparation for Galactica's future as a preserved relic after decommissioning, a museum/visitor center was constructed in the starboard flight pod. Massive canopies were installed over the fore and aft bays to contain an atmosphere, and a number of vehicles and educational displays relating to the first Cylon War, including a Viper Mark I, an old "flying wing" Raider, a landram, a shuttle, the armor of a old-style Cylon Centurion, and a complete squadron of 40 Viper Mark II fighters were spread throughout the pressurized landing deck (Miniseries, Razor, Daybreak, Part II).

The starboard flight pod's conversion into a museum included the transformation of its launch tubes and launch station into a gift shop, rendering it unusable for flight operations.

A ceremonial flyby of Galactica's last remaining active Viper squadron and the decommissioning ceremony was held here just prior to the Cylon attack on the Twelve Colonies.

The Galactica deck crew hurriedly restored some of the exhibits to working condition upon news of the attack. First priority was the Viper Mark II squadron, which was needed to defend the battlestar which had no ordnance and Viper Mark VIIs vulnerable to Cylon computer viruses (Miniseries).

What was left of the museum was heavily damaged several months later when a Cylon Heavy Raider crashed into the starboard flight pod and depressurized it. From here, a wave of Cylon Centurions were able to board Galactica, resulting in many casualties (Scattered).

Later, a squadron of Raptors, carrying crew members exposed to Lymphocytic encephalitis from a derelict Cylon basestar landed in this flight pod to avoid exposing the rest of Galactica's population to the disease (A Measure of Salvation). By this time, the starboard flight pod had not yet resumed normal operations and the enclosed canopy remained (Maelstrom).

During the assault on the Cylon Colony, a group of Raptors was placed within the starboard flight pod museum. The Raptor group jumped directly from the inside of the flight pod in a surprise attack on the Colony. The spacial distortion from the jump, however, resulted in severe hull damage, destroying at least part of the museum (Daybreak, Part II).

Notes

• While the museum pieces are largely meant to be homages to the Original Series, many of these items appear during the series in slightly altered and updated form:
  • A landram appears in "Scar" and "Escape Velocity"
  • Cylon War era basestars, Raiders and Centurions appear in "Razor"
  • A shuttle is docked at Armistice Station at the beginning of the Miniseries
• Because the Original Series and Re-imagined Series use highly different types of weapons and procedures, readers should not assume that these Original Series-style replicas in the museum infer that their Cylon War counterparts used the same Original Series technology.