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Launch tubes are the primary mechanism for launching the Viper fighter craft from a battlestar.
A battlestar's launch tubes are located within the two quasi- cylindrical nacelle pods located to the port and starboard. Each nacelle has 16 launch tubes, which are slanted towards the battlestar's aft. Designed solely for Viper craft, each tube has a track in the launch bay where the Viper sits prior to launch.
Vipers are loaded into an embarkation area at the inner-most end of the tube during pre-flight prep, and are launched when the pilot is given the "Launch when ready" command. Once inside the sealed tube, the pilot initiates the launch by activating the turbo thrusters on the Viper. This quickly accelerates the Viper, slamming the pilot into the back of their seat and sending the fighter through the length of the launch tube into the stars.
Launch tubes are equipped with surveillance equipment that is accessible from core command. Athena uses the camera to catch Starbuck and Cassiopeia seeking some privacy in a launch tube. Athena activates a steam purge, which is likely intended for maintenance purposes more than for burning unfaithful Viper pilots (TOS: "Saga of a Star World").
The interior of the launch tubes are well shielded, presumably to handle any backwash from a Viper's engines. This is evident when Chameleon fires a laser volley from Starbuck's Viper into the launch tube, after Starbuck lures two Borellian Nomen, Maga and Bora, into the tube without major structural damage (TOS: "The Man with Nine Lives").
A vintage Viper Mark II prepares for launch inside a launch tube
Launch tubes are specially designed airlocks used to quickly catapult Vipers and other similar craft from their parent vessel and into space.
Design and Operations
A Viper is accelerated down a tube during launch
Launch tubes are about 170 feet in length (TRS: "The Plan"), and are triangular in design, built specifically for Colonial Vipers. They utilize 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.
Launch Procedure
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:
1. Pre Flight
External Inspection..................................... Okay Flight Controls............................................ Okay Tanks Filled and Sealed............................... Okay Canopy Locks/ Explosive Bolts To Safe......... Okay Seat Motors To Safe.................................... Okay Weapons To Safe........................................ Okay
2. Start Check
Area.......................................................... Clear Comms...................................................... UP Tacan/TacNav............................................. UP Canopy Locked.......................................... Armed Escape Pod................................................ Armed Engine Spool Up (Three Greens).................. Check 3 Greens Weapons To Arm........................................ Master Safety To Active
3. Launch Tube Check
Area.......................................................... Clear Blast Doors................................................ Open Heads Up Display........................................ On Tag/Nav..................................................... To Active Flaps......................................................... 15 Degree Down Angle Engines..................................................... 85% Assume Launch Position.............................. Okay LSO Launch Signal...................................... Okay Master Condition Cold Shot Warning............. Set
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-cat engaged. Good hunting." After which, the Viper is launched, and the process begins anew when another Viper is loaded for launch.
Alert Fighters
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 should an enemy appear, while the remaining Vipers are prepared and cleared for launch.
Other Uses
Galactica deckhand James "Jammer" Lyman is executed by the Circle
Following Admiral William Adama's plans to abandon Galactica, the Colonials plan to scrap the mag cats in the launch tubes and re-purpose them as auto loaders in the civilian Fleet. However, Specialist Dealino expresses the thought that removing them was akin to "tearing the old girl's guts out." Lee Adama agreed, and assures him that they would be the last pieces removed before leaving the battlestar behind permanently (TRS: "Daybreak, Part I").
"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.
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.
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, where the airlocks are integrated into the internal security system (TRS: "Razor").
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A Viper launching.
Viper accelerating down its launch tube.
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