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The MIDAS ARRAY
This array provided the vital link between Project Pathfinder and USS Voyager. Controlled remotely by signals from the Pathfinder lab, the Midas Array fires a tachyon beam which opens up a micro-wormhole to the Delta Quadrant through which a DataStream communication can be transmitted between Project Pathfinder and USS Voyager.
The Federation is constantly developing new technology to enable the farthest corners of the galaxy to be brought closer together via ever faster ever better communications links. This might take the form of a deep space telescope that can transmit images of distant sectors and phenomena (e.g. the Argus Array three light-years from the old Cardassian border) or a communications apparatus designed to relay messages over extended distances such as the MIDAS Array
Dimensions Overall length: 293.3 meters
Overall Beam: 250.6 meters
Overall Draft: 20 meters (with graviton emitters not active)
Displacement: 133,720 metric tons
Crew Complement: None
Velocity: N/A
Acceleration: N/A
Duration: Open-ended. Projected 10 years before major upgrades
Propulsion: Systems Warp: (2) 8 particle beam thrusters
Primary Computer System: M-16 Bio-neural Gelpack Isolinear III Processor
Primary Navigation: System Stellar Dynamic Position Control System
Weapons: None
Deflector Systems: FSD Primary Force Field and Deflector Control System
The central hub of the MIDAS Array vaguely resembles a huge hemisphere, not dissimilar to the dishes of radio telescopes built on Earth in the 20th and 21st century. It is split into six identical triangular sections or panels, the outer edges of which form the hexagonal dish when joined together. These sections are grouped into pairs which are separated from each other by a thin wedge. There is a small dimple on the underside of the hemisphere where the panels meet in the centre. Two different sets of appendages radiate from this central hub. The most prominent are three long, slim arms extending from the equidistant wedges separating the panels. They are split into six roughly equivalent segments, except for the more substantial segment attaching the arm to the hub and the slightly slimmer tip. Unspecified connecting lines run the length of these arms above and below 180° and small lights highlight the Starfleet emblems on the main hub, near the connection point of each of the long, thin appendages. The outermost five segments of these longer arms support the sensor panels which send and receive communications. One panel extends to either side of the segment. They are coloured blue, as with all the Array's active surfaces.
The first, third, and fifth sensor fins, counting out along the arm, are wedge-shaped and quite large. They are separated by much smaller triangular fins on the second, fourth, and sixth segments, each of which fit into the spaces left by the larger fins. Three smaller appendages splay out from the central section, from the point formed by the join between two of the hub panels. These are the graviton emitters which enable messages to be sent over long distances, and they resemble a rather squashed version of the wedge-shaped sensor panels, giving them an almost triangular shape. They are formed of panels joined together to form the larger whole, in concert with the design of the Array itself. They are also slightly concave in shape, forming an upward-facing dish which mirrors the central hub.
The smaller appendages change from a plane equal to the longer arms to a 45° position when the Array's control matrix is activated. At the same time a small, round probe rises from the centre of the hub. This free-floating device acts as a focussing mechanism for the graviton energy released by the emitters.
The MIDAS Array serves other useful purposes for the Federation, but in 2376 Lt. Reginald Barclay of Project Pathfinder devises one of its most radical uses when he hypothesises that it could be used to establish contact with the USS Voyager in the Delta Quadrant. The principal factor in Barclay's theory is a Class-B itinerant pulsar which passes within four billion kilometres of the Array at irregular intervals. A tachyon beam aimed at the pulsar would provide enough gravimetric energy to form a tiny artificial singularity, or micro-wormhole. An adjustment to the phase alignment to direct the wormhole's trajectory toward the Delta Quadrant would be the final stage, allowing an audio signal to be transmitted. Barclay successfully carries out the procedure and the MIDAS Array transmits an audio message to USS Voyager on a Starfleet emergency channel. Two-way communication is established for a short time, an historic conversation which boosts morale aboard USS Voyager and at Project Pathfinder alike.
Thereafter the MIDAS Array becomes an integral and vital part of Pathfinder, and it is redeployed to act as a conduit for Starfleet's revolutionary hyper subspace technology which allows communications to be received within days of transmission. To begin with data streams are exchanged between Project Pathfinder and USS Voyager: Pathfinder uses a cyclic pulsar to amplify the signals from the MIDAS Array. The cycle only peaks every 32 days but it is enough for Voyager to receive a short burst of information once per month and have about seventeen hours to respond. Voyager receives tactical updates, letters from home and news about the Alpha Quadrant. Shortly afterward, as depicted in [#144 Lifeline], Voyager's Doctor learned from Barclay that Dr Zimmerman had only a few months to live - Zimmerman was suffering from acute cellular degradation and up to then had been treated by the finest doctors in Starfleet as well as the most recent EMH versions, but without success. Voyager's Doctor had his program sent in a DataStream to Jupiter Station where, after initial resistance from Dr Zimmerman who did not want to be poked around by doctors any more, he successfully used Borg regeneration techniques to reverse the cellular degradation.
Last edited by Adge - June 2004
This array provided the vital link between Project Pathfinder and USS Voyager. Controlled remotely by signals from the Pathfinder lab, the Midas Array fires a tachyon beam which opens up a micro-wormhole to the Delta Quadrant through which a DataStream communication can be transmitted between Project Pathfinder and USS Voyager.
The Federation is constantly developing new technology to enable the farthest corners of the galaxy to be brought closer together via ever faster ever better communications links. This might take the form of a deep space telescope that can transmit images of distant sectors and phenomena (e.g. the Argus Array three light-years from the old Cardassian border) or a communications apparatus designed to relay messages over extended distances such as the MIDAS Array
Dimensions Overall length: 293.3 meters
Overall Beam: 250.6 meters
Overall Draft: 20 meters (with graviton emitters not active)
Displacement: 133,720 metric tons
Crew Complement: None
Velocity: N/A
Acceleration: N/A
Duration: Open-ended. Projected 10 years before major upgrades
Propulsion: Systems Warp: (2) 8 particle beam thrusters
Primary Computer System: M-16 Bio-neural Gelpack Isolinear III Processor
Primary Navigation: System Stellar Dynamic Position Control System
Weapons: None
Deflector Systems: FSD Primary Force Field and Deflector Control System
The central hub of the MIDAS Array vaguely resembles a huge hemisphere, not dissimilar to the dishes of radio telescopes built on Earth in the 20th and 21st century. It is split into six identical triangular sections or panels, the outer edges of which form the hexagonal dish when joined together. These sections are grouped into pairs which are separated from each other by a thin wedge. There is a small dimple on the underside of the hemisphere where the panels meet in the centre. Two different sets of appendages radiate from this central hub. The most prominent are three long, slim arms extending from the equidistant wedges separating the panels. They are split into six roughly equivalent segments, except for the more substantial segment attaching the arm to the hub and the slightly slimmer tip. Unspecified connecting lines run the length of these arms above and below 180° and small lights highlight the Starfleet emblems on the main hub, near the connection point of each of the long, thin appendages. The outermost five segments of these longer arms support the sensor panels which send and receive communications. One panel extends to either side of the segment. They are coloured blue, as with all the Array's active surfaces.
The first, third, and fifth sensor fins, counting out along the arm, are wedge-shaped and quite large. They are separated by much smaller triangular fins on the second, fourth, and sixth segments, each of which fit into the spaces left by the larger fins. Three smaller appendages splay out from the central section, from the point formed by the join between two of the hub panels. These are the graviton emitters which enable messages to be sent over long distances, and they resemble a rather squashed version of the wedge-shaped sensor panels, giving them an almost triangular shape. They are formed of panels joined together to form the larger whole, in concert with the design of the Array itself. They are also slightly concave in shape, forming an upward-facing dish which mirrors the central hub.
The smaller appendages change from a plane equal to the longer arms to a 45° position when the Array's control matrix is activated. At the same time a small, round probe rises from the centre of the hub. This free-floating device acts as a focussing mechanism for the graviton energy released by the emitters.
The MIDAS Array serves other useful purposes for the Federation, but in 2376 Lt. Reginald Barclay of Project Pathfinder devises one of its most radical uses when he hypothesises that it could be used to establish contact with the USS Voyager in the Delta Quadrant. The principal factor in Barclay's theory is a Class-B itinerant pulsar which passes within four billion kilometres of the Array at irregular intervals. A tachyon beam aimed at the pulsar would provide enough gravimetric energy to form a tiny artificial singularity, or micro-wormhole. An adjustment to the phase alignment to direct the wormhole's trajectory toward the Delta Quadrant would be the final stage, allowing an audio signal to be transmitted. Barclay successfully carries out the procedure and the MIDAS Array transmits an audio message to USS Voyager on a Starfleet emergency channel. Two-way communication is established for a short time, an historic conversation which boosts morale aboard USS Voyager and at Project Pathfinder alike.
Thereafter the MIDAS Array becomes an integral and vital part of Pathfinder, and it is redeployed to act as a conduit for Starfleet's revolutionary hyper subspace technology which allows communications to be received within days of transmission. To begin with data streams are exchanged between Project Pathfinder and USS Voyager: Pathfinder uses a cyclic pulsar to amplify the signals from the MIDAS Array. The cycle only peaks every 32 days but it is enough for Voyager to receive a short burst of information once per month and have about seventeen hours to respond. Voyager receives tactical updates, letters from home and news about the Alpha Quadrant. Shortly afterward, as depicted in [#144 Lifeline], Voyager's Doctor learned from Barclay that Dr Zimmerman had only a few months to live - Zimmerman was suffering from acute cellular degradation and up to then had been treated by the finest doctors in Starfleet as well as the most recent EMH versions, but without success. Voyager's Doctor had his program sent in a DataStream to Jupiter Station where, after initial resistance from Dr Zimmerman who did not want to be poked around by doctors any more, he successfully used Borg regeneration techniques to reverse the cellular degradation.
Last edited by Adge - June 2004