Birth: December 29, 1968
Specialty: Astrophysics
Major Contributions:
USAF Colonel
Commander, Atlantis Expedition
Blew up a sun
Image Courtesy of Stargate Command (MGM Television)
Today we would like to introduce you to Colonel Samantha Carter, an astrophysicist who also had a long and impressive career in the U.S. Air Force, primarily within the Stargate program.
Born on December 29, 1968, Carter was the daughter of Air Force Major General Jacob Carter. Following in her father’s footsteps, she attended the Air Force Academy, majoring in astrophysics with a special affinity for quantum mechanics. While she was briefly assigned to the Pentagon, Carter also flew many missions during the Gulf War before being assigned to the Stargate Project in 1993.
Unearthed in Egypt in 1928, the Stargate was a large artifact was made of naquadah, a material not found on earth. While scientists had discovered that the nearly seven-meter ring was a transportation device that could create a stable wormhole, it was Carter and her team that were able to create the dialing computer that could input coordinates in order to direct the location the wormhole would lead to. She once claimed it took “15 years and three supercomputers” to accomplish the feat. In her years with the Stargate program, she would never stop finding ways to upgrade the computer, allowing faster dialing and safer travel with each improvement.
In 1997, Carter was assigned to the team known as SG-1, which quickly became the most accomplished and renowned of the off-world travelers at Stargate Command. During her years with the team, she was instrumental in many victories, perhaps the most well-known being when she used a Stargate connected to a black hole to cause a sun to become a supernova, decimating an enemy fleet.
Carter also became an expert on alien technology, helping to reverse engineer that technology to build the Air Force’s first combat spacecraft, the F-302 and the first interstellar battlecruiser, the Prometheus. Her expertise and bravery helped her to rise through the ranks quickly, and in 2007 she was promoted to Colonel and given command of Earth’s first off-world base, Atlantis. In 2009 she took command of the General Hammond, a Daedalus-class warship.
Today is April 1st, 2024, and we hope you enjoyed this episode. Thank you for listening.
Written by Mary Ratliff
Sources:
Stargate Wiki: Samantha Carter
Stargate Wiki: Dialing Computer
See Also:
Amanda Tapping’s Official Website
Watch Stargate SG-1 on Amazon Prime