Meta Probe

Meta Probe The Meta Probe was a manned mission due to be launched from the Space Dock in lunar orbit in late September 1999, as seen in the episode "Breakaway" in the television series Space: 1999.

The Meta Probe was slated to visit the rogue planet named Meta, from which signals were received on Earth and at Alpha. Two astronauts would control the Meta Probe from a standard Eagle Transporter cockpit module. Astronauts underwent training at Moonbase Alpha and over the Far Side of the Moon, using Navigation Beacon Delta and Nuclear Waste Disposal Area 1 as landmarks. The two astronauts assigned to the mission were Frank Warren and Eric Sparkman.

However, the magnetic radiation from the waste disposal site caused a fatal illness in Warren and Sparkman. Before a replacement crew could be trained and then launched, Disposal Area 2 exploded, thrusting the Moon out of orbit. The Meta Probe was attached to the Space Dock (both shown above), possibly undergoing fueling. The gravitational stresses tried to tear the Meta Probe off the Dock, while presumably the Dock's station-keeping thrusters fired automatically in an attempt to keep it in orbit. As a result, both the Dock and the Probe were destroyed.

The Meta Probe is part of the Space: 1999 timeline.

Space Dock (Space: 1999)

Space Dock The Space Dock appeared in the episode "Breakaway" of the television series Space: 1999.  Also appearing in "Dragon's Domain", it was an international space station in orbit around Earth's Moon.

The Ultra Probe from "Dragon's Domain" and the Meta Probe (seen above with the Space Dock in "Breakaway") were launched from this station.

The name 'Centuri Space Dock' was coined by the author of the Starlog Technical Notebook and was never used in the series.

The Space Dock was destroyed when the Moon was blasted out of Earth orbit on September 13, 1999, during the events of the episode "Breakaway" (although a news announcer, in a broadcast picked up by departing Alphans, states that it was merely blown from orbit, it was clearly destroyed). Presumably, gravitational stresses tried to pull the Meta Probe off the station, while the automatic station-keeping thrusters of the Space Dock probably fired automatically in an attempt to keep the Dock's orbit stabilized. If the Dock actually survived, it would have been severely damaged when the Meta Probe tried to tear itself away. Since the Probe was nearing launch, it was probably in the process of fueling, explaining why it exploded and (apparently) took the station with it.

The Space Dock is part of the Space: 1999 timeline.

Moonbase Alpha

Moonbase Alpha, seen prominently throughout the Space: 1999 television series, is an advanced base. It is a major scientific research center, monitors the various nuclear-waste-disposal sites on the far side of the Moon, and is the training ground for astronauts of the Meta Probe. At least 311 people were assigned to the base when the Moon left Earth's orbit on September 13, 1999 (episode "Breakaway").

Various episodes state it was constructed in the 1980s ("Voyager's Return", "Death's Other Dominion") and in 1994, Nuclear Disposal Area One was closed down ("Breakaway").

John Koenig was assigned as the ninth Commander of Alpha on September 9, 1999, in an attempt to get the Meta Probe launched; he replaced Anton Gorski ("Breakaway"). Funding for Alpha comes from the International Lunar Finance Committee, although the base is under the leadership of the World Space Commission ("Breakaway"). Surface transport is by Moonbuggy; long-distance transport is via Eagle Transporter ("Breakaway").

Part of the Space: 1999 timeline.