The Blackbird (also known as the Laura) is a custom-built stealth-capable reconnaissance spacecraft from the fictional universe of the reimagined Battlestar Galactica series. According to executive producer David Eick it is not a Viper, though some parts for the craft were derived from scrapped Vipers.
Creation
The Blackbird is designed by Chief Galen Tyrol in the second-season episode, "Flight of the Phoenix". Despite being a capable engineer, the chief has no experience in building Vipers from scratch although he does have a deep familiarity with the Viper and its systems from a maintenance standpoint. The Blackbird engines are of a more primitive design than the rest of the fighters. In addition metal is at a premium and was needed for repairs on existing Vipers. Lt. Karl "Helo" Agathon suggests that another material be used, and the Blackbird is thus built with a non-reflective black carbon fiber composite skin making the ship very difficult to detect on DRADIS. The craft is named the Laura in honor of President of the Colonies Laura Roslin, but continues to be known as the Blackbird. Its external design and hull configuration show a commonality with the Viper series ships, with clipped wings showing a marked dihedral, deleted vertical stabilizer and much cleaner lines in keeping with its sensor stealthing.
Armament
The Blackbird is generally unarmed and fitted with a surveillance kit, which was used by Starbuck in the ship's initial reconnaissance to determine the function of the Resurrection Ship. In the episode "Resurrection Ship, Part II", the fighter is shown to have a hardpoint, which is used to deliver an anti-ship missile used to destroy the FTL drive on the Resurrection Ship.
Current status
Shortly after neutralizing the Resurrection Ship, the Blackbird collides with a wrecked Raptor and is destroyed. Despite possessing additional materials to make a new Blackbird craft, no new Blackbirds were commissioned, and no explanation has been given for this.
The Blackbird is briefly seen in the Hangar being prepared for launch against the Basestar of the Rebel Cylons during the Final Five conflict.
Creation
The Blackbird is designed by Chief Galen Tyrol in the second-season episode, "Flight of the Phoenix". Despite being a capable engineer, the chief has no experience in building Vipers from scratch although he does have a deep familiarity with the Viper and its systems from a maintenance standpoint. The Blackbird engines are of a more primitive design than the rest of the fighters. In addition metal is at a premium and was needed for repairs on existing Vipers. Lt. Karl "Helo" Agathon suggests that another material be used, and the Blackbird is thus built with a non-reflective black carbon fiber composite skin making the ship very difficult to detect on DRADIS. The craft is named the Laura in honor of President of the Colonies Laura Roslin, but continues to be known as the Blackbird. Its external design and hull configuration show a commonality with the Viper series ships, with clipped wings showing a marked dihedral, deleted vertical stabilizer and much cleaner lines in keeping with its sensor stealthing.
Armament
The Blackbird is generally unarmed and fitted with a surveillance kit, which was used by Starbuck in the ship's initial reconnaissance to determine the function of the Resurrection Ship. In the episode "Resurrection Ship, Part II", the fighter is shown to have a hardpoint, which is used to deliver an anti-ship missile used to destroy the FTL drive on the Resurrection Ship.
Current status
Shortly after neutralizing the Resurrection Ship, the Blackbird collides with a wrecked Raptor and is destroyed. Despite possessing additional materials to make a new Blackbird craft, no new Blackbirds were commissioned, and no explanation has been given for this.
The Blackbird is briefly seen in the Hangar being prepared for launch against the Basestar of the Rebel Cylons during the Final Five conflict.
A battlestar is a battleship/carrier hybrid starship in the reimagined science fiction television series Battlestar Galactica. The reimagined series' battlestars and the series' other visual effects were designed and created by Zoic Studios for Battlestar Galactica.
The battlestars Galactica, Atlantia, Triton, Solaria and Columbia were named in the miniseries; battlestars Pegasus and Valkyrie were seen during the subsequent television series. Twelve battlestars were built at the start of the first Cylon War, one for each of the Twelve Colonies; Galactica represented the colony of Caprica. The fleet had grown by the time of the miniseries, as over thirty were confirmed to be destroyed during the opening wave of the Cylon attack, a loss which Kara Thrace describes as "a quarter of the fleet".
Design
A Colonial battlestar is an immense capital ship and is constructed as a series of discrete modules. The wedge-shaped fore section contains the CIC, among other facilities. The aft section contains both conventional (sublight) and FTL propulsion systems. The midsection is where the battlestar's flight pods are mounted, with large support pylons connecting them to the rest of the ship. There are internal transit corridors large enough to move Vipers (and presumably Raptors) from one flight pod to the other.
It is possible for Galactica to jump without retracting her pods; however, heavy damage occurs the one time the ship is seen to jump this way.
Defense
Armor
Battlestars are generally covered in smooth armor plating. Pegasus is a clear example of this, being a newer Mercury-class battlestar. Throughout the series, Galactica is shown with large portions of her armor plate removed, exposing the splinter deck and main armor bulkhead as well as structural ribbing underneath. The miniseries shows Galactica withstanding a direct nuclear detonation with little apparent damage to its command structure and fighter bays.
Armament
Main batteries
At the time of the outbreak of the Cylon attack Galactica is fitted with 40 two-gun heavy batteries; 8 1x2 dorsal, 8 1x2 ventral, 4 1x2 bow, 4 1x2 starboard & port bow (8 total both sides), but lacks the 4 fixed bow mounted cannon in the 80 cm (30-inch)range similar to Pegasus.
Battlestars rely almost exclusively on their main batteries to engage enemy capital ships. The barrels are housed in a very similar fashion to an oceangoing battleship's main batteries. The barrels are housed in a large armored turret sitting atop an armored barbette that extends below deck. They fire at least two types of ordnance: an anti-aircraft type munition where they fire explosive flak rounds, and an anti ship ordnance kinetic penetrator , which demonstrated a high effectiveness against Cylon Basestars.
Secondary batteries
In the series Blood & Chrome Galactica is shown fitted with 68 (34 port, 34 starboard) secondary batteries on her dorsal side to complement her main batteries.
Point-Defense Weapons Systems
Point-Defense is the defense of a single object or a limited area, e.g. a ship, building or an airfield, now usually against air attacks and guided missiles. Point-defense weapons have a smaller range in contrast to area-defence systems and are placed near or on the object to be protected.
A battlestar is heavily dependent in combat on a Close-in weapon system (CIWS). CIWS is intended to provide a last ditch defense against enemy assets that are able to penetrate the multi-layered defense. It is intended to be the last line of defense should the battlestar's main weapons or deployed fighters fail to defeat an incoming threat.
The primary function of these guns was an anti-fighter/anti-missile role, such as destroying incoming ordnance or Cylon Raiders. Battlestars carry hundreds of them. Adama gives Baltar one warhead for research purposes, and uses another to destroy a Cylon baseship orbiting Kolbol thereby reducing his inventory to three. By the time Galactica reaches the algae planet, her stockpile has increased to at least seven nuclear missiles, presumably more as Adama also states Galactica was resupplied by Pegasus when they first discovered each other .
Ship-to-ship missiles
Both the Valkyrie and Pegasus are fitted with ship-to-ship missiles.
Air Group
The battlestar Galactica was originally equipped with 80 Viper Mk. I fighters. During the First Cylon War these were replaced with the Mk. II, and later, the Mk. III versions. In addition to improved maneuverability, the Mk. II fighters are also equipped with two light missile racks. The arrival of Pegasus with her mostly intact squadrons and Viper production facilities were a huge boost to Galactica ' s dwindling air group. With the destruction of the Pegasus her squadrons were subsequently transferred to Galactica, giving the latter a full complement of fighters that were largely Mk VII Vipers.
Galactica was also equipped with numerous FTL jump capable Raptors, tactical multi-role spacecraft used for transportation, reconnaissance, scouting, tactical bombing/attacking, refueling, and electronic countermeasures.
Crew
Galactica ' s crew complement prior to its scheduled decommissioning was around 2,000. When the Cylons returned after the colonization of New Caprica, Galactica was manned by a skeleton crew.
; Battlestar Columbia
: The first battlestar Columbia served during the First Cylon War and was destroyed during Operation Raptor Talon, the last battle of that conflict. William Adama was involved in this action on his first mission as a Viper pilot, and witnessed the ship's destruction. This Columbia appears to belong to the same ship class as Galactica.
: The second battlestar Columbia was destroyed along with the Atlantia during the destruction of the twelve colonies. Columbia ' s executive officer some time before the events depicted in the show was William Adama, before becoming the commanding officer of the Valkyrie. Starbuck also served on the battlestar Triton once.
; Battlestar ' : Commanded by William Adama three years prior to the fall of the Twelve Colonies. Valkyrie was ordered by Admiral Corman to launch a black operation to penetrate the Cylon Armistice Zone to gather intelligence on Cylon battle readiness. The operation ended in disaster, and Adama was 'downgraded' to command of Galactica to oversee that ship's retirement (and his own). Battlestar Valkyrie was assigned to Battlestar Group 41 (BSG-41). The Valkyrie was destroyed over Caprica just prior to the fall of the Twelve Colonies, as seen in Battlestar Galactica: The Plan.
; Battlestar Yashuman : Destroyed along with battlestar Valkyrie over the planet Caprica just prior to the fall of the Twelve Colonies. Yashuman initially detects the Cylon assault force on DRADIS during the engagement, and launches its Vipers. However, after being scanned by Cylon raiders, CNP backdoors are activated and Yashuman's systems are shut down, paving the way for the Cylons to destroy her without a shot fired in return.
The battlestars Galactica, Atlantia, Triton, Solaria and Columbia were named in the miniseries; battlestars Pegasus and Valkyrie were seen during the subsequent television series. Twelve battlestars were built at the start of the first Cylon War, one for each of the Twelve Colonies; Galactica represented the colony of Caprica. The fleet had grown by the time of the miniseries, as over thirty were confirmed to be destroyed during the opening wave of the Cylon attack, a loss which Kara Thrace describes as "a quarter of the fleet".
Design
A Colonial battlestar is an immense capital ship and is constructed as a series of discrete modules. The wedge-shaped fore section contains the CIC, among other facilities. The aft section contains both conventional (sublight) and FTL propulsion systems. The midsection is where the battlestar's flight pods are mounted, with large support pylons connecting them to the rest of the ship. There are internal transit corridors large enough to move Vipers (and presumably Raptors) from one flight pod to the other.
It is possible for Galactica to jump without retracting her pods; however, heavy damage occurs the one time the ship is seen to jump this way.
Defense
Armor
Battlestars are generally covered in smooth armor plating. Pegasus is a clear example of this, being a newer Mercury-class battlestar. Throughout the series, Galactica is shown with large portions of her armor plate removed, exposing the splinter deck and main armor bulkhead as well as structural ribbing underneath. The miniseries shows Galactica withstanding a direct nuclear detonation with little apparent damage to its command structure and fighter bays.
Armament
Main batteries
At the time of the outbreak of the Cylon attack Galactica is fitted with 40 two-gun heavy batteries; 8 1x2 dorsal, 8 1x2 ventral, 4 1x2 bow, 4 1x2 starboard & port bow (8 total both sides), but lacks the 4 fixed bow mounted cannon in the 80 cm (30-inch)range similar to Pegasus.
Battlestars rely almost exclusively on their main batteries to engage enemy capital ships. The barrels are housed in a very similar fashion to an oceangoing battleship's main batteries. The barrels are housed in a large armored turret sitting atop an armored barbette that extends below deck. They fire at least two types of ordnance: an anti-aircraft type munition where they fire explosive flak rounds, and an anti ship ordnance kinetic penetrator , which demonstrated a high effectiveness against Cylon Basestars.
Secondary batteries
In the series Blood & Chrome Galactica is shown fitted with 68 (34 port, 34 starboard) secondary batteries on her dorsal side to complement her main batteries.
Point-Defense Weapons Systems
Point-Defense is the defense of a single object or a limited area, e.g. a ship, building or an airfield, now usually against air attacks and guided missiles. Point-defense weapons have a smaller range in contrast to area-defence systems and are placed near or on the object to be protected.
A battlestar is heavily dependent in combat on a Close-in weapon system (CIWS). CIWS is intended to provide a last ditch defense against enemy assets that are able to penetrate the multi-layered defense. It is intended to be the last line of defense should the battlestar's main weapons or deployed fighters fail to defeat an incoming threat.
The primary function of these guns was an anti-fighter/anti-missile role, such as destroying incoming ordnance or Cylon Raiders. Battlestars carry hundreds of them. Adama gives Baltar one warhead for research purposes, and uses another to destroy a Cylon baseship orbiting Kolbol thereby reducing his inventory to three. By the time Galactica reaches the algae planet, her stockpile has increased to at least seven nuclear missiles, presumably more as Adama also states Galactica was resupplied by Pegasus when they first discovered each other .
Ship-to-ship missiles
Both the Valkyrie and Pegasus are fitted with ship-to-ship missiles.
Air Group
The battlestar Galactica was originally equipped with 80 Viper Mk. I fighters. During the First Cylon War these were replaced with the Mk. II, and later, the Mk. III versions. In addition to improved maneuverability, the Mk. II fighters are also equipped with two light missile racks. The arrival of Pegasus with her mostly intact squadrons and Viper production facilities were a huge boost to Galactica ' s dwindling air group. With the destruction of the Pegasus her squadrons were subsequently transferred to Galactica, giving the latter a full complement of fighters that were largely Mk VII Vipers.
Galactica was also equipped with numerous FTL jump capable Raptors, tactical multi-role spacecraft used for transportation, reconnaissance, scouting, tactical bombing/attacking, refueling, and electronic countermeasures.
Crew
Galactica ' s crew complement prior to its scheduled decommissioning was around 2,000. When the Cylons returned after the colonization of New Caprica, Galactica was manned by a skeleton crew.
; Battlestar Columbia
: The first battlestar Columbia served during the First Cylon War and was destroyed during Operation Raptor Talon, the last battle of that conflict. William Adama was involved in this action on his first mission as a Viper pilot, and witnessed the ship's destruction. This Columbia appears to belong to the same ship class as Galactica.
: The second battlestar Columbia was destroyed along with the Atlantia during the destruction of the twelve colonies. Columbia ' s executive officer some time before the events depicted in the show was William Adama, before becoming the commanding officer of the Valkyrie. Starbuck also served on the battlestar Triton once.
; Battlestar ' : Commanded by William Adama three years prior to the fall of the Twelve Colonies. Valkyrie was ordered by Admiral Corman to launch a black operation to penetrate the Cylon Armistice Zone to gather intelligence on Cylon battle readiness. The operation ended in disaster, and Adama was 'downgraded' to command of Galactica to oversee that ship's retirement (and his own). Battlestar Valkyrie was assigned to Battlestar Group 41 (BSG-41). The Valkyrie was destroyed over Caprica just prior to the fall of the Twelve Colonies, as seen in Battlestar Galactica: The Plan.
; Battlestar Yashuman : Destroyed along with battlestar Valkyrie over the planet Caprica just prior to the fall of the Twelve Colonies. Yashuman initially detects the Cylon assault force on DRADIS during the engagement, and launches its Vipers. However, after being scanned by Cylon raiders, CNP backdoors are activated and Yashuman's systems are shut down, paving the way for the Cylons to destroy her without a shot fired in return.
Humanitainment is a new media company that produces socially oriented entertainment videos.
The Obamacles
Humanitainment first gained visibility with The Obamacles, a unique viral campaign for Barack Obama during the 2008 presidential election. The campaign generated millions of views, 5 No. 1 viral videos and extensive media coverage.
In the heat of the race for the Democratic nomination, Humanitainment released just prior to the Pennsylvania Primary.
Starring Barack Obama as the hero Baracky and Hillary Clinton as his opponent, Baracky: The Movie features a combination of footage from Rocky (with the characters’ heads replaced by the heads of characters from the campaign), news soundbytes and other graphic elements. Incredibly, the video cleverly captures the issues and events of the election race with a mixture of humor, drama and inspiration.
Baracky: The Movie became an instant viral hit and was widely covered by the mainstream media before being removed from YouTube due to a claim of copyright infringement by MGM. (The creators maintain the exploitation was proper within the “fair use” exemption under copyright law.)
Humanitainment continued its viral campaign with The Empire Strikes Barack which achieved even greater success. Baracky II and SuperBarack followed.
Fighting The Smears
In response to the rash of smears against Obama (particularly that his middle name is Hussein), Humanitainment released The Name Game, a clever send-up that juxtaposed other famous people with the dictators whose names they share.
John McCain
Once John McCain became the Republican nominee, Humanitainment released The Commander in Chief Test which used the familiar silhouetted faces from The Electric Company to assess McCain’s qualifications for the job.
It was followed by , a dance-inspired video that used McCain’s favorite phrase to examine McCain’s associates and his voting record.
Media coverage
Humanitainment’s 2008 election campaign was featured in Entertainment Weekly, Time, Newsweek, Variety, The Huffington Post and on CNN, MSNBC, ABC News, G4, and Inside Edition.
There is also an interview with the creators on Citizen Tube, YouTube's political blog.
The Obamacles
Humanitainment first gained visibility with The Obamacles, a unique viral campaign for Barack Obama during the 2008 presidential election. The campaign generated millions of views, 5 No. 1 viral videos and extensive media coverage.
In the heat of the race for the Democratic nomination, Humanitainment released just prior to the Pennsylvania Primary.
Starring Barack Obama as the hero Baracky and Hillary Clinton as his opponent, Baracky: The Movie features a combination of footage from Rocky (with the characters’ heads replaced by the heads of characters from the campaign), news soundbytes and other graphic elements. Incredibly, the video cleverly captures the issues and events of the election race with a mixture of humor, drama and inspiration.
Baracky: The Movie became an instant viral hit and was widely covered by the mainstream media before being removed from YouTube due to a claim of copyright infringement by MGM. (The creators maintain the exploitation was proper within the “fair use” exemption under copyright law.)
Humanitainment continued its viral campaign with The Empire Strikes Barack which achieved even greater success. Baracky II and SuperBarack followed.
Fighting The Smears
In response to the rash of smears against Obama (particularly that his middle name is Hussein), Humanitainment released The Name Game, a clever send-up that juxtaposed other famous people with the dictators whose names they share.
John McCain
Once John McCain became the Republican nominee, Humanitainment released The Commander in Chief Test which used the familiar silhouetted faces from The Electric Company to assess McCain’s qualifications for the job.
It was followed by , a dance-inspired video that used McCain’s favorite phrase to examine McCain’s associates and his voting record.
Media coverage
Humanitainment’s 2008 election campaign was featured in Entertainment Weekly, Time, Newsweek, Variety, The Huffington Post and on CNN, MSNBC, ABC News, G4, and Inside Edition.
There is also an interview with the creators on Citizen Tube, YouTube's political blog.
Elen Mon Wayne (born 26 March 1968 in Mydroilyn, West Wales) is a singer and actress. She studied at Aberaeron School, University of Wales, Aberystwyth and the Royal Northern College of Music. She is the recipient of a number of prestigious awards, including the Towyn Roberts Scholarship, the Brigitte Fassbaender award for Lieder and a Sir Peter Moores Scholarship. She studied with Ava June.
Elen Môn Wayne has performed in opera, but most recently in Welsh television (Pobol y Cwm, Glanhafren) and on the stage in London's West End. She took part in the BBC TV live premiere of Jerry Springer: The Opera.
She has appeared in The Phantom of the Opera (Her Majesty's Theatre), covering the role of Carlotta and Jerry Springer: The Opera (National Theatre and Cambridge Theatre). As a member of the chorus of Jerry Springer: The Opera, she was a joint recipient of the Olivier Award for best supporting role in 2004.
In 2006 she was in the London production of The Sound of Music and later played playing the role of Sister Sophia. She is also a teacher of voice and sings all over the UK as a concert performer. Her most recent engagement was a concert in Beijing at Luhe International Centre.
She is married to Philip Wayne, a headmaster, also a pianist and organist. They live in Buckinghamshire with their two children.
Recordings
*Elen Môn Wayne, an eponymous own album aimed at the Welsh-speaking market (Sain, 2001)
*Jerry Springer the Opera (Original Cast Recording, London 2003)
*The Sound of Music (Original Cast Recording, London 2006)
Elen Môn Wayne has performed in opera, but most recently in Welsh television (Pobol y Cwm, Glanhafren) and on the stage in London's West End. She took part in the BBC TV live premiere of Jerry Springer: The Opera.
She has appeared in The Phantom of the Opera (Her Majesty's Theatre), covering the role of Carlotta and Jerry Springer: The Opera (National Theatre and Cambridge Theatre). As a member of the chorus of Jerry Springer: The Opera, she was a joint recipient of the Olivier Award for best supporting role in 2004.
In 2006 she was in the London production of The Sound of Music and later played playing the role of Sister Sophia. She is also a teacher of voice and sings all over the UK as a concert performer. Her most recent engagement was a concert in Beijing at Luhe International Centre.
She is married to Philip Wayne, a headmaster, also a pianist and organist. They live in Buckinghamshire with their two children.
Recordings
*Elen Môn Wayne, an eponymous own album aimed at the Welsh-speaking market (Sain, 2001)
*Jerry Springer the Opera (Original Cast Recording, London 2003)
*The Sound of Music (Original Cast Recording, London 2006)