Transporter

The transporter is a device that allows an object to move instantaneously from one point to another by breaking down the subjects molecules into energy and transporting that energy to another point, where it is reassembled into matter. The act of transportation is often referred to as beaming.

History
On Earth, the first developments towards matter transportation was being made by Colin Blakeney. By 2052, Blakeney had constructed a prototype transporter and was ready to conduct the first experiments in transporting. Instead of using an inanimate object, Blakeney decided to use himself as a test subject and stepped into the transporter. Blakeney dematerialized safely, but the transporter's pattern buffer had been sabotaged and Blakeney did not rematerialize. Following Blakeney's supposed death, his prototype was likely destroyed and his research ignored. (TNG comic: Forgiveness).

During the early years of the development of the transporter, many debates were made on Earth against the technology which consisted of health reasons as well as metaphysical arguments, such as whether the person who was transported was the very same person or a transporter duplicate with the original having died in the process. In the 2120s, a Human named Emory Erickson began to experiment with developing a transporter, and the first fully-operable transporters were operable by 2139. (ENT episode: "Daedalus").

By 2186, the first practical transporter device is invented by Grahd of Tellar. In 2209 the first recorded case of transporter psychosis is diagnosed on Delinia II. By 2211, Grahd's improved emitter arrays allow shipboard transporters with the same margin for error as ground based transporters. 

Transporter Components

 * Biofilter
 * Heisenberg compensator
 * Molecular imaging scanner
 * Pattern buffer
 * Phase transition coil
 * Primary energizing coils
 * Site-to-site transport interlock
 * Targeting scanner
 * Transporter pad

Applications of the Transporter
One notable development during the continued use of the transporter were various techniques as well as new concepts that were introduced that were not part of the original purpose of the technology.

The transporter was also used by archaeological expeditions during digs as they were used to beam away as much rock as feasibly possible. This allowed a team to excavate locations at a fast rate without any damage to dig site itself as the matter was documented on a subatomic level even while it was removed. The data from the pattern buffer was routinely downloaded into the computer systems for later analysis. The resolution was too low for a precise re-materialization but it was sufficient for gross analysis of rock composition and structure. Typically, the ships AI was sophisticated enough to identify artifacts and ecofacts after which it was capable of alerting the expedition members of the findings and beam away only the matrix upon request. The items were left embedded in such a state that were handily unearthed. 

Another example of this was accomplished by Captain Montgomery Scott who, when marooned along with a colleague on a Dyson sphere, used the transporter to store their pattern in the buffer until someone could rescue them. (TNG episode: "Relics") This would be duplicated by his granddaughter, Katarina Scott, onboard the USS Dallas (NCC-2019) after life support was rendered inactive and the crew used the technique to survive until a rescue team arrived to recover them. (TNG video game: Elite Force II) This procedure is very dangerous as the patterns could degrade and the person would be lost.

The USS Voyager's Hazard team would make use of portable transporter buffer to serve as a storage mechanism to allow them to keep equipment which could be materialized and dematerialized when needed. (VOY video game: Elite Force)

The Old Culture made use of a highly advanced form of frequency based transporter based on the planet Faramond which allowed them to transport their civilization from one part of the galaxy to another. 

Transporter Techniques

 * Heglenian shift
 * Near-warp transport
 * Phoenix Process
 * Skeletal lock
 * Transporter Code 14

Types of Transporters

 * Folded-space transporter
 * Long distance transporter
 * Multidimensional transporter device
 * Spatial trajector
 * Sub-quantum transporter
 * Subspace transporter
 * Translocator
 * Temporal transporter
 * Cargo transporter
 * Displacer

Related Articles

 * Emergency transporter suit