Icarus Base

"holy..."

- Eli Wallace

The Icarus Base was an off-world Tau'ri base, twenty-one light-years from Earth, in the Milky Way galaxy, which housed a Stargate. The personnel stationed at the base wore uniforms unique to the base. The base contained a runway and several F-302s. It was also protected by a number of RG/BBT SG military mounted gun emplacements.

History
In 2009, the George Hammond was sent to transport Doctor Nicholas Rush, Eli Wallace, Senator Alan Armstrong and Chloe Armstrong to Icarus Base for an attempt to dial the Stargate's ninth chevron. The Stargate was not used to travel to the base because the planet on which Icarus Base resides on contains a radioactive core made of Naquadriah, which could possibly become unstable after the dialing of an incoming wormhole. This powerful core proved to be the only power source capable of dialing in the ninth chevron. The cost of Icarus Base was 1.6 billion dollars, the funding of which nearly cost Senator Alan Armstrong his entire career, and, without his belief in the program, it never would have been approved.

Base Configuration
The base itself was unique in that it was built into a planet that had a unique radioactive core which provided sufficient power to dial a 9th chevron address. Due to the highly volatile nature of the core, the stargate deployed on this world was configured in such a way that it could not receive incoming wormholes as an added safety feature in case such an event triggered instability in the planet. The stargate itself was configured to draw power directly from the planet's core rather then the attached DHD so it could dial a 9th chevron address once the coordinates were unlocked successfully.

The base itself was constructed inside a mountain on the surface of the planet, much like the SGC and various offworld Tau'ri bases in the milky way galaxy. The mountainside had a single defense emplacement which housed the RG/BBT gun emplacements and several additional 50cal weapons. Icarus base housed a number of military and civilian personnel not only related to the research project.

Attack
Later, a force of several Ha'tak motherships, Death Gliders, and troop transports attacked Icarus Base, prompting an evacuation. In the ensuing battle, Col. Telford engaged the attacking forces in an F-302. In desperation, Dr. Nicholas Rush, with the help of Eli Wallace, figured out how to dial the nine-chevron address. Using Earth's point of origin, they cracked the code, and Rush dialed the Stargate to the Ancient vessel Destiny instead of Earth. The base's personnel were able to evacuate. It is unclear how Dr. Rush was able to dial the gate's nine symbol address, because, Earth's point of origin should not have been located on the gate. The Icarus gate had it's own point of origin, as seen when the team first attempted to dial the nine-symbol address.

When the base came under attack, the core of the planet destabilized, resulting in the complete destruction of the planet itself. The attacking forces (rumored to be the Lucian Alliance) failed to anticipate this outcome, resulting in the complete destruction of the attacking fleet. The George Hammond, which was defending the base from orbit, managed to locate all but 80 of the Icarus base personnel and evacuate them from the planet before it was destroyed. Colonel Samantha Carter reported that the remaining personnel who could not be found were most likely in the heavily shielded bunker beneath the mountain which was designed to deflect sensor scans. The Hammond itself escaped the planet shortly before it was destroyed.

Military Officials

 * Colonel David Telford - F-302 fighter detachment and SG team leader
 * Colonel Everett Young - Icarus Base Commander
 * Doctor Simms - Icarus Base Chief Medical Officer (deceased)
 * Lieutenant Tamara Johansen - Icarus Base Medic
 * Lieutenant Matthew Scott - Base Security
 * Sergeant Ronald Greer - Base Security
 * Sergeant Hunter Riley - Stargate Operations
 * Lieutenant Vanessa James
 * Airman Darren Becker
 * Sergeant Curtis (fate unknown)
 * Sergeant Spencer
 * Sergeant Gorman

Civilian Contingent

 * Doctor Nicholas Rush - Science Team Head
 * Senator Alan Armstrong (deceased) 
 * Chloe Armstrong
 * Adam Brody
 * Sonja Damji
 * Jeremy Franklin
 * Andrea Palmer (fate unknown)
 * Lisa Park
 * Dale Volker
 * Camile Wray - IOA Representative
 * Eli Wallace

Behind the Scenes

 * The Icarus set was built and is located in Stage 5 of Bridge Studios in Vancouver, British Columbia, which used to be the location of the sets for the SGC control room and briefing room, which are now dismantled. Next to it are the sets of the Destiny in Stage 4, and the Atlantis control room and gate room in Stage 6.
 * The Icarus base played an important role in the series premiere of Stargate Universe. According to Joseph Mallozzi's February 23rd, 2009 weblog, the characters named Rush; Young; Scott; Chloe; Eli; Col. Telford; Sen. Armstrong; Dr. Damji; Lt. James; Sgt. Riley; Park; Brody; and Franklin, all appear in the Icarus Base during the three-parter Air.