Puddle Jumper



The Puddle Jumper is the Human nickname given to a set of small ships used by the Ancients found by the Atlantis expedition in 2379. It was coined by John Sheppard, an experienced pilot, who found a serendipitous double meaning when describing the craft. The nomenclature of the ship was immediately protested by Rodney McKay and Aiden Ford, who preferred "Jumper ship", although their suggestion was rejected. They are operated via neural interface, and so the Ancient Technology Activation gene is required to activate and pilot the ship. The Asurans referred to these ships as "Gateships", possibly indicating that the Ancients also called them that in their language.