SHIP U.S.S. VOYAGER:
STARFLEET STASIS CHAMBER
SHIP U.S.S. VOYAGER:
STARFLEET STASIS CHAMBER
A stasis chamber, which is also known as stasis unit, is an emergency medical device used aboard Federation starships. It can hold a humanoid patient in a state of suspended animation until medical treatment can be rendered [TNG: Tapestry].
STASIS "CHAMBER" OR STASIS "UNIT"? ST:M and TOSTFF call it "stasis chamber"; other sources usually call it that too but also "stasis unit"; Encyclopaedia calls it "stasis unit", never "stasis chamber". It is called "stasis chamber" three times in [#93 One], and "stasis unit" four times e.g. Seven calls it "stasis unit" in the final scene. When I watch [TNG: Tapestry] again I shall check which term is used.
A stasis unit can also be used to preserve the body of a deceased individual to prevent decay while awaiting burial, and Tuvok does this in 2372 with the body of Ensign Bennet when Bennet dies of his injuries caused by the shuttlecraft crashlanding on what turns out to be the Drayan sacred moon [#38 Innocence].
In 2372, in [#41 Resolutions], the Doctor placed Janeway and Chakotay into stasis units on a planet surface for 17 days while he searched non-stop for a cure to an insect-borne viral disease they have contracted. They cannot leave the planet because something in the planet's atmosphere is shielding them from the effect of the virus; if they leave it could risk a recurrence of the virus which could prove fatal. He revives them by remote control from USS Voyager with the bad news that he had been unable to find a cure.
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In early 2373, in [#43 Basics, Part Two], the Doctor places into stasis a Kazon-Nistrim soldier whom Lon Suder had killed, but the reason is to conceal the body from the hostile occupying Kazon-Nistrim force (the stasis unit is not seen on the tv screen.)
In 2374, Voyager encounters a Mutara-class nebula, a gaseous anomaly well-known to Starfleet crews. The nebula's enormous size - approximately 110 light years across - leaves the crew with no option but to navigate through it, although a number of unknown constituents are detected within the nebula in minute quantities. The crew encounter a small, radioactive field on entering the nebula, and are immediately afflicted with painful headaches, followed by skin blisters and burns which would prove fatal from long exposure. Indeed, one of the crew does die as a result, and the ship then exits the nebula as quickly as possible.
 severe skin blisters |
 painful headaches |
 dead crewman |
It is realised that the crew cannot withstand the month-long journey time required to travel through the nebula, because of its devastating effects on organic tissue of the subnucleonic radiation that the Doctor reports is present in the nebula's gases. Adjustments to Voyager's shields will not protect the life forms aboard from fatal exposure, and a course of inoculations is also unviable. The Doctor's investigations into the phenomenon lead to an unattractive and drastic alternative: placing the entire crew into suspended animation for the duration of the journey through the nebula. Several of the senior staff have reservations about this option, but the Doctor can offer no alternative to his proposed designs for individual crew stasis units, with independent life-support systems built into each unit. The senior staff meet to discuss the strategy, although Janeway has already decided to go along with the Doctor's plan and has given Seven the guardianship of the ship under the Doctor's command.
Suspended animation techniques are well-known to Starfleet (see section above A Month In Stasis Chambers). The Doctor modifies existing medical stasis units, and presumably manufactures more as it is not known if the ship automatically carries enough stasis units to provide one per crew (I suspect not). The stasis chambers will slow down the crewmembers' cardiopulmonary systems and suspend neural activity for the duration of the suspended animation period. The reduction in normal body functions should leave the crew waking up feeling as if they have had "a good night's sleep", and there is further assurance that every crewmember's vital signs will be constantly monitored by the Doctor, with additional checks made by Seven four times a day. She alone, of all the crew (save of course the Doctor), will not enter a stasis chamber as she is unaffected by the Mutara nebula.Paris: "And how long will this be for?"
Janeway: "We don't know for certain. At least a month, maybe longer, if the nebula is larger than we estimate."
Torres: "I've never been in long-term stasis. Are there any side-effects?"
Janeway: "The Doctor assures me it'll be just like taking a nap. We'll go into the units, our cardiopulmonary systems will be slowed, neural activity suspended and we'll wake up feeling as though we'd had a good night's sleep."
Kim: "There are things that can go wrong, at least, that's what I've read."
Janeway: "We'll be carefully monitored by Seven and the Doctor who will check our vital signs four times a day, taking care of any problems."
Paris: "I assume we've explored all the alternatives."
Janeway: "I think we're all feeling uneasy about this, and I'd be lying if I said I don't have concerns myself, and I think it's about loss of control. We always feel better if we think we're in charge of our circumstances. In stasis we give up that control and no Starfleet officer likes to do that. The crews have been in stasis for much longer than a month. I think we can handle it."
The crew occupy the modified stasis chambers on stardate 51929. The main visual differences between these modified stasis chambers and the ordinary stasis chambers occupied in 2372 by Janeway and Chakotay, are as follows:
| Deck 14 is chosen to house the stasis units for a number of reasons:
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 Click for full-size picture |
3D cutaway drawing of a stasis chamber as used in 2374.
Red alert: The picture below is 138Kb.
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 Click for full-size picture The screenshot (by me) comprises two screenshots joined together. |
The external appearance of the stasis chamber is similar to a coffin, a fact not lost on some crewmembers, but their shape and design is intended to afford maximum possible protection to the occupants during suspended animation. Each chamber consists of three main elements:
The supporting base is substantial, designed to withstand the weight of the occupant chamber and provide the stability required when the crew member is entering or exiting the chamber. The support at the foot of the chamber is an enclosed, thick, rectangular column, just under one metre in length. It slopes upward and outward at an angle of approximately 45°, connecting the underside of the occupant chamber to the wide-stepped base sitting flush with the floor. The supporting column connected to the underside of the chamber's head is much narrower, and curves outward and upward from the stepped base. There is a gap between the two supports, allowing access to the underside if required.
Sitting directly on top of the two supports is the main occupant chamber. Constructed out of a smooth dark grey-coloured alloy, the outer shell of the chamber is over 20 centimetres thick, and shields the occupant from all external sources of harmful radiation and other adverse environmental conditions. 
The outer shell is in excess of two metre in length, approximately one metre wide, and 1½ metres above the floor. There is a large gap at the head of the unit, through which the occupant enters and exits the chamber by sitting on the exposed ledge of the interior and sliding themselves into place within the shell. The upper surface of the chamber is curved, providing extra height inside the padded interior for the crew member, with five raised and polished narrow ridges running along the lenghth of its exterior. Once inside the chamber, the occupant's head is supported by a small tubular pillow at the padded head of the interior. The exposed entrance area is covered by a transparent cowling which slides smoothly from the underside of the protective shell. It forms an airtight seal with the head of the chamber, usually activated from the upwardly-angled control and monitor console at the head of the chamber, although the unit can be unlocked from the inside in an emergency.
Oxygen, heating, and low-level lighting is provided by the units, and maintains the vital functions at a pulse rate of 42, blood pressure of 100 over 50, and a body temperature of 97.6° Fahrenheit. These statistics probably vary slightly as regards non-human members of the crew. The chambers are designed to shield the occupant from a variety of external elements, but allow medical tricorders to scan their occupants without interference, complementing the information on the control interfaces that are also linked to a central terminal monitored by the Doctor.
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It is possible for an occupant to open and leave her or his stasis chamber, as happens with Tom Paris who sleep-walks on four occasions and has to be put back. |  |
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Tom Paris is uncomfortable with very confined spaces, as indicated by his earlier nervousness when about to get into his stasis unit. At that time Harry Kim jokingly offered to replicate him a teddy bear. |
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Janet replicates a teddy bear, ostensibly for Tom Paris.
replicator