Project Quantum Leap

Project Quantum Leap is a fictional, top-secret, government-run science project involving time travel on the sci-fi/drama "Quantum Leap", created by Donald Bellisario.

Overview

Located in a largely underground complex in the desert mountains of Stallion's Gate, New Mexico, Project Quantum Leap is rooted in the scientific theories of project head Dr. Samuel Beckett, whose "string theory" of linear time forms the basis of time travel -- but only within the period of one's own life. Thus, according to Sam's theory, a time traveller cannot travel further back in time than the moment of one's own birth. (However, in 'Play It Again, Seymour,' the leap date is April 14, 1953 - just under 4 months before he was born. Also in the episode 'The Americanization of Machiko,' the leap date is given as August 4, 1953 - 4 days before he was born. So it is possible his 'lifetime' includes time periods after his conception and prior to his birth).

"Theorizing that one could time travel within his own lifetime, Doctor Sam Beckett stepped into the Quantum Leap accelerator--and vanished. He awoke to find himself trapped in the past, facing mirror images that were not his own, and driven by an unknown force to change history for the better. His only guide on this journey is Al, an observer from his own time that appears in the form of a hologram that only Sam can see and hear. And so Doctor Beckett finds himself leaping from life to life, striving to put right what once went wrong, and hoping each time that his next leap will be the leap home."

To prove his theory to government sponsors who were about to cut funding for the project, Sam tested the experiment on himself and found himself stuck in the past, with amnesia as an unexpected side-effect of the time travel. Furthermore, he found himself inhabiting other people's "physical aura," meaning he retains the illusion of their physical appearance, form and even voice. Whether this aspect of time travel is expected or (as the show strongly suggests) unexpected is never explicitly revealed. Sam soon discovers that the only way to "leap" from one point in time to the next is to correct mistakes in the lives of the people he inhabits. For the next four years, Sam would continue to travel back and forth through time in a continuing effort to leap home (to his proper time and identity), swapping identities with various people, and putting things right that once went wrong.

The project is run by Sam until his "disappearance" into the Accelerating Chamber. After Sam's disappearance (depicted in the first scene of the pilot episode), the project is ostensibly run by Sam's best friend, Albert 'Al' Calavicci, a former Navy Admiral, who seems to operate with a great deal of autonomy but occasionally must answer to such government authorities as The Pentagon or a United States Senate committee (the latter depicted in the season two premiere, "Honeymoon Express"). Despite government funding, the extent of actual government involvement in the project (at least as depicted in the series) seems more or less limited to security (provided by U.S. Marines) and intelligence (since the project's computer seems to have nearly unlimited access to government records).

Key Aspects of the Project

The Accelerating Chamber, also known as the "Quantum Accelerator," is a nuclear-powered device that acts as the project's time machine. It is able to send someone into the past, but apparently unable to retrieve them again, despite repeated attempts by various members of the project to design a "retrieval program."

The Imaging Chamber is Sam's means of communication with the project during his travels. From Al's perspective, the Imaging Chamber is a large, cavernous room that takes the form of Sam's surroundings. However, this form is just a holographic projection; Al can't physically interact with these surroundings in any way, other than to converse with Sam (and, in rare circumstances, other people; see the entry on Albert Calavicci for the examples of this). Sam, in turn, can hear and see Al as a holographic projection (which remains invisible to everyone else). To Al, Sam looks like the person whose life he is inhabiting.

The Waiting Room is the room where Project Quantum Leap keeps the people Sam leaps into; they are held here (sometimes against their will) until they can once again trade places with Sam and return to their lives in their proper time period.

Ziggy is a sentient supercomputer designed by Sam and programmed mostly by Gushie. It controls many of the functions at the Project Quantum Leap complex, has access to countless databases and sources of public records, and seems to specialize in calculating probability based on enormous amounts of data; during Sam's travels through time, Ziggy uses these abilities to postulate the "mission" Sam must complete in order to make his next leap in time.

Key personnel

Some episodes of the final season reveal that security for the project is provided by armed U.S. Marines; other episodes in the series hint that a whole team of scientists work at Project Quantum Leap, but of those scientists, only the ones below are ever mentioned.

Dr. Samuel Beckett is the project manager of Project Quantum Leap. Notably, he is both the designer of Ziggy and the creator of the string theory of linear time that makes time travel possible. A brilliant scientist with multiple doctoral degrees (including Music, Medicine, Physics, Archeology, Ancient Languages, Chemistry and Astronomy), Sam specializes in quantum physics. Sam is played on the show by Scott Bakula.

Albert Calavicci serves as Sam's contact with the project (and also as the acting project manager) while Sam travels through time. Al is a Rear Admiral in the United States Navy and had previously worked with Sam on another top-secret government science project, known only as "the Starbright Project" (the nature of which is never revealed on the show). Al is played by Dean Stockwell.

Donna Eleese is Sam's wife, an astrophysicist who clearly has top security clearance but whose actual involvement with the project is never clarified. Like Al and Gushie, Donna worked with Sam on the Starbright Project. Donna appears only twice on the show; she is played by Teri Hatcher in the season one episode "Star-Crossed" and by Mimi Kuzyk in the season four premiere "The Leap Back."

Dr. Verbeena Beeks is the staff psychiatrist; she is sometimes referred to by Al, but is seen in only two episodes, the season three finale "Shock Theater" and the season four premiere "The Leap Back."

Gushie, often referred to as "a little guy with bad breath," serves as both a general technician and Ziggy's head programmer. Portrayed by stand-up comedian Dennis Wolfberg, Gushie appeared in five episodes -- more than any other recurring character.

Tina Martinez, despite possessing the appearance, mannerisms, and voice of a stereotypical air-head, is a brilliant computer programmer, introduced into the project by her sometime boyfriend, Al Calavicci. Despite many references in the show, she appears in only one episode, "The Leap Back."