Hypernauts

Did You Know?

• The episodes Reunion, Hole in the Sky, New Alliances, and The Challenge parts one and two never aired in the United States but were available in Australia, Japan, and Germany.
• In Japan, Hypernauts was released on VHS under the title Voyager.

Plot

The series follows three cadets from the Academy of Galactic Exploration who become lost in a Hyper Bubble during a jump and must cooperate with an alien named Kulai to survive in an unfamiliar region of the galaxy. Kulai is a Chalim priestess from the planet Pyria, which was strip-mined by the warlike Triiad race led by the Pyran traitor Paiyin. The Triiad seek to eliminate intelligent races and use automated self-replicating factory ships called Makers to create new war machines from the raw materials of destroyed planets. The Hypernauts cannot match the Triiad's firepower and rely on stealth, wits, and modified mech suits to escape. They operate from an ancient abandoned exploration ship called the Star Ranger, hidden in an asteroid field, with an obsolete AI named Horten. For long-range missions they use a four-person jump ship called the Flapjack, which is Hyper Bubble capable but short-ranged. The Star Ranger serves as a mother ship with fusion engines and a database of explored planets. After the Triiad learn of the Hypernauts, they activate a sensor net called the Sphere of Interception around the central Milky Way, capable of identifying any hyperspace jump destination. The Hypernauts must keep Earth's location secret and find a way to warn Earth of the Triiad's existence.

Hypernauts characters

Russell 'Ace' Antonov, played by Glenn Herman, is the team's pilot who joined the disciplinary mission as punishment for using the Academy's sim trainer to play war games. He pilots the shuttle Flapjack and is the best mech pilot. Noriko 'Max' Matsuda, played by Heidi Lucas, is the team medic who was sent on the disciplinary mission for unauthorized calls to her sister. She joined the Academy against the wishes of her isolationist and xenophobic people, the Caduceus Enclave. Ricardo 'Sharkey' Alvarez, played by Marc Brandon Daniel, is the engineer and computer technician who hacked into the Academy's mainframe, leading to his placement on the disciplinary mission. As a child, Sharkey was injured in an accident that killed his parents, resulting in claustrophobia from unresolved trauma. Gloose is a three-legged alien found on a planet destroyed by the Triiad and kept as a pet on the Star Ranger. Horten, voiced by Lewis Arquette, is the Star Ranger's discrete AI controlling and monitoring ship systems. Kulai, played by Carrie Dobro, is the last Chalim from Pyrus who joins the Hypernauts as a friend and mentor. Pyrans live about 300 years; Kulai is 342 and has an extended lifespan due to her Chalim abilities. Pyrans share a psychic bond, and a Chalim generates a critical element for the race's health and procreation. Paiyin, played by Ron Campbell, is a Pyran traitor who facilitated the destruction of his homeworld and now serves the Triiad.