Self-destruct
From Freepedia
A self-destruct is a mechanism which causes a device to destroy itself under a predefined set of circumstances. Self-destruct mechanisms are sometimes found in high security data storage devices, where it is important for the data to be annihilated in emergencies.
Self-destruct mechanisms are also found on devices and systems, the malfunction of which could endanger large numbers of people. The Space Shuttle Solid Rocket Booster rockets, for example, are wired with explosives so that the boosters can be destroyed in the event that it loses control on launch and heads towards a populated area. This feature can be seen in videos of the Challenger explosion. After the initial disintegration of the shuttle, the two solid rocket pods continue flying out of control until they explode simultaneously several seconds later. This occurred when the Range Safety Officer decided that the separated engines had the potential to endanger those on the ground and detonated the self-destruct system.
The Naval procedure of scuttling is used to 'destroy' a ship, or ships to prevent them being seized and/or reverse engineered.
Use in fiction
Self-destruct mechanisms are a common plot device in science fiction stories, particularly the theme of an artificial intelligence destroying itself due to cognitive dissonance (see Does not compute).
They were were frequently used as a mode of plot development in the Star Trek series. On Federation starships, an auto-destruct mechanism is available. This option is open to the senior officers on the starship in case the starship falls into enemy hands or becomes unworkable for some reason. It was also used as a form of kamikaze weapon, turning the starship into a powerful bomb. It usually had a time delay, so that crew could escape via the escape pods.
Examples of self-destruct in fiction:
- Star Trek: The Original Series (episode "Let That Be Your Last Battlefield")
- Alien
- Resident Evil video games
- Spaceballs (Almost averted except for an out of order override switch. "Out of order!? Fuck! Even in the future nothing works!")
- Star Trek III: The Search for Spock
- Star Trek: The Next Generation
- Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
- Star Trek: First Contact
- Star Trek: Voyager
- Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back ("I didn't hit it that hard- it must have had a self-destruct" - Han Solo, after having shot an Imperial Probe Droid on Hoth)
- Predator
- Mission: Impossible ("This tape will self-destruct in ten seconds.")
- Metroid
- Mighty Morphin Power Rangers (Alpha 5 activating his self-destruct program to save himself from Primator)
- Stargate SG-1 Television Series (where Cheyenne Mountain is equipped with a bomb)
- In the Bond film For Your Eyes only a form of Self Destruct is used to destroy ATAC, a coding machine used by the British Government.
- James Bond's Aston Martin is fitted with a self destruct mechanism.
In lighter or humorous fiction (such as cartoons and superhero films), the self destruct button is a ubiquitous component in any self-respecting mad scientist's machines. Rather than requiring authorization or procedure, it simply is a button that, when pushed, will cause the machine to self-destruct, frequently destroying the entire structure or complex it is housed in. The often complete uselessness (and danger) of such a device (except to a good guy) is possibly one of the many reasons a mad scientist is known as 'mad'.
