Air Date: Friday, October 16, 2009 @ 9 PM

Dr. Nicholas Rush (ROBERT CARLYLE) has been working throughout the night to try and determine why the ship’s power reserves are critically low. He reiterates his mounting concerns to Colonel Young (LOUIS FERREIRA), who advises the crew to limit their power consumption to essential services only. Suddenly the lights dim to emergency levels and everything but life support goes dead. Overwhelmed by fatigue and frustration, Rush declares that all on board will perish within days. But when Destiny’s flight path towards a solar system reveals the existence of three planets, they hope that one of them is habitable.

Meanwhile Eli (DAVID BLUE) records individual messages from the crew in case they don’t survive.

Air Date: Friday, October 9, 2009 @ 9 PM

With the air supply failing on the Destiny, a team disembarks to a desert-like planet in search of the mineral needed to scrub the ship’s air of carbon dioxide. After testing numerous sand samples without success, and with their window of opportunity closing fast, the group opts to split into two to cover more ground, despite the unbearable heat. While one team presses on to find the treasured mineral, the other has another goal in mind. When it is apparent that Dr. Rush (ROBERT CARLYLE) can’t go on, Lt. Scott (BRIAN J. SMITH) decides to go it alone and orders Sgt. Greer (JAMIL WALKER SMITH) to return to safety with the exhausted scientist.

Meanwhile, with life on the ship looking bleak, and with the aid of the communication stones, Col. Young (LOUIS FERREIRA) reports in to O’Neill, and Chloe (ELYSE LEVESQUE), has one last chance to see her mother.

Air Date: Friday, October 2, 2009 @ 9 PM – 2-Hour Series Premiere!

During an official visit by Senator Armstrong (CHRIS MCDONALD), his assistant Chloe (ELYSE LEVESQUE), and Eli Wallace (DAVID BLUE), a recently recruited gaming genius, to Icarus, a secret off-world military base, the base falls under a full force attack leaving Colonel Everett Young (LOUIS FERREIRA) with no choice but to retreat. He orders an evacuation to Earth. However, a last minute maneuver by scientist Dr. Nicholas Rush (ROBERT CARLYLE) thrusts the escapees headlong into his experiment, which transports everyone to deep space.

The survivors arrive on an uninhabited ship floating billions of light years away from Earth. Panic spreads throughout the group and Col. Young, who was severely injured during the escape, transfers command to Lt. Matthew Scott (BRIAN J. SMITH), before lapsing into unconsciousness. Teams led by Dr. Rush and Sgt. Greer (JAMIL WALKER SMITH) try to make sense of the situation, while Lt. Tamara Johansen (ALAINA HUFFMAN), a medic who was days away from leaving the program, is thrust into the role of chief medical officer.

After secretly contacting the Home World Command using communications stones – a device which allows the swapping of consciousness between bodies across vast distances – Dr. Rush claims that he has been placed in charge by General O’Neill (RICHARD DEAN ANDERSON) and there is no hope of returning to Earth. When the ship’s air supply systems begin to fail, his theories are challenged by Eli. As the crisis deepens, divisions emerge between those who want to attempt a return to Earth, including human resources executive Camille Wray (MING-NA), and those who want to remain aboard the Destiny.

Guest Stars: Lou Diamond Philips, Christopher McDonald, Richard Dean Anderson, Amanda Tapping, Michael Shanks, Gary Jones

New episodes of Stargate Universe will be available on Hulu each week after the show premieres on Friday, October 2, MGM told GateWorld. Look for “Air” Parts 1 and 2 on Saturday, October 3.

New episodes will be available to U.S. viewers on the popular Internet television site the day after they air on Syfy Channel, Friday nights at 9 p.m. E/P. Fans will have five weeks to watch and re-watch.

As with many shows airing new episodes, Hulu will have five episodes of Stargate Universe up at a time. Then when the next new episode arrives, the oldest of the five will drop off.

Episodes of Stargate SG-1 and Stargate Atlantis are also available to watch free on Hulu, though SGU is the first of the Stargate franchise to be available for free online as it airs.

Stargate Universe will also be available to buy commercial-free and in HD at iTunes (story).

In Canada, episodes will be available online at Watch.Spacecast.com. There is no news yet about online viewing for other countries, though there have been rumors that a U.K. version of Hulu may launch before the year is out.

Zac Efron took a stroll through the Destiny set. No kidding. While meeting Ming-Na and Elyse Levesque yesterday, he apparently mentioned he was a Stargate fan and expressed an interest in taking a little tour of Stage 4. Of course the production was more than happy to oblige. By all accounts, he really liked what he saw – so much so that he requested a screener of the SGU premiere. I’m sure that can be arranged as well. I’ll admit that I’m not familiar with his work, but from I’ve heard about the guy from those who have met him – and, more importantly, have or are working with him – he’s very professional, incredibly focused, grounded, courteous and kind. And, as I’ve often said, as someone who works in the industry, I know enough to put a hell of a lot more stock in the firsthand opinion of a hair and make-up person than an infinite number of polished t.v. interviews, magazine blurbs, or supermarket tabloids. Anyway, nice to hear.