In Search of the Sol System

[Identity Crisis]

The Oort Cloud is about 50,000 AU from the sun. Which by my maths is closer than eight light months than two or three.

[pesterfield]

The moons of Mars should have colonies since they would have been used as a waystation and homebase for Mars exploration. The people of Mars aren't Terran, they're Martian and won't let anyone forget it.

Europa and Titan should both have at least science stations on them.

The asteroid belt should be full of listening and command posts.

[Aldaron]

In my campaign we have a 10th planet which orbits out toward the Oort cloud, kicking the occasional comet out of the cloud and into the inner system.

It's called "Persephone" (the concubine of Pluto, IIRC) and it's about the same size as Mars, but it's little more than rock and frozen ammonia.

Part of one adventure used it as backdrop to a Cadet mission to "core" a comet nearby. While in the sensor shadow of Persephone the EBS ("Evil Bad Spy") (TM) launched the attack on the Cadets which started the whole campaign rolling.

*Smiles* Be running part 4 of that campaign next week, actually...

[redwood973]

Liz Not Beth you sounded surprised by that.

Identity Crisis thanks. Do you have a descent link for the Oort Cloud (say maybe a NASA or respectable University page)? All the ones I can find all contradict each other. I have seen the distance for the Oort Cloud listed at from 2 light-months to 3 light-years!

Would the Moons of Mars still be occupied? Once the surface of Mars is settled it seems like the waystations and homebases would be abandoned in favor of more permanent settlement. Good point about them being proud Martians rather than Terrans. I will have to work that into the data sheet.

Titan will soon be updated with a science station. . .input as to the functions of this station would be apprecieated. I assume it would mostly be doing atmospheric studies since that is the most notable feature of Titan. (What do you recommend for Europa?)

The asteroid belt has me puzzled. Would it be occupied by such things when we already have the Mars Defense system and command facilities elsewhere?

As to Persephone, do you have a data sheet that you use Aldaron? I would be intersted in seeing it. BTW, what does it mean to "core a comet?" Sending it into an orbit toward the core worlds, or a surface mining operation to study the comits core?

[Identity Crisis]

The Oort cloud is a cloud and it's spread over a very large volume.

When Jan Oort first theorised that the cloud existed he did so because his calculations showed that most long-period comets had maximum distances from the sun of around 50,000 AU.

But the whole cloud may extended from 5,000 AU out to 100,000 AU.

It's a bit messy because there would be no clear dividing line between the Kuiper Belt (which starts at Neptune's orbit - 40 AU) and the inner regions of the Oort Cloud.

No Oort cloud object has been detected directly yet, it's presence is presumed from the mechanics of the comets that we can see.

A search on NASA or any other good astronomy site turns up several references, with 50,000 AU being the most often quoted figure.

[pesterfield]

Would the Moons of Mars still be occupied? Once the surface of Mars is settled it seems like the waystations and homebases would be abandoned in favor of more permanent settlement.

I think they would be. Utopia Planetia and the Mars Defense system both likely need space stations, why not use the moons for some of the work and not build more stations than you absolutely have to? They could also be the offical entry points for Mars, a place to contain visitors until the bueacracy is finished with them and as a quaratine area before exposing the Martian population to diseases.

Titan will soon be updated with a science station. . .input as to the functions of this station would be apprecieated. I assume it would mostly be doing atmospheric studies since that is the most notable feature of Titan. (What do you recommend for Europa?)

Titan would be atmospheric research and hydrodynamic research if Titan has a water system like some believe. Though it's made up of natural gas, not water. Europa would be for oceanic research of the world ocean beneath the ice, and any lifeforms that live there.

The asteroid belt has me puzzled. Would it be occupied by such things when we already have the Mars Defense system and command facilities elsewhere?

Yes. The asteroid belt is between the inner and outer system a perfect place for a defense net. Also it provides another trip wire before reaching Mars.

Cheyenne Mountain, Colorado still continues its mission of monitoring space traffic in Terran orbit. It is also one of the designated alternate command posts for Starfleet, in the event Starfleet Command in San Francisco is unable to carry out the duty. Other alternative command posts are the Andes in Peru, some sites in the interior of China, and other out of the way usually below ground locations.

[tmutant]

Originally posted by redwood973
The asteroid belt has me puzzled. Would it be occupied by such things when we already have the Mars Defense system and command facilities elsewhere?

There would also be mining facilities, colonies on some of the larger bodies, (which can be 1000km in diameter), and probably Federation bases. Pallas and Ceres are two of the big named asteroids that might support colonies and mining.

[redwood973]

The Oort Cloud is in the data sheet, for now. I am leaning toward dropping it. As data on it is just speculation I see no need for it in the sheet. . .I doubt it would ever come up in a game.

The Titan Science Station will soon be mentioned in the data sheet, and one of our group has asked to take a shot at creating the data sheet for Europa (for those that would like to see it I will post it as soon as she is done [mid-week it sounds like]).

The Asteroid Belt will be updated to include mining colonies and operations (soon I hope).