HD-85512b/Homestead

View HD 85512b at Wikipedia.

The barren habitable planet of HD 85512b, better known as Homestead, was discovered, surveyed and mapped by the HSF-144 Pleione, under Lieutenant Commander Maaria Terho, and the SFG-22 Cyrene, under Lieutenant Commander Michael Lane, between October 19th, 2112 and December 8th, 2112. It is the fifth habitable body discovered by the FFP, presenting favorable conditions for human habitation under an atmosphere that, while not optimal, requires minimal breathing gear to survive in, as well as good conditions for agriculture.

Homestead possesses a moderate-pressure and marginally breathable atmosphere, requiring minimal external breathing gear for human survival. Its liquid water is concentrated in a large impact crater freshwater lake, colloquially “the Mirror” (so named for its reflection of the planet’s untainted starscape and high water clarity), though without an official designation as of yet, that dominates the topography of the planet’s tropics, with many islands strewn in its interior. On the northern coast of the Mirror lies the planet’s only major settlement, Argent Hills, with a population of 4,962. The settlement is named for its position immediately near the impact crater’s hilly rim, which contains anomalously high amounts of argentite, and subsequently, silver. The planet’s average temperature is 23 degrees celsius, with a radius of 9885 kilometers.

A symbol of hope for the people of a dying Earth (and by extension, the Sol system that depends on its mother world), colony ships have already begun to organize and depart for Homestead and its four sister colonial worlds. The planet, however, like all FFP colonies, remains under SDC military/scientific blockade and SDC military governance in cooperation with civilian corporate and scientific organizations. The planet lacks native lifeforms and has active plate tectonics.

The planet is orbited by a single natural satellite, Wächter, a captured asteroid similar in size and composition to Phobos, orbiting near to the planet and relatively close to its Roche limit. Three major artificial satellites orbit the planet- Goodwood Station, an AXIOM mineral refinery, as well as the administrative facility for AXIOM activities on and around Homestead; Seemannsruhe serves as the SDC point of transit, orbital Lumicom communications relay, cargo terminal and administrative facility and Manta Platform is a Minos Brothers Assembly mobile construction platform contracted by the SDC to assemble a skyhook in orbit.

This page was contributed by user HikariGlace.