Third planet orbiting The Sun or Sol. Its
scientific name is Sol 3 and it is sometimes called
Terra. Earth is the original homeworld of all human life, but is now mostly
lifeless due to devastation caused by The Asteroid that struck Earth
in 0 (Zero) AI (2216 AD). Contamination in the atmosphere remaining since
The Impact has killed all but the strongest plants and the dominant life
form on the planet is now the cockroach. Environmental suits must be worn
by anyone visiting the Earth. The planet could be cleaned up, however it has few remaining accessible resources and so
far no-one has been willing to fund the cost of re-terraforming the planet. Some,
back-to-Earth, religious groups have sprung up, some of whom want
terraforming regardless of the cost.
See also The Solar System.
[Source: A Short History of Mankind]
A terrestrial planet orbiting in the habitable zone of a
Sol-like star (or an Earth sized
moon of a giant planet in the habitable zone), with surface conditions close enough
to Earth to support life. People must be able to walk on the planet without
spacesuits for it to be called Earth-like.
Surface conditions required include:
a magnetic field strong enough to deflect deadly stellar radiation (as magnetic fields are related to rotaion
period, this usually gives a local day length within a few hours of 24 hours),
a gravity close to 1 G (too small and an atmosphere can not be retained, too large and long term health problems
occur to humans),
the right atmospheric mix, with enough oxygen and not too many poisonous gasses.
Chemically, an Earth-like planet must have similar amounts of organic chemicals in the soil (for
plants to grow) and poisonous or deadly chemicals in the soil will be low enough so that plants and animals can survive.
An Earth-like planet may only just qualify for the name. Life may only be able to exist near the equator, the poles, or
at high or low altitudes. Planets with poor conditions can be made more Earth-like by a process called
terraforming - this can alter the temperature, surface pressure or
atmospheric content of a world, however terraforming may be more expensive than relocating to an uninhabited world with
better conditions.
Star system. It is 49.7
light-years from Sol. Its
scientific name is DM+80 238. Like many colonists living in systems with
one habitable world the inhabitants call both their system and the planet they live on Easter. Easter is a
second wave colony and was colonised in 242
AI (2458 AD) from Valhalla.
The first colonisation attempt was only a partial success and many colonists died or returned to
Valhalla. In 297 AI (2513 AD), after
violent conflict on Valhalla, the Easter Shareholders imposed an embargo on
imports from Valhalla in an attempt to force all parties to the negotiating
table. Easter is a true independent.
[Source: InfoDump Database: Valhalla]
Star system linked to another system by a stable
wormhole. It is 44.65
light-years from Sol. Its
scientific name is DM-41 1288. Like many colonists living in systems
with one habitable world the inhabitants call both their system and the planet they live on Eden. The planet Eden is very
beautiful but not very Earth-like. Eden is a
first wave colony.
Eden was probably colonised sometime after 146 AI (2360 AD) and discovered its
wormhole sometime between 146 and 150 AI
(2360 and 2366 AD)
After developing wormhole technology and building
starships the people of Eden, contacted local colonies. The Eden Government
had no consistent foreign policy but did manage to form a loose alliance called the
Eden Cluster. There were occasionally minor conflicts within the
Cluster however the
First Interstellar War provided the incentive for
the members to sort out their problems. In 179 AI (2393 AD) The members of the
Cluster signed mutual defence treaties and renamed the alliance the
United Democratic Planets to signify the
new sense of unity in the group. Eden is the homeworld of the
United Democratic Planets.
[Source: A Short History of Mankind]
Eden Cluster (EC) ([circa 146] to 179 AI = [circa 2366] to 2393 AD)
Former Earth organisation that assisted companies constructing
starships towards the end of the
colonisation period. The group was set up by several businessmen.
They proposed a mutual sharing of colonisation technology between all of their companies in order to make all of their
efforts more successful. Each member of the group would share all of its technology with the others and send specialists
on all the starship of the other members. In -54
AI (2162 AD) ESIG approached Peter Anderson,
founder of Anderson Nano Tech. Anderson did not have
enough money to join the group, but they were so keen to have him on board, that they agreed to fund the construction of
a starship for his employees if he and a team of volunteers stayed behind
to oversee work on all of their other ships. Most of the members of ESIG colonised
planets in the areas of space closest to the
Star Kingdom of Pegasus and the
United Democratic Planets.
[Source: InfoDump Database: Anderson Nano Tech]
Democratic republic. After developing wormhole technology
and building starships, the
Eridani contacted local colonies, who were keen to form alliances with them
because of their advanced technology. The Eridani decided to form a republic,
with all members colonies treated as equal to Epsilon Eridani
(and each other). Members submit a number of representatives to the
Republic Council relative to the size of their population.
The Republic is one of the seven major
power blocs.
[Source: A Short History of Mankind]
