New: Utopia Planitia (free, open-ended, email, human, space, rpg) From: lindahl@pbm.com (Greg Lindahl) Date: Tue, 02 Apr 2002 23:13:17 +0000 Name: Utopia Planitia Costs: Free URL: http://www.sfintel.com Frequency: Min posts from members is weekly Email: gm@sfintel.com Type: Star Trek PBeM Last-Update: 2002Mar31 Keywords: free, open-ended, email, human, space, rpg Description: Utopia Planitia Shipyards Utopia Planitia is a Federation shipyard in orbit of and on the surface of Mars, in the Sol System. This outpost has been responsible for construction, repair and development of starships and their support systems for many years, and has become the backbone of all new starship development in recent years. Before 2260, major ship construction was completed in Earth orbit. However, due to increased traffic to Sol, all major construction was shifted to the sands of mars in 2270. Since then, all major construction projects have been completed here, and the shipyard has grown to immense proportion. Utopia Planitia is Starfleet's most prestigious dock. All the Space-borne construction platforms are in a geo-synchronous orbit above the original Viking program landing sites, as the location was found to be ideal for the ground based installations. Orbital facilities house duty personnel and support crew, as well as administration over each vessel's production, as the space docks and frameworks have command and coordination areas attached to them directly. Starships in various stages of construction can be seen at Utopia Planitia. Most vessels begin life as a skeletal structure of metal girders, into which small panels of exterior hull plating are attached, one section at a time with loving care by engineering teams and yard bosses. As ships near their launch date, they become a hive of activity. Shakedown crews, newly arrived, prepare the ship for departure. Technicians check every system and engineers crawl every space looking for last minute changes or repairs. Anti-matter and deuterium is loaded onto the ship, and every system is calibrated to functional readiness. Many specialists work with the senior teams. For instance, teams are on Mars working on new warp technologies, allowing modeling on powerful computers before their ideas are worked on actual starships. Space isn't always a friendly place and shipyards like Utopia Planitia are called upon to increase production and to repair battle damaged vessels. On these occasions, these repairs are undertaken as quickly as possible and even new ships have launched without being full prepared for active duty. On whole, Utopia Planitia is the very heart of the Federation fleet. Both for defense and pure innovation, there is no other place to be for the inquisitive mind! [ This is a new entry for the PBM List. You can find the list itself, and instructions for adding games or comments, at http://www.pbm.com/~lindahl/pbm_list/ -- greg ] Up