New Eden

From Edenmush

New Eden is a massive space station, owned and operated by Am-Dex Corp and currently in orbit in the Earth-Moon L5 point. Originally intended as a proof of concept and technological testbed for larger and more complex habitats Eden was soon converted into an exotic vacation destination for those rich enough to afford it. In recent years however the resort has fallen out of vogue and efforts are being made to cater to those of a more moderate income. This shift has met with some success, due mostly to the continuing reduction in the overall cost of space travel.

Structure and Design

New Eden is based upon a design first proposed in 1929 by Dr. John Desmond Bernal who original described a station consisting of hollow spherical shell 16 km in diameter, with a target population of 20,000 to 30,000 people. Later revisions were proposed by Dr. Gerard Kitchen O'Neill during a series of studies held at Stanford University in 1975 and 1976.

From these early starting designs a final proof of concept design was decided upon by Am-Dex Corp engineers. New Eden's modified Bernal sphere type station called for a hollow sphere 223m in radius, giving it an internal area of 630,210 square meters. Enough space to support as many as 9,000 - 10,000 residents. To generate an artificial gravity the station is spun along it's central axis at 2rpm, generating a full 1g along the habitat's 'equator' and progressively weaker pull as one moves in the direction of the station's poles. The resulting internal landscape can referred to as a sort of valley, with the terrain running along the equator being generally low lying and flat, and the terrain sloping steeply upwards at the poles, however due to the lower gravity one actually finds their progress easier the steeper the terrain becomes.

Power and Life Support

The habitat relies primarily on the sun as a means of power generation, as well as a key ingredient in its life support functions. An array of solar photovoltaic cells are employed as a means to generate electricity for the stations myriad of uses. Additionally a complex series of mirrors is employed to channel natural sunlight within the habitat itself, the result being the stations distinctive miniature internal sun. This coupled with an extensive agricultural operation serves to generate a breathable atmosphere for the station's residents, along with a substantial amount of food. Despite the food generated by the habitat itself however it still receives frequent shipments of earth manufactured commodities.

Eden and Law

Due to its position in space New Eden is completely out of the jurisdiction of any earth bound governmental body or agency. The laws and their enforcement are wholly those of Am-Dex Corp and are enforced by their own internal corporate police. It is due to this fact that a large number of corporate organizations have sought to station themselves within New Eden, in order to engage in business otherwise illegal, heavily-controlled, or prohibitively expensive to conduct on Earth. Among these lines of business are such fields as cloning, genetic engineering, illicit narcotics, organ trafficking, money laundering, arms trafficking, smuggling and corporate espionage among others.