Main Mission
| Moonbase Alpha | |
|---|---|
| Plato, Moon | |
Moonbase Alpha
|
|
| Coordinates | Lunar 51.6° N, 9.3° W |
| Type | Moon base |
| Height | Up to 1 kilometer |
| Site information | |
| Owner | International Lunar Finance Commission (ILFC) |
| Controlled by | International Lunar Finance Commission (ILFC) |
| Site history | |
| Built | February 3, 1983 |
| Built by | International Lunar Finance Commission (ILFC) |
| In use | 1983–present |
| Materials | Quarried rock and ores |
| Battles/wars |
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| Events |
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| Garrison information | |
| Current commander |
Commander John Koenig |
| Past commanders |
Commander Anton Gorski (8th?) |
| Occupants | Alphans (humans from Earth) |
Moonbase Alpha is a fictional Moon base and the main setting in the British science fiction television series Space: 1999 (1974–77).
Primarily a scientific research station, at the start of the series, Moonbase Alpha houses 311 personnel including scientists, astronauts, medical personnel, and security officers. It is under the command of John Koenig. Four kilometers wide and up to one kilometer deep, it is a totally self-sustaining facility, with the different areas connected by a series of high speed "travel tubes". Alpha also has a fleet of Eagle Transporter spaceships, used for a variety of purposes throughout the series, which are housed in underground bunkers and then raised on launch pads for take-off.
Located in the Moon crater Plato and constructed out of quarried rock and ores, Moonbase Alpha is four kilometres in diameter and extends up to one kilometre in areas below the lunar surface. The complex extends outward from the central Main Mission tower in a series of concentrically arranged curved structures connected by travel-tube transit tunnels. (The look is more than reminiscent of Clavius Base in the film 2001: A Space Odyssey.) Apart from the central tower, the surface buildings are two to three storeys in height.
Originally, the base was designed to serve as both Earth's primary space research and exploration centre and a monitoring station coordinating the nuclear waste disposal areas on the Moon's far side. Construction began on 3 February 1983, but was briefly halted during the 1987 world war. Construction commenced afterwards under the auspices of the new World Space Commission. Though operational and occupied for years, final completion of the Alpha construction project occurred in 1997.
Moonbase Alpha is totally self-sustaining. Power is generated by four nuclear reactors and the accumulation of solar energy. Earth-normal artificial gravity is generated by eight towers surrounding the complex. Water is obtained from ice deposits under the lunar surface, recycled and purified. Nutritional requirements are met by a variety of familiar-appearing foodstuffs produced biochemically on Alpha This diet was supplemented by frozen-food products imported from Earth before all contact with home was severed in September 1999. (At the time of "Breakaway", about eighty percent of food and water products were produced chemically on Moonbase.)
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Wikipedia