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Mercury The domed habitats on Mercury's surface are reflective for reasons of thermal management; other darker areas are concentrations of solar power collectors. Many of the deep caverns created by mining are used for agriculture using piped sunlight. |
| Mercury - Data Panel
 Planetology System: Solsys Primary: Sol Planet: Mercury (Sol I) Planet Type: Small, rocky world, Mercurian Subtype This world has a large, molten core heated by tidal flexing and primordial radioactivity. Distance from Primary: orbits Sol at a mean distance of 0.387 AU. Radius: 2439 km Density: 5.44 gm/cm3 Gravity: 0.378 G Day / Year: 59 days / 88 days Axial Tilt: 7° 0' Satellites: none Atmosphere: No atmosphere apart from helium from the solar wind trapped by its weak magnetic field. Non-terraformed, but some underground habitats for bionts and food production. Average Surface temperature: +350°C and -170°C. AI AI overseers: no single overseer AI's ethos: N/A Polity Name: Mercury Administration (Umbrella Body) Symbol: Several ai generated symbols Affiliation: The Solar Organisation / Formalhaut Acquisition Society Founded/Colonized: First manned landing in 2098 c.e. (129 a.t.) in a multinational mission from Earth. This fast moving world is isolated from the rest of the Solar System by the large delta-vee requirements of any journey from elsewhere in Solsys to its surface; so it remained untrodden for a relatively long time. However the large solar flux and mineral wealth allowed this world to quickly become economically important, despite never supporting a large population. Psyche, Art, Culture Culture: For several thousand years the Fomalhaut Acquisition Society has maintained links with the population of this small planet Besides its mineral wealth and abundant solar energy, Mercury has great historical significance and a thriving tourist industry has developed largely due to FAS investment Language: a number of ai and vec dialects, and several SunMiner languages; you can get by with SolOrg Anglish in all the more touristy areas Territory and Population Population: surface: Present population is approximately 0.12 billion, mostly ais, vecs, cyborgs, a number of old Duperior clades, and a small but influential number of Sun Miners. Territory: Mercury and Cis-Mercurian space; the intra-mercurial bands are considered protectorates but have complete autonomy Government and Administration Government Type: Coalition of semi-autonomous city- and habitat-states, Caloris City is the nominal capital Legal system: Conforms to all Solar Organisation Standards Foreign Policy: Member Polity of the The Solar Organisation. Close Trade, Cultural and Ideological links with other member states. Economics, Local Infrastructure Economy Currency: Osmium standard, Solar credit Major Industries: tourism, helioanakalyptics, arts and crafts, amat production, pilgrimage Angelnetting: in some orbitals and cities Population centers (Surface): The population is concentrated in a number of sites including the current "capital" Caloris City, built on the site of the old (pre-nanoswarm) Pittsburgh Dva, a US-Russian mining colony. During the First Federation Era this was a major mining/industrial complex for Amat Systems corporation, but very little remains now. Other settlements include Helio Arcology, Scarp City (still popular with vecs), Petrarch, and Big Heat (an old tweak settlement currently becoming increasingly gentrified with Sun Miners buying up real estate for holiday homes). Mercury Orbitals
Government: aligned with surface, or independent Sophonts: about 2.49 billion, mostly ais and copies, and miscellaneous virtuals, with a few vecs, cyborgs, and sun miners, and the occasional tweaks, heroms, and nearbaselines Industries : amat production, nano- and picocomputing, helioanakalyptics, simaesthetics, tourism Travel Major Spaceports: Surface: Mercury Interplanetary, also many smaller ones Orbital: Helios Major; Clarke Docks; other smaller ones Hazard Rating : orbital 0.0 to 0.2 surface 0.0 to 5.5 Visa Restrictions: Two to three month waiting period for a surface visa (this period can be considerably shortened if one has the right contacts and/or can find a bribeable official Freedom of Movement: some habitats not accessible to bionts Environmental Requirements: Vacuum suit (with temperature control) required for non-biont areas Sites of Interest: Still based on Mercury are a number of ancient solar observatories, most of them robot outposts. Although the ais inhabiting them still continue the original duty of the forecasting of solar flares, for the most part they seem more interested in aesthetic contemplation of the endless variations of solar activity. These outposts are also a popular spot with Sun Miners, who have a friendly sim art and cultural exchange relationship with the ais. |
History: Mercury is a world rich in history. During
the late Interplanetary era Mercury was the base for a number of amat
megacorps, which converted solar power into amat. The largest of the
several facilities at Mercury was an Exodynamics mining and fabrication
operation producing solar panels. These were used to provide power for
the production of kilogram quantities of antimatter per month at a
factory in near solar orbit.
There were also huge mining industries, mainly descended from workers
who settled on Mercury from a number of different nations and
corporations, mining the heavy siderophile elements such as osmium and
platinum which were found in greater abundance on Mercury than anywhere
else in the Solar System, though at very great depths. Because of this
much of Mercury's surface is still scarred by mining, either tailings
from the deep tunnels or by the huge pits (excavated by bomb and energy
beam) created to expose the mineral-bearing layers. A number of
habitats survived the first wave of nanoswarms, but a later evolution
of nanites killed all bionts and destroyed the colonies.
During the First Federation era
Mercury was once again the center of the amat megacorps, but after the
development of the conversion drive their megacomplexes were largely
abandoned to vecs and some
squatting tweak clans. In 2650 an infestation of autoevolving nanotech
life began to spread (apparently an attempt at ecological art from one
minor group), causing major concern. The Solar Organisation
began a long and costly clean-up, restoring Mercury to its former
grandeur. Currently it has become something of a traditional in-spot
for the Sun Miners.
The Helios Orbital Bands, important solar power collection structures in orbit around the Sun within Mercury's orbit, were mostly built from material exported from Mercury's surface. Closer to the Sun still are several layers of connected superobjects constructed by the goddess GAIA Herself for her own energy needs and for data processing; these objects have been constructed from material lifted directly from the star.
Population Centers: The population is concentrated in a number of sites including the current "capital" Caloris City, built on the site of the old (pre-nanoswarm) Pittsburgh Dva, a US-Russian mining colony. During the First Federation Era this was a major industrial complex for Amat Systems Corporation, but very little remains now. Other settlements include Helio Arcology, Scarp City (still popular with vecs), Petrarch, and Big Heat (an old tweak settlement currently becoming increasingly gentrified with Sun Miners buying up real estate for holiday homes).
Most recently the Fomalhaut
Acquisition Society
has heavily invested in the tourist trade on this world, opening
numerous and luxurious hotels and other accommodation; this is viewed
with some suspicion in traditionalist Solar Org quarters, who question
the motives of this large interstellar trading empire. But the economy
of Mercury has gained many benefits from this investment to date.
The Eye of the Solar Needle - a famous formation on Mercury becomes a tourist destination
