Crippen Station
Sarna News
The Crippen Station was the first industrial space station put into low Earth orbit in 2005 as the center of the Western Orbital Defense Network (WODeN).
History
Starting in 1994 as part of a joint venture between the United States and Japan, the Crippen Station was a major piece of the Space Defense Initiative (SDI). The project was later renamed the Western Orbital Defense Network (WODen).
The space station was larger then any station built previously, housing over 2,000 people, and including modules for scientific laboratories, factories and recreation areas for the personnel.
In late 2007, the station was upgraded with facilities creating the ability to build and repair the defense network satellites, scientific satellites and the ships proposed for manned missions to Mars (see AS Altair & AS Columbia).
During this time, the station became the central command for the Western Orbital Defense Network.
Not tasked solely for scientific study, the Crippen Station included sophisticated military technology allowing for the detection, tracking, and jamming of enemy weaponry. The station included energy weapons that played a part in the 2014 Second Soviet Civil War destroying hardliner-launched Soviet ICBMs. This prevented millions of civilians from being massacred during that conflict.
After the Second Soviet Civil War ended in March, 2014, the station returned to its primary mission of scientific research and study.
In 2016, Crippen Station became the home of the newly formed Western Alliance Alliance Space Command (ASC) tasked with creating the first lunar settlements. After these settlements were completed, the ASC moved its headquarters to Luna and Crippen was retasked to construct the first manned vehicles for Mars exploration. The AS Altair was the first launched in 2017.
The AS Columbia was launched from the station in 2027.
The last major role of the Crippen Station was as part of the Magellan Project. The first interstellar probe, named Magellan One, was launched from the station in early 2030 to explore the Tau Ceti system.
References
- DropShips and JumpShips - pg. 5-8