Long Baseline Facility-3
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Long Baseline Facility-3 was located 1.2 light-years from the nearest star, and it was relocated some tens of billions of kilometers from the ideal place to a convenient 400-kilometer ball of cryogenic ice, a Kuiper Belt object lost from some unknown system.[1]
| Long Baseline Facility-3 | |
|---|---|
| System Information | |
| X:Y Coordinates | [e] |
| Spectral class | None[1] |
| Recharge time | Impossible[1] |
| Recharge station(s) | North Pole[1] |
| Planet(s) | "Lebouef" (Kuiper Belt object)[1] |
Note: X and Y are coordinates (light years on XY plane) relative to Terra at (0, 0)
Template:InfoBoxPlanetStandard
Political Affiliation
- 2750 - Terran Hegemony[1]
- 2767 - Amaris Empire[1]
- 2830 - ComStar[1]
- Jihad - Word of Blake[1]
- 3095 - Republic of the Sphere[1]
Planetary Info
Long Baseline Facility-3 (or LBF-3) was a space station built into a former Kuiper Belt Object from some unknown system. The station is located 1.2 light-years from the nearest star.[1]
This astronomical instrument promised revolutionary radio-frequency imaging of the observable universe when astronomers realized HPGs allowed instruments to be linked across interstellar distances. The giant radio telescope never worked as promised because of unsolvable HPG issues. HPGs were insufficiently "real time" for true interferometers, and there were causality problems. A Hegemony astronomical society took over the LBRIA stations within the Inner Sphere in 2743 and operated them until 2767 when a security leak during the Amaris Coup revealed that the project was being used for signals intelligence and the society to be a front for Hegemony intelligence. The signals collected might be sometimes years and decades out of date, but the Hegemony found LBRIA useful to close gaps in old intelligence and resolve mysteries of House military activities.
ComStar recovered the station in the 2830s and used LBF-3 exactly like the Hegemony. One of its non-military successes was the discovery of the Columbia slowboat colony in 2850, unnoticed in the midst of the Inner Sphere for about 700 years.[1]
LBF-3 had facilities for hundreds of residents, a 900-meter diameter grav deck, an HPG, a pair of energy storage batteries for visiting JumpShips, and a pressurized docking bay suited for the largest of JumpShips, but under ComStar was only staffed with about 20 intelligence, astronomical, and maintenance personnel at a time. The Word of Blake sometimes staged small Manei Domini raids from LBF-3, but the station only had its regular crew when investigated by the Coalition in 3076.[1]
Notes
- While this space station is not within a planetary system, it is included in Category: Planets, due to its identity as a direct destination of visiting JumpShips.
- While the location of LBF-3 is not yet revealed, it may fall within Republic space, due to its manning by that state's personnel. However, there is a near-equal possibility it does not.