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Black Magic Project The Story of Human Exploration and Discovery Beyond the Orion Arm The materials contained herein unless otherwise noted are the copyright of J. Austin Wilde, 1991 to 2009, all rights reserved. |
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Navigation Home Sagittarius Colonial Atlas Ahriman (HM+31 0938 B) Amethyst (HB+32 3331 B) Angelique (HM-50 2602 B) Apollonia/Phyrigia (HD+35 2475 A) Aquilla (SAG+56 0107) Arkhangelsk (HM+41 2746) Atlantis (HM+52 0225) Aurora (HM+47 2620 A) Avignon (HM+31 3323) Baker's End (SAG-36 0528) Bellarmine (HM+36 1662 A) Bellissimo (HM+40 2827) Beowulf (HM+39 5516 A) Bounty (HB+38 0524 A) Buran (HD+32 1678) Cauldron (SAG+47 1522) Charybdis (HB+56 0404 B) Concordia (HM+00 2422 A) Cora's World (HM-40 2634) Daedelus (SAG+45 4907 A) Demeter (HM+31 3563) Destiny (HD+47 0309) Dustbowl/New Deseret (SAG-42 4503 B) Frontiera (HD+40 1336) Frostpile (SAG+43 2208) Fury (HM+53 0102 A) Gateway (HM+00 0000) Goldrush (SAG+33 2643) Gulag (HD+40 4019) Hecate's Hate (HM+32 3972) Hyperborea (SAG+44 1855 B) Ice Station Mike (HD+42 3267) Ice Station Oscar (HD+42 5807) Inshallah (HM+53 0608) Jena (HB-33 4139 A) Jewel/Sulfur Flats (HM+41 0955 A & B) Jin Xian (HM-45 4415) Jove/Fuzhou (SAG+49 2911 A & B) Libertad (HD-46 2312) Marino (HD-31 4687) Midgard/Muspellheim (HD+54 1018) Mirabilis (HM-45 1718) Neu Bavaria (HM+31 7329) New Anchorage (HD+35 3455 A) New Ares (HM+57 0405 A) New Havana (HM+55 1217) New Tanstaafl (HM+43 3626 A) New Taranto (HB+31 2685 A) New Zion (HD+47 0954) Paydirt (HM+36 2309) Porto Fria (HM-52 2716 A) Pu'uhonua (HM+35 2017) Research Station Victor (HB+55 1522) Sakura (HM-31 0629) Sandovar (HM+34 0139 A) Santa Clara (SAG+31 0179 B) Scherzo (SAG+55 2007 B) Sheba's World/Neu Bayer (HD-51 1306 A) Tanner's World (HB-32 1052) Tartarus (HM+31 5806) The Alamo (HM+34 0552 B) Tortuga (HD-37 4529) Toulon (SAG+55 0823 A) Valhalla (HD+31 1168) Viracocha (HM+31 1175 A) Waypoint November (HM+31 1969 A) Waypoint Omega (HM-06 1121 A) Waypoint Tango (HD+41 4528 A) Waypoint X-Ray (HD-66 1619) Waypoint Yankee (HD+10 1721) Waystation Alfa (HM+34 1207) Xiamen (HM+48 2891 B) Zhengzhou (HM-27 9791 B) Encyclopedia Spacecraft Technology Classification Designs AMC Registry of Vessels |
ENCYCLOPEDIA
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The Encyclopedia contains information
regarding the Sagittarius Arm and its inhabitants as well as relevant
historical knowledge of people, places, and events that led to its
colonization. Entries are cross-referenced as much as practical
to allow free-form browsing of the databanks so that visitors may
explore the spiral arm at their own pace. Users may begin their
search by clicking on the letters below corresponding to their items of
interest.
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| Baker, David (b. 14
March 2320 - d. 12 October 2355) David Baker was a Sagittarius Development Corporation geologist assigned to the Bonaventure class explorer Intrepid during Expedition ONE. Baker was killed in a rockslide after seismic charges destabilized part of the strata being investigated during a survey of the planet SAG-36 0528 II. An investigation into the accident conducted by the Intrepid's master, Drake Skyler, concluded that the fatal mishap was the result of an undetected fault in the rock causing a lateral shear rather than directing the energy of the blast into the body of the rock for seismic analysis. Baker's body was buried under rubble, and at the time was judged to be unreachable without posing unnecessary risk to life and equipment for recovery. He has the distinction of being the first member of the SDC to die during the manned exploration of Sagittarius. As the geological surveys he had already conducted pointed to great mineral wealth, the planet, now dubbed Baker's End by the Intrepid's crew, was later settled by over eight hundred hard-rock vacuum suit miners looking to strike it rich. Baker's remains were eventually recovered and interred in an elaborate tomb paid for with a profit share set aside for him in perpetuity by the miners, and which now acts as a trust fund to care for and if necessary bury those later miners who cannot do so for themselves. This profit share, sometimes called "Dave's Share" or "Baker's Due" has taken on supernatural properties among the miners, as it is claimed that those who refuse to set aside a share for the late geologist come to sudden and unfortunate ends. Baker's Tomb is a prominent attraction on the planet, and the anniversary of his death is observed by a full day of safety stand down at the mines. One of the few recreational outlets on Baker's End is a raucous tavern in the primary habitat of Baker's End known imaginatively enough as David's Wake, featuring memorabilia about Baker and the miners who followed later. David Baker is further remembered by the SDC for a class of Patrol Frigates that has recently been commissioned. All ships of the class are named after SDC personnel who have died during the performance of their duties. |
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| Baker's
End Baker's End refers to both the 2nd planet in the SAG-36 0528 System and the main colony town on that planet. The planet is a hot, dry rock with a thin atmosphere of carbon-dioxide and trace nitrogen. It is a source of rich mineral wealth, which has been exploited by various wildcat mining outfits since 2357. There is little government or law on Baker's End, only an irregular conclave of miners representing the various outfits present on the planet that meet in a tavern known as David's Wake to discuss grievances and settle disputes. The SDC maintains an office on Baker's End. |
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| Bank of Sol Headquarters - Fury (HM+53 0102 A System) The Bank of Sol was founded in 2044 by a group of private investors who wished to accelerate the growth of space colonization and development. Their principal legacy is the Solarian Dollar, an index currency tied to the seven major Earth currencies and the price of 0.999 fine gold. The value of the Solarian Dollar to the cis-lunar, and later Solar system population was that it proved to be a very useful medium of exchange between isolated and often very disparate groups of people in the early years of space exploration and development. The Bank of Sol became a very potent political force in space in spite of its pledged neutrality simply by the fact of supporting or rejecting space development projects for investment or loans. The bank's power was never more assured than when it took a seat on the board of the Sagittarius Development Corporation and its currency made the official medium of exchange for Sagittarius. The Bank's operations in Sagittarius have been permanently cut off from their main headquarters in the Sol System due to the Stargate crash. This fact has not deterred the bank's Vice President of Sagittarius Operations, who has expanded operations to foster vital economic development. The Bank has since dropped the index function of its currency, as this is now superfluous to the stranded residents of Sagittarius, and has instead begun to back its currency with an expanded basket of commodities such as gold, silver, platinum, iridium, helium-3, and antimatter. An agreement between the SDC, Mercer Heavy Industries, Helios, and the Bank of Sol has fixed the value of these commodities against the Solarian Dollar as a stability measure, and the Bank's newly appointed Sagittarius Board of Governors meet quarterly to adjust these exchange values as necessary. |
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| Banks class |
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| Beanstalk A surface to orbit elevator composed of an ultrahigh tensile strength cable reaching from geosynchronous orbit, with a counterweight positioned higher in orbit to maintain tension. The concept was first proposed by Konstantin Tsiolkovsky in 1895. The first beanstalks became possible with the ability to manufacture long strand carbon nanotube fibers in the early 2030s. A joint effort by the United States and Japan produced the first beanstalk, anchored in the Pacific Ocean due south of Hawaii, in 2038. The Interplanetary Age is considered to have started with the opening of the U.S.-Japan Beanstalk as the cost of putting mass in geosynchronous orbit plummeted to a hundred dollars a kilogram overnight, and dropped to ten dollars within ten years as more beanstalks were constructed. The beanstalk made commericial exploitation of space economically feasible, and allowed groups or individuals of relatively modest means the ability to go into space. There are several beanstalks operating in Sagittarius. Fury, Jin Xian, and Sakura all have operational beanstalks, and Aquilla, Jewel, Scherzo and Bellissimo are in the process of constructing them. The presence of a beanstalk in considered absolutely vital to the advanced development of a colony. |
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| Bellarmine |
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| Bellissimo |
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| Beowulf |
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| Bonaventure A class of heavy explorer built for the SDC by Estrella Esperanza Shipyards of Terranova, Alpha Centauri-A. Ten ships in three 'Blocks' were constructed. Three ships of Block I were followed by three Block II vessels and then an additional four ships were built to the Block III standard. The Bonaventures have the distinction of being the only class of civilian starships equipped with Long Jump stardrive. The only previous example, the National Geographic Society's Maia (NGSR-8), had its Long Jump system removed prior to being placed in the Smithsonian's orbital annex alongside the Adventurer III. For more information on the class, click here. |
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| Bonaventure (AMC-002) Lead starship of the Bonaventure class Heavy Explorer. Keel laid 8 October 2350, Commissioned 31 March 2353. Named for the first colony ship to Terranova, and also (according to her master) for St. Bonaventure. Bonaventure, as the lead ship of the class, was a Block I model until 2361, when it was refit to the Block III standard. Bonaventure participated in Expeditions ONE through FIVE before undergoing its refit. The ship's master has been the legendary Pietro Caravaggio throughout the ship's existence. For more information on the class, click here. |
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| Bounty | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Brown Dwarf
Catalogue The Mizuno Brown Dwarf Catalogue was compiled over the years 2355 to 2360 by SDC Astronomer Ryuichi Mizuno. Star systems whose primary star is a brown dwarf are listed with a catalogue number beginning with 'BD.' This is a Sagittarius only designation, and should not be confused with the Bonner Durchmusterung catalogue of near-Earth stars. A listing of Star System Catalogues can be found here. |
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| Buran |
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