Day 7-What's the weather like today?
"A fellow officer in the Sciences Department specializing in Meterology, Ensign Dalton, once told me, "If I had to report on the weather aboard Prosperity, I think my job would be pretty dull indeed."
As someone who once skipped around from planet to planet, never quite sure what I would need to survive a world's climate, I very much appreciate the relative dullness of the conditions of shipboard life. At the same time, braving the elements is a big part of Landing Party missions and we've encountered some seriously intense environments over the years. Trust me when I say that Ensign Dalton's job is anything but dull.
A few standouts from missions over the last few years include..."
Dinom II (Dinom)
A brutally hot and barren desert world with five small seas, slightly heavy gravity, and an atmosphere that is simultaneously thick and yet has low than standard oxygen content. It is a bit higher in nitrogen. The PH balance and alkaline levels are strangely less than normal for Class M worlds, causing generally lower acidity. This is due to a type of moss-like plant that naturally absorbs and filters the water in many regions of the planet.
Sensor Scan Map Iconography
Perhaps the worst part of being on Dinom II is the fact that the planet is tidally locked, the 'Bright Face' of the world is perpetually being bombarded by the light of its giant, blue-white Sun. It is always just past noon on Dinom II's solar facing side.
Dinom II Surface Map - Crash Site (West Side) to Federation Communication Relay (East Side)
Scanned points of interest included.
Not long ago the Captain, Commander Bhoth, Commander Carr, Lt. Wilder, the Arcturian Ambassader and his aide, and a small crew of Starfleet Officers crash landed on the planet due to sabotage of their transport's power grid. The planet's conditions were extremely hard on the group but most especially for the Ambassador who is enter old age for his species and Commander Bhoth, as Andorians are better adapted for extremely cold climates.
Leucothea (GSC 321-Gamma)
It will be raining on Leucothea, followed by a period of heavy drizzle, leading to hurricane conditions by the evening.
Leucothea, the second planet in star system GSC 321-Gamma, is an ocean world wracked by nearly constant rain, wind, and lightning. Micro-fine metallic particles in the planet's atmosphere are easily ionized and sub-surface thermal vents warm the otherwise chilling oceans to create 'perfect storms' on the regular.
Interestingly, this seemingly erratic weather does form patterns that are easily comprehended by the non-sentient sea life of the planet. Everything from the rainfall to temperature changes to electrical discharges into the water are part of the complex ecosystem of Leucothea's oceans.
Research Station Gamma-13
The planet hosts a Federation Oceanic Research Outpost, once governed by an Artifical Intelligence invented by Dr. Paul Briggs, a leading mind in the field of Unmanned Exploration and Robotics. Unfortunately, the AI went rogue, doing everything it could to protect Briggs but driving out any other sentient being. Luckily, Captain Fletcher and the Prosperity were able to save Briggs from his own creation. With the help of Starfleet's Corps of Engineers and scientists from the newly formed Daystrom Institute, the outpost is ongoing a complete refit and should be able to function as intended once again very soon.
Rho Gruis III (Rho Gruis)
Bundle up Landing Party, it's going to be especially cold on Rho Gruis III. Not colder than usual, just very cold. It's always pretty much freezing on this planet.
The ice and snow covered world of Rho Gruis III is located in an orbit of about 91.5 million miles from its large but dimming Red-Orange star. With no moon and no other planets all that close to it, the air is very still and high winds are quite rare. Only seasonal positioning between the world and its sun create such situations by generating pockets of warmer and cooler air in the planets M Class atmosphere.
Falling snow is not the only hazard from above one must watch out for on Rho Gruis III. The planet is often assaulted by meteor showers, on a mostly predictable basis. These meteor strikes occur because the wide, eliptical orbit of the planet passes very close to a ring of asteriods in the system with a similarly odd orbit. The strong gravitational pull of the smallish world of Rho Gruis III yanks these rocks away from their ring and towards itself.
Those participating in Landing Parties to this planet had best stay in regular contact with the orbiting science station Tiresias-1, which not only studies the ruins but also the regularly occurring meteor showers. Tiresias-1 is equipped with specialized Shield Emitters based on the Navigational Deflectors used on Starfleet vessels in order to protect itself and its research teams on the planet from errant space debris.
Tiresias-1, Scientific Observatory and Research Station
Rho Gruis III is the site of the ruins of an unknown, ancient civilization that Starfleet has been studying for years. As it turns out, it is also the location of a crashed colony vessel launched from Romulus just after the Earth-Romulan War. Two other ships from that same exodus landed safely on Meridiana in the Alpha Coronae Australis system. The colonists are now known as the Mazzulans. Recently the Mazzulans and Romulans were at odds over the wreckage, claiming it contained a holy relic of great spiritual significane. The Romulans were lying about their motives however, going after the long lost artifact because that believed it to be Psionic weapon not unlike the Vulcan Stone of Gol.
"Very hot, very wet, or very cold? What's your preference? Just of few of the extreme ecosystems and climates of the worlds in the Sierra and Tango Super Sectors."
AD
Barking Alien
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