Naturist Fiction Archive
Moon base Galileo
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The Moon Base Galileo Universe Manifest is set in year 2090, and is set in a Moon Base where the workers work and live in a clothing-optional environment.
Introduction
The Moon Base Galileo Universe Manifest is set in year 2090, in a future where space exploration is more advanced, but still very limited and highly expensive. The manifest voluntarily ignores most of what is occurring on Earth, focusing solely on Moon Base Galileo, the only permanent settlement on the surface of the moon to be continuously occupied. As explained in the manifest, the majority of the residents of the Factory levels of the Moon Base are at least part-time nudist due partly to the ambient heat and the insufficient renewal of clothing.
The conditions for using this manifest are enumerated at the end of the manifest.
What is a Shared Universe Manifest (SUM) ?
It is a document outlining a "universe" writers are allowed to re-use to write stories. Think of all of the fan-fiction based on Star Wars, Star Trek, The Lord of the Rings and other fiction universes. In these cases, the fan writers decided to use a well known universe the readers could relate to.
On Naturist-fiction.com, we have decided to allow writers to publish, an use, common Universes so that multiple writers could write a series of narratives occurring in the same environment, but not necessarily with the same characters or style.
This manifest was created to give an idea of what a Shared Universe Manifest could potentially look like.
Writers interested in creating a SUM may either create a brand new one, or simply describe in more details the Universe the characters of their already published work live in.
Context
Moon base Galileo is a scientific complex installed on the "dark side" of the moon, opposite of the Earth's position. It is an astronomic station built to listen to radio emissions coming from deep space, or to perform scientific experiments in a radio-frequency poor environment. Having been built opposite from Earth, not a single radio transmission can interfere with the observatory. It is the only permanently occupied settlement on the surface of the moon, due to the high cost of construction and operation of any such settlements.
It is almost fully autonomous, recycling it's own oxygen and water, as well as producing food for it's inhabitants.
It remains, however, a logistical nightmare since the complex itself is unable to communicate with it's Earth mission control via direct route. A cable relay is planned to link the station with the Earth facing side of the moon, on which an antenna would be able to communicate with the home planet, but the distance is simply too vast for the signal to be transmitted.
The station was built approximately 1200 miles from the nearest permanent transmission point. The actual distance is sometimes smaller, due to the moon longitudinal libration which causes the border between the far side and the near side to change 8 degrees in each direction ( 16 in total ) during it's orbit, so any plans require using the longest distance. Fiber optics may be transmitted to up to 90 miles without a repeater, requiring 14 amplification and regeneration stations to be built in the middle of nowhere on the moon surface, unmanned, as well as their corresponding power generators.
In addition, the cable trunk needs to be particularly sturdy due to the rare meteorite showers falling at full speed on the surface of the moon, unblocked by the lack of atmosphere. Furthermore, the lack of efficient transportation on the surface for long distances, the requirement to bring air supply on the journey and the difficulty in performing maintenance in a bulky spacesuit have all push back instant communication.
Instead, the bases relies on it's autonomy and the regular shuttles back to Earth.
Galileo is actually 2 separate structures operating in symbiosis: The surface level structure, or "Dome" and the underground complex, or "Factory".
The Dome
The Dome is a actually a series of structures assembled individually on Earth or in orbit of Earth and sent to the surface of the Moon over 50 years ago. Originally planned for occasional and short term usage, they were renovated and fully integrated after the factory was constructed. In addition to the eight original earth built module, three new constructions were added, the central command center which serves as a nexus tying the other modules, a new better equipped barrack and an additional biology lab doubling as a food storage center, thanks to it's refrigeration and heating supplies.
The new complex is still relatively small and houses between ten and twenty researchers and/or staff members who visit for periods of three months to two years.
They in general live in a very restricted space, almost living on top of each other, with the exception of the two or three biologists on duty who typically have exclusive access to three of the eleven modules, including they own private sleep quarters.
The ability to perform experimentation in low gravity situations as well as in a totally shielded environment still provides enough candidates to create a waiting list of several years.
The Factory
The Factory on the other end, is relatively huge and unmanned, despite having the majority of lunar inhabitants. The Factory was literarily excavated and mined to create both vast underground chambers and provide building material to create the additional structures for the Dome and the reinforcement for the walls of the Factory.
A lot was done by automatic processes, using what could be called Robots, and the same process is still expanding thought the new sections are done in vacuum until Earth will be able to send enough pressured air to fill the new sections. The currently pressurized sectors were filled by generating oxygen from the water found beneath the surface of the moon, but it is not enough to fill the entire complex. As such, 95% of the structure is not only inhabited, but also unvisited except by the automated systems.
The Factory is composed of various sections and covers several squared miles or should I say cubic miles. The biggest section, located relatively near the surface, contains the green house which houses numerous plants providing food and recycling the carbon dioxide into oxygen for the Factory and Dome dwellers. Animals were initially planned, and a shelter was built, but no animals were ever actually introduced on a massive and permanent basis, due to the difficulty in maintaining an equilibrium and transporting them. A few chicken which used to live in the biology labs for an experiment lived in the shelter for almost a year, providing eggs and a little poultry from time to time, but sickness and the lack of veterinary knowledge got the better of them.
Under the green house are the crew quarters, which hold the private rooms in which the Factory workers live, the recreation areas including a gymnasium and even a small pool, a fully functional vegetarian cafeteria including a processing center and the control center for the factory.
Under the crew quarters are various storage levels, including material and food storage, as well as water thanks reserved captured from the depths of the moon.
Below the storage levels, but also between the green house and Dome level are various machineries used to provide ventilation, route energy, control the temperature, regulate the various recycling systems.
At the bottom of the primary complex is a nuclear reactor providing electricity to the whole complex, and generating heat, using notably the water reserves as the secondary coolant, and the factory system itself as the coolant for the water reserves.
This comes down to the main design flaw of the complex : heat dissipation. Originally, the Dome complex was planned to be much bigger than it is currently, and was planned to act as a coolant for the factory, which was supposed to also have bigger inhabited sections. As a result, instead of having a steady 20 degrees Celsius environment, the lack of heat dissipation keeps the entire complex on average around 33 degrees Celsius, with the green house only slightly cooler.
During the moon night, which lasts 15 days, the dissipation of heat is better due to the icing cold surface temperature, but reactor is turned up to compensate with the lack of functioning solar panels and increased heating demands of the Dome. During the moon day, which also lasts 15 days, the reaction production is lowered thanks to the Dome solar panels, but heat dissipation is severely hurt. After a lot of tweaking, the factory workers were able to secure an average temperature of 33 degrees.
The Factory crew
The crew itself is composed of 2 supervisors and three teams of 8 employees. Five crew members are on duty at all times in rotation shift as follows : Each of the team covers a 8 hours shift in the Earth's 24 hours day, with 3 of the crew members having a day off on each day.
Days of work are attributed according to the following sequence : 2 days of work, 2 days of rest, 3 days of work, 1 day of rest, providing a 8 day cycle. Each employee starts his or her own cycle on a different day of the cycle, guaranteeing that every employee will work with every other employee.
In addition to the three team members off duty, the 2 supervisors are assigned in order to replace for an entire 8 day cycle one of the 24 other employees. This provides a 8 day vacation for each of the employees every 13 "weeks" ( since the supervisors also take one off ).
The 26 employees do not return to Earth unlike the Dome researchers and actually live below the surface. Fourteen of the employees are female, twelve are male. The lack of clothing replacement, the closeness of the crew and the high temperature has induced almost all of the Factory workers to actually spend all of their time nude, in a respectful environment. Many of the employees formed couples, but all take contraceptive methods since a child born on the moon could not return to Earth.
The work day of employees is relatively relaxed, with all of the employees qualified to do each of the routine operations. Off duty skilled employees are called in case of problems. Most of the work involve maintenance of the greenhouses, to produce the food required for the inhabitants of the moon base. One of the employees on duty is at all times at the control center.
To reduce the risk of contamination, there are no direct exchanges between the residents of the Factory and the researchers in the Dome. Communication is done mostly via e-mail and telephone, and while material such as food and construction material is sent from the Factory to the Dome, nothing is sent down to the factory other than thru the recycling center.
Very occasionally, the crew at the dome will be unable to deal with an emergency and request backup from the factory workers, but such events are rare.
Despite the hermit way of the workers, it is a life sought at by many people on Earth, and truly enjoyed by its resident.
First of all, the absolute lack of contaminants have virtually eliminated transmitted deceases such as colds. Only long term deceases are possible, such as hepatitis, but the workers were thoroughly scanned prior to being sent to the Factory.
Second of all, it is a life without problems such as crime, financial troubles or fear of losing your job thru cut backs. Thirdly, most of the workers are intellectuals who use their time in the base to further their research. Several, for example, are botanists. A few are also writers who use their time to write novels or non-fiction books.
A few picked the life thanks to it's clothing optional environment, for the closeness of other members or for the constant hot weather, but all agree that the reduced gravity, despite the requirement to use specialized training equipment to keep their muscle mass, is really one of the key highlights.
Conditions for using this Shared Universe Manifest
In order to use this Shared Universe Manifest, writers must agree to the following :
- All creative work created using this S.U.M. needs to be at least published on naturist-fiction.com for free, thought the write may also publish it elsewhere
- The stories must respect the acceptable guidelines of this site
- There must not be a pregnancy or kids
- The stories, unless permission is given, must occur within this time line and not before or after, such as during the initial construction or when the new sections of the factory are created.
- The actual floor plans and sections are left to the imagination of the writers, but each writer must pay attention to avoid closing the flexibility of other writers. In other words, keep the layout a little vague.