Space DogS
The Territories
Inner System
The inner system of planets are the five planets: Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars and Jupiter. The inner system also includes the large Asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter which provides a wealth of minerals and resources crucial to pioneering in the inner system.
The outer system includes the giant planets: Saturn, Uranus and Neptune. The outer system spans past the major planets into the Kuiper belt which which includes planetoids like Pluto. Further out still you come to the Oort cloud which is about 1 light year away. This area is the source of the comets that wander across the system from time to time.
Mercury
Closest planet to the Sun. The surface temperature (700K) and radiation from the Sun makes surface living impossible. An ambitious project was taken by landing two mobile drilling rigs on the far side of the Mercury from the Sun where temperatures are only 180K. The rig would accelerate towards dusk. It would work until as dawn approached accelerate away to catch up with dusk again for another work window. In this way a rather large hole was dug. A similar hole was built on the far opposite side of the planet with at least one rig working one hole during the night. Once the holes were deep enough robot droids were dropped in and burrowed in the walls and thus avoided the day's heat as the heat could not penetrate that far into the hole. A successful mining and research centre were built in the holes The holes have been reinforced with heat shielding in the walls and allows ships to land during the night. The facilities are collectively known as The Wells of Antipodes.
Venus - The untamed beast
Venus has a major heating problem. This is an example of what would have happened to Earth if climate change had been left to continue its progress. Surface temperatures (735K) exceed that of Mercury all over the planet as heat is retained by the runaway greenhouse effect. The surface is covered in sulphuric acid clouds with an equally inhospitable surface. Some satellites have been placed in orbit. Floating research centres orbit just above the cloud layer and mines the clouds for unique minerals. The temperature also provides enough energy to support the centres and allows ships to dock and transport the minerals and energy. A prison has been built in orbit to contain the worst offenders. Any attempt to attack results in the prisoners to be dropped to the planet below. The prison is known as Alcatraz Mark II. It also houses prisoners on ’death row’. When all legal arguments have completed and the order is given, the prisoner is simply pushed out an airlock to fall to their death. (Known as the Long Walk)
Earth
Major hub containing the largest population in the system. Earth looks tired with too many people requiring too many resources. There is a constant buzz of traffic to and from the planet and the orbiting stations and Space elevators. Due to the conflict from Mars, there are several orbiting gun platforms and fleets from various corporations and governments.
Moon
Colonized by Earth. There are a many colonies on the Moon. Due to its unique orbit and having a side that permanently faces away from the Earth; there are a large number of scientific stations. Various governments have built bases on the dark side of the moon and are protected by deadly force.
The near side is the main location for habitats and the mining population. There is an exclusive estate for billionaires in the Mare Cognitum which has some of the best views of Earth.
The moon has a low gravity which has created a new set of sports. Extreme planetary cross (rallying in moon buggies) is a popular pastime of the rich. Being able to jump canyons and leap off crater edges (but land relatively gently) is followed solar wide on the ExtraNet. (Planetary Internet)
Mars
Mars is the largest body that has been colonized. It has been the subject of several wars which has left most of the rest of the solar system relatively unharmed. It currently is under the control of the Mars Colonial Alliance, as more lucrative avenues of exploration have been opened up by the colonization of the rest of the system.
Mars has many abandoned colonies due to the war and use of radioactive weapons. The remaining Mars colonists are still separated along the original faction lines, but have found some harmony within their own areas. Travelling between the colonies in the 'Mars Outback' is dangerous as the fledgling Mars Government can spare little resources to police outside of the main habitable areas.
Sun (Sol)
Sol is the one and only star in the system. The star is in a state of continual balance between the gravitational forces of collapse against the explosive force of nuclear fission. The status quo has occurred for four billion years and has another four billion to go. Matter is ejected at regular intervals in the form of solar flares. The material disperses across the solar system causing solar winds which push against all the planets. The surface temperature is approximately 6000 kelvin raising to millions of degrees kelvin within the fiery core. There are no close satellites, but mankind has placed some scientific stations nearby to gather data.
Phobos and Demos
The two moons of Mars are nothing much more than captured asteroids from the nearby asteroid belt. There has been some colonization of the moons as they make good surveillance and listening posts both during the war and afterwards for the Mars Colonial Alliance to keep an eye on nearby approaching ships and the general population. There orbit around Mars makes landings difficult.
Further Reaches
Asteroid Belt
The asteroid belt has seen a lot of colonization as mining in low gravity is cheaper than mining on Mars or further out of the system. It has also enabled a large mismatch of colonies from different factions to pop up across the belt.
Jupiter
Jupiter is the largest planet in the solar system. It is one of the four gas giants, the other being Saturn, Uranus and Neptune. A such it has no landable surface, so most of the colonization is on the large orbiting moons. Jupiter has a strong magnetic field that can cause major problems for ships that get too close. This has been found to be ideal for charging up various power cells and has created power business where exotic elements and compounds can be created using energy from vast induction engines. All the major factors have ports and a presence across Jupiter. There are several ship yards and space stations further out that facilitate the whole solar system. Jupiter has several large moons including the largest moon in the solar system Ganymede and one of the hottest IO covered in lava flows caused by Jupiter's magnetic field.
Kuiper Belt
The Kuiper belt stretches out from Neptune. It is a large collection of rocks, asteroids and planetoid objects that are difficult to detect from within the system. The region has a large number of colonies. This is where many disgruntled ideologies and belief systems head to. Here they can avoid government's, taxes and practice their own branch of freedom. This area is largely ignored by the EPA except when hunting pirates or reports of atrocities filter back to them. It is amazing how free from governments people wish to be until a catastrophe occurs. There are several ghost colonies which failed due to disease, equipment failure or space madness. This is another popular hiding hole for pirates.
Pluto
The most famous of the Kuiper Belt objects. Pluto has four moons and an eccentric elliptical orbit that comes within the orbit of Neptune every few hundred years. Pluto has become the main trading port for the Kuiper belt with a large number of orbiting stations. The EPA has its last major base here, but do nor venture out to the other Kuiper Belt objects.
Saturn
Saturn like Jupiter colonization has occurred on the main moons. Saturn's most noticeable feature is its rings, which has been the source of mining the tourist \ pleasure business. Many wealthy business people travel to Saturn to cruise around the rings and watch the many races that occur between the rings and on the moons. The moons vary in type from the oceanic world Enceladus to Titan one of the largest moons in the system.
Uranus
Uranus is a strange blue gaseous world orbited by five main moons. Uranus has a strange rotation as it is perpendicular to the solar plane. There are a number of theories behind this, but no concrete proof after many years. There are a number of colonies and mining operations around Uranus, but not to the same level as the other gas giants. Uranus also has some rings which are mined.
Neptune
Neptune is the last of the gas giants and has a number of moons. There are a number of orbital mining stations further out which mine Neptune's rings.
Oort Cloud
Further out of the solar system is the Oort Cloud. This region is the main area that comets come from as the orbit on extremely large and fast orbits around the Sun. The comets are used as a cheap way of transferring goods from the outer regions to the inner regions as vast container are attached as they pass to be retrieved as they come closer to the Sun.