of 295 days. Gravity is
0.91 standard. There is a 7° axial tilt which, combined with its
proximity to the star, gives Lalonde a hot climate. The equatorial
zone is uninhabitable by humans, and sub-tropical climate extends to
the polar regions. There are no ice caps. The one (northern) polar
continent, Wyman, has a slightly cooler climate, but is subject to
severe storms when the cool air and arid hot air fronts clash.
Humidity is high right across the planet.
There are three moons. The
innermost, Rennison, is airless, 1,300km in diameter, with an orbital
altitude of 275,000km, giving it a period of fifteen days. It has
been heavily cratered, and possesses a grey-brown regolith. The
second innermost, Beriana, is 900km in diameter, with an orbital
altitude of 397,000km, giving it a period of twenty-nine days. It has
a few large craters, and is a dull yellow in color. The outermost
moon, Diranol, is 4,800km in diameter, with an orbital altitude of
520,000km, giving it a period of thirty-five days. It is very similar
to Mars, with an iron oxide regolith, and a thin carbon dioxide
atmosphere.
The tides produced by these
three moons, especially when in conjunction, are very powerful, and
low-lying coastal areas are regularly flooded, leading to the
extensive evolution of saltwater-resistant plants.
One-fifth of Lalonde’s surface is land, and there are six
continents: Sarell (equatorial), Wyman (polar), Amarisk (northern,
the largest), Clopton, Knape, and Mosedale.
Only Amarisk is inhabited.
It covers an area of 6m km2, with fold mountains—the Puttack
range, in the east, leading down to savannahs in the west. The
largest river, the Juliffe, is 1,900km long, with a tributary network
rivaling Earth’s Amazon. The capital city is Durringham
(population 175,000), situated at the mouth of the Juliffe, on its
northern bank (the river being 12km wide there). The planetary
population is 12,000,000 including 850,000 Tyrathca.
History
Lalonde was discovered in
2576, and opened for colonization in 2582. After the scoutship which
discovered it put the settlement rights up for sale, they were bought
by a venture company which went on to form the Lalonde Development
Company. The LDC attracted enough funding to mount a biological
survey, which was completed in 2578, clearing the biosphere for human
colonization. At this point the LDC was floated on the O’Neill
Halo stock exchange, looking for full start-up fund investment.
Shares were optioned by the following companies:
12 percent Lithcoine
astronautics, registered in the O’Neill Halo.
10 percent Miconia
industrial, registered in the O’Neill Halo.
8 percent Forvoit mining,
registered on Avon.
15 percent Sandering Civil
Engineering, registered on New California.
7 percent Nares industries,
registered on Argonne.
5 percent the Jovian Bank.
2 percent the Royal Kulu
Bank.
10 percent the Tyrathca
government central economic council.
31 percent held by various
trusts, banks, and individuals, with no such holding exceeding 1
percent.
Lalonde is officially a
EuroChristian ethnic world, and Christian missions are granted land
by the Development Corporation governor. Although open to all people
who fall within its ethnic stream, the LDC recommends that immigrants
should have geneering that enables them to withstand the strong UV
light of the sun. The Tyrathca immigrants are all farmers,
cultivating the rygar crop (see Vegetation, page
157 ).
With so many stage-one
planets currently open for immigration, the Lalonde Development
Corporation had a lot of trouble attracting funding for start-up.
Without Tyrathca support it is unlikely the project would have got
off the ground for several decades more. (There are over twenty-five
terracompatible planets that have passed their biological clearance
review by the Confederation Xenobiological Hazard Assessment Board,
and are waiting colony start-up funds from the owners of their
settlement rights.)
It is
0.91 standard. There is a 7° axial tilt which, combined with its
proximity to the star, gives Lalonde a hot climate. The equatorial
zone is uninhabitable by humans, and sub-tropical climate extends to
the polar regions. There are no ice caps. The one (northern) polar
continent, Wyman, has a slightly cooler climate, but is subject to
severe storms when the cool air and arid hot air fronts clash.
Humidity is high right across the planet.
There are three moons. The
innermost, Rennison, is airless, 1,300km in diameter, with an orbital
altitude of 275,000km, giving it a period of fifteen days. It has
been heavily cratered, and possesses a grey-brown regolith. The
second innermost, Beriana, is 900km in diameter, with an orbital
altitude of 397,000km, giving it a period of twenty-nine days. It has
a few large craters, and is a dull yellow in color. The outermost
moon, Diranol, is 4,800km in diameter, with an orbital altitude of
520,000km, giving it a period of thirty-five days. It is very similar
to Mars, with an iron oxide regolith, and a thin carbon dioxide
atmosphere.
The tides produced by these
three moons, especially when in conjunction, are very powerful, and
low-lying coastal areas are regularly flooded, leading to the
extensive evolution of saltwater-resistant plants.
One-fifth of Lalonde’s surface is land, and there are six
continents: Sarell (equatorial), Wyman (polar), Amarisk (northern,
the largest), Clopton, Knape, and Mosedale.
Only Amarisk is inhabited.
It covers an area of 6m km2, with fold mountains—the Puttack
range, in the east, leading down to savannahs in the west. The
largest river, the Juliffe, is 1,900km long, with a tributary network
rivaling Earth’s Amazon. The capital city is Durringham
(population 175,000), situated at the mouth of the Juliffe, on its
northern bank (the river being 12km wide there). The planetary
population is 12,000,000 including 850,000 Tyrathca.
History
Lalonde was discovered in
2576, and opened for colonization in 2582. After the scoutship which
discovered it put the settlement rights up for sale, they were bought
by a venture company which went on to form the Lalonde Development
Company. The LDC attracted enough funding to mount a biological
survey, which was completed in 2578, clearing the biosphere for human
colonization. At this point the LDC was floated on the O’Neill
Halo stock exchange, looking for full start-up fund investment.
Shares were optioned by the following companies:
12 percent Lithcoine
astronautics, registered in the O’Neill Halo.
10 percent Miconia
industrial, registered in the O’Neill Halo.
8 percent Forvoit mining,
registered on Avon.
15 percent Sandering Civil
Engineering, registered on New California.
7 percent Nares industries,
registered on Argonne.
5 percent the Jovian Bank.
2 percent the Royal Kulu
Bank.
10 percent the Tyrathca
government central economic council.
31 percent held by various
trusts, banks, and individuals, with no such holding exceeding 1
percent.
Lalonde is officially a
EuroChristian ethnic world, and Christian missions are granted land
by the Development Corporation governor. Although open to all people
who fall within its ethnic stream, the LDC recommends that immigrants
should have geneering that enables them to withstand the strong UV
light of the sun. The Tyrathca immigrants are all farmers,
cultivating the rygar crop (see Vegetation, page
157 ).
With so many stage-one
planets currently open for immigration, the Lalonde Development
Corporation had a lot of trouble attracting funding for start-up.
Without Tyrathca support it is unlikely the project would have got
off the ground for several decades more. (There are over twenty-five
terracompatible planets that have passed their biological clearance
review by the Confederation Xenobiological Hazard Assessment Board,
and are waiting colony start-up funds from the owners of their
settlement rights.)
It is
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