Chawla

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Spacecraft Registry
Artemis Foundation Main Belt Research Station Chawla
Stanford Torus Interior.jpg
Interior view of Station Chawla
Spacecraft Characteristics
Base HullStanford torus
Length1800 m in diameter
Height130 m
Mass10.64 Mt
Drive TypeReactionless thrusters
Drive RatingStation-keeping only[1]
Armament2 concealed point-defence turrets[2]
OwnerArtemis Foundation
Flag of RecordStellvia Corporation
FactionStellvian
Registry NumberAF-05
PurposeResearch station and tourist resort
Primary Crew~450 employees of the Artemis Foundation
Other Crew~550 souls of various types and species
Auxillary VehiclesResolution
Operational StatusActive
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Artemis Foundation Main Belt Research Station Chawla is located 120° forward of asteroid 2709 Sagan. Along with Station McAuliffe, its primary purpose is to provide coverage of one-third of the "sky" of the Solar System in support of astronomical and astrophysical research performed by the Handwavium Propulsion Laboratory.

Built by the Artemis Foundation and Hephaestus Mining and Metalworking, Unltd. after the April Fool's Purchase, Chawla is a classic Stanford Torus, with its interior patterned after the famous artwork by Don Davis. As such, it's one of the larger and more pleasant constructed stations in the Main Belt, which means it's become a popular vacation spot in addition to being a research station. It can also serve as an emergency habitat for much of the surrounding population in case of extreme Solar radiation, Boskonian attack, or other hazards.

While the Artemis Foundation is the largest employer on the station - nearly half of the thousand people who live there work for Artemis - there are also some private businesses that call Chawla "home." Most of these are family-run shops, bread-and-breakfast inns, or local "backpacker" guides catering to the tourist trade, although there are a few private scientific-research concerns in residence here.

Layout

Slightly over a third of the torus interior (61 hectares, or 151 acres) has been set aside for agriculture, which will make the station able to feed 10,000 people (assuming a 2.45 kcal/day diet) once the livestock population has stabilized and orchards begin to bear fruit. Since this is sufficient for a population ten times larger than the Artemis Foundation plans to have staff the station for the foreseeable future, Chawla is working with station Wonderland to sell its surplus agricultural products on the open market.

Another third of the torus interior has been set aside as parkland, making Chawla a popular vacation destination amongst the inhabitants of the Main Belt who enjoy "outdoor" activities. The remainder of the torus (less the space required for station infrastructure) is dedicated to residential, commercial, and scientific pursuits, but even here the station is park-like; most of the rooms are built "underground" or along the "sides" of the torus, leaving the "ground" relatively uncluttered.

The station's dock (ICAO code "XBAC") is located in the station's hub. Light industry (what there is of it on Chawla) and station administration are housed in the hubs between the torus and the hub.

Infrastructure

As is standard in all Stellvia Corporation and Artemis Foundation installations, Chawla has its own Interwave node. It is an oversized and doubly-redundant node, with dedicated links to both McAuliffe and 2709 Sagan.

Shuttle Resolution is based out of Station Chawla.

Notes

  1. At least, that's what the ship-registry databases say.
  2. One at each end of the axis of rotation.