Embedded Files
1. Low-Gravity Research. Initially, Babylon 5 was
intended to function as much as a laboratory as a
centre for diplomacy and trade. Flush with the idea
of a massive station replete with the latest facilities, the
designers of the Babylon Project set aside a large chunk
of real estate in the forward area of Yellow Sector,
designated as a laboratory area for EarthGov scientists
who would require a low or zero gravity environment
for their research. As with so many other things in
the station, however, good intentions did not win out
in the end. When the station’s budget was cut for the
final time prior to completion, the zero-g laboratories
were one of the items on the chopping block. The
laboratories themselves are there, but most of them
have never been used and stand devoid of equipment.
2. Auxiliary Power Units (9). The station’s auxiliary
power units, essentially gigantic batteries, lie in wait,
fully charged, in Yellow Sector just forward of the
Quarantine Shield. Each of these auxiliary power units
is capable of keeping the station operational for one
hour in case main power fails.
3. Power Distribution Centre. Even more so than
the reactors themselves, this area is the beating heart
of Babylon 5. From this massive chamber, teams of
technicians take the energy produced by the station’s
reactors and channel it throughout Babylon 5, ensuring
that each Sector of the station receives enough power
to satisfy its needs, as well as keeping watch for any
unusual increases or decreases in power consumption.
4. Quarantine Shielding. Though there has never
been a radiation leak aboard Babylon 5, this massive
buttress of lead and steel is there in case there ever is.
Bisecting Yellow Sector, the quarantine shielding wall
is seven metres thick, enough to contain all but the
most cataclysmic of radiation leaks. It is pierced in two
places by pressure doors, the only means of accessing
the reactor room from inside the station.
5. Coolant Systems and Maintenance.
Running in a band around the entire sector,
encircling the reactors, is Yellow Sector’s massive coolant system. This is also the last point in
the entire station serviced by life support, meaning
that anywhere aft of this area requires a space suit to
enter. At any time of the day or night, as many as
50 technicians will be working in this area, monitoring
the temperatures of the reactors and the coolant that
keeps them in check.
6. Primary Fusion Core. This enormous reservoir
generates some 4.7 gigawatts of power through the
cooperative efforts of all the station’s reactors, providing
all the energy used to power the station.
7. Auxiliary Fusion Cores. Each of the eight Tokamac
790 reactors aboard the station also has its own
individual fusion core. These are rarely used, intended
only as a backup source of power in case the unthinkable
happens and the primary fusion core must be shut
down.
8. Fusion Slush Tanks. These two huge tanks (50,000
gallon capacity) at the aft end of the station are used to
store the poisonous material left over from the fusion
process. This waste is transferred on a weekly basis to
a HazMat storage facility that trails in a parallel orbit
seven kilometres behind Babylon 5.
Page updated
Google Sites
Report abuse