Shiva's Snowball

Planet Name: LV-343
Classification: Research Outpost
Population: 68

History

Discovery

LV-343 was first discovered in 2082 by SAP-V, an Argentinian deep space probe, which detected evidence that there had once been life on the planet in the form of chemical biosignatures. This discovery became a focus of the Argentinian Space Activities Commission. Following further investigation, it was hypothesized that LV-343 originally had a temperate climate and that the planet had entered an ice age around 98,000 years ago. The Space Activities Commission planned an expedition, but due to a lack of funding, it was unable to.

In 2116, following the emergence of the United Americas in the previous decade and the 20 parsec limit imposed three years prior, there was renewed interest in scientific projects closer to the core systems. Thanks to LV-343’s position within the Neroid sector, the Argentinian expedition was authorized.

Colonization

There were four years of evaluations of the planet to find both a safe landing site and atmospheric readings. By 2120, a site safe for human habitation was confirmed. The first colonists of LV-343 arrived at this site, which would become "Shiva’s Snowball." First constructed were the Research Habitation and Northern hangar, which were made using cheap pre-fabricated materials. This became the standard for the colony, and the rest of the colony formed over the following years. It became fully operational by 2122 and has been performing analysis of the ice sheets in search of microbial life on the planet. They extract ice cores and send them for analysis in their research labs for signs of microbial life.

Interestingly, the colony suffers from an infestation of "giant spiders." These spiders are actually the descendants of an invasive spider species that was onboard the first ship sent to LV-343. The spiders have grown larger than their Earth counterparts due to the lower atmospheric pressure of LV-343, combined with higher oxygen rates. The site contracted Weyland-Yutani to provide security due to the dangers these spiders pose to research staff. A corporate liaison officer was dispatched to coordinate between the security forces and the Argentinian researchers.

LV-343

LV-343 is located in the RS-1937 system. The planets that orbit RS-1937 consist of LV-343, MT-312, a gas giant comprising 83.5% hydrogen and 14.5% helium, and RF/24, a barren planet around 4,000 km in size with a thin atmosphere.

LV-343 has one moon, which is roughly 1967.34 Km in size. The moon’s surface is barren and covered with impact craters.

RS-1937 is a G-type main sequence star located in the Outer Veil region of known space.