Moonbase Alpha
Encyclopedia
Moonbase Alpha is a fictional moon base and the main setting in the science fiction television series Space: 1999
.
in the film 2001: A Space Odyssey
.) Apart from the central tower, the surface buildings are two to three storeys in height.
Originally, the base was designed to serve as both Earth's primary space research and exploration centre and a monitoring station co-ordinating the nuclear waste disposal areas on the Moon's far side. Construction began on 3 February 1983, but was briefly halted during the 1987 world war. Construction commenced afterwards under the auspices of the new World Space Commission. Though operational and occupied for years, final completion of the Alpha construction project occurred in 1997.
Moonbase Alpha is totally self-sustaining. Power is generated by four nuclear reactor
s and the accumulation of solar energy. Earth-normal artificial gravity is generated by eight towers surrounding the complex. Water is obtained from ice deposits under the lunar surface, recycled and purified. Nutritional requirements are met by a variety of familiar-appearing foodstuffs produced biochemically on Alpha This diet was supplemented by frozen-food products imported from Earth before all contact with home was severed in September 1999. (At the time of "Breakaway
", about eighty percent of food and water products were produced chemically on Moonbase.)
The international pooling of technical skill and resources after the War of 1987 resulted in the advanced construction of Moonbase Alpha. The operations and living areas are both functional and spacious (unlike early space capsules and Earth-orbiting stations). Main Mission, the control centre of the installation, is a massive, multi-leveled room. Opening into Main Mission from behind large sliding doors is the Command Office, which includes a large conference and conversation area. Corridors run eight feet wide throughout the base and the pipes and wiring trunks that festooned the walls of previous ocean-going military vessels and spacecraft are concealed behind four-foot-by-eight-foot modular panels.
All Alpha personnel have their own suite of rooms in the Residence Section with sitting room, sleeping alcove and private bathroom. Suites with a separate, larger bedroom are available to married staff members. Personnel also have the option to live with a roommate if desired. The Recreation Section boasts a gymnasium, private work-out rooms, a solarium with adjacent sauna and swimming pool, bowling alley, performing-arts theatre and separate cinema and a reference library with both real books and electronic equivalents. Recreation lounges and restaurants are scattered throughout the complex.
Several buildings are given over to research in a number of scientific fields including astronomy, geology, chemistry, biology and astrophysics. Others are devoted to the Technical and Maintenance Sections and are responsible for the repair and upkeep of Moonbase and its many complex systems. The Eagle transporters and other ancillary craft are maintained and stored in an underground hangar complex.
In contrast, Year Two revealed that an underground complex had been constructed and expanded upon between the two series and that the majority of Alpha's command, operations and living centres had been relocated there. The vulnerable Main Mission had been abandoned in favour of the safer underground Command Centre, a smaller control room with many of the same features of Main Mission. The Medical Section once occupied an entire building on the Moon's surface and included several large wards, trauma, casualty and diagnostic units, intensive care wards and operating theatres. Underground, it was reduced to a few rooms, the main Medical Centre acting as a combination patient ward, examination room and surgery all in one. Living quarters were now one small room which did not even appear to have a private bath.
Other facilities revealed in Series Two were a complement of offensive laser batteries which had been installed around the Moonbase complex (starting in "The Metamorph"). These large weapons were stored underground and raised to the surface when deployed. They had a range of at least forty-three thousand kilometres and were controlled from the Weapons Section, a small, bunker-like room. In "The Exiles", the Golos cylinders were taken for examination in an 'underground research area', a laboratory facility constructed inside a lunar mountain on the rim of the crater containing Moonbase. This secure area, designed for the performance of potentially hazardous experiments, was connected to Alpha only by travel-tube and boasted its own Eagle landing pad.
There are five launch pads visible around the base which have extending/retracting boarding tubes via the reception building for access to the Eagles
and visiting spaceships. These launch pads are circular but have descending cross-platforms that lower the Eagles into underground hangars for storage and maintenance.
As would be expected, the use of the travel tube network requires a good deal of power; in the event of an energy crisis, travel-tube service is among the first systems suspended. Despite expectations to the contrary, travel-tube tunnels are pressurised with normal Alpha atmosphere.
The towers also contain generators and projectors for Alpha's radiation and meteorite defence screens. In the episode "Black Sun", Victor Bergman
formulated a way to increase the power of the anti-gravity generators in the towers to produce an enhanced anti-gravity forcefield effect. The drawback of the Bergman forcefield is that it requires more energy than the four main generators are designed to produce; the generators from the entire Eagle fleet are required to supplement the power supply in order to sustain it for any length of time.
's missing Eagle using the interstellar-strength transmissions of the satellite, Alpha and Koenig's Rescue Eagle (after said Eagle was equipped with the proper transmitter).
's reliance on nuclear power
, atomic waste had accumulated to such a degree that it had become a major environmental problem. With the establishment of a permanent moonbase, Alpha served a dual function. In addition to being Earth's space control centre and space research area, it would also serve as the guardian of the nuclear waste that would be deposited there.
Nuclear Disposal Area One was established on the far side of the moon
and was used until 1994. The dump site consisted of a large number of concrete mounds set in an irregular pattern. Although no longer used, Area One was constantly monitored. The area was also notable for the presence of Navigation Beacon Delta, a tall mast which was one of the few permanent structures on the far side. Eagle pilots would use this as a landmark for their training flights, and also as a turning point for flights to Disposal Area Two.
By the time of "Breakaway
" there had been a significant number of problems that looked as if they were related to radiation leakage. The rogue planet Meta had been discovered as it passed through Earth's solar system and a flight crew for the long-range Meta Probe
was conducting training exercises on the far side of the Moon
in the vicinity of Area One. The two primary Meta Probe astronauts, Eric Sparkman and Frank Warren, displayed all the symptoms of radiation sickness—cerebral malignancy, disorientation, coma—and died. A number of workers at Disposal Area Two also died under similar circumstances.
Commander John Koenig
was sent to Moonbase Alpha with orders to get the Meta Probe launched. After learning that the 'virus infection' story being circulated was a fiction devised by Earth Command, he started an investigation into the cause of the deaths. This revealed that while the radiation levels at both sites were at normal levels, the levels of magnetic radiation were not. Monitor systems at Area One showed a tremendous and unexplained rise in heat levels. Koenig took an Eagle out to investigate and lost control due to interference from the magnetic radiation. Minutes after the crash, Area One erupted in a large magnetic sub-surface firestorm, burning itself out.
Nuclear Disposal Area Two was the second 'burial ground' for nuclear waste on the Moon and was far larger than its predecessor.
The disposal area opened in 1994, taking over from the previous Nuclear Disposal Area One. Unlike the random appearance of Area One, Area two was more advanced as well as having a surrounding laser fence
for security reasons. The laser barrier could be deactivated at one section by workers and other authorised personnel using CommLocks, granting them access. In the centre of the facility was a landing pad for the Eagle transporters that would be conveying batches of lead canisters of nuclear waste to the Moon. This was connected to a conveyor belt and an automatic lift system used to lower the waste canisters into the underground storage pits. According to Professor Victor Bergman, Area Two was considered to be safer for storage due to Synthocrete radiation covers used to seal the waste pits. These had not been invented when Area One was operational.
By September 1999, Area Two contained one hundred forty times the amount of atomic waste that had been stored in Area One in its forty-eight waste silos.
Area Two was completely destroyed when the magnetic radiation effect detonated the accumulated nuclear waste, despite an eleventh-hour plan to prevent the disaster where the waste pits were opened and the Eagle fleet attempted to disperse the waste canisters over a wide area to diminish the potential explosion. A large portion of the lunar surface was vaporised in the catastrophe.
Outside the secure area, there had been a circular building used as a monitoring station; an Eagle landing pad was connected to this facility. It, too, was lost in the disaster.
", it is unknown what role this area played, unless it had been set up after Breakaway to process waste from the Moonbase reactors. Oddly, they were designed to allow a portable canister of atomic fuel to be plugged into the core and detonate the waste area, destroying a significant portion of the Moon's surface.
Another waste site is seen in the episode "The Seance Spectre", consisting of 10000 feet (3,048 m) shafts into the lunar surface, each topped with a concrete cap. The site was deliberately detonated to shift the Moon from a collision course with Tora, a proto-planet still forming in the centre of a debris cloud. In dialogue trimmed from the final cut, this area was designated Disposal Site B-7, and was stated to have pre-dated even Area One. This area also contained the circular monitoring depot buildings seen at Area Two in "Breakaway".
Some personnel are seen wearing different coloured sleeves throughout the series depending on their duty at that time. In addition, special teams and units also exist: the Science Board, the Radioactive Monitoring Team, Surface Exploration Teams, Mining Section and Rescue Units.
Visitors to Moonbase Alpha not assigned to duty do not have a colour-coded sleeve.
It is stated that John Koenig is the ninth commander of Alpha. Only two commanders are ever named in the series: Anton Gorski, who served as commander during the Ultra Probe
mission in 1996, and as the commander being replaced by Koenig, who assumed command of Alpha on 9 September 1999.
APOCRYPHA: A deleted scene from "Breakaway" indicates Koenig was also the first commander of Alpha. This is established by Commissioner Simmonds who is giving and interview on Earth TV and Koenig is watching it while on his way to Alpha. (Audio of the clip is available on YouTube in February 2011).
"Main Mission" itself is the command and control area for Moonbase Alpha during the first series. It is situated at the hub of Moonbase in a prominent tower structure some levels above the lunar surface. Main Mission was abandoned by the Alphans after it became apparent that it was vulnerable to damage from hostile aliens and forces mostly due to its above-ground location. The command staff later moved to the smaller but more protected 'Command Centre' in the underground levels of the base.
served as section chief before his unexplained disappearance at the beginning of Series Two. During the course of the first series, two chief engineers were mentioned: Smith (a.k.a. 'Smitty') who assisted Victor Bergman in the Main Power Unit when adapting the Moonbase anti-gravity generators into a defensive forcefield; and Anderson, who was never seen, but mentioned by Sandra when co-ordinating damage reports during the encounter with the Triton space probe. In the second series, The Lambda Factor introduced Chief Engineer Pete Garforth.
appears to be the Service Section chief working from her station in Main Mission/Command Centre.
serves as section chief. In the days before the Moon's departure from Earth, Reconnaissance was responsible for all aspects of the deep-space flight missions deployed from Alpha (see the Uranus Expedition, the Astro Seven Mission to Jupiter, the Ultra Probe and the Meta Probe among others).
, assisted by Doctor Bob Mathias
, Doctor Ben Vincent, Doctor Ed Spencer and Doctor Raul Nunez. As the practitioners of an isolated community, these five physcians have many specialities between them—space medicine, psychiatry, obstetrics and gynecology, neurology and neurosurgery, cardiology and cardiac-organ transplant, infectious disease, ophthalmology, pathology, emergency medicine and trauma surgery.
Medical maintains "stretcher teams" for internal first aid emergencies, while "Medical Rescue Units" perform the same function on space missions. There is also a "surgical team" of doctors to deal with life threatening injuries.
Central Computer monitors the physiological health of the entire Alpha population via wrist monitors worn by every individual staff member. In the event of high physiological stress or death of a staff member, Computer will offer a verbal and hardcopy warning to the medical staff on duty.
is head of Security, although he does not appear until Year Two of the series.
is often improperly called the dark side of the moon. The first scene of the show had a caption stating the location of the nuclear waste disposal storage being on the dark side of the moon, although the caption also stated it was Sept. 9, 1999, so the caption meant it was the dark side of the moon on Sept. 9 which is not inaccurate. It was also referred to as "the far side" by the character Ouma during the episode. The far side of the moon, while always away from Earth
will still be illuminated by the sun
, thus there is no area of the moon that is permanently dark. This error was noted by Isaac Asimov
who wrote two articles on the scientific inaccuracies of the show.
Space: 1999
Space: 1999 is a British science-fiction television series that ran for two seasons and originally aired from 1975 to 1977. In the opening episode, nuclear waste from Earth stored on the Moon's far side explodes in a catastrophic accident on 13 September 1999, knocking the Moon out of orbit and...
.
Moonbase Alpha
Located in the Moon crater Plato and constructed out of quarried rock and ores, Moonbase Alpha is four kilometres in diameter and extends up to one kilometre in areas below the lunar surface. The complex extends outward from the central Main Mission tower in a series of concentrically-arranged curved structures connected by travel-tube transit tunnels. (The look is more than reminiscent of Clavius BaseClavius Base
Clavius Base is a lunar settlement in the fictional Space Odyssey universe created by Arthur C. Clarke.The base, located at Clavius crater, is featured in both the novel and film versions of 2001: A Space Odyssey. According to the novel, the base was finished in 1994 by United States Astronautical...
in the film 2001: A Space Odyssey
2001: A Space Odyssey (film)
2001: A Space Odyssey is a 1968 epic science fiction film produced and directed by Stanley Kubrick, and co-written by Kubrick and Arthur C. Clarke, partially inspired by Clarke's short story The Sentinel...
.) Apart from the central tower, the surface buildings are two to three storeys in height.
Originally, the base was designed to serve as both Earth's primary space research and exploration centre and a monitoring station co-ordinating the nuclear waste disposal areas on the Moon's far side. Construction began on 3 February 1983, but was briefly halted during the 1987 world war. Construction commenced afterwards under the auspices of the new World Space Commission. Though operational and occupied for years, final completion of the Alpha construction project occurred in 1997.
Moonbase Alpha is totally self-sustaining. Power is generated by four nuclear reactor
Nuclear reactor
A nuclear reactor is a device to initiate and control a sustained nuclear chain reaction. Most commonly they are used for generating electricity and for the propulsion of ships. Usually heat from nuclear fission is passed to a working fluid , which runs through turbines that power either ship's...
s and the accumulation of solar energy. Earth-normal artificial gravity is generated by eight towers surrounding the complex. Water is obtained from ice deposits under the lunar surface, recycled and purified. Nutritional requirements are met by a variety of familiar-appearing foodstuffs produced biochemically on Alpha This diet was supplemented by frozen-food products imported from Earth before all contact with home was severed in September 1999. (At the time of "Breakaway
Breakaway (Space: 1999)
"Breakaway" is the first episode of the first series of Space: 1999. The screenplay was written by George Bellak ; the director was Lee H. Katzin. Previous titles include 'Zero-G', 'The Void Ahead' and 'Turning Point'. The final shooting script is dated 22 November 1973...
", about eighty percent of food and water products were produced chemically on Moonbase.)
All Alpha personnel have their own suite of rooms in the Residence Section with sitting room, sleeping alcove and private bathroom. Suites with a separate, larger bedroom are available to married staff members. Personnel also have the option to live with a roommate if desired. The Recreation Section boasts a gymnasium, private work-out rooms, a solarium with adjacent sauna and swimming pool, bowling alley, performing-arts theatre and separate cinema and a reference library with both real books and electronic equivalents. Recreation lounges and restaurants are scattered throughout the complex.
Several buildings are given over to research in a number of scientific fields including astronomy, geology, chemistry, biology and astrophysics. Others are devoted to the Technical and Maintenance Sections and are responsible for the repair and upkeep of Moonbase and its many complex systems. The Eagle transporters and other ancillary craft are maintained and stored in an underground hangar complex.
In contrast, Year Two revealed that an underground complex had been constructed and expanded upon between the two series and that the majority of Alpha's command, operations and living centres had been relocated there. The vulnerable Main Mission had been abandoned in favour of the safer underground Command Centre, a smaller control room with many of the same features of Main Mission. The Medical Section once occupied an entire building on the Moon's surface and included several large wards, trauma, casualty and diagnostic units, intensive care wards and operating theatres. Underground, it was reduced to a few rooms, the main Medical Centre acting as a combination patient ward, examination room and surgery all in one. Living quarters were now one small room which did not even appear to have a private bath.
Other facilities revealed in Series Two were a complement of offensive laser batteries which had been installed around the Moonbase complex (starting in "The Metamorph"). These large weapons were stored underground and raised to the surface when deployed. They had a range of at least forty-three thousand kilometres and were controlled from the Weapons Section, a small, bunker-like room. In "The Exiles", the Golos cylinders were taken for examination in an 'underground research area', a laboratory facility constructed inside a lunar mountain on the rim of the crater containing Moonbase. This secure area, designed for the performance of potentially hazardous experiments, was connected to Alpha only by travel-tube and boasted its own Eagle landing pad.
Launch pads
Eagle (Space: 1999)
The Eagle Transporter is a fictional spacecraft and the iconic image of the 1970s television series Space: 1999. The Eagles serve as the primary spacecraft of Moonbase Alpha, which has a fleet of them. The Eagles are primarily used to explore alien planets, defend Moonbase Alpha from attack, and to...
and visiting spaceships. These launch pads are circular but have descending cross-platforms that lower the Eagles into underground hangars for storage and maintenance.
Travel tubes
Travel tubes provide rapid transit between the various sections of the base and to and from the launch pads via a cylindrical travel capsule which contains seating for either four or six passengers depending on the unit being used. Easy access to and from main corridors and reception areas is via double-sliding doors on either side of the capsule. Access to the launch pad is through the end door, which opens directly into the boarding tube connected to the Eagle. There is the capacity for the occupants to suspend motion in mid-travel with an emergency stop button.As would be expected, the use of the travel tube network requires a good deal of power; in the event of an energy crisis, travel-tube service is among the first systems suspended. Despite expectations to the contrary, travel-tube tunnels are pressurised with normal Alpha atmosphere.
Anti-gravity towers
There are eight anti-gravity towers surrounding the Alpha complex; the anti-gravity fields are used to boost the Moon's one-sixth gee gravity and stabilise it to a near one-gee Earth normal within the Moonbase structures. These are also seen around other structures outside the main base such as Nuclear Disposal Area Two as well as other off-site research facilities.The towers also contain generators and projectors for Alpha's radiation and meteorite defence screens. In the episode "Black Sun", Victor Bergman
Victor Bergman
Professor Victor Bergman is the name of a recurring character on the UK science fiction television series Space: 1999. The role was portrayed by actor Barry Morse.-Character Biography:...
formulated a way to increase the power of the anti-gravity generators in the towers to produce an enhanced anti-gravity forcefield effect. The drawback of the Bergman forcefield is that it requires more energy than the four main generators are designed to produce; the generators from the entire Eagle fleet are required to supplement the power supply in order to sustain it for any length of time.
Orbital satellite
A vital component in Moonbase's tracking and communications systems is its orbital satellite. Situated in a high lunar orbit, the satellite acts as a radar- and sensor-tracking station as well as a transmitter relay and observation platform. Like the Moonbase communications system, it can transmit on the powerful 'interstellar' frequency. When the Moon was engulfed in a high-energy plasma cloud following the controlled destruction of an asteroid, the orbital satellite was used to triangulate the position of Alan CarterAlan Carter (Space 1999)
Alan Carter is a fictional character from the television series Space: 1999. He was played by Nick Tate. He is of Australian origin and is in his early thirties.-Character biography:...
's missing Eagle using the interstellar-strength transmissions of the satellite, Alpha and Koenig's Rescue Eagle (after said Eagle was equipped with the proper transmitter).
Nuclear Disposal Area One
Due to EarthEarth
Earth is the third planet from the Sun, and the densest and fifth-largest of the eight planets in the Solar System. It is also the largest of the Solar System's four terrestrial planets...
's reliance on nuclear power
Nuclear power
Nuclear power is the use of sustained nuclear fission to generate heat and electricity. Nuclear power plants provide about 6% of the world's energy and 13–14% of the world's electricity, with the U.S., France, and Japan together accounting for about 50% of nuclear generated electricity...
, atomic waste had accumulated to such a degree that it had become a major environmental problem. With the establishment of a permanent moonbase, Alpha served a dual function. In addition to being Earth's space control centre and space research area, it would also serve as the guardian of the nuclear waste that would be deposited there.
Nuclear Disposal Area One was established on the far side of the moon
Far side of the Moon
The far side of the Moon is the lunar hemisphere that is permanently turned away, and is not visible from the surface of the Earth. The far hemisphere was first photographed by the Soviet Luna 3 probe in 1959, and was first directly observed by human eyes when the Apollo 8 mission orbited the Moon...
and was used until 1994. The dump site consisted of a large number of concrete mounds set in an irregular pattern. Although no longer used, Area One was constantly monitored. The area was also notable for the presence of Navigation Beacon Delta, a tall mast which was one of the few permanent structures on the far side. Eagle pilots would use this as a landmark for their training flights, and also as a turning point for flights to Disposal Area Two.
By the time of "Breakaway
Breakaway (Space: 1999)
"Breakaway" is the first episode of the first series of Space: 1999. The screenplay was written by George Bellak ; the director was Lee H. Katzin. Previous titles include 'Zero-G', 'The Void Ahead' and 'Turning Point'. The final shooting script is dated 22 November 1973...
" there had been a significant number of problems that looked as if they were related to radiation leakage. The rogue planet Meta had been discovered as it passed through Earth's solar system and a flight crew for the long-range Meta Probe
Meta Probe
The Meta Probe was a fictional spacecraft in the Space: 1999 episode "Breakaway", it appears in just a few scenes of this pilot episode.-Mission Profile:...
was conducting training exercises on the far side of the Moon
Far side of the Moon
The far side of the Moon is the lunar hemisphere that is permanently turned away, and is not visible from the surface of the Earth. The far hemisphere was first photographed by the Soviet Luna 3 probe in 1959, and was first directly observed by human eyes when the Apollo 8 mission orbited the Moon...
in the vicinity of Area One. The two primary Meta Probe astronauts, Eric Sparkman and Frank Warren, displayed all the symptoms of radiation sickness—cerebral malignancy, disorientation, coma—and died. A number of workers at Disposal Area Two also died under similar circumstances.
Commander John Koenig
John Koenig
John Koenig is a fictional character from the television series Space: 1999. He was played by Martin Landau. He is American, apparently in his early forties.-Character Biography:...
was sent to Moonbase Alpha with orders to get the Meta Probe launched. After learning that the 'virus infection' story being circulated was a fiction devised by Earth Command, he started an investigation into the cause of the deaths. This revealed that while the radiation levels at both sites were at normal levels, the levels of magnetic radiation were not. Monitor systems at Area One showed a tremendous and unexplained rise in heat levels. Koenig took an Eagle out to investigate and lost control due to interference from the magnetic radiation. Minutes after the crash, Area One erupted in a large magnetic sub-surface firestorm, burning itself out.
Nuclear Disposal Area Two
The disposal area opened in 1994, taking over from the previous Nuclear Disposal Area One. Unlike the random appearance of Area One, Area two was more advanced as well as having a surrounding laser fence
Laser fence
A laser fence is a mechanism to detect objects passing the line of sight between the laser source and the detector. Stronger lasers can potentially be used to injure someone or something passing the laser beam ....
for security reasons. The laser barrier could be deactivated at one section by workers and other authorised personnel using CommLocks, granting them access. In the centre of the facility was a landing pad for the Eagle transporters that would be conveying batches of lead canisters of nuclear waste to the Moon. This was connected to a conveyor belt and an automatic lift system used to lower the waste canisters into the underground storage pits. According to Professor Victor Bergman, Area Two was considered to be safer for storage due to Synthocrete radiation covers used to seal the waste pits. These had not been invented when Area One was operational.
By September 1999, Area Two contained one hundred forty times the amount of atomic waste that had been stored in Area One in its forty-eight waste silos.
Area Two was completely destroyed when the magnetic radiation effect detonated the accumulated nuclear waste, despite an eleventh-hour plan to prevent the disaster where the waste pits were opened and the Eagle fleet attempted to disperse the waste canisters over a wide area to diminish the potential explosion. A large portion of the lunar surface was vaporised in the catastrophe.
Outside the secure area, there had been a circular building used as a monitoring station; an Eagle landing pad was connected to this facility. It, too, was lost in the disaster.
Other nuclear waste disposal sites
The Nuclear Waste Domes—three dome-like structures and a monitoring station—were seen only once in "The Bringers of Wonder" two-part story. Considering that Nuclear Disposal Area Two was active at the time of "BreakawayBreakaway (Space: 1999)
"Breakaway" is the first episode of the first series of Space: 1999. The screenplay was written by George Bellak ; the director was Lee H. Katzin. Previous titles include 'Zero-G', 'The Void Ahead' and 'Turning Point'. The final shooting script is dated 22 November 1973...
", it is unknown what role this area played, unless it had been set up after Breakaway to process waste from the Moonbase reactors. Oddly, they were designed to allow a portable canister of atomic fuel to be plugged into the core and detonate the waste area, destroying a significant portion of the Moon's surface.
Another waste site is seen in the episode "The Seance Spectre", consisting of 10000 feet (3,048 m) shafts into the lunar surface, each topped with a concrete cap. The site was deliberately detonated to shift the Moon from a collision course with Tora, a proto-planet still forming in the centre of a debris cloud. In dialogue trimmed from the final cut, this area was designated Disposal Site B-7, and was stated to have pre-dated even Area One. This area also contained the circular monitoring depot buildings seen at Area Two in "Breakaway".
Weapons and equipment
See article on the List of Space: 1999 weapons and equipment used by the Moonbase Alpha personnel such as the Spacesuit, CommLock and hand-held armament.Moonbase sections
There are six Moonbase Sections to which personnel are assigned; these are identified by a colour code. Signage regarding these sections is printed in its appropriate colour, as is the left uniform sleeve of the assigned staff. They are: Command (Charcoal) Main Mission/Command Centre (Flame), Technical (Rust), Service (Yellow), Medical (White), Reconnaissance (Orange), and Security (Purple).Some personnel are seen wearing different coloured sleeves throughout the series depending on their duty at that time. In addition, special teams and units also exist: the Science Board, the Radioactive Monitoring Team, Surface Exploration Teams, Mining Section and Rescue Units.
Visitors to Moonbase Alpha not assigned to duty do not have a colour-coded sleeve.
Command
Though not officially a military installation, Moonbase Alpha has one commanding officer, assigned by the World Space Commission, whose function is as administrator and co-ordinator of all operations in the facility. This commander has unlimited access to all areas of Moonbase. Main Computer is programmed to accept and obey all Command orders from this individual short of those instructions which would threaten the safety of Alpha.It is stated that John Koenig is the ninth commander of Alpha. Only two commanders are ever named in the series: Anton Gorski, who served as commander during the Ultra Probe
Ultra Probe
The Ultra Probe was a fictional spacecraft in the Space: 1999 episode "Dragons Domain".A long-range explorer ship, the Ultra Probe was designed to take a crew of four to the planet Ultra, which had been discovered by Professor Victor Bergman in 1994...
mission in 1996, and as the commander being replaced by Koenig, who assumed command of Alpha on 9 September 1999.
APOCRYPHA: A deleted scene from "Breakaway" indicates Koenig was also the first commander of Alpha. This is established by Commissioner Simmonds who is giving and interview on Earth TV and Koenig is watching it while on his way to Alpha. (Audio of the clip is available on YouTube in February 2011).
Main Mission/Command Centre
Main Mission personnel include the operations and administrative staff on Alpha. The second-in-command is designated 'Main Mission Controller' and functions as senior supervisor of the operatives assigned to the control centre. One may assume that there is also an administrative/office staff to perform the bureaucratic tasks that any organisation requires to function—human resources, paymaster (before the Moon's breakaway), record keeping, etc."Main Mission" itself is the command and control area for Moonbase Alpha during the first series. It is situated at the hub of Moonbase in a prominent tower structure some levels above the lunar surface. Main Mission was abandoned by the Alphans after it became apparent that it was vulnerable to damage from hostile aliens and forces mostly due to its above-ground location. The command staff later moved to the smaller but more protected 'Command Centre' in the underground levels of the base.
Technical Section
The largest department on Alpha, Technical encompasses the computing staff, technicians overseeing the functioning of the nuclear reactors and environmental systems, aerospace and rocket propulsion engineers, general maintenance crews, mining personnel and, as a sub-department, the Research Section's scientific staff. David KanoDavid Kano (Space 1999)
David Kano is a fictional character who regularly appeared during the first season of the science fiction television series Space: 1999. He is of Jamaican origin and in his mid-thirties. He was played by actor Clifton Jones.-Character biography:...
served as section chief before his unexplained disappearance at the beginning of Series Two. During the course of the first series, two chief engineers were mentioned: Smith (a.k.a. 'Smitty') who assisted Victor Bergman in the Main Power Unit when adapting the Moonbase anti-gravity generators into a defensive forcefield; and Anderson, who was never seen, but mentioned by Sandra when co-ordinating damage reports during the encounter with the Triton space probe. In the second series, The Lambda Factor introduced Chief Engineer Pete Garforth.
Service Section
Service encompasses data analysts, clerical staff, the botanists and technicians tending the hydroponic farms and botanical research units, as well as the never-seen kitchen, laundry and janitorial personnel. Throughout the series Sandra BenesSandra Benes
Sandra Benes is a recurring character in the British science-fiction television series Space: 1999. She is of Western European/Burmese origin and is in her late twenties. Her role was played by actress Zienia Merton.-Character Biography:...
appears to be the Service Section chief working from her station in Main Mission/Command Centre.
Reconnaissance Section
Reconnaissance Section astronauts fly the Eagles and other ancillary Moonbase craft. They also frequently operate in Main Mission/Command Centre as flight controllers during survey and reconnaissance missions. Reconnaissance works in conjunction with Technical Section to assure the Eagles transporters are constantly checked, maintained and on stand-by for immediate action. Chief Eagle Pilot Captain Alan CarterAlan Carter (Space 1999)
Alan Carter is a fictional character from the television series Space: 1999. He was played by Nick Tate. He is of Australian origin and is in his early thirties.-Character biography:...
serves as section chief. In the days before the Moon's departure from Earth, Reconnaissance was responsible for all aspects of the deep-space flight missions deployed from Alpha (see the Uranus Expedition, the Astro Seven Mission to Jupiter, the Ultra Probe and the Meta Probe among others).
Medical Section
Medical encompasses the physician and nursing staff, plus medical orderlies and laboratory technicians—twenty-five persons in all. (Scientific and support personnel can be drawn from the Research Section as needed.) The main tasks of Medical Section are: to maintain the physical and psychological health of all Alpha personnel and to carry out experimentation upon all factors affecting humans residing in space, i.e. human life-science and psychology experiments. The section chief is Doctor Helena RussellHelena Russell
Helena Russell is a fictional character from the television series Space: 1999. She was played by Barbara Bain. She is American and apparently in her mid-thirties....
, assisted by Doctor Bob Mathias
Bob Mathias (Space: 1999)
Bob Mathias is a fictional character from the British science-fiction television series Space: 1999. He is played by actor Anton Phillips.-Character Biography:...
, Doctor Ben Vincent, Doctor Ed Spencer and Doctor Raul Nunez. As the practitioners of an isolated community, these five physcians have many specialities between them—space medicine, psychiatry, obstetrics and gynecology, neurology and neurosurgery, cardiology and cardiac-organ transplant, infectious disease, ophthalmology, pathology, emergency medicine and trauma surgery.
Medical maintains "stretcher teams" for internal first aid emergencies, while "Medical Rescue Units" perform the same function on space missions. There is also a "surgical team" of doctors to deal with life threatening injuries.
Central Computer monitors the physiological health of the entire Alpha population via wrist monitors worn by every individual staff member. In the event of high physiological stress or death of a staff member, Computer will offer a verbal and hardcopy warning to the medical staff on duty.
Security Section
Security guards are on stand-by to control internal disciplinary problems, sentry duty at strategic or restricted areas, defense functions during survey and reconnaissance missions and search-and-rescue missions. All guards carry stun-guns and sometimes rifles or small missile launchers when the situation allows. They are trained as space arms specialists. Defense teams are deployed during red alerts to strategic areas throughout the complex and usually consist of two to four guards. Tony VerdeschiTony Verdeschi
Tony Verdeschi is a fictional character who first appeared in the second series of the science fiction television series Space: 1999. He is in his early thirties....
is head of Security, although he does not appear until Year Two of the series.
Defensive and offensive capabilities
- Each of Moonbase Alpha's five main launch pads houses an underground hangar which each store a number of Eagle TransportersEagle (Space: 1999)The Eagle Transporter is a fictional spacecraft and the iconic image of the 1970s television series Space: 1999. The Eagles serve as the primary spacecraft of Moonbase Alpha, which has a fleet of them. The Eagles are primarily used to explore alien planets, defend Moonbase Alpha from attack, and to...
. During Year One, only seven of Alpha's Eagles are armed, though this changes later on.
- Laser TankLaser TankThe Laser Tank is a fictional vehicle seen in The Infernal Machine episode of the television series Space: 1999.-Defense Capabilities:...
s, which are converted construction vehicles, are also stored around the base in the hangars. Each of these vehicles is lightly armed.
- Some time before "The Metamorph", Moonbase is armed with five large retractable offensive laser cannons.
- Meteorite and radiation defence screens can also be used in a defensive capacity. The Bergman anti-gravity forcefield is the ultimate defence measure, but it cannot be used without advanced notice; its power requirements are enormous and the main unit generators must be supplemented with power generators stripped from all servicable Eagles for the shield to function for any length of time.
- Protective areas: although not a defense in and of itself, if an attack is imminent, nonessential personnel are evacuated to deep shelters forming the lowest levels of Alpha. Much of this network of large underground bunkers was used for the construction of the underground Alpha seen in the second series.
Dark side of the moon
The far side of the moonFar side of the Moon
The far side of the Moon is the lunar hemisphere that is permanently turned away, and is not visible from the surface of the Earth. The far hemisphere was first photographed by the Soviet Luna 3 probe in 1959, and was first directly observed by human eyes when the Apollo 8 mission orbited the Moon...
is often improperly called the dark side of the moon. The first scene of the show had a caption stating the location of the nuclear waste disposal storage being on the dark side of the moon, although the caption also stated it was Sept. 9, 1999, so the caption meant it was the dark side of the moon on Sept. 9 which is not inaccurate. It was also referred to as "the far side" by the character Ouma during the episode. The far side of the moon, while always away from Earth
Earth
Earth is the third planet from the Sun, and the densest and fifth-largest of the eight planets in the Solar System. It is also the largest of the Solar System's four terrestrial planets...
will still be illuminated by the sun
Sun
The Sun is the star at the center of the Solar System. It is almost perfectly spherical and consists of hot plasma interwoven with magnetic fields...
, thus there is no area of the moon that is permanently dark. This error was noted by Isaac Asimov
Isaac Asimov
Isaac Asimov was an American author and professor of biochemistry at Boston University, best known for his works of science fiction and for his popular science books. Asimov was one of the most prolific writers of all time, having written or edited more than 500 books and an estimated 90,000...
who wrote two articles on the scientific inaccuracies of the show.
External links
- Moonbase Alpha Technical Notebook
- Space 1999: Eagle Transporter - A visual reference guide to the Eagle Transporter craft from Moonbase Alpha.
- Eagle Transporter Forum - Discussion board with main emphasis on the Eagle Transporter.
- Space 1999 Catacombs - Moonbase Guide In depth breakdown of all sections of Moonbase Alpha.
- Space 1999 Catacombs - Moonbase Alpha In depth look at the production module of the moonbase used in filming the series.