Earth's moon · Tranquility Ring
The Moon
Earth's front porch, with a shipyard on the roof.
By 3455 the Moon is Earth's busiest neighbour: glass-domed towns across the grey maria, and overhead, the Tranquility Ring, a vast orbital shipyard where most Earth-registered ships are built, inspected and occasionally impounded.
Everything bound for Earth stops here first. Customs, quarantine and the most thorough cargo scanners in the Solar System live on the Moon, which makes it the last line of defence for home.
The Moon's families have lived under domes for more than a thousand years. They grow their own food, build the best ships in the system and are quietly proud that Earth can't manage without them.
The Tranquility Ring circles overhead like a silver halo. At night you can watch new ships slide out of dry dock, lights blinking, heading out for their very first trip.
Atmosphere
None outside. Inside the domes: cool, bright, smells faintly of machine oil and greenhouse tomatoes.
Local quirk
Everybody's best view of home is out of a kitchen window.
Regions · proposed names, not locked canon
Tranquility Ring
The orbital shipyard. Dry docks, cranes and a waiting list longer than Zamfyr's excuses.
Dome Towns
Pressurised towns of farms, schools and hundred-year-old families who call themselves 'Loonies' with pride.
Farside Observatories
Radio-quiet telescopes on the far side, listening to the galaxy without Earth's noise.
Old Apollo Park
The first footprints, kept under glass. The most visited spot on the Moon, and the quietest.
Hazards
- ▲VacuumThere is no air outside the domes. Check your seals.
- ▲MicrometeoritesTiny, fast and everywhere. The domes are tough. Visors less so.
- ▲Customs officersNot dangerous. Just very, very thorough.
Visitor tips
- ✦Declare everything. Especially the eggs.
- ✦Bring your own snacks to an inspection. They take a while.
- ✦Watch Earthrise at least once.
Local life
- ●Lunar-born humans and aliens
- ●Dome-garden bees
A day on The Moon
A lunar day lasts about two Earth weeks, so dome towns run on Earth clocks and pretend. Morning bells ring, farmers check their greenhouses, and the shipyard shift change sends a river of workers up the space elevator.
Out of every kitchen window, Earth hangs in the sky, blue and white. Nobody ever gets tired of it.
Locals & customs
Inspector Hollis Brand
Chief of lunar customs. Has opened forty thousand crates and been surprised by every single one.
Dock-boss Mara Quill
Runs Dry Dock Seven at the Tranquility Ring. Calls the Wobblenaut 'that thing' and gives it the best berth anyway.
- ◆Every child plants one seed in the town greenhouse on their first birthday.
- ◆Never step on the old footprints. Not even near them.
- ◆'Good Earthrise' is how you say good morning.
Legends & history
The Lantern on the Hill
Lunar children are told that the first settlers left a lantern burning on a crater rim so that travellers coming home could find their way.
It is still there, and it is still lit. Nobody admits to changing the bulb.
Crew log
“The inspection went great. I think. They're still in a meeting about it.”
“Good dry dock. Good tools. I fixed three things they didn't know were broken.”
Story seed · in development
Inspection Day
The Wobblenaut is due for its hundred-year safety inspection. It has never passed. Zamfyr has a plan. Onobo has a very long list.
Halfway through the inspection, the inspectors discover a cargo crate Zamfyr forgot about. It's been there since the first episode concept. It's hatching.
Earthward stakes
If something slips through lunar customs, it lands on Earth the next day.
Onobo packs
Science inspiration
Lunar domes and orbital shipyards are long-standing real proposals; the Tranquility Ring and its towns are fiction.
NASA: the Moon