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Four Seasons Habitats

Habitats with environments which replicate the four temperate seasonal climates

Four Seasons habitat in Saturn atmosphere
Image from Alex Mulvey
A Four Seasons habitat suspended in Saturn's atmosphere

The Four Seasons were a series of bubblehabs created by Artemis, during the Interplanetary age; most of these were located in the atmosphere of Saturn, although a few were located at the temperate level in Venus' atmosphere. These structures consisted of four connected domed habitats, each housing one of the four Earth seasons. At any given time there was one dome each for summer, autumn, winter, and spring. Under each habitat was the 'bubble' which kept the structure afloat in the atmospheres of the gas giants. The Four Seasons proved to be extremely popular among baseline and near-baseline humans, many of whom missed the splendor of nature on Earth despite having left that world far behind (sometimes in ignominious circumstances).

In the center of the domes was the industrial sector, where the autonomous processes that sustained many bubblehabs during this time occurred. There was a significant civilian sector in the main structure as well. A majority of the habs were constructed from supplies obtained in the atmospheres of their permanent locations, after an initial seed from Luna.

Four Seasons habs were renowned for having relatively large amounts of unoccupied space, and thus they were considered luxurious places to live. The diameter of the circular domes ranged in size from just several hundred meters to over two kilometers. Habitation sections included parts of the central structure, the center pillars within the domes themselves, and the disk section underneath the actual habitats. There were also some buildings placed throughout the environments themselves; these were reserved only for the extremely rich. However, the main goal of the habitats was to provide an Earth-like outdoors experience in the outer solar system, and so structures within the habitat environments were intentionally kept to a minimum. These structures were kept clear of debris like leaves and snow by automated systems.

The interior of each dome housed a small ecosystem of genetically modified plants and animals, which were adapted for life in accelerated seasons. Times varied, but the average duration of the seasons was 35 days long. Originally, efforts were made to modify organisms so that each season was permanent, but this was abandoned as the complexity and cost of the project became apparent. Options were available in most domes for the inhabitants to move dwellings every season to stay in sync with the one they wanted.

The spring and winter domes experienced periodic and controlled precipitation respective to their habitats. Artificial clouds and atmospheric color were placed into the upper parts of the domes to provide a more realistic looking sky for the occupants, given that a majority of the habitats were within the atmosphere of Saturn. The environments inside each dome were equivalent to those of their respective seasons.

Although many of the Four Seasons were destroyed in the Technocalypse, several of them remained and came to play important roles in the emerging civilization. Numerous habitats similar in concept to these now exist throughout the Terragen Sphere, though only a few were inspired directly by the Four Seasons habs.

 
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Appears in Topics
130 to 400 AT: The Interplanetary AgeInfrastructureMegascale Engineering
 
Development Notes
Text by Alex Mulvey
Initially published on 20 October 2015.

 
 
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