DwD Studios

Diameter: 12,104km
Mass: 4.8675
Gravity: 0.905
# of moons: None
Hydrosphere: Water, no hazards
Atmosphere: Normal, no hazards
Radiation Levels: None
Atmospheric Toxicity: None
Surface Temperatures: 18 degrees
Length of Day: 27.2 hours
Length of Year: 225 Standard days
Dominant Terrain: Desert
Dominant Life Form: Genitically engineered animals, Terran-based
Distance From Primary: 108,000,000km (0.72 A.U.)

Planatary Description/Notes:

Venus of the 29th Century is a very different place than when Terran astronomers and scientists first discovered and explored the world. The second planet in the Sol System represents Terran’s finest Terraforming project. The project took decades before even rudimentary life forms could be sustained on it, but the work was done and now one can walk on the surface with only minimal protection – mainly from the heat and dry atmosphere.

In the year 2282, the terraforming project began. It started by seeding the upper atmosphere with engineered algae that was resistant to the sulfuric acid clouds. The algae processed the carbon dioxide atmosphere and introduced oxygen compounds. Water vapor was also seeded into the atmosphere to activate the algae. Once this started, the acid clouds released their material and the sulfur rained on the surface for the next 120 years. During the “acid rain” stage, robotic machines were deposited on the surface that neutralized the majority of the sulfuric acid.

Now that the acid problem was solved, the project could go to a more advanced stage. More water was needed to be introduced. The planet also had another problem: it had no Van Allen belt to thwart cosmic rays and other radiation from not only Sol, but from the other stars sending their rads our way. Venus has a metallic core like Terra, but its original spin was way too slow – 243 Terran days. It also rotated westerly as opposed to easterly like Terra. Both problems were solved by the introduction of “iceteroids.” These rocks in space that consisted mainly of H20 bombarded the planet for years. They were angled toward the planetary surface in such a way that, not only would they introduce free-standing water on Venus, but would produce an easterly spin on the world that would create a 27.2-hour day on the world. This action created magnetic poles on Venus and Van Allen belts were generated. The water coverage on the planet is only 6% compared to Terra’s 70%, but there were a few rivers and lakes created.

A compound of specialized dust particles were introduced to the upper atmosphere. Venus, while cooler and oxygenated, was still in Sol’s inner zone. That made it a very hot world still. These dust particles were designed to block the majority of the infrared radiation from Sol. It gives Venus’ sky a lavender hue and looking up at the night is like looking at it wearing dark sunglasses. Needless to say, there are no real astronomers on the planet.

Life was then introduced to the planet; some were standard Terran animals, others were genetically engineered species tailored to Venus. By 2445, the world was ready for its first colonists. The first people gathered around the few lakes and started sustenance farming. Eruptions from the planet’s many volcanoes hindered colonial expansion – but only a bit. By 2450, there were two million souls on the second planet.

On November 21, 2458, Solar Civil War (2451-2458) ended on Venus’ surface. It also marked the worst tragedy of that war. The genocide of Venus’ population was the worst tragedy for humanity to that date (this was, of course, surpassed by the “emptying” of Terra in 2577).

The rebels were in orbit, the planet’s defenses off-line or destroyed. Rebel forces were massing for a major planetary assault when their mission was aborted by a series of nuclear explosions around the world. All five cities - Eden, Ishtar, Ithaca, Jalon, and Ubalnu – were simultaneously vaporized by loyalist forces using 150-kiloton warheads.

The world was de-populated; it existed as a dead planet for over one hundred years – a memorial to the war for High-Colony independence. In 2570, people from Terra, Sol’s High Colonies, and a few extra-solar personnel repopulated the planet. Terra was about to totally collapse at this time. Trade between Terra and her otherworldly neighbors ceased years before. The other worlds in the Sol System needed another world to serve as a habitable planet (the only other one in the system) for extended food production. Even though Venus’s surface was still very dry, farms and ranches were re-established on a grand scale. Sol had another source of agricultural products that weren’t grown in high-tech vats or processed into protein and carbohydrate “paste.”

Once Terra was reborn, it became Sol’s main breadbasket again. Venus was eclipsed but not killed. A new economy was founded on the planet: tourism.

The desert environment, cattle ranches, and general frontier-like living made a good tourist trade for people who enjoyed the historical American West of the 19th century. In 2730, Venus’ largest city, New Santa Fe, was alive with hotels, casinos, and all kinds of Wild West entertainment. 2735 saw planetary legislation passed that forbade most motorized transportation vehicles to operate on the world with the exceptions of launching craft, landing craft, and specialized vehicles with government permission. Another exception was the types of trains available on the world: high-speed magnetic rail trains. They were deemed necessary due to the vast distances (thousands of kilometers) between population centers. The cosmetic designs of the trains, however, looked more like their steam-powered earlier counterparts. These trains made the trips from city to city take hours or days instead of weeks or months.

Only New Santa Fe has a starport; it is the only city allowed to have one. The roar of rockets and space planes represent the only activity that breaks character with the ambiance of the “World of the West.”