| abstract
| - In the Universal Century timeline, space colonies are placed at the five Earth-Moon Lagrangian point. In most cases, a Lagrangian point is home to more than one group of space colonies. Individual colony pairs are known as Colonies, and a group of colonies that occupy a Lagrangian point are known collectively as a Side. Because Sides sometimes share a single Lagrangian point, it is possible to have two Sides in close orbit to one another. All colonies in the Universal Century are O'Neill "Island 3" type colony cylinders, except for the "closed-type" colonies of Side 3. The average size of an “open-type” cylindrical colony is 6.4 km in diameter and 36.0 km in length. The cylinder’s interior is divided into six lengthwise strips. There are three window sections that let in sunlight from outside, alternating with three land sections where the people live. Outside each window section is a huge mirror, which reflects sunlight to illuminate the land section on the opposite side. By adjusting the angle of the mirrors facing the sun, the level of sunlight can be controlled to create a sense of passing time and different seasons. Since the space colony’s main source of energy is sunlight, the mirrors are controlled so that they always face the sun. As a result, the bases of the mirrors are placed on the opposite end of the colony from the sun. At the end of the colony opposite the sun, many dome-shaped agricultural plants are arranged in a ring with a radius of 14.35 km. These plants are separated into three blocks, which are positioned so that they are not hidden in the shadows of the mirrors. Although these plants are able to produce more than enough food for the colony’s inhabitants, their life is far from comfortable, as all surplus food is semi-forcibly exported to the Earth Federation. The colony rotates about its lengthwise axis to create a simulated gravity of 1G. There is debate over what level of gravity humans require, but at the very least, it’s known that extended exposure to a zero-gravity environment causes physiological disorders such as brittle bones due to the loss of calcium. In addition, this rotationally created gravity will not cause dizziness as long as the radius is at least 500m, and the rotation rate no more than once per minute. If the rotation radius is bigger, and the rotation rate slower, people’s living conditions won’t be negatively affected. In most cases, the space colonies of the Universal Century have adopted an artificial gravity of around 1G, the same as that experienced on Earth. Most space colonies of the Universal Century are of the open type, with one major exception. Side 3, or Munzo, the colony cluster which later became the Principality of Zeon, adopted a unique “closed-type” colony. The Sides are numbered according to the order in which they were constructed, with the construction of Sides 1 and 2 beginning at the Lagrange points L4 and L5. However, because they required high-level technologies such as transparent windows and huge mirrors, their construction process was troubled. Accidents were frequent, and the project was greatly delayed. It was widely reported that, at this rate, the entire program would come to a standstill. At this point, the closed-type colony was proposed in order to quickly realize the goal of space emigration using more practical technology. The average closed-type colony had a length of 36.0 km and cylinder diameter of 6.41 km, just like the open type. Its electricity requirements would be supplied by the solar power plants floating around it. Because its technology was simpler than that of the open type, the closed type was also more affordable and could be built in a shorter period of time. Furthermore, since it didn’t require window sections for letting in sunlight, its land area was greater than that of the open type. By simple mathematics, it could accommodate twice as many people. Sharing a colony with lower construction costs among a larger number of people also served to reduce the economic burden on the space emigrants. For people who wanted to live in space as quickly and cheaply as possible, Munzo’s colonies initially seemed ideal. However, the closed type definitely had its drawbacks in terms of living comforts. For instance, when looking up from the ground inside the colony, the sky would be the bluish grey of a cloudy day due to the color of the land surface on the other side. For first-generation colonists who knew what life was like on Earth, these closed-type colonies were not so pleasant. As a result, once the technological challenges of the open type were overcome and people felt more prosperous, the open type design was adopted for all the colonies from Side 4 onwards. A unique case was the Sweetwater colony at Side 3, which was composed of a closed type fused with an open type. The design was only used once, as it proved unstable, and was simply a means for the Federation to contain Zeon refugees. Sweetwater Colony features prominently in the UC motion picture Char's Counterattack as a Neo Zeon base. The first 50 years of the Universal Century were spent building the various colonies and placing them at the Lagrangian points, as well as colonizing the moon. By UC 0050 9 billion of the 11 billion people in the Federation live in space colonies or on the moon. In UC 0051 the Federation froze plans for additional colony development, and in UC 0084 reorganized the remaining Sides into different Lagrangian Points. With the re-organization of the Sides completed, the Federation announced that the status quo would be maintained. In the latter half of the Second Universal Century the construction of new colonies was restarted. Some colonies were also maintained in orbit around Jupiter, as part of the Jupiter Energy Fleet's Helium-3 mining operation. These colonies were also of the O'Neill Island 3 type. (Mobile Suit Gundam - V Gundam)
- The stage BGM is named "Center of Gravity".
- The Space Colony is a world in Super Monkey Ball 1 & 2. Although the two versions are different, the only major diiference is the color scheme.
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