Rustybot
Rusty Manufacturing Planetbound Lander Assembly, Low Quindune Orbit, Quindol, Andromeda
2182
The last drone floated away from a freshly installed heatshield and gave me a thumbs-up, “All set!”
I looked around at the dozen or so Pilots who worked on this project. “Good work fellas, at this rate we’ll have an exploration base before the next orbit. How’s our landing site?”
A different drone pointed to the main display above the hangar door. “Sunrise in 3 hours, at which point we’re safe to begin descent so long as the vessel passes final durability testing.”
“Fantastic. I’ll be back in 2 and half to see it off,” I said on my way out.
Upon exiting the room, I was met with the emptiness of open space. I hummed to myself while drifting along the structural girders keeping my station together.
Calling a Bitbot over, I started work on some new prints for my upcoming ground facility. I already have everything ready for immediately after landing, but if I want to do anything other than surface exploration and geological studies I’ll need gravity-and-atmosphere-proof production lines. Nothing crazy, but this time I’ll need to account for the potential risks of sandstorms and higher solar radiation levels. At least being a desert planet means my stuff won’t corrode as quickly, though the constant abrasion definitely leaves something to be desired.
All said, it’ll be a nice break from designing things to be space-proof or environmentally friendly. As great as my current facilities are, asteroid mining is for gathering material and Quindlet has life on it. If I can set up production on Quindune I can manufacture drones far more efficiently. In the belt I have to worry about radiation shielding, micrometeor defense, accidental cold fusion, and heat dissipation.
Quindlet is a nice planet, but Quindune has gentler weather patterns even with the light sandstorms in mind. Plus, as much as denying it makes it easier to focus, I do feel a little bad when I have to relocate critters living where I want to build.