Atlantis Project

From FEInfobase

The Atlantis Project was an endeavour initialised in the latter half of the twenty-fourth century, based around the possibility of creating a large, artificial, land mass on Earth roughly the size of Great Britain, specifically in the centre of the Atlantic Ocean.

History

In 2367, Louis Belmont was the director of the project's preliminary phases, and was instrumental in bringing it before government officials. In the summer of that year, Belmont asked his friend Jean Luc Picard to resign from Starfleet and help him with the project, though the Starfleet Captain ultimately declined the offer. Later in the year, the project was refused funding for the first time, in light of opposition to the creation of an artificial land-mass on the Earth's surface, effectively "changing the definition of [the planet]."

Belmont brought the project forth once again in 2369, proposing that the new landmass be created in the South Pacific, but with Humanity celebrating the five hundredth anniversary of Armstrong's landing on the moon, the project was overlooked in favour of Lunar ideas, and once again refused funding.

Belmont passed away in 2378, leaving the Atlantis project in the hands of his estate, run by his daughter, Sophie Belmont who celebrated her 54th birthday in 2403. Sophie Belmont had planned to take the research of the Atlantis Project to Ferenginar in 2384, where overcrowding on the main continents was leading to population control problems for the government. Her plans were interrupted by the Borg War however, and the project quickly took a backseat in the business dealings of the quadrant, now focused almost solely around the combat.

Staff

Project Director Dr Sophie Belmont (Human female from France, Earth) - shrewd businesswoman and capable scientist though her theories are heavily criticised by some.
Senior Scientist Dr Hewitt Connely (Human male from New Zealand, Earth) - An accepted genius and self-proclaimed, "renowned agronomist, atmologist, cytologist, geologist, geographer, meteorologist, and physicist, one of the foremost scientists in the Federation before the war and now perhaps the foremost scientist." Autistic tendancies. Is critical of Belmont's theories.

How does it work?

The project's science has long been presented as relatively simple by the Belmont family but has been criticised for a lack of feasibility by other prominent scientists. From the beginning of the task to conclusion, the project runs as follows.

A small mass roughly the size of a football field (and roughly as deep in the water) is built compromising various elements including anti-baryon and traehÃl particles; and trace amounts of Trilithium resin mixed with standard medium-grade M-class soil.
- (TraehÃl particles were artificially created by the Project in 2367 and named for the lead scientist of the division.)
A forcefield with capacity to expand to pre-determined limits without displacing the ocean is set up.
A small matter/anti-matter device is detonated at the centre of the mass, causing initial expansion. Unlike standard photon torpedoes which use a base grade of both matter and anti-matter, the Atlantis device specifically uses Baryon matter.
Immediately thereafter, a radiation sweep similar in concept to those used for starships at facilities such as the Remmler Array begins to attack the edge of the expanding landmass. Whilst such a sweep traditionally nullifies both organic matter and Baryon particles, with modifications it can be made to controllably increase the landmass based upon the amount of anti-Baryon particles present. The expansion uses an amount of water which is absorbed into the landmass making it fertile and negating fears of rising sea levels.
Once expansion is complete, the landmass is treated for radiation. This process is estimated to take eighteen days.
The forcefield is deactivated and proven orbital tether techniques are used to lash the mass to the ocean floor.
Terraforming begins to take place, lasting approximately six months.

Requirements

Aside from the money already spent on researching the needed composition of the initial landmass, the Project's most obvious need is the active involvement of Starfleet, due to the following reasons.

Baryon particles only accumulate in large quantities aboard vessels which utilise warp speed regularly. Due to the large quantities required for the Project to succeed, the Fleet must consent to having baryon particles aboard its vessels collected and transported to the Project, rather than simply destroyed. Such transport requires an Intrepid-class vessel or a large number of runabouts to enter the lower atmosphere, as beaming the particles from orbit is considered too hazardous.
The advanced forcefield required to contain the reaction would most easily be provided by a number of capital starships, perhaps as many as six Galaxy-class ships or the equivelant. To power and monitor the field from Earth would be both hugely expensive and dangerous.
Treating the mass for radiation would most easily be accomplished by a starship's deflector. A solitary Galaxy-class vessel should suffice at a time, but would need to be replaced every four days.

Criticisms

One of the most common criticisms against the project is due to Sophie Belmont's switch in philosophy from that of her father. Louis Belmont proposed the same experiment be created on the Ocean floor as other such proposals were based, however Sophie decided to focus the efforts on a floating landmass. This would save resources and costs, but has led to the following criticisms:

The landmass will only be a temporary solution. Without a connection to the core of the planet it is not sustainable, and may begin to deteriorate as soon as 2510.
Any damage taken by the underwater tethers may cause the island to break free and drift uncontrollably, perhaps leading to an unimaginable planetary disaster.

The idea of a new landmass has also drawn criticism from those outside the scientific community, generally with regards to identity and politics. The most popular criticism is one that has faced the project (and similar proposals) from the beginning; namely that the creation of such a landmass would redefine Earth. Louis Belmont was fond of replying that this would merely consolidate Earth's status as a Menchara-class world, since the planet had always been a borderline L-class. Other geo-political questions raised include:

What Continental government would control the landmass?
Who would be relocated there, and would they have a choice?
How much would it cost to build cities and housing from scratch?

Current Status

In the summer of 2401, an initial proposal to the Federation Council for funding, brought forth by Councillor Glav who was a friend to Belmont, requested funding to investigate the feasibility of the Atlantis Project on Earth in the twenty-fifth century. Eager to solve their population overcrowding worries, the Council passed the bill authorising the transfer of funds to the project. In early 2404, Belmont is expected to provide a full report on the status and feasibility of the project. Starfleet 2i.c. Admiral Tom Paris was optimistic about the Project's goals.

Towards the end of providing this report, a small floating station was constructed in the Atlantic as the base of operational testing for the project. It currently employs just under forty scientists and fifty support staff.

The Facility

The layout of the facility is circular, with rooms being built up around the perimeter, overlooking a large open yard with a transparent floor, centered around the facility's main reactor, the equivelant of a small starship's matter/anti-matter intermix chamber, but with a distinctive red glow in comparison to the Starfleet blue standard. Dr Connelly suggested to Ross Taben that Starfleet would eventually employ the same design on its new ships. On the South roof, there is a solitary landing pad accessible by turbolift, stairs and access ladders. It is marked with a circled H, despite the absence of any such design or the original plans.

The facility is 140 ft tall at its heighest point (the shuttlepad), but the main deck of the yard is only 60 ft above the ocean surface. Buildings are both white and silver in appearance - the result of an uneasy design trade-off between functionality and aesthetics. There are numerous outcropping structures along the lower edges of the facility to aid with experiment control, making the entire structure look like a strange hybrid of a stadium and an old oil rig.