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United Space Federation DepartmentsBureau of Research and Development Center for Operations The United Space Federation's Bureau of Research & Development makes its home at the Fra Mauro Shipyards on Terra Prime, Earth's moon. While the actual construction of starships takes place high above in orbit, the offices and labs which run the facility are located on the northern edge of Tranquilitatis in the Fra Mauro Highlands. This location was the planned landing site of the Apollo 13 lunar expedition and the eventual landing site of Apollo 14, both missions taking place in the mid-20th century. The lower section of the Apollo 14 LM is still on-site, located where it came to restand preserved in the Alan B. Shepard, Jr. Visitor's Center ajoining the administrative complex. From the visitor's center you can see Cone Crater and the beginnings of the ejecta blanket formed by the impact of several largemeteors.  Above the facility, in a geo-synchronus orbit, is where the actual shipyard is located. Very similar to the Utopia Planetia facility on Mars, tenindependently-controlled drydocks facilitate the construction and refittingof starships. Although it is rare that all ten are filled with ships underconstruction, between six and eight docks are reserved for this purposedepending on what building program is underway. For example, after thefacility was repaired following the Borg incursion in 2364 all ten docks werededicated to the construction of new starships, but currently the average issix used for construction and four for refitting and repairs. |
