Pluto Observation Station

PLUTO OBSERVATION STATION (commonly referred to as 'The POS' in full knowledge of the old English meaning of the acronym POS) is the outermost human settlement in the system

The base is manned by one hundred astronomers and astrophysicists, using the planetoid's extreme distance from Sol as an advantage in their scans of the universe, allowing observations unobstructed by light pollution or the radio traffic within the inner outposts of humanity.

OWNERSHIP

The POS is funded and managed as a joint venture by the AAU, the Association of American Universities, a conglomerate of elite academic institutions from across North and South America.

THE BASE

Unfortunately, educational institutions lack the level of funding that nations or mega-corporations do, so the POS was built with cut-corners. Quarters are cramped and confined and though FTL travel allows for resupply, non-quantum communication times have a severe lag, creating a severe sense of isolation. (This is the basis for many murder-mystery holo-novels) Quarters are barracks-style segregated by gender.

Most drudge-work is automated except for cooking. Food can be heated or chilled, but it is all shipped to Pluto in dehydrated form.

Because of the budget-conscious nature of the Station's construction, many devices on-base are jury-rigged and improvised, including some of the computer programs that manage the life support systems!

DOCKING CAPABILITY

Pluto has no official space port facilities. When the POS was built, it was in a wide plain, so that space ships can land anywhere in the general vicinity of the station EXCEPT to the 'east' (as defined by the POS's residents) which is where the majority of the base's telescopic array is maintained.