Date: Wed, 17 Apr 1996 10:17:48 -0700
From: Ermes Ventisetti (monachus@xtreme4tag.it)
Subject: Precise zone of Alpha

       Hi gang,

       please,anybody could tell me the name of the lunar sea on which the
Alphans has built the base?
       The names the seas more important (maria,in latin) are:

       Oceanus Procellarum
       Mare Imbrium
       Mare Crisum
       Mare Orientale
       Mare Serenitatis
       Mare Nectaris
       Mare Smythii
       Mare Humorum
       Mare Tranquillitatis
       Mare Nubium
       Mare Fecunditatis

      Tank you

      Ermes



Date: Wed, 17 Apr 1996 14:46:02 -0700
From: "Ellen Lindow (LIS)" (lindow@luna.cas.usf4tag.edu)
Subject: Re: Precise zone of Alpha

I don't think Alpha was in a sea.  I believe it was in a crater, Ptolemy
I believe.  I'm not by my reference material right now.  Will check tonight.
But that's why they were so worried during "The Last Sunset".  With any
amount of rain, a crater would fill up fast.



Date: Wed, 17 Apr 1996 22:19:34 -0700
From: Sfcafeguy@aol4tag.com
Subject: Alpha's Location

Ermes Ventisetti asked which moon crater Alpha is situated in.

According to Starlog's Moonbase Alpha Technical Manual, Alpha is located
"...in the crater Plato, just above the Sea of Showers on what was once
called the 'nearside of the moon.'"

Of course whether this sometimes "imaginative" source should be considered
canon is a matter of personal choice.  To me it seems as good as anything
else in this instance since I don't recall Alpha's location being mentioned
specifically in any of the episodes.

Robert



Date: Thu, 18 Apr 1996 11:32:10 -0700
From: Ronald Dudley (dudleyrd@expert.cc.purdue4tag.edu)

A long diatribe on Astronomy:

From the position of the crescent Earth seen near the lunar horizon as viewed
from Alpha in "Breakaway", I would surmise that Alpha is located
in the northern parts of the Moon.  Conversely, since I can't make out
the continents on that cloudy crescent Earth, Alpha could be in the
far Southern Highlands, which have lots of craters.  You can understand
this because, if Alpha were on the Moon's equator, in the middle of
the near side, then the Earth would be directly overhead, and not near
the horizon.  The Moon doesn't spin relative to the Earth, so the Earth
hangs is virtually the same spot of the lunar sky all of the time. Earth
neither rises not sets on the Moon, although the Sun does.  Since the
Earth is near the Lunar Horizon from Alpha, then Alpha must be somewhere
closer to the "edge" of the moon rather than the center of the moon, as
seen from Earth. If the tips of the crescent Earth pointed down toward
the Lunar horizon, or upward away from the lunar horizon, like a letter "U" then
Alpha would be located on either the east side of the Moon's edge, as seen
from earth, or on the far west side.  But as seen in "Breakaway", the
tips of the crescent Earth (also can be called the "horns") are aligned
vertically to the lunar horizon, like a reversed letter "C".  This puts
Alpha either near the Lunar North Pole, or the Lunar South Pole.

Of course, Brian Johnson made most of the crescent or gibeous planets look
upright, with their Poles at the top and bottom of the TV screen.  And
everything (planets, Black Sun, Darian ship, etc), as seen from Alpha was
near the lunar horizon.  Whether they ever had a specific lunar location
in mind is still very debatable.

Ronald