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Brr, chicken! That’s what my dad used to say. Brr, chicken! It’s cold up here.
There is not much dihydrogen monoxide on Castlebourne—compared to say, Earth
or Europa, but there is some. Some of it is in the form of water ice, and some
of that in the form of glaciers. The largest of these is called Sanaa Glacier.
I’m not sure where the name comes from, but I’m guessing this Sanaa woman
isn’t too happy about it. The Sanaa Glacier is up there in the northern
hemisphere, not too far from Aquilonian Deep. It’s about 2.16 million square
kilometers in area, which makes it the largest region on the planet that is
not covered by domes. That is for an obvious reason, which is that glaciers,
by definition, are always on the move. They move very, very slowly, but
they are not still. They’re never still. You can imagine that erecting a dome
on top of one is difficult at best, and quite risky. Yet they did it.
Glaciadome sits right in the middle of Sanaa, which is the most stable part of
it. It’s not immune to the glacier’s movements, but it’s your safest bet. It’s
unlike any other dome on the planet. It’s totally unique. Instead of being
made out of the usual graphene composite, its frame is instead composed of
carbon nanotubes, which can be made to be more flexible. That’s why we use
them for space elevator tethers. Instead of diamonds, the panels are made out
of a more flexible polycarbonate. This allows the dome to shudder and shake as
the glacier flows, and against the extremely heavy winds outside. There’s an
old saying, if it doesn’t bend, it’ll break, and that’s true.
Glaciadome will survive over time because it’s designed to withstand the
stress of movement without buckling. It’s not completely impenetrable, and
it’s not nearly as strong as the other domes, but it does its job, and it does
it well. You can tell that it works too, because while you can’t physically
feel the glacier’s flow unless you’re an advanced lifeform with the right
onboard sensors, you can certainly hear it. It’s always screamin’ at ya while
the ice breaks and slides. Why do this? Why build a dome on top of something
so unstable, in such a hostile environment? Well, what the hell are we doing
here if we’re not engineering megastructures for the sake of the challenge. Do
you need any other reason? I surely don’t. Researchers live here to be closer
to what they’re studying, such as the geologic history of this planet, the
composition of the water and ice, and of course, the glacier itself. There are
also some winter sports here, like dog sledding, and cross-country skiing, but
it’s not as comprehensive as Winterbourne Park. A lot of it has to do with the
novelty of the experience. You can live in an igloo, or an ice palace. You can
go cold-weather camping, or just make snow angels. It may not be as exciting
as one of the adventure domes, but it gives you what it promises. And for me,
that’s enough.
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