Pluto
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Pluto is a dwarf planet located at the the inner reaches of the Kuiper Belt in the Sol System. The first Starfleet facility with which starships have contact when entering the Sol System is Pluto Station. Positioned at the LaGrange point between the planet and its companion planetoid Charon, the station serves as a listening post, providing traffic control for starships entering and leaving the Sol System. It also serves as an early warning station, monitoring the ring of Starfleet satellite beacons that mark the system's outer boundaries.
The station is small in comparison to a standard starbase, with limited docking facilities because starships generally don't stop at Pluto Station. Similar in structure to other Starfleet space stations, the base consists of a cylindrical central core surmounted by an operations center. The station's core contains the engineering section, powerful long-range sensors, and support systems required by station personnel. The operations level contains the station's operations enter and crew quarters. Atop the operations level is the subspace antenna array, designed to receive signals from the border satellites, as well as from incoming starships.
The station has a complement of twelve starships assigned to it on a six-month rotation cycle, generally Norway=, Saber-, or Steamrunner-class vessels. This keeps duty shifts at Pluto Station fairly brief for all but regular station personnel, who serve year year-long tours. These ships perform routine patrols along the system border, conduct search and rescue operations as needed, and stand ready to repel potential threats. Pluto Station is the first line of defense for the Sol System.
When a vessel approaches the Sol System, automated satellite systems detect its warp signature and relay the information to the station. Pluto Station then verifies the ship's registry and destination, and transmits flight path instructions for entering the Sol System. Most of this takes place automatically as the station's computer system communicates with the computer of the incoming vessel.
Crewmembers are required to be on hand only to monitor incoming and outgoing signal traffic, and to handle any inquiries that cannot be handled routinely by the computer. If the vessel has an unknown registry, the station crew hails it and establishes communications. If a vessel poses an apparent threat, a starship is immediately dispatched to intercept it. In the event of a first contact situation, the station communicates with Starfleet Command and the Federation First Contact liaison on Earth. Since unknown vessels rarely, if ever, enter the Sol System, there protocols have not been implemented in years.
Generally, Starfleet cadets visit Pluto Station for hands-on training using the station's subspace communications array and sensor system. A one-week posting to the station might also be given to a cadet in need of some time to "cool off" in a quiet atmosphere. The Superintendent of the Academy might send cadets to Pluto Station as a disciplinary measure, or simply to keep them out of the way until a controversial situation settles down. Cadets spending time out near Pluto will likely have plenty of time to think about whatever reason sent them there.
Reference(s)
- Isaacs, Ross A., et al. A Cadet's Guide to Sector 001, New York: Last Unicorn Games, 1999.