New Earth (pop. 831,300,782): Previously known as Omega V. Settled in 2157, by the League colony vessel "Intrepid", carrying 750 colonists and 42 crew. Notable families include members of the Mendes Syndicate, the Shetland family, and a group of African Nationalists.
The planet was first sighted in 2142, in the first wave of "colony fever", and the first expedition was made to chart the planet in April 2146. The probe returned favorable data in a complete scan of the planet in late 2147, and a colony ship was ordered into construction. The project, originally scheduled to take two to three years, took four, as it was not without its troubles. In 2149, near the completion of the ship's infrastructure and installation of the drive, it was discovered that the raw materials being used in the construction of the ship were flawed, and the entire hull had to be rebuilt, pushing the launch date back a year.
Launch of the Intrepid took place from the temporary shipyard just out of lunar orbit, on Dec. 18, 2151, with the ETA at 16:02.21, June 21, 2156. The trip took just thirteen hours longer than expected, the ship arriving in the planetary orbit on the morning of June 22, after a flawless journey. There were no reports of the all-too-common cryo-death, though several colonists were treated for frostbite and nerve damage.
Approximately six months were spent in orbit, as the crew chose a landing site and the botanists grew wheat and corn and other food plants to full size, to be planted in greenhouses and culitvated fields. Geologists spent the months working with the Captain and CSC (Colony Site Comittee), surveying the planet's mantle in search of minerals to be mined by nanites for building and machine construction.
On Jan. 1, 2157, the first dropship was launched to the proposed colony site, carrying the Captain and the elected head of the colonists, Gabriel Hontas, as well as several other chosen representatives of the colony at large. They landed on the coast of the northern sea, named Velouria (or the Velourian Sea) for its smooth surface. They landed just at daybreak, coming into the coast from the west, the coastal range backlit by the rising sun. Captain Ingrid Kirkpatrick was said to have commented, "It [the highest peak, Christabel] looks like a damned phoenix." The city of New Phoenix was founded on Feb 2, 2157, with a population of 753 (there were three births in the period between awakening and landfall).
The planet was officially named New Earth just after landfall, though, unbeknownst to Kirkpatrick, the name had been previously applied to the planet formerly known as Aria VII. The Aria VII colony later died out, and there was never any debate over New Earth's name.
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(Excerpted from: Encyclopaedia Galactica, Vol XIV, "New Earth", pg. 17003)
