Asteroid 588

Achilles

Asteroid 588

General
The first of the Trojan asteroids to be discovered, Achilles and its companions do not orbit within the Solar System's main Asteroid Belt, but rather follow approximately the orbital path of Jupiter. These asteroids fall within one of the five Langrange Points of Jupiter's orbit, strictly at the L4 point, allowing them to stably orbit the Sun about 5 AU ahead of the giant planet itself.

There is also a corresponding point about 5 AU behind Jupiter in its orbit - the L5 point - which has its own cluster of asteroids. These two groups are collectively called 'Trojans', and the two nodes within that group are conventionally named the Greeks and Trojans respectively, representing the two opposing forces in the Trojan war.

Physical
Physically, Achilles is a dark red-brown body in common with most of those in its group, belonging to the D-type category of asteroids, and rotating on its axis approximately once every 7.3 hours. Its diameter of 135km makes it one of the largest of the Trojans, but there are five others that are larger still, with the largest being that named for Achilles' mythical enemy, Hektor of Troy. (Though in principle Hektor should be among the asteroids of the Trojan node rather than with Achilles among the Greeks, in practice there are a small number of exceptions to the naming convention.)

History
Asteroid 588 was surveyed within the first century after Earth's ascent. HIstoric records are somewhat conflicting as when Terran humans first surveyed Asteroid 588.

Some records and scholars believe an ESA mission prior to 2089, landing an automated probe on Achilles counts as the first survey, while others count January 5th of 2101 as the official date when Astronaut J.Irwin  set foot on the asteroid.

The Asteroid was permanently settled shortly after by a mining colony, establishing Achilles Heel (Settlement / City)

Mining operations ceased in 2205 as the Cronin Chambers and the Cronin Eggs were discovered.

The Cronin Chambers are one of the 12 Alien mysteries of the Sol System and have been subject to xeno  archaeology



Asteroid 588 became a center of Xeno  archaeology and the United Earth Center of Xeno  archaeology was established in 2207 and later became one of the Union's leading centers for this field of study.

The Alien Artifact museum on Asteroid 588 is one of the most interesting museums of its kind and features only Alien (non terran) artifacts found in the Sol System. The most important piece is of course the melted remains of the Guardian's Core.

The Cronin Chambers and a discovery of a map and several crystal data cores led to the Sculptor expedition in  4312

Current
The Asteroid is only locally known as Achilles,  as there is a Planet Achilles as well. There are about 7 million inhabitants, mostly located at the city Achilles Heel. Main industry is Xeno archaeology archaeology, Instrument and equipment dealers, and private  Xeno  archaeological institutes.

There is a Class D space sport and Space Tram service to Sol Hub.

The Asteroid is represented as Union world at the Assembly

Civics are Colony manager hired and Union Law.





