Mombasa Tether
From Halopedia, the Halo wiki
| Mombasa Tether | |
|---|---|
 The orbital elevator's base.
| |
| Facility information | |
|
Location: |
|
| Historical information | |
|
Built: |
|
|
Controlled by: |
|
- "Taking your packages to new heights."
- — Slogan of New Mombasa Uplift[2]
The Mombasa Tether,[3][4] also known as the Mombasa Space Tether[5] or the New Mombasa Orbital Elevator,[6] was a space elevator located at the heart of the East African Protectorate city of New Mombasa on Earth. It was used for lifting heavy ordnance from the surrounding port facilities into a station in geosynchronous orbit at the top of the elevator structure, a transport method much cheaper and more efficient than booster rockets filled with expensive fuel. The company in charge of the management of the space elevator was called New Mombasa Uplift.[2]
History[edit]
- "The Mombasa space elevator!"
"It collapsed when the city got glassed."
"But the tether was thousands of kilometers high..."
"Yeah? Well now it's scattered all over the Savannah."
"Oh crap..." - — Two Marines discussing the fate of the space elevator.[7]
In 2302, Mombasa was chosen to be the Earth's first tether city.[1] As a cheap gateway to space, the elevator is the key to New Mombasa's economic and strategic importance. The presence of the elevator radically changed the structure of the city. The elevator's base resides on an artificial island with service roads and a Maglev train line radiate out from it.[8]
Battle of Earth[edit]
- Main article: Battle of Earth
During the Battle of Mombasa, the Mombasa Tether was shut down.[9] When the Prophet of Regret retreated, his flagship, Solemn Penance, initiated slipspace transition over the city, right beside the orbital elevator. The resulting shockwave swept through the structure, weakening it considerably.[10]
Under an hour later on the same day, the damage from the Slipspace rupture was too much for the support structure to handle. It exploded at multiple points, and the tether snapped at some two kilometers above the surface. The upper portion of the tether was instantly pulled upward by its orbital counterweight, now severed from the groundside anchor point. The lower section collapsed, leaving only a small portion of the lower support structure intact, even though heavily damaged. Several pieces of debris crashed around the city and the surrounding area, while more fallout presumably caused considerable damage to buildings near the tether.[11]
A large portion of the tower's debris was left scattered around Earth's surface, while most of the tether was pulled into space. Debris such as support rings and cables rained down to the surface far as the town of Voi and its surrounding regions, leaving large areas littered with debris and damaging infrastructure, such as the Tsavo Highway.[7]
Post-war[edit]
After the end of the Human-Covenant War, in March, 2553, some debris from the elevator still remained in the area near Voi.[12] Eventually, the East African Protectorate would decide to rebuild the tether along with much of Mombasa as part of Project Rebirth, a plan to restore areas damaged in the war.[13][14] Circa 2560, the tether's base had been rebuilt to a height far surpassing any nearby skyscrapers, with a large scaffolding erected to one side seemingly for reinforcement during the building process.[15][16]
Production notes[edit]
Halo 2[edit]
In Halo 2, the space elevator is visible throughout all the Earth levels, first as a thin line on the horizon in Outskirts, then later as a ringed tower in the skyline of Metropolis. Only at the end of that level is the player offered an unobstructed view of the structure from across the artificial canal.
At the end of the campaign level Metropolis, the flagship of the Prophet of Regret flees into slipspace with the In Amber Clad in hot pursuit. This in-atmosphere jump unleashes a wave of energy that scours the area. Originally this was thought to collapse the tower, but as seen in Halo 3: ODST, this wasn't the case.
The elevator is seen in the background of two Mombasa multiplayer maps; Turf and District.
The Mombasa Tether as seen during the Halo 2 campaign, with the Solemn Penance holding position nearby.
