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I am making a video game on-board an old, creaky, leaky space station, which is forgotten or mostly not cared about, drifting around some moon/planet, with a single lonely, weary astronaut on board. I want it isolated and introverted, thoughtful and wistful. A bit like the movies Moon, Silent Running, or 2001 (although not forgotten about, its protagonist is isolated and lonely).

The technology level of the space station is highly realistic, and quite primitive, maybe a bit like Mir. An onboard garden would be ok. Clunky switches and knobs instead ofare preferred over holographic displays or touchscreens. My core problem is that real space stations are expensive, and require regular resupplies, and so are not very likely to be forgotten about.. good answers will explain a way around this economic difficulty.

My question to Worldbuilding community is HOW and WHY the station and astronaut came to be in this situation... what events transpired to put him there (and then passed him by, leaving him mostly obsolete?). A core issue I have regards financial realism: How can I justify the expenses and mission importance of placing a manned station somewhere, only to let it fall into obscurity?

The best answers will support the intended atmosphere, and invoke feelings of distance, isolation, and especially the fact that the rest of the world has just moved on, leaving this poor astronaut obsolete. Good answers will not make the astronaut special in any way, he will not be the star in a tragic mission-gone-wrong, nor will he be the victim of unusual circumstance. He's just an ordinary joe stuck with a job no one else wants to do, and pretty much abandoned due to lack of interest in his situation. My core problem is that real space stations are expensive, and require regular resupplies, and so are not very likely to be forgotten or abandoned.. Good answers will explain a way around this economic difficulty.

Good answers probably don't involve him or the ship being very important in the past. Sure, there would have been good reasons for him being deployed in the first place, but good answers explain how and why these reasons faded and became uninteresting. Not broken, not lost, just uninteresting.

Good answers don't involve him pining for home, don't draw attention to home and invoke complicated thinking about home. The astronaut is not trying to escape his fate, he is just doing his daily routine, performing maintenance, talking to a football, etc, but he has accepted his hopeless fate, still performs his role out of a sense of duty, and that's it. Good answers don't invite much speculation into the outside world, and in fact the more boring the answer the better. Plausible shifts of corporate or political interest would be very suitable sources of reasons, as is having the job he was initially sent to do become meaningless, but they keep him there anyway, 'just in case'.

The astronaut isn't about to die. The station can keep him alive as long as he works on its maintenance, which he does. Good answers place the astronaut in a timeless, unchanging existence.

An occasional message from mission control, and regular automated supply drops are permitted. It is ok with alternative timelines, earths and histories, etc, but the technology in use should be clunky and old, but reasonably realistic. Higher levels of technology are acceptable elsewhere in the solar sytem, as long as its nowhere near the astronaut, and could even be used to show how everyone else has moved on, leaving the astronaut behind at his post.

Bonus points if the station is located somewhere with a beautiful view (like Saturns rings).

I am making a video game on-board an old, creaky, leaky space station, which is forgotten or mostly not cared about, drifting around some moon/planet, with a single lonely, weary astronaut on board. I want it isolated and introverted, thoughtful and wistful. A bit like the movies Moon, Silent Running, or 2001 (although not forgotten about, its protagonist is isolated and lonely).

The technology level of the space station is highly realistic, and quite primitive, maybe a bit like Mir. Clunky switches and knobs instead of holographic displays or touchscreens. My core problem is that real space stations are expensive, and require regular resupplies, and so are not very likely to be forgotten about.. good answers will explain a way around this economic difficulty.

My question to Worldbuilding community is HOW and WHY the station and astronaut came to be in this situation... what events transpired to put him there (and then passed him by, leaving him mostly obsolete?). A core issue I have regards financial realism: How can I justify the expenses and mission importance of placing a manned station somewhere, only to let it fall into obscurity?

The best answers will support the intended atmosphere, and invoke feelings of distance, isolation, and especially the fact that the rest of the world has just moved on, leaving this poor astronaut obsolete. Good answers will not make the astronaut special in any way, he will not be the star in a tragic mission-gone-wrong, nor will he be the victim of unusual circumstance. He's just an ordinary joe stuck with a job no one else wants to do, and pretty much abandoned due to lack of interest in his situation.

Good answers probably don't involve him or the ship being very important in the past. Sure, there would have been good reasons for him being deployed in the first place, but good answers explain how and why these reasons faded and became uninteresting. Not broken, not lost, just uninteresting.

Good answers don't involve him pining for home, don't draw attention to home and invoke complicated thinking about home. The astronaut is not trying to escape his fate, he is just doing his daily routine, performing maintenance, talking to a football, etc, but he has accepted his hopeless fate, still performs his role out of a sense of duty, and that's it. Good answers don't invite much speculation into the outside world, and in fact the more boring the answer the better. Plausible shifts of corporate or political interest would be very suitable sources of reasons, as is having the job he was initially sent to do become meaningless, but they keep him there anyway, 'just in case'.

The astronaut isn't about to die. The station can keep him alive as long as he works on its maintenance, which he does. Good answers place the astronaut in a timeless, unchanging existence.

An occasional message from mission control, and regular automated supply drops are permitted. It is ok with alternative timelines, earths and histories, etc, but the technology in use should be clunky and old, but reasonably realistic. Higher levels of technology are acceptable elsewhere in the solar sytem, as long as its nowhere near the astronaut, and could even be used to show how everyone else has moved on, leaving the astronaut behind at his post.

Bonus points if the station is located somewhere with a beautiful view (like Saturns rings).

I am making a video game on-board an old, creaky, leaky space station, which is forgotten or mostly not cared about, drifting around some moon/planet, with a single lonely, weary astronaut on board. I want it isolated and introverted, thoughtful and wistful. A bit like the movies Moon, Silent Running, or 2001 (although not forgotten about, its protagonist is isolated and lonely).

The technology level of the space station is highly realistic, and quite primitive, maybe a bit like Mir. An onboard garden would be ok. Clunky switches and knobs are preferred over holographic displays or touchscreens.

My question to Worldbuilding community is HOW and WHY the station and astronaut came to be in this situation... what events transpired to put him there (and then passed him by, leaving him mostly obsolete?). A core issue I have regards financial realism: How can I justify the expenses and mission importance of placing a manned station somewhere, only to let it fall into obscurity?

The best answers will support the intended atmosphere, and invoke feelings of distance, isolation, and especially the fact that the rest of the world has just moved on, leaving this poor astronaut obsolete. Good answers will not make the astronaut special in any way, he will not be the star in a tragic mission-gone-wrong, nor will he be the victim of unusual circumstance. He's just an ordinary joe stuck with a job no one else wants to do, and pretty much abandoned due to lack of interest in his situation. My core problem is that real space stations are expensive, and require regular resupplies, and so are not very likely to be forgotten or abandoned.. Good answers will explain a way around this economic difficulty.

Good answers probably don't involve him or the ship being very important in the past. Sure, there would have been good reasons for him being deployed in the first place, but good answers explain how and why these reasons faded and became uninteresting. Not broken, not lost, just uninteresting.

Good answers don't involve him pining for home, don't draw attention to home and invoke complicated thinking about home. The astronaut is not trying to escape his fate, he is just doing his daily routine, performing maintenance, but he has accepted his hopeless fate, still performs his role out of a sense of duty, and that's it. Good answers don't invite much speculation into the outside world, and in fact the more boring the answer the better. Plausible shifts of corporate or political interest would be very suitable sources of reasons, as is having the job he was initially sent to do become meaningless, but they keep him there anyway, 'just in case'.

The astronaut isn't about to die. The station can keep him alive as long as he works on its maintenance, which he does. Good answers place the astronaut in a timeless, unchanging existence.

An occasional message from mission control, and regular automated supply drops are permitted. It is ok with alternative timelines, earths and histories, etc, but the technology in use should be clunky and old, but reasonably realistic. Higher levels of technology are acceptable elsewhere in the solar sytem, as long as its nowhere near the astronaut, and could even be used to show how everyone else has moved on, leaving the astronaut behind at his post.

Bonus points if the station is located somewhere with a beautiful view (like Saturns rings).

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Source Link
Innovine
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I am making a video game on-board an old, creaky, leaky space station, which is forgotten or mostly not cared about, drifting around some moon/planet, with a single lonely, weary astronaut on board. I want it isolated and introverted, thoughtful and wistful. A bit like the movies Moon, Silent Running, or 2001 (although not forgotten about, its protagonist is isolated and lonely).

The technology level of the space station is highly realistic, and quite primitive, maybe a bit like Mir. Clunky switches and knobs instead of holographic displays or touchscreens. My core problem is that real space stations are expensive, and require regular resupplies, and so are not very likely to be forgotten about.. good answers will explain a way around this economic difficulty.

My question to Worldbuilding community is HOW and WHYHOW and WHY the station and astronaut came to be in this situation... what events transpired to put him there (and then passed him by, leaving him mostly obsolete?). A core issue I have regards financial realism: How can I justify the expenses and mission importance of placing a manned station somewhere, only to let it fall into obscurity?

A good answer would also provide a vagueThe best answers will support the intended atmosphere, distant goal to keepand invoke feelings of distance, isolation, and especially the astronaut going aboutfact that the daily grindrest of survival. Last man at his post when everyone elsethe world has just moved on, etcleaving this poor astronaut obsolete. Astronaut shouldGood answers will not make the astronaut special in any way, he will not be obsessedthe star in a tragic mission-gone-wrong, nor will he be the victim of unusual circumstance. He's just an ordinary joe stuck with a job no one else wants to do, and pretty much abandoned due to lack of interest in his missionsituation.

Good answers probably don't involve him or the ship being very important in the past. Sure, there would have been good reasons for him being deployed in the first place, but some pointgood answers explain how and why these reasons faded and became uninteresting. Not broken, not lost, just uninteresting.

Good answers don't involve him pining for home, don't draw attention to home and invoke complicated thinking about home. The astronaut is not trying to escape his existencefate, however smallhe is just doing his daily routine, needsperforming maintenance, talking to be therea football, etc, but he has accepted his hopeless fate, still performs his role out of a sense of duty, and that's it. Accident scenarios are too dramaticGood answers don't invite much speculation into the outside world, and in fact the more boring the answer the better. He just needs some general vague purpose toPlausible shifts of corporate or political interest would be therevery suitable sources of reasons, but no oneas is really interested inhaving the spacejob he was initially sent to do become meaningless, but they keep him there anyway, 'just in case'.

The astronaut isn't about to die. The station or his task any morecan keep him alive as long as he works on its maintenance, which he does. Good answers place the astronaut in a timeless, unchanging existence.

An occasional message from mission control, and regular automated supply drops are permitted. It is ok with alternative timelines, earths and histories, etc, but the technology in use should be clunky and old, but reasonably realistic. Higher levels of technology are acceptable elsewhere in the solar sytem, as long as its nowhere near mythe astronaut, and could even be used to show how everyone else has moved on, leaving mythe astronaut behind at his post.

Bonus points if the station is located somewhere with a beautiful view (like Saturns rings).

I am making a video game on-board an old, creaky, leaky space station, which is forgotten or mostly not cared about, drifting around some moon/planet, with a single lonely, weary astronaut on board. I want it isolated and introverted, thoughtful and wistful. A bit like the movies Moon, Silent Running, or 2001 (although not forgotten about, its protagonist is isolated and lonely).

The technology level of the space station is highly realistic, and quite primitive, maybe a bit like Mir. Clunky switches and knobs instead of holographic displays or touchscreens. My core problem is that real space stations are expensive, and require regular resupplies, and so are not very likely to be forgotten about..

My question to Worldbuilding community is HOW and WHY the station and astronaut came to be in this situation... what events transpired to put him there (and then passed him by, leaving him mostly obsolete?). How can I justify the expenses and mission importance of placing a manned station somewhere, only to let it fall into obscurity?

A good answer would also provide a vague, distant goal to keep the astronaut going about the daily grind of survival. Last man at his post when everyone else has moved on, etc. Astronaut should not be obsessed with his mission, but some point for his existence, however small, needs to be there. Accident scenarios are too dramatic. He just needs some general vague purpose to be there, but no one is really interested in the space station or his task any more.

An occasional message from mission control, and regular automated supply drops are permitted. It is ok with alternative timelines, earths and histories, etc, but the technology in use should be clunky and old, but reasonably realistic. Higher levels of technology are acceptable elsewhere in the solar sytem, as long as its nowhere near my astronaut, and could even be used to show how everyone else has moved on, leaving my astronaut behind at his post.

Bonus points if the station is located somewhere with a beautiful view (like Saturns rings).

I am making a video game on-board an old, creaky, leaky space station, which is forgotten or mostly not cared about, drifting around some moon/planet, with a single lonely, weary astronaut on board. I want it isolated and introverted, thoughtful and wistful. A bit like the movies Moon, Silent Running, or 2001 (although not forgotten about, its protagonist is isolated and lonely).

The technology level of the space station is highly realistic, and quite primitive, maybe a bit like Mir. Clunky switches and knobs instead of holographic displays or touchscreens. My core problem is that real space stations are expensive, and require regular resupplies, and so are not very likely to be forgotten about.. good answers will explain a way around this economic difficulty.

My question to Worldbuilding community is HOW and WHY the station and astronaut came to be in this situation... what events transpired to put him there (and then passed him by, leaving him mostly obsolete?). A core issue I have regards financial realism: How can I justify the expenses and mission importance of placing a manned station somewhere, only to let it fall into obscurity?

The best answers will support the intended atmosphere, and invoke feelings of distance, isolation, and especially the fact that the rest of the world has just moved on, leaving this poor astronaut obsolete. Good answers will not make the astronaut special in any way, he will not be the star in a tragic mission-gone-wrong, nor will he be the victim of unusual circumstance. He's just an ordinary joe stuck with a job no one else wants to do, and pretty much abandoned due to lack of interest in his situation.

Good answers probably don't involve him or the ship being very important in the past. Sure, there would have been good reasons for him being deployed in the first place, but good answers explain how and why these reasons faded and became uninteresting. Not broken, not lost, just uninteresting.

Good answers don't involve him pining for home, don't draw attention to home and invoke complicated thinking about home. The astronaut is not trying to escape his fate, he is just doing his daily routine, performing maintenance, talking to a football, etc, but he has accepted his hopeless fate, still performs his role out of a sense of duty, and that's it. Good answers don't invite much speculation into the outside world, and in fact the more boring the answer the better. Plausible shifts of corporate or political interest would be very suitable sources of reasons, as is having the job he was initially sent to do become meaningless, but they keep him there anyway, 'just in case'.

The astronaut isn't about to die. The station can keep him alive as long as he works on its maintenance, which he does. Good answers place the astronaut in a timeless, unchanging existence.

An occasional message from mission control, and regular automated supply drops are permitted. It is ok with alternative timelines, earths and histories, etc, but the technology in use should be clunky and old, but reasonably realistic. Higher levels of technology are acceptable elsewhere in the solar sytem, as long as its nowhere near the astronaut, and could even be used to show how everyone else has moved on, leaving the astronaut behind at his post.

Bonus points if the station is located somewhere with a beautiful view (like Saturns rings).

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Innovine
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I am making a video game on-board an old, creaky, leaky space station, which is forgotten or mostly not cared about, drifting around some moon/planet, with a single lonely, weary astronaut on board. I want it isolated and introverted, thoughtful and wistful. A bit like the movies Moon, Silent Running, or 2001 (although not forgotten about, its protagonist is isolated and lonely).

The technology level of the space station is highly realistic, and quite primitive, maybe a bit like Mir. Clunky switches and knobs instead of holographic displays or touchscreens. My core problem is that real space stations are expensive, and require regular resupplies, and so are not very likely to be forgotten about..

My question to Worldbuilding community is HOW and WHY the station and astronaut came to be in this situation... what events transpired to put him there (and then passed him by, leaving him mostly obsolete?). How can I justify the expenses and mission importance of placing a manned station somewhere, only to let it fall into obscurity?

A good answer would also provide a vague, distant goal to keep the astronaut going about the daily grind of survival. Last man at his post when everyone else has moved on, etc. Astronaut should not be obsessed with his mission, but some point for his existence, however small, needs to be there. Accident scenarios are too dramatic. He just needs some general vague purpose to be there, but no one is really interested in the space station or his task any more.

An occasional message from mission control, and regular automated supply drops are permitted. It is ok with alternative timelines, earths and histories, etc, but the technology in use should be clunky and old, but reasonably realistic. Higher levels of technology are acceptable elsewhere in the solar sytem, as long as its nowhere near my astronaut, and could even be used to show how everyone else has moved on, leaving my astronaut behind at his post. 

Bonus points if the station is located somewhere with a beautiful view (like Saturns rings).

I am making a video game on-board an old, creaky, leaky space station, which is forgotten or mostly not cared about, drifting around some moon/planet, with a single lonely, weary astronaut on board. I want it isolated and introverted, thoughtful and wistful. A bit like the movies Moon, Silent Running, or 2001 (although not forgotten about, its protagonist is isolated and lonely).

The technology level of the space station is highly realistic, and quite primitive, maybe a bit like Mir. Clunky switches and knobs instead of holographic displays or touchscreens. My core problem is that real space stations are expensive, and require regular resupplies, and so are not very likely to be forgotten about..

My question to Worldbuilding community is HOW and WHY the station and astronaut came to be in this situation... what events transpired to put him there (and then passed him by, leaving him mostly obsolete?). How can I justify the expenses and mission importance of placing a manned station somewhere, only to let it fall into obscurity?

A good answer would also provide a vague, distant goal to keep the astronaut going about the daily grind of survival. Last man at his post when everyone else has moved on, etc. Astronaut should not be obsessed with his mission, but some point for his existence, however small, needs to be there.

An occasional message from mission control, and regular automated supply drops are permitted. It is ok with alternative timelines, earths and histories, etc, but the technology in use should be clunky and old, but reasonably realistic. Higher levels of technology are acceptable elsewhere in the solar sytem, as long as its nowhere near my astronaut, and could even be used to show how everyone else has moved on, leaving my astronaut behind at his post. Bonus points if the station is located somewhere with a beautiful view (like Saturns rings).

I am making a video game on-board an old, creaky, leaky space station, which is forgotten or mostly not cared about, drifting around some moon/planet, with a single lonely, weary astronaut on board. I want it isolated and introverted, thoughtful and wistful. A bit like the movies Moon, Silent Running, or 2001 (although not forgotten about, its protagonist is isolated and lonely).

The technology level of the space station is highly realistic, and quite primitive, maybe a bit like Mir. Clunky switches and knobs instead of holographic displays or touchscreens. My core problem is that real space stations are expensive, and require regular resupplies, and so are not very likely to be forgotten about..

My question to Worldbuilding community is HOW and WHY the station and astronaut came to be in this situation... what events transpired to put him there (and then passed him by, leaving him mostly obsolete?). How can I justify the expenses and mission importance of placing a manned station somewhere, only to let it fall into obscurity?

A good answer would also provide a vague, distant goal to keep the astronaut going about the daily grind of survival. Last man at his post when everyone else has moved on, etc. Astronaut should not be obsessed with his mission, but some point for his existence, however small, needs to be there. Accident scenarios are too dramatic. He just needs some general vague purpose to be there, but no one is really interested in the space station or his task any more.

An occasional message from mission control, and regular automated supply drops are permitted. It is ok with alternative timelines, earths and histories, etc, but the technology in use should be clunky and old, but reasonably realistic. Higher levels of technology are acceptable elsewhere in the solar sytem, as long as its nowhere near my astronaut, and could even be used to show how everyone else has moved on, leaving my astronaut behind at his post. 

Bonus points if the station is located somewhere with a beautiful view (like Saturns rings).

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