Seleneca’s Board of Commissioners decided at their regular meeting tonight to delay the planned Grand Opening Celebration for three more months due to delays in the installation of the electronic ceiling panels and their networked system. Mr. Hajun Wijoja, the director of the Korean construction firm Salmuibich Corp who holds the contract for the system to be installed in the Dome’s ceiling, told the board that after exhausting all possibilities, it is impossible to locally repair the final shipment of panels and their connections, which have already been installed and do not properly function. “There is no quick repair solution,” Mr. Wijoja said. “It is now clear that the problem resulted from a manufacturing defect in the petroleum-based film used in the micro-circuitry.” Accompanied by many moans of discontent from the audience, Mr. Wijoja said it will take over a month for the manufacturers in Korea to resupply their assembly plant located in near-Earth orbit and then ship the new panels to Seleneca. A commotion then erupted from the audience which was then silenced by Mayor Pierre pounding their gavel on the dais. The Board of Commissioners was briefed about the problem 3 months ago when knowledge of the problem with the defective panels that arrived in the final shipment became impossible for Salmuibich Corp to keep hidden.
Commissioner Liz Blanco expressed her opinion at the meeting, “I think Mr. Wijoja has been telling us what we want to hear all along knowing the problem was far more serious. We have been putting a lot of time and money toward this celebration. So disappointing!”
The ceiling of the Dome is anticipated to be one of the 7th greatest wonders of the Moon. It will allow us to see a virtual view of the sky and outside terrain in real-time outside of the dome that shelters us from solar and cosmic radiation and from micro-meteor strikes. Plus, the panels can be used for visual light displays and can display important public announcements. The Dome sits upon a cylindrical “drum” of concrete and steel that measures 210 meters (689 ft) in diameter and 33 meters (108.26 ft) high. The base is surrounded by 7-story to 10-story buildings that face toward the central space, most of which are sitting empty. Only a few have partial use in their lower levels, accessed from the Grand Star Bazaar that completely surrounds the dome structure. At its apex, the Dome measures 73 meters (239.5 ft) high from its base, putting its apex at 106 meters (347.77 ft) high above the ground in the center of Central Park. The ceiling electronic system is designed to have 819,200 illuminating panels in various shapes and configurations due to the curvature of the ceiling.
The opening of the central dome has been a long time coming. Many harken it to the old gothic cathedrals of Europe that took more than a lifetime to build. The substructure was the first to be built, and it is the oldest part of the city. Before the radial streets were built, the early settlers were smaller in number than today’s population. Because the water demand was lower than now, their sleeping quarters were in the catacombs of chambers that are now storing our water. The 8 tall pylons were the next to go up. By 2090, when Seleneca was about 21 years old, a thin membrane was installed to cover the dome, strong enough to contain an atmosphere. In all this time, there has been no community use of the interior of the dome. Progress continued much slower than everyone had planned. The thicker and stronger roof shell was the largest of the construction undertakings, with less work hours available during the daylit days, to reduce solar radiation exposure. Buildings at the edges of the dome were started and stopped as companies sponsoring their construction came in and out of business over the years. Currently, only a few Fortunately, trees were planted during those 30 years and have been continuously maintained by Facilities Management. When the Dome does finally open, we will get to experience what to us will seem like a forest in what is being called Central Park.
