This piece sets a more specific part of the narrative attached to the Alexandria Space Station model. This smaller module will shuttle one of the central characters - a young student of astrophysics still clinging to dreams of space travel in an era when it has been mostly de-romanticized- to the station.
This model is intended to create a much more compact space, designed for one or two individuals rather than a group. A video monitor on one end of the vessel shows positional data, temperature, and other important information for operating such a machine. Much of the design research was of the international space station. The portholes, for instance, are modelled from a multi-pane design intended to withstand pressure differences. The control panel includes a section with three joysticks for a Control Moment Gyroscope steering system much like he ISS uses.
The interior is designed to be utilitarian, but brightly lit and with majestic views of earth from the portholes. This is much the space travel that our character has dreamed of, and will be starkly contrasted by the similar but much more ominous first appearance of the station when he arrives.
