Xantoras (planet)

Xantoras from orbit
Caption:	Xantoras from orbit
Class:	M
Rotational Period:	25 hours, 23 minutes, 2.2 seconds
Mean Solar Distance:	151,000,000 km
Diameter:	11,854 km
Equatorial circumference:	33,127
Surface Area: Land Ocean	34% 66%
Caption:	The entrance to a complex series of tunnels

Xantoras is a minshara-class planet, the homeworld of the Xantorans. The planet is known for it's geological formations, and it's historically unstable governments.

History

The Xantoran government has been known to change hands every few years for a long time prior to the 2150s. The government in place in the late 2140s and early 2150s however was overthrown my a militant group in March of 2152. The new militant group were xenophobic, and believed that aliens shouldn't be allowed on their planet. The previous government had let many aliens on the planet, so the new government instituted a deadline for all off-worlders to leave or they would be imprisoned, and probably executed.

The Denobulan government had sent a team of three scientists to study the rare and unique speleothems that had formed in the large underground tunnels several weeks prior. The team was out of communication range when the new government took hold, so the Denobulan Science Academy couldn't contact them. The nearest Denobulan starship was several days away, so they asked the Human ship Enterprise to retrieve them.

While the Enterprise was in orbit, an alien starship wanted to land when their reactor breached. As the government was xenophobic, they turned them away even for emergency repairs. Enterprise agreed to dock with them and help with repairs and treating their injured.

The Enterprise sent an away team to climb down the large caverns to retrieve them, given a 3 day deadline. While attempting to retrieve the team, Xantorans from the previous government had a skirmish above the caverns. The new Xantoran government told Enterprise they were taking care of it.

The Enterprise away team took a few hours more then the deadline, and on the way back to the ship a Xantoran ship fired on them. But Commander Tucker believed it was just a "kick in the pants" to hurry up to the ship.

Geology

The unique caverns on Xantoras.

Xantoras is known among geologists as one of the finest collection of preserved specimens known. It's surface is covered with many large and varied mountains and canyons even visible from orbit. But under the surface of the planet is even more note-worthy, as it contains thousands of kilometers of caves and cliffs, and there are many more expected that haven't been mapped yet.

The Denobulan science team that was exploring these caves specifically went to study the largest condensed collections of speleothums known. It contained calcite, aragonite, and even botyroidal flowstones. The leader of the team, Yolen, believed that studying them would provide endless clues into preventing seismic disasters on Denobula. (ENT: "The Breach")