Babylon 5
Size/Scaling
Defense Grid
Rotational Gravity
    Babylon 5 was constructed by Earthforce, with financial assistance from other major governments including the Minbari, Centauri and Narns; and was completed in 2257.  This fifth attempt to complete the project resulted in a smaller, simpler space station than the previous Babylon 4, likely in an effort to decrease spending.  As a result, much of Babylon 5 was constructed from the "leftovers" from Babylon 4.  The station employs 6500 personnel, 1500 of which are dock workers, and it the home of approximately 250,000 beings.

    The station was meant to serve as a self-contained embassy for several major races, providing an environment conducive to direct, face to face negotiations in hopes to prevent military conflict.  As a facility devoted to peace, Babylon 5 was equipped with minimal defenses, including a low powered defense grid and 2-3 squadrons of starfuries.  However, in 2259 the station's defense grid was uprated to warship grade in response to the start of the Narn-Centauri war.  With the upgraded weapon system, and the fighter wing having been increased to 4 squadrons, General Franklin noted that Babylon 5 could now "take on a warship" in GROPOS.  This assessment was proven valid when a Centauri warship initiated combat against the station in The Fall of Night, and later when Captain Sheridan declared Babylon 5 independent of the Earth Alliance with a battle against Earthforce warships in Severed Dreams.

Babylon 5 is divided into 6 sectors, each serving its own purpose:

Blue Sector houses the 60 docking bays, Cobra bays, and C&C.
Red Sector contains the shopping areas, including the Zocolo, casinos, fine restaurants, and gardens.
Green Sector is the home of diplomatic quarters, the "Alien Sector," and many MedLabs.
Brown Sector houses the station's life support and recycling systems.  The home of untold numbers of "Lurkers," this area has been nicknamed "Downbelow."
Yellow Sector contains the station's fusion reactor.
Grey Sector contains the rotation components that spin the station.

    Starfuries are lauched from "Cobra Bays," which allow the fighters to "fall" from the station using the simulated gravity.  These launch bays are located on the "Cobras", four large structural elements projecting from the front face of the main centrifuge dome and arching over the spherical docking bay area.

    Located just aft of the Cobra Bays is a rotunda that is sometimes used for ceremonies of various types.  At other times, station personnel sometimes visit the rotunda simply to relax and enjoy the beautiful view of local space.


The late Centauri Emperor observes the beauty of local space, reflecting on his career.


This image outlines the "Cobra" structures that house the Cobra Bays.


This image illustrates the detail of one of the four elongated Cobra structures of Blue Sector.  The Cobra Bay doors are outlined by the polygon.  There are 7 doors in this group.  The rotunda is outlined by the circle.  There are four Cobra structures, but it is unknown if there are four rotundas, or just this one.
    Cargo is loaded in a special bay between the "Forward Stabilizers," projections on the extreme front of the station, above the docking bay.  This bay is outside the rotating cylinder of the station, and is thus without simulated gravity.  At least one weapon emplacement is located either in or around this cargo bay, as Ivanova once threatened a group of freighter captains with it.


Two views of the cargo bay.
    Because Babylon 5 is five miles long, shuttles are provided for transit along the longitudinal axis of the station.  Being located in the approximate center of rotation, these shuttles operate in very low gravity, requiring boarding passengers to use handrails at all times and exercise caution.  One of these shuttles was destroyed in The Fall of Night, when a young Centauri male attempted to assassinate Captain Sheridan.  When passengers reach the appropriate sector, more conventional elevators take them to the appropriate level.

Two core shuttles are present in this image.  In the background, you can see one of the support structures that connects the core shuttle tracks and depot to the "floor" surface of the station, and probably doubles as an elevator shaft to and from the shuttle depot.
    Babylon 5's superstructure, with different sectors being devoted to different purposes, has varying diameter, hull thickness, etc.  C&C has armored "blast doors," for example, while other areas, like Brown Sector, have small windows in the floor, open to space.

A Lurker looks out a window in the floor of Brown Sector (Downbelow).  The thickness of the hull in this sector is apparent in the area surrounding the window.
ISN reported on Babylon 5 in And Now for a Word, and gave specific information about the station.  As the reporter spoke, facts about the station appeared at the bottom of the screen.  At one point, the exact length of the station was given.  It is slightly longer than 5 miles.
    This image is of the station map in C&C, directly behind Captain Sheridan's desk.  The station is 218 pixels long and the front of the station is 9 pixels tall.  This indicates that the front of the rotating section of the station is approximately 333 meters in diameter.  The widest section of the station is 20 pixels in diameter, which indicates 740 meters.  The spherical section, just to the rear of the very front of the station is 13 pixels in diameter, indicating 480 meters in diameter.
    This image from Babylon 5 Security Manual was drawn by Tim Earls.  The kilometer scaling lines are shown here at 123 pixels long, and the circular front face of the rotating section is 41 pixels, or 333 meters in diameter.  A few hundred meters aft is the widest part of the cylinder, 117 pixels or 951 meters in diameter.
    This image is from the bonus features of Babylon 5 Season 2 DVD, disc 6 featurette Building Babylon: Blueprint of An Episode.  As the featurette begins, the screen above appears, showing what appears similar to blueprints of the Babylon 5 station.  The entire station is 586 pixels long, and the front face of the rotating section is 24 pixels, or 330 meters in diameter.  The widest part of the rotating section is 69 pixels, or 950 meters in diameter.
    This image is from Deathwalker.  It is very dark, and it is difficult to be sure the station is perpendicular to the camera.  However, it appears as if the station is 525 pixels long, and the front face of the station is 22 pixels, or 338 meters in diameter.

    This image provides a near perfect direct-front view of the station's docking bay.  The diameter of the front of the rotating cylinder is 317 pixels, the shuttle bay is 60 pixels wide and 31 pixels tall.  If the diameter of this part of the station is approximately 333 meters, the docking bay is approximately 65 meters wide and 35 meters tall.

    Given the scalings above, the front face of the rotating section of Babylon 5 is on the order of 330-340 meters in diameter, with 3 of the above pointing toward approximately 333 meters.  It is important to know the approximate size of this part of the station, as it can be used as a benchmark for the size of many craft that visit or dock with the station.  The widest part of the station is approximately 950 meters in diameter.

Length: 8064.5 meters
Maximum diameter of rotating cylinder: 950 meters
Diameter of front of rotating cylinder: 333 meters
Docking Bay: 65 meters x 35 meters
    Babylon 5's defense grid was upgraded in 2259 when General Franklin visited with 25,000 soldiers in GROPOS.  The station now had enough firepower to "take on a warship," per General Franklin's assessment.  The upgrade included "pulse cannons, interceptors, mine launchers," and an improved tracking system.

Ivanova's assessment of the upgraded defense grid.
    After the upgrade, at least 4 types of weapons were seen in action aboard the station.  Two of these types were interceptors (note that this refers to a fixed defensive weapon rather than a fighter craft as in the present-day sense).  One type appears to be identical to the guns the station mounted prior to the upgrade, implying that the new weapons did not replace the old ones, but were instead added to the existing armament.  Each type contained four barrels per emplacement.

Interceptors retained from original defense grid.

New interceptor battery installed during upgrade.

    Interceptors of both types were used to defend against incoming fire, as well as shooting down enemy starfighters.  They fire slow moving pulses that actually intercept and disrupt incoming fire.  The nature of this effect is unknown.  It is also unknown how many interceptor emplacements are present, but they appear to be well positioned, allowing good coverage of the sky surrounding the station.  In the image above right, the new interceptor emplacement is located off the starboard side of the communications tower (seen in the background).


These older interceptors are located in the middle of the station, just forward of the radiator vanes.  These particular guns would have a limited field of fire, but would help prevent strafing runs along the length of the station or from above.

These interceptors are positioned along the station's broadside, and just destroyed a Raider fighter.


These guns are also positioned along the station's broadside, but are mounted in an enclosed area, limiting the field of fire when compared to the emplacements above.
    While interceptors are primarily defensive weapons, Babylon 5 also mounts "pulse cannons," which are primarily offensive weapons.

This emplacement has 4 barrels, each of which fires short blue pulses at a high rate.  Reminiscent of a machinegun, this battery fires each barrel separately 0.17 second apart.  This weapon is used against both starfighters and large warships.

This weapon also fires pulses, but larger and at a lower rate of once every 1.3 seconds, but sometimes faster.  These pulses are slow moving as well, but this weapon is normally used against large warships.

Defense grid is activated.
    Ivanova threatened a group of freighter captains in Racing Mars by stating that she would cause their ships to have accidents with her "200 megawatt pulse cannon."  It is unknown to which of the above types she was referring.  Considering Ivanova's melodramatic personality and the threats she has issued at other times (declaring that she was sent by God, declaring that she is God, offering to move council member's seats inside the fusion reactor, etc.), this weapon must be considered very effective.  She was obviously very confident in the weapon's capabilities; and rightly so, as this is somewhat greater than the total firepower of a World War II era Iowa Class Battleship.

Ivanova threatens several freighter Captains with a pulse cannon.
    In The Fall of Night, a Centauri warship attacked Babylon 5 and a Narn heavy cruiser which was also in the area.  A squadron of Starfuries were dispatched to protect the Narn ship, which retreated to hyperspace.  Some of the Starfuries escorted the Narn ship, while some attacked the Centauri warship along with Babylon 5's returning fire.  The Centauri warship was quickly destroyed.

Centauri warship attacks Babylon 5.
    Babylon 5's defenses began intercepting Centauri fire at approximately 7 seconds into the clip.  The announcement was made that the interceptors were overheating at approximately 21 seconds.  Assuming that the battle is presented in realtime, B5's interceptors can defend the station from a Centauri warship of this class for less than 20 seconds, even though the warship was firing at multiple targets outside of Babylon 5.

    It should be noted that, while the Centauri warship quickly overwhelmed Babylon 5's defenses while simultaneously firing at the Narn vessel and a squadron of Starfuries, Captain Sheridan held offensive fire until the station took actual physical damage.  Later, when practicing his apology speech, Sheridan stated that he was sorry he waited so long before he destroyed the warship.

    In Severed Dreams, Babylon 5 and support ships fought a dramatic battle against other Earthforce vessels.  During this battle, the station directed all of its weapons against an Omega Class Destroyer.

Babylon 5 opens up on enemy destroyer.

Assumptions

Calculations

Omega Surface Volume Affected
Radius 10.0000 m
Volume 2094.3951 m^3
Mass 1.65E+07 kg
16,491,267 kg

 
 

Energy Used
Arbitrary starting temp 273 K
Temp change to melting point 1535 K
Heat change to melting point 1.11E+13 J
Heat to melt 4.08E+12 J
Total energy employed to melt 1.52E+13 J
Temp change to boiling point 1215 K
Heat change to boiling point 8.82E+12 J
Heat to boil 1.03E+14 J
Total energy employed to vaporize 1.27E+14 J

If the 10m hemisphere of metal is melted, the pulse delivers at least 3.6 KT of energy.  If the 10m hemisphere of metal is vaporized, the pulse delivers at least 30 KT of energy.  If the pulse cannon fires every 1.3 seconds, the weapon delivers either 2.8 KT/s or 23.1 KT/s.  Since the stations pulse cannons probably aren't significantly more powerful than an Omega-class destroyer's beam weapons, the actual value is probably somewhere in the lower part of that range.

Analysis of Rotational Gravity
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