The Sun Station is an ancient Nomai station in an extremely close and rapid orbit around the Sun.
Description
  This section contains spoilers for Outer Wilds (and possibly Echoes of the Eye)! Please play the game before reading! |
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The Sun Station is a satellite composed of two huge modules connected by a destroyed passageway. The station contains many gravity tiles so that its users can walk instead of free falling. Sun Station contains two inactive Nomai Statues and the corpse of Idaea. After not receiving a command for over ten minutes due to the death of the Nomai, the Sun Station went into sleep mode and has been offline for 281,042 years.
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Accessibility
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This section contains spoilers for Outer Wilds (and possibly Echoes of the Eye)! Please play the game before reading! |
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  Sun Station warp tower on Ash Twin The primary method to access the Sun Station is revealed within the Sunless City on Ember Twin.[1] The Sun Station warp tower located on Ash Twin can be used to warp to the Sun Station. The second and much more dangerous method is manually landing the ship on the Sun Station, a challenging feat given the Sun’s immense gravity and the Sun Station’s rapid orbit. The Sun Station is destroyed 10.5 minutes into the loop, as it is engulfed by the Sun when it grows to become a red giant. |
History
The Ash Twin Project
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This section contains spoilers for Outer Wilds (and possibly Echoes of the Eye)! Please play the game before reading! |
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After the Nomai discovered the possibility to send objects and information back in time through warp cores, they quickly found out it required exponentially more energy the farther back in time they wanted to send it.[2] The only power source capable of producing enough power to send information 22 minutes into the past was the energy produced by a supernova.[3] After the conception of the Ash Twin Project which would send probe launch orders back in time to find the Eye of the Universe, the Sun Station was thus designed to induce a supernova.[4]   Sun Station's firing mechanism The Nomai's plan was to fire the Sun Station and cause the sun to go supernova.[5] The Ash Twin Project would then use the energy produced by this supernova to send the probe launch order and the probe data back in time by 22 minutes. This would make the Orbital Probe Cannon shoot a probe in a random direction.[6] 22 minutes after this, the Sun Station would again trigger a supernova to power the Ash Twin Project and start the loop from the beginning.[7] Once the Eye of the Universe would be found, the Nomai would receive its coordinates 22 minutes before firing the Sun Station and would consequently cancel the destruction of the Sun.[8][9] |
Ethics
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This section contains spoilers for Outer Wilds (and possibly Echoes of the Eye)! Please play the game before reading! |
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  Nomai mural depicting a Nomai holding scales with on one side the Sun and on the other side the Eye of the Universe The construction of the Sun Station was the only thing the Nomai did that caused division and debate among them. The debate on the ethics of the use of a device able to destroy the solar system can be seen behind the energy controls of the Sunless City and inside the Sun Station. Idaea firmly opposed building the Sun Station, while Pye saw no other way to generate enough energy.[10][11][12] Idaea and Pye ended up building the Sun Station together, but their arguments continued on the station itself, with Pye making jokes about the Sun and Idaea being appalled at her lack of ethics.[13][14] |
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Outcome
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This section contains spoilers for Outer Wilds (and possibly Echoes of the Eye)! Please play the game before reading! |
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After firing it, it turned out that the Sun Station was unable to impact the Sun in any meaningful way and would never be able to trigger a supernova.[15] This left the Ash Twin Project without a power source.[16] Before the Nomai could think of another way to power the project, they were all instantly killed by the Ghost Matter erupting from the Interloper.[17] Over two hundred thousand years later, having reached the end of its lifespan, the Sun goes supernova naturally and not from any interference from the Sun Station.[18] This finally powered the Ash Twin Project and started the Nomai's time loop. |
Texts and recordings
Inside station | |
| System sleep mode (dependent on in-game time)
281,042 YEARS AGO: No user commands received for 10 minutes. All systems entering sleep. X MINUTES, X SECONDS AGO: Increased solar activity detected. Sun Station hull integrity approaching critical levels. Closing emergency doors. |
Evacuation notice (dependent on in-game time) Star has reached end of natural life cycle. Now approaching red giant stage. WARNING: Evacuate Sun Station. Approximate time until Sun Station is destroyed by expanding star: X MINUTES, X SECONDS |
| Sun Station purpose
PYE: Mission: Science compels us to explode the sun!
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Sun Station failed
YARROW: What happened? Did the Sun Station not fire?
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Notes & Trivia
- The achievement Hotshot is rewarded for successfully entering the sun station without using the warp tower on Ash Twin.
- Using the ship is often mandatory as the jetpack from the EVA suit will not be enough to counteract the gravitational pull of the Sun, and keep up with the orbiting velocity of the sun station itself.
- Once near the sun station, it is possible to lock-on the entrances and make it easier by matching velocity to "park" the ship, and safely jetpack to get inside.
- The Sun Station was first added in the Alpha Demo, containing a secret message
References
- ↑ Sunless City Anglerfish Overlook district: Who’s been computing shuttle trajectories to the Sun Station? Don’t worry; the station is in such a low stellar orbit, we’ve constructed a different, safer way to travel there from Ash Twin.
- ↑ RAMIE: We’ve learned the negative interval of time between departure and arrival can be increased by adding more energy to the warp core. Problematically, the energy required to extend the interval increases at an exponential rate.
- ↑ Should we build the Sun Station to power the Ash Twin Project? RAMIE: I understand this proposal is unsettling, but the Sun Station must be built if we hope to complete the Ash Twin Project.
- ↑ YARROW: Pye and Idaea have worked hard on the Sun Station, and it at last is complete. If everything goes as planned, this structure will prompt the sun’s explosion, which will in turn supply the power the Ash Twin Project requires.
- ↑ YARROW: We’re nearly ready to activate the Ash Twin Project! Here is what will happen: First, the Sun Station will receive the order to fire at the sun, prompting it to explode.
- ↑ YARROW: Using the energy from the resulting supernova, the Ash Twin Project will send the order for the Orbital Probe Cannon to fire back in time by 22 minutes.
- ↑ YARROW: Exactly 22 minutes after these orders are received, the Sun Station will again trigger the supernova to send the probe data from this cannon launch back in time.
- ↑ PRIVET: We are! The Probe Tracking Module is ready to record each launch’s flight trajectory and will automatically transmit all relevant data to you. PRIVET: Once the probe determines the location of the Eye of the universe, I’ll send an alert directly to you and Ramie.
- ↑ YARROW: In total, each cycle created by the Ash Twin Project will last precisely 22 minutes. We can end this cycle at will.
- ↑ IDAEA: The potential annihilation of an entire star system is too severe a cost. We shouldn’t build the Sun Station, no matter how badly we want the knowledge that comes with it.
- ↑ PYE: Poke, I’m deeply honored. Idaea, I comprehend your position; however, if we aren’t all but certain the Sun Station will not cause destruction once we’ve built it, then I won’t support the station’s use.
- ↑ YARROW: Are there other ways to generate this level of power? PYE: Theoretically, yes. Practically, no. I can’t imagine discovering them in our lifetimes...
- ↑ YARROW: Some time has passed since I checked in with you, Pye. How are you and Idaea progressing with the Sun Station plans? PYE: Presently, my assessment is that our plan will either fail explosively or succeed explosively. IDAEA: Pye, you know I don’t find that funny.
- ↑ PYE: You lack a sense of humor. IDAEA: At least I don’t lack a sense of ethics!
- ↑ PYE: It fired, Yarrow. But it failed. The sun barely responded; there were infintestimally small surface-level changes, but they were barely visible, even to the third eye. PYE: The Sun Station is useless. It will never, and could never, cause the sun to explode.
- ↑ YARROW: These words are difficult to write: The Sun Station did not work. YARROW: However, this is the closest we have ever been. The Ash Twin Project is theoretically sound; we were only unable to power it. Perhaps there is another way.
- ↑ Eye of the Universe Observatory: The Nomai who came to our solar system were following a signal from the Eye of the universe. They perished when the Interloper arrived, bringing with it the deadly substance we called ghost matter that flooded the entire solar system almost instantly and without warning.
- ↑ Sun Station evacuation notice: Star has reached end of natural life cycle. Now approaching red giant stage.