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| The original Xerces Station |
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| Xerces Station upgraded with corridors and an air lock. |
The biggest change is the replacement of the arms leading to the solar panel arrays. Previously these arms were formed by two modules and a hub. These three modules were replaced with a single corridor. This helps conserve power, as the corridor only requires 5 power, in place of the 45 power used by three previous modules.
This upgrade reduced the clearance between the solar panels and the core of the station. To compensate, modules were added to extend the core of the station past the solar panels and still allow spacecraft to utilize the docking ports at either end of the core. Two Apollo CSMs are currently docked at one end of the core serving as life saving ships. These will eventually be used to return crew members to HOM and replaced with newer Orion IIIs.
Other changes include an airlock module added on the HOM facing docking area to support EVAs and docking with ships that required atmospheric isolation. A new med bay for medical emergencies was installed in place of one of the old control rooms.
