Pakkahad XI Incident of 20852

A particularly infamous mining accident that took place on the mostly lava planet of Pakkahad XI, killing thousands.

The incident happened due to a very powerful natural event that has occurred within the core of the planet which has had an immense impact on the lava and magma that almost entirely comprises this world. This was powerful enough to flip some floating mining stations upside down (mining stations on this planet must float on the lava and work by filtering the lava into usable products), which none of the mining stations were designed to do. Additionally, the 3 moons of this world made the lava and magma flow in quite unpredictable ways which has largely increased the timeframe over which the disaster happened, making it almost impossible to recover. This is despite the resources spent by the HF to accurately map the orbits of these moons. Almost every worker within one of the mining stations at the time were killed, either by heavy impacts or from intense heat, despite most of the mining platforms remaining mostly intact apart from some damaged or destroyed exterior equipment. Most of the intense heat deaths are due to increased lava leakage through the lava intakes, creating very high pressure points inside the structure which has caused some breaches. The waste removal vents which remove waste and byproducts were also filled with lava, which could damage machinery. No mining platforms were entirely destroyed because they would repair themselves via Replicator nanobot technology.

The incident made the Leosus Federation reinforce these mining stations in case of such an event again. Geologists constantly monitor the planet in order to get better preparation in case something similar happens again, and now there are multiple safety protocols in place in case a mining station is flipped on its top. The estimated death toll for a hypothetical similar incident is now far lower than the 20852 incident. The protocols are strictly enforced despite the immense rarity of this event (it has only been known to happen once), and everyone that wants to land on Pakkahad XI has to learn the protocols. Mining stations will now come with places for people to fasten themselves in case of an emergency, and now the lava intakes will be reinforced against extremely high pressure fluids. The waste pipes now also have a way to close completely, and remain intact even in very high pressures, forces and temperatures. If this closes, much of the facility machinery will have to be shut down. With all these measures in place, a similar event has never happened again and may never happen again.

This disaster is almost as well known as the planet itself, so almost everyone that knows the planet exists will know of the disaster. It has been commemorated with a large memorial station in orbit of Pakkahad XI, with the names of all who have died as a result of the event. All in all, 2041 people have died, of various species, and on many levels of society. Once every few years (Pakkahad XI is close enough to its parent star that it orbits quite quickly), the station holds an anniversary. It is tradition for many people on the planet to come to this station for the anniversary, to remember those who have died here as it is by far the most destructive event ever seen by the planetary population.