Terra Nova

Located less than 20 light years from the Sol system, Terra Nova was an inhabited M class planet with at least two moons. As their first extrasolar colony, Terra Nova was colonized by Humans in 2078, who would later refer to themselves as Novans. There were several native animal species on the planet, including a type of burrowing animal, referred to by the Novans as a digger, as well as flying animals. 

History
By 2069, Humans had already established themselves within their own solar system, having founded New Berlin on the Moon, Utopia Planitia on Mars, and a few asteroid bases. Deep space became the next frontier for the species, and the question began to be asked: "Could Humans colonize deep space?"

Terra Nova was discovered in the mid-21st century by astronomers working for the Space Agency. Due to its proximity to Earth, the decision was made to establish a colony on the planet. The success of such a colony was considered uncertain from the start, and the expedition became known as "the Great Experiment."

Captain Mitchell was selected to lead the expedition. Nearly two hundred colonists, made up of specialists and families, would be selected to join him on this mission.

The journey to Terra Nova from Earth would take nine years at the warp speeds attainable in that period. The SS Conestoga was commissioned for the task, and was specially constructed so that it could be dismantled on arrival to serve as homes and service buildings for the colony.

The Conestoga arrived at her destination on June 23, 2078. Captain Mitchell oversaw the groundbreaking for the colony shortly thereafter. The very first transmissions from the colony were broadcast worldwide on Earth, and the population watched entranced as Humanity made its first claim on the cosmos.

The colony proved to be amazingly successful, a fully-functioning community on a world in deep space. Earth grew interested in repeating the experience. Working from the position that "nothing succeeds like success," the heads of the Space Agency announced their intentions to launch a second ship full of colonists to Terra Nova.

The colonists already living on Terra Nova were not amenable to the idea of now having to share the home they'd struggled to build. An organized opposition arose, led by a man named Mark Logan. By 2083, relations with Earth became severely strained, culminating with Logan's transmitting threats of violence upon any ships that entered the planet's orbit.

Tragically, that was the last message received from Terra Nova. Earth lost contact with the colony shortly thereafter. The Space Agency decided that it didn't have the resources to launch an investigation, and it was decided that the fate of the Terra Nova colony would have to remain a mystery. 

Rediscovery
In 2151, a landing party from the NX-01 Enterprise discovered the irradiated remains of the colony, and it was determined that the colony had been destroyed by a meteor strike, scattering toxic debris over the region.

However, the children of the original colonists had survived the meteor strike, and had taken refuge in underground caverns in order to avoid the radioactive surface. The original colonists believed that Earth had attacked them because of the hostile nature of their last transmissions, an impression shared by their 22nd century descendants still living on the planet.

The Novans, as they called themselves, subsequently took members of the landing party hostage. Eventually the Enterprise crew was able to gain the trust of the Novans, convincing them that Earth was not responsible for destroying the original colony. As the underground water supply the Novans used to survive had slowly become contaminated by the surface radiation, the Novan population was eventually relocated to a region unaffected by the meteor strike. 

Background Information
"Terra Nova" was Latin for "New Earth". The name of the planet also served as the name of the episode, making it one of seven Star Trek episodes with a Latin title.

According to the Star Trek: Star Charts
 * Page 19: Terra Nova was located in a binary star system. Both the primary and the secondary stars were yellow dwarfs. This system was located in the Terra Nova Sector (Sector 003). This was the third sector explored by Earth ships.
 * Page 32: This planet was the third planet in the system. The colony was founded in 2087, and was admitted to the  in 2178. The colony was governed from the capital of Logan City, and had a population of 347,000 Novans (Humans) in 2378.
 * Page 45: This planet was on the Earth and Vulcan trade routes in the 22nd century. Terra Nova Colony (Eta Cassiopeiae) was in the Alpha Quadrant.
 * United Federation of Planets III: By 2378, the name of the planet had changed to Terra Nova.

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Terra Nova Terra Nova Terra Nova (planeta) Terra Nova テラ・ノヴァ