Hygiea

Hygiea (minor planet designation: 10 Hygiea) is the fourth largest asteroid in the Asteroid Belt and somewhat oblong. It hosts Hygeia Station. Like many places in the Belt, its population suffered from high UN (UN) taxes that made survival expensive and kept the population routinely destitute. Consequently, a robust black market was active, particularly in usable hydroponics.^[1]

Events

The station was the location of a battle during the Free Navy Conflict.^[2]

Hygiea was considered a potential military target for strategic retaliation and show of force by the United Nations Navy (UNN) after the Bombardment of Earth during the Free Navy Conflict, mainly due to its high density of radical and extremist Belter groups.^[3]

Following the Bombardment of Earth during the Free Navy Conflict, Hygiea had sworn loyalty to the Free Navy.^[4]

Trivia

• Hygiea takes its name from the Hygieia (with the -ia dropped for -a), the Greek Goddess of health and personified cleanliness and hygiene.

• 

  Hygiea (asteroid) and Hygeia (station) are noticeably spelled differently. The station's name may be an allusion to Hygeia City – a planned but never realized utopian community on the banks of the Ohio River in Kentucky, USA. The variant "Hygeia" was also a common, a 19th century misspelling of the asteroid's name.

See also

• Asteroid Belt
• List of asteroids
• Sol system

External links

•  10 Hygiea on Wikipedia

References