The Whale Impact Crater
A circular crater roughly 150 yards wide, splattered with fresh whalemeat, whose central kinetic breach cracked open the long-sealed subterranean galleries of ancient Magrathea.
Point of Interest Dossier: The Whale Impact Crater
"As they approached the ridge of higher ground they became aware that it seemed to be circular — a crater about a hundred and fifty yards wide. Round the outside of the crater the sloping ground was splattered with black and red lumps. They stopped and looked at a piece. It was wet. It was rubbery.
With horror they suddenly realized that it was fresh whalemeat."
— The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Chapter 20
The Whale Impact Crater is a violent geological puncture upon the blighted, wind-smoothed surface of Magrathea, created when an unguided thermonuclear missile was transmuted into an adult sperm whale by the unshielded Infinite Improbability Drive and fell several miles through the thin atmosphere.
Crater Geometry & Physical Topography
- Dimensions: A roughly circular depression approximately 150 yards in diameter, ringed by a gentle sloping ridge above the blighted, dust-covered Magrathean plain.
- The Detritus of Impact: The outer rim and sloping interior are generously splattered with wet, rubbery black and red chunks of fresh whalemeat, surrounding the exploded central carcass of the cetacean.
- Atmospheric Conditions: Stale, thin air where sound carries poorly, accompanied by an icy, biting wind blowing across an inch-thick layer of grey and brown mineral dust.
The Subterranean Breach
At the lowest point of the crater, the immense kinetic energy of the multi-ton cetacean breached the planet's dormant permafrost crust:
- The Collapsed Gallery: The impact shattered the ceiling of a subterranean network of passages and galleries unentered for five million years since the economic collapse of the former Galactic Empire.
- Clearing the Rubble: Initially obstructed by collapsed rubble and whale entrails, an entrance was swiftly cleared by Marvin the Paranoid Android using his hydraulic android strength.
- The Passage Interior: Dank, decay-laden air wafts up from the dark opening. Within, the walls are cold to the touch and lined with dark glazed tiles, periodically alternating with large mosaics of bright, simple angular geometric patterns (reminiscent of Earth's London Underground), alongside side chambers cluttered with derelict five-million-year-old computer hardware.
- Automated Defenses: Beneath its abandoned facade, the subterranean facility remains wired with dormant security measures, including heavy steel blast shutters and fast-acting knockout gas systems designed to subdue unauthorized intruders.
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