Menda Menda was an Earth - like planet located in Janus GM2797 ' s orbit . Its orbit directly opposed that of Janus Prime . It had a temperate climate , indigenous fruits and vegetables , and clean drinkable water , making it an ideal human colony . History . The original inhabitants . The original inhabitants of Menda were very advanced , with great artistic and scientific achievement . They went to war with the Janusian s , the inhabitants of Janus Prime . After a long and bloody conflict , the two races overcame their differences and achieved peace . To ensure that another war never started , they used their advanced technological skills to turn Janus GM2797 ' s solar system into a gigantic bomb . The Eighth Doctor explained this process to Sam Jones : Another war broke out , but the doomsday weapon was not fully used . The inhabitants of Menda were slaughtered , although they managed to seed Janus Prime with isotope decay bomb s . Human colonisation . A few million years later , humanity learned of Menda ' s existence from Dalek star chart s left over from the 22nd century Dalek invasion . Using a large spaceship created from captured alien technology , over a thousand hopeful pioneers left Earth to establish a colony in the Janus GM2797 ' s solar system . Unfortunately , the ship was hit by a rogue meteor near the end of their voyage , forcing them to crash into Menda and preventing them from establishing a link with Earth . Only two colonists were killed in the crash . Spreading out from the remains of the spaceship , the colonists created the city of Newtown . They discovered the ruins of several buildings built by Menda ' s original inhabitants and integrated them into Newtown . Inside the ruins they discovered the remnants of the superweapon : a spacial link between Menda and Janus Prime . Hoping to find a way to contact Earth , Gustav Zemler , a mercenary hired by the colonists to give them protection , travelled through the Link and set up a base on Janus Prime . He was followed by several other mercenaries . Eventually , Zemler and his men discovered that they were dying of radiation poisoning , leading to hostile relations between them and the colonists . In 2211 , the colonists bore five babies : the first of a new generation of Mendans . On 15 September 2211 , the Eighth Doctor and Sam Jones landed on Janus Prime . Coincidentally , 15 September was also the day that Zemler decided to destroy Menda using its moon . However , after millions of years , Janus GM2797 was a much larger star than when the doomsday weapon was designed , meaning that if the weapon was used the star would become a black hole and wipe out a large portion of the nearby galaxy . The Doctor attempted to reach Zemler before he could activate the weapon , but was unsuccessful . He was forced to activate Menda ' s weapon and destroy Janus Prime before its weapon could destroy Menda . However , the spacial link between Menda and Janus Prime could have transferred some of the destruction onto Menda . Mere seconds before Janus Prime ' s destruction , Zemler sacrificed himself by jumping into the Link , his bodymass destroying it before it could destroy Menda . ( PROSE : " The Janus Conjunction " )