Royal Manticoran Astro-Control Service

The Royal Manticoran Astro-Control Service, commonly abbreviated to just ACS, was a civilian agency of the Star Kingdom of Manticore, responsible for the operation of the various termini of the Manticore Wormhole Junction. It had uniforms and a rank structure similar to the that of the Royal Manticoran Navy. (, )
In 1905 PD, the ACS was directing a wormhole transit through the Junction once every three minutes. By 1920 PD, following the discovery of the seventh terminus, it was handling one transit every eighty-five seconds.Over a thousand inbound and outbound transits a day.()
== Organization ==
=== Termini detachments ===
ACS had a detachment operating in each of the termini's systems. They directed traffic in and outbound from their particular terminus, in coordination with the central control in the Manticore System. ()
=== Survey Command ===
ACS Survey Command was responsible for conducting junction and terminus beacon surveys. Until the Royal Manticoran Astrophysics Investigation Agency was established by the High Ridge government, Survey Command also conducted research into the existence of the seventh terminus of the Manticore Wormhole Junction. ()
=== Search and Rescue ===
As a secondary responsibility, ACS also controlled intrasystem civilian search-and-rescue craft for any space-based emergency response. ()
== Queues ==
Each terminus had an inbound and outbound vector, and so had an arrival and departure queue. Ships requesting permission from ACS to transit were assigned a queue number, based on priority, which would count down as ships entered/exited the Junction. When the number reached 10, ships were given "readiness clearance", which allowed them to enter the outbound lane, aligned with the entry vector for that termini. Ships progressed along the outbound lane at a slow fifteen gravities. When the number reached 1, the ship was first in line, and could approach the Junction.
== Transit ==
A transiting ship reconfigured its forward Warshawski sails to pull it through the Junction, while slowly approaching the Junction with aft impellers. Ships had a window of about fifteen seconds between when their foresail entered the Junction, and when their aftersail had to be configured as well, or the gravitational shear would tear a ship apart. Once a transit was complete, a ship reconfigured its sails back into an impeller wedge to head down the inbound queue in the destination termini progressing to their destination.
=== Double Transit ===
Ships wishing to transit between termini (say from the Gregor Terminus to the Trevor's Star Terminus) were generally required to proceed down the inbound lane of the first terminus following transit and then move to a designated holding area in the Manticore System while they awaited a slot in the second terminus' departure queue.
A priority Fleet transit (under Condition Delta) could make the double transit directly, without having to exit the Junction first.
== Policies ==
Dispatch boats generally had priority over other Junction traffic. Dispatch boats and couriers (even foreign-flagged ones, acting under diplomatic immunity), generally did not have to slave their ships to ACS control, in order to respect the integrity of the messages they carried. ACS could still refuse to allow transit however. (, )
=== Condition Delta ===
Under Article Four, Section Three, of the Junction Transit Instructions, the ACS had the authority to clear all traffic from the junction in order to make way for a priority fleet transit. Holding areas, inbound and outbound queues, all were to be cleared if necessary to accommodate the transit. ()
== Personnel ==
* Admiral Stephania Grimm – Commanding Officer, Manticore Junction Traffic Control (1921 PD)
* Admiral Haynesworth – Commanding Officer ACS Survey Command (~1919 PD)
* Vice Admiral Michel Reynaud – Commanding Officer, Basilisk Control (~1913 PD)
:See here for a complete list of known ACS personnel.
== References ==
Category:Institutions
Category:Manticoran Institutions