Editing Mombasa Tether

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[[File:Orbital_Elevator.jpg|thumb|300px|The orbital elevator's base.]]
{{Quote|Taking your packages to new heights.|Slogan of [[New Mombasa Uplift]]<ref name="streets"/>}}

The '''Mombasa Tether''',<ref>''[[Halo: Evolutions - Essential Tales of the Halo Universe]]'', "[[Palace Hotel (short story)|Palace Hotel]]", p. 352 and 366</ref><ref>[http://halo.bungie.net/projects/odst/guide.aspx ''Bungie.net'': Halo 3: ODST Field Guide - New Mombasa]</ref> also known as the '''Mombasa Space Tether'''<ref name="universe">[https://www.halowaypoint.com/en-us/universe/locations/new-mombasa ''Halo Waypoint'': New Mombasa]</ref> or the '''New Mombasa Orbital Elevator''',<ref>''[[Halo Encyclopedia]]'', p. 296 (2011 edition)</ref> was a [[space elevator]] located at the heart of the [[East African Protectorate]] city of [[New Mombasa]] on [[Earth]]. It was used for lifting heavy ordnance from the surrounding port facilities into a station in [[geosynchronous orbit]] at the top of the elevator structure, a transport method much cheaper and more efficient than booster rockets filled with expensive fuel. The company in charge of the management of the space elevator was called [[New Mombasa Uplift]].<ref name="streets">''[[Halo 3: ODST]]'', campaign level, [[Mombasa Streets]]</ref>

==History==
[[File:H2A Campaign OldMombasa Elevator.png|thumb|250px|The elevator as viewed from Old Mombasa; the ''Solemn Penance'' holds position during the city's occupation.]]
{{Quote|The Mombasa space elevator!"<br>"It collapsed when the city got glassed."<br>"But the tether was thousands of kilometers high..."<br>"Yeah? Well now it's scattered all over the Savannah."<br>"Oh crap...|Two [[UNSC Marine Corps|Marines]] discussing the fate of the space elevator.<ref name="tsavo"/>}}
In [[2302]], Mombasa was chosen to be the Earth's first tether city.<ref>''[[Halo: The Essential Visual Guide]]'', p. 129</ref> As a cheap gateway to space, the elevator is the key to New Mombasa's economic and strategic importance. The presence of the elevator radically changed the structure of the city. The elevator's base resides on an artificial island with service roads and a [[MagLev train]] line radiate out from it.<ref>''Halo 3: ODST'', campaign level, [[Prepare to Drop]]</ref>

===Battle of Earth===
{{Main|Battle of Earth}}
[[File:Nmoe slipspace.jpg|thumb|200px|left|The elevator's support structure, engulfed by the aftereffects of the Slipspace rupture.]]
During the [[Battle of Mombasa]], the Mombasa Tether was shut down.<ref name="story">''Halo 3: ODST'', [[Sadie's Story]] - Audio log 14, Circle 5, Arc 2</ref> When the [[Prophet of Regret]] retreated, his flagship, ''[[Solemn Penance]]'', initiated [[Slipstream space|slipspace]] transition over the city, right beside the orbital elevator. The resulting shockwave swept through the structure, weakening it considerably.<ref>''[[Halo 2]]'', campaign level, [[Metropolis]]</ref>

Under an hour later on the same day, the damage from the Slipspace rupture was too much for the support structure to handle. It exploded at multiple points, and the tether snapped at some two kilometers above the surface. The upper portion of the tether was instantly pulled upward by its orbital counterweight, now severed from the groundside anchor point. The lower section collapsed, leaving only a small portion of the lower support structure intact, even though heavily damaged. Several pieces of debris crashed around the city and the surrounding area, while more fallout presumably caused considerable damage to buildings near the tether.<ref>''Halo 3: ODST'', campaign level, [[Uplift Reserve (level)|Uplift Reserve]]</ref>

===Wreckage===
[[File:OSE landscape.jpg|thumb|right|150px|Shattered rings from the elevator seen on Tsavo Highway.]]
A large portion of the tower's debris was left scattered around Earth's surface, while most of the tether was pulled into space, likely ending up in an unstable orbit around Earth.<ref name="spaceflight">[http://spectrum.ieee.org/aerospace/space-flight/a-hoist-to-the-heavens ''IEEE Spectrum'': A Hoist to the Heavens]</ref> Debris such as support rings and cables rained down to the surface far as the town of [[Voi]] and its surrounding regions, leaving large areas littered with debris and damaging infrastructure, such as the [[Tsavo Highway]].<ref name="tsavo">''Halo 3'', campaign level, [[Tsavo Highway (level)|Tsavo Highway]]</ref> After the end of the [[Human-Covenant War]] on [[2553|March, 2553]], some debris from the elevator still remained in the area near Voi.<ref>''[[Halo 3]]'', campaign level, [[Halo (Halo 3 level)|Halo]]</ref>

==Production notes==
===''Halo 2''===
In ''[[Halo 2]]'', the space elevator is visible throughout all the Earth levels, first as a thin line on the horizon in [[Outskirts]], then later as a ringed tower in the skyline of [[Metropolis]]. Only at the end of that level is the player offered an unobstructed view of the structure from across the artificial canal.

At the end of the campaign level Metropolis, the flagship of the [[Prophet of Regret]] flees into slipspace with the ''[[UNSC In Amber Clad|In Amber Clad]]'' in hot pursuit. This in-atmosphere jump unleashes a wave of energy that scours the area. Originally this was thought to collapse the tower, but as seen in ''Halo 3: ODST'', this wasn't the case.

The elevator is seen in the background of two Mombasa multiplayer maps; [[Turf]] and [[District]].
<gallery>
File:SpaceElevator.jpg|The Mombasa Tether as seen during the Halo 2 campaign, with the ''[[Solemn Penance]]'' holding position nearby.
</gallery>

===''Halo 3''===
The elevator was not seen again until the ''[[Halo 3]]'' [[Halo 3 Announcement Trailer|Announcement Trailer]], in which several of its stabilizer rings lay shattered in the background hills. Concept art from the ''Halo 3'' Zune confirmed that the wreckage of the space elevator would play an important part in the design of the Earth levels.

The elevator did make an appearance in the final game, with the player fighting through its ruins throughout the level [[Tsavo Highway (level)|Tsavo Highway]] and even hearing some dialogue concerning its fate from [[UNSC Marine Corps/Gameplay|Marine allies]].
<gallery>
File:H3 - MOEWreckage.jpg|The wreckage of the Mombasa Tether in Tsavo Highway.
</gallery>

===''Halo 3: ODST''===
In ''[[Halo 3: ODST]]'', the Mombasa Tether plays its most prominent role. The structure has been reimagined from its ''Halo 2'' incarnation; its base is located on an artificial island west of the city center, with [[MagLev Train]] lines leading to it, instead of the center of the Mombasa island in ''Halo 2''. Its general appearance has also been changed, with a different, near-symmetrical base structure, and an additional support structure surrounding the lower part of the tether.

While it was originally thought that the elevator collapsed instantly when the Slipspace rupture shook it apart, it was first revealed in the [[Keep It Clean (Trailer)|"Keep it Clean" teaser]] that the elevator did not in fact collapse instantly. In the game, the player is able to witness the actual failure and collapse of the elevator during the level [[Uplift Reserve (level)|Uplift Reserve]], played from the perspective of Corporal [[Taylor H. Miles|Taylor "Dutch" Miles]]. The wreckage of the elevator can be seen throughout the levels of the game, with its debris scattered around the city and the ocean.
<gallery>
File:Elevator_standing.png|The tether following the slipspace event.
File:Tilted Camera.png|The tether (rear) as seen in the [[Keep It Clean (trailer)|Keep It Clean]] trailer.
</gallery>

===''Halo 2: Anniversary''===
In ''[[Halo 2: Anniversary]]'', the Mombasa Tether returns to its ''Halo 2'' form albeit in higher definition. In the [[Blur Studio|Blur]] cutscenes, the buildings along the tether's are seemingly office towers with glass facades.

===''Halo: Spartan Strike''===
In ''[[Halo: Spartan Strike]]'', the Mombasa Tether is seen in cutscenes, retaining a number of design elements from its ''Halo 2'' incarnation including the taller buildings around the base of the tether.
<gallery>
File:HSS cutscene.png|The ''Solemn Penance'' fleeing, with the tether in the background as seen in ''Spartan Strike''.
</gallery>

==Trivia==
[[File:H3ODST_Mombasa_Destroyed.jpg|thumb|The space elevator island after the tether's collapse.]]
*When the elevator snaps, the upper half is sucked into space, while the lower half, as well as some debris from the upper half, is scattered across the landscape. Some original concepts show that the tether was supposed to simply fall to the ground in its entirety. This was likely changed for realism, as if a space elevator was to be cut at its anchor point on Earth's surface, the outward force exerted by the counterweight would cause the entire elevator to rise upward into an unstable orbit.<ref name="spaceflight"/> It is, however apparent, that this was taken into account already in ''Halo 3'', as the main tether itself is not seen among the debris, which mainly includes support rings and cables, indicating that the support structures around the tether fell to the ground as the majority of the tower was pulled upward.
*Several maps of New Mombasa seen during the [[Audio Log]]s in ''[[Halo 3: ODST]]'' show the Mag-Lev lines from the space elevator's base leading to the Mombasa island. However, as seen in-game as well as several other maps, the train lines lead only to the mainland north of the elevator.<ref name="story"/>
*During the level [[Tsavo Highway (level)|Tsavo Highway]] in ''[[Halo 3]]'', when two marines have a brief dialogue about the fate of the elevator, they erroneously refer to it having collapsed when the city was glassed. As seen in ''Halo 3: ODST'', it collapsed well before the glassing of the city, due to its structure weakening from the Slipspace rupture. This may be a mistake on Bungie's part, the marines may have been misinformed of the cause of the destruction, or it may be being used in a colloquial manner to refer to the extensive damage caused by Regret's slipspace jump.
*In the ''[[Halo 2: Anniversary]]'' multiplayer map [[Stonetown]], a space tether remarkably similar to New Mombasa's can be viewed in the map's vista. However, the space tether appears to be under construction, and the city as a whole is nowhere near as built up as it is seen in ''Halo 2'' and ''Halo 3: ODST''. Barring considerable liberties with geography, the tether seen on the map cannot be the New Mombasa's, as Zanzibar Island is over a hundred kilometers away from the city. However, given the tether's apparent incomplete status, it is more likely that the map is set in the post-war period and depicts a new space elevator constructed further away from the East African coast, close enough to be clearly visible from Zanzibar.

==Gallery==
===Concept art===
<gallery>
File:H2_SpaceTether_Concept.png|Early concept art of the orbital elevator for ''Halo 2''.
File:H3 Outskirts 1.jpg|The elevator's stabilizer rings lie shattered on the Savannah in this concept art for [[Tsavo Highway (Level)|Tsavo Highway]].
File:H3_FallenTether_Concept.jpg|Concept art of the fallen tether.
File:H3 - Manual interior.jpg|More concept art of the elevator stabilizer rings shattered on the savannah.
File:Concept_tether.png|Concept art of the damaged space elevator in ''Halo 3: ODST''.
File:Halo3-ODST_EnvConcept-11.jpg|Concept art of the orbital elevator for ''Halo 3: ODST''.
File:H2A-joshua-shaw-mombasa.jpg|Concept art of Mombasa's tether in ''Halo 2: Anniversary''.
File:Halo3-ODST EnvConcept-13.jpg|Concept art of the tether in ''Halo 3: ODST''.
</gallery>
===Screenshot===
<gallery>
File:H3_TsavoDebris.jpg|One of the tower's stabilizer rings lays damaged near [[Tsavo Highway]]. 
File:SpaceTether.PNG|The New Mombasa Orbital Elevator in ''Halo 2'', as seen in a 3D model viewer.
File:H2 side tower.jpg|The tower as seen from [[Old Mombasa]] in ''Halo 2''.
File:Space tether.png|A portion of the tether in low Earth orbit.
File:Orbital elevator falling.png|The orbital elevator at the moment of collapse, with pieces breaking off and falling.
File:H3ODST_TetherCollapse.png|After being cut, the elevator's cable is pulled into space, while scattering its stabilizer rings across the landscape.
File:HSS-Mombasa Tether.png|The Mombasa Tether in ''Halo: Spartan Strike''.
File:Ad Uplift.png|An ad for [[New Mombasa Uplift]], with the tether in its logo.
File:H3ODST - TetherWreckage.jpg|One of the supporting rings for the Tether in [[Mombasa Streets]].
</gallery>

==List of appearances==
*''[[Halo 2]]'' {{1st}}
*''[[Halo 3]]''
*''[[Halo 3: ODST]]''
*''[[Halo: Evolutions - Essential Tales of the Halo Universe]]''
**''[[Palace Hotel (short story)|Palace Hotel]]''
*''[[Halo 2: Anniversary]]''
*''[[Halo: Spartan Strike]]''
*''[[Halo Mythos]]''

==Sources==
<references/>

{{SpaceElevators}}
{{MombasaLocales}}