ATLAS Observatory

ATLAS Observatory is a location in Fallout 76.

Background
Ostensibly a civilian astronomical research laboratory, ATLAS was actually a military weather modification project: The Atmospheric Terraforming Laser Accelerator System. It enjoyed limited success in its early months, mostly due to the apparent incompetence of Major Kirk Bentley. By the time he was replaced by Lt. Col. James Oberlin on January 24, 2076, the project was facing an ultimatum: Yield scaleable results by April or be shut down.

Under Oberlin's oversight, the project moved ahead at a rapid pace. By March 12, prototype results started yielding effects: Dr. Hammond has succeeded in initiating light rainfall across a significant localized area. Funding for the ATLAS Program was provisionally extended under the condition that Hammond invest more research into more high energy weather conditions. Oberlin also gave ATLAS engineers the go-ahead to initiate construction of the accelerator even before the technology was complete. He did not inform Hammond of the fact to... Encourage the doctor to work more intensively and avoid significant development delays.

This approach bore fruit. By August 20, the doctor has been able to produce a wide variety of weather conditions based on the data his team has been bringing into the lab. The latest prototype resulted in near-whiteout blizzard conditions, an unusual occurrence in mid-August. Some of the local media picked up on it, but not to the degree that the project could be endangered, LTC Oberlin made sure of that. The colonel was confident enough in the project to advocate for it during a meeting in the Pentagon, seeing a number of uses for the technology. The localized prototype wasn't going to be be much use in a war on its own, except during small skirmishes or certain clandestine operations. ATLAS needed funding to thrive.

He was successful. Over the next year, the Pentagon funneled men and manpower into the project, apparently convinced by Oberlin's logic that the system could diminish the threat of nuclear war by attacking the enemy with weather: Blanketing the nation in thick black clouds until the crops die out, wiping out naval ports with typhoons, or sending fierce lightning storms against vulnerable air bases to ground air units. The sky's the limit.

Despite his enthusiasm for the initiative, the ATLAS project was scrapped in October. Much to his surprise, the Pentagon cited the sheer cost of the project and associated risks. Although it made little sense to him, Oberlin planned to carry out his duties. Hammond, the head of the project, took the news poorly and had to be restrained by MPs to avoid hurting himself or others. Meanwhile, Oberlin started doing what he was ordered to: Falsify the data so that it made the project look like a failure. He knew better than to ask questions.

In spite of this and the ensuing war, Hammond continued to work on the project for another five months, replacing lenses, analyzing particles, stabilizing the accelerator, activating security robots and measures in the facility all to protect him and his life's work. Eventually ATLAS neared completion, but the fate of the project remains unknown.

Points of interest

 * The heavily fortified "observatory" has an exterior area that contains a parking lot, a trail surrounding the facility leading to a back door, and a number of wrecked vehicles on the road leading into the facility.
 * The facility is built around the central dome and the weather-modifying apparatus installed within. The lowest floor contains the robot control room on the northern side and the workshops on the southern, complete with armor and weapons stations. Just next to it is the loading dock, with planks giving access to the upper floor and a stairwell leading right into the basement and the base of the ATLAS device.
 * The upper deck contains the director's office and research facilities together with the maintenance room on the northern side and the breakroom and restroom on the southern. There's a locked safe in the research office and a magazine spawn point in the break rooms. The stairwell on the southern end grants access to the topmost levels.
 * The upper floor of the upper deck includes the prototype development laboratory on the southern side with a chemistry station and additional terminals with the weather analysis wing on the northern face (including the steamer trunk just outside).
 * The top floor contains the ATLAS control room, together with the device itself.

Notable loot

 * Holotapes and Notes
 * ATLAS Research Log No. 293: The holotape is in the observatory basement, near a skeleton.
 * ATLAS Research Log No. 104:
 * Potential bobblehead
 * On top of the viewing lens, in the huge domed telescope chamber (interior).
 * Potential magazine
 * On the low coffee table by the L-shaped couch, in the remains of the break room, south of the main circular chamber (interior).
 * Other Loot
 * ATLAS Director's Password:
 * ATLAS Utility Key:

Gallery

 * Dynamic spawns

Appearances
ATLAS Observatory appears in Fallout 76.

Behind the scenes

 * The goal of controlling the weather is similar to the conspiracy theory around the HAARP or High Frequency Active Auroral Research Program which has been claimed to be researching weaponizing weather for the United States military.