The Incorporated States of Landing Site Alpha is a gargantuan, safe nation, ruled by Mission Commander Joan Carter with a fair hand, and notable for its museums and concert halls, rampant corporate plagiarism, and absence of drug laws. The compassionate, democratic, cheerful population of 39.547 billion Alpha Landers are free to do what they want with their own bodies, and vote for whomever they like in elections; if they go into business, however, they are regulated to within an inch of their lives.

The relatively small, liberal, outspoken government is primarily concerned with Education, with Environment, Administration, and Social Policy also on the agenda, while Spirituality and Defense receive no funds. It meets to discuss matters of state in the capital city of Space Elevator Anchorage One. The average income tax rate is 55.6%, and even higher for the wealthy.

The frighteningly efficient Alpha Landish economy, worth a remarkable 9,689 trillion inflation adjusted kroes a year, is driven entirely by a combination of government and state-owned industry, with private enterprise illegal. The industrial sector, which is quite specialized, is led by the Book Publishing industry, with major contributions from Tourism, Information Technology, and Cheese Exports. Average income is an amazing 245,004 inflation adjusted kroes, and distributed extremely evenly, with little difference between the richest and poorest citizens.

Citizens are exhausted from weekly general elections, anti-government web sites are springing up, Mission Commander Joan Carter can often be found attempting to coax random citizens' cats down from trees, and workers for the environmental protection agency are patted down for tartar sauce every morning. Crime is totally unknown. Landing Site Alpha's national animal is the quagga, which frolics freely in the nation's many lush forests, and its national religion is Atheism.

Landing Site Alpha is ranked 132,559^th in the world and 6,697^th in Lazarus for Largest Black Market, with 1.47 trillion Standard Monetary Units.