SPACE AT 50: RETROSPECTIVE
AFTERMATH: PREHISTORY 2022 - 2024
Though it is almost unthinkable now as few of us were alive to endure it, humanity almost destroyed itself in World War III, which raged from 2013 to 2022. The war was triggered by the discovery of the TN elements, and was our species' first attempt to deal with that discovery. 93% of mankind was lost in the self-inflicted near-apocalypse, and large sections of the Earth rendered uninhabitable, probably permanently.
The formation of SPACE in 2025 was the second attempt. The fledgling agency had but a fraction of it's current trained leadership then, much less support from humanity at large which was less than 40% of the current numbers. We knew one thing for certain: both unity and a working understanding of the eleven TN minerals would be required for any chance at our survival. We could no longer afford to fight each other.
A NEW HOPE: 2025 - 2028
Lena Dungey was chosen in a narrow election win over three men to head the agency. It was a time of many concerns, as we knew how to harvest the TN elements but not a whole lot about what they could do. It was clear that the deposits on Earth would not last long, in many cases less than a generation. Dr. Deacon Palmer was tasked with a more detailed investigation of TN properties and uses, without which the fledgling initiative was surely doomed to fail. His role was even more vital than Dungey in those early years.
A BRAVE NEW SOLAR SYSTEM: 2028-2040
With the arrival of Palmer's report in July 2028, mankind's place in the universe changed dramatically. Armed with the tools to more thoroughly explore and begin to exploit our system, both space-based naval capabilities and industrial efforts, including conversion to TN-capable facilities, were enacted in what proved to be a very long process. In five years the first shipyard was finished, and a year later the survey ship Marc Aaronson was christened in the early spring of 2034. Another four years and all of the habitable bodies were surveyed. Ground-based teams began follow-up surveys.
This period was also marked by the untimely death of Governor-Director Slick Willie, in 2036. The '37 election, narrowly won by Lena Dungey over Herbert Duling, was a key point and one of the closest in SPACE's history. Dungey's third term made a couple of missteps, an ill-advised colonization of Venus and dumping a lot of time, money, and resources into the Spruance colony ship, which was eventually abandoned. It had become clear by this time that the system's comets were a much better source, and Dungey's political career died an early and ignominous death as a result.
EXPANDING FRONTIERS: 2041 - 2056
Dungey's demise was Duling's gain, and he began the first of many terms as Governor-Director by spearheading the expansion of mining efforts on short-range comets. By the end of that term there were nearly 50 automated mines combined operating off-world, and he launched a bold plan to establish a human presence on Titan. On January 3, 2046, the first human colonists arrived at Saturn's largest moon. A week later, Dr. Ignacio Bravo's team reported on Jump Point Theory, which provided the promise of extrasolar travel. The galaxy could be within our reach.
Two years later, the GSV Hopeful was launched, a survey ship with one purpose: determining the location of any jump points out of Sol space. On May 21, a jump point was found just inside Jupiter orbit, less than 740m km from our sun. Armed with this information, Duling authorized Operation Uncertain Hope, the goal of which was to develop a ship capable of navigating jump points and exploring what lay beyond them. The Hopeful would take another three years, through early 2051, to finish it's survey. It found 7 jump points in all.
2049 brought a new Governor-Director, India Rakes, whose primary policy change was the 2% Initiative, authorizing eventual full colonization of all habitable bodes in our system. Mars and Luna were colonized immediately: others would follow. The other major challenge of her term was dealing with a corundium crisis. It's easy to forget it now, but off-world resource development was slowed for many years due to the relative scarcity of it in the system. Research priorities also began to be shifted as there was a growing demand for naval military capabilities to combat piracy and other undesirable elements in the growing colonies. SPACE was experiencing some fairly acute growing pains.
In 2053 Duling returned as Governor-Director, and immediately began exploiting the comet Faye and asteroid Prokne in an effort to increase the flow of corundium. The first TN-capable ground unit, the garrison battalion, began to be deployed that year. Meanwhile, civilian investment in a fledgling operation on the distant dwarf Sedna added much-needed duranium to the resource pool.
The next year brought the launching of the JSC Intrepid, first of the Pioneer-class 10kt science vessels which were the final product of Uncertain Hope, now completed after six years. Tragedy struck a few months before, with expected commander Gregorio Granberg found dead under suspicious circumstances. Without the expert handling of the situation by replacement Cmdr. Jay Cin III, the resulting scandal could have been disastrous.
The Intrepid launched on July 1, 2054. On July 10 at 1842, it successfully navigated Jump Point Alpha, finding beyond it the Epsilon Eridani system. In two years, assisted the last bit by the second in the Pioneer class, the Hyperion, initial surveys of seven distinct star systems had been completed.
Humanity had reached a new threshold: our reach was now interstellar in scope.
A TRAGIC DISCOVERY: 2056 - 2057
The Intrepid was tasked with a more thorough survey of Epsilon Eridani, which lay beyond by far the closest jump point, to ascertain suitability for colonization or any new jump points which might be found. When it did not return as scheduled, the Hyperion was sent in to investigate in June 2057. What they found changed human history forever.
The wreck of the Intrepid was found a month's journey from the entry point into Epsilon Eridani. Governor-Director Duling immediately authorized a reconnaisance mission under the moniker Operation Post Mortem in a globally televised address on June 11. In the early morning hours of August 3, that mission resulted in the destruction of the Hyperion by what appeared to be two flights of ten missiles each. Governors Herman Fox and Cruz Luscombe, as well as Cmdr. Dan Spengler and the 240 souls on board all perished -- some in the explosions, some in the lifepods two weeks later.
PREPARING FOR THE WORST: 2057-2064
SPACE initiated a series of changes in response to the stunning news that a hostile, advanced civilization had destroyed two of our three science vessels. To protect humanity and its interests as quickly as possible, operations beyond Sol were suspended indefinitely and the Forrestal-class jump point sensor boat was designed. Bases were designed for all of our holdings in the system, some with only sensors and ground troops but others housing defensive missile batteries. The Nimitz-class missile boat and Brooklyn-class gunboat were designed as well for additional combat capability. Research priorities shifted drastically as well, with propulsion and sensor capabilities taking center stage in an effort to begin 'catching up' with what little we know about alien technologies, and minimal sensors and CIWS anti-missile defenses were mounted on all SPACE-operated vessels larger than a shuttle.
By 2062, Earth had completed it's complement of deep-space tracking stations, dramatically improving the range at which any approaching threat would be detected. Two years later, and a pair of sensor vessels were in position at all of the seven known points of entry in Sol space. To date, they have yet to detect any attempt at penetration -- whatever the aliens motives, they seem to have decided to leave us alone.
EXPANDING CAPABILITIES: 2064-2074(PRESENT DAY)
The past decade has been marked by increasing SPACE's reach in Sol, and our potential abilities via continued massive investment in scientific research. Deployment of military bases throughout the system required the Tarawa-class Collier, the Burke-class brigade transport, hundreds of thousands of personnel in the seven construction brigades, and no small amount of time and effort. The Cleveland-class maintenance supply vessel was also deployed, as well as the first three of the Nimitz class for direct combat defense of our system. With the Alaska-class base on Titan set to begin construction, this effort is nearly completed at least in its initial phase. Comets Wolf-Harrington, Faye, Neujmin, and most recently Halley's Comet have received continued investment in mining with a special focus on neutronium, the scarcest vital mineral at the moment. At any given point in time, anywhere from 20 to two dozen research projects are ongoing as SPACE invests about a third of it's expenses in that endeavor annually, though the loss of a number of retiring elite scientists is beginning to have painful effects.
Continual advances in weapons systems, sensors, and propulsion abilities have brought us considerably closer to known alien technological levels. Meanwhile, expansion of the GLTC to four academies has seen the leadership pool grow by leaps and bounds to several times its original size, combating a brief crisis in political and administrative talent though the Army continues to need more officers badly. By the end of the 60s, the 2% Initiative was completed with full colonization of Sol: every habitable system body is occupied. Conversion to TN-capable factories on Earth and considerable expansion of the industrial sector had also been achieved.
