Space History Lesson

Anime 2030 – History lesson on space exploration.

Modern Space Colonization

After the alien ship crashed on a small Pacific island in 2015, many nations took a serious interest in space. Those who already had working space programs soon doubled their efforts, but it was the Organization of Latin American States, who made the most astounding progress. From nothing in 2015, their space program sent the first manned mission to Mars in 2020. (Of course they did not invent anything new, they used existing patents, proven tech and well theorized ideas.)

Map shows the three space ports of the OLAS Space Agency. They are located along the equator to take full advantage of the easy launch window from that latitude. The central port is rumored to have a large hidden military base near it.

While OLAS was aiming at Mars, most other nations were working towards a moon base. 

First Base is privet property  

In fact Virgin Galactic, the corporation owned by eccentric billionaire Branson, actually started work back in 2013. As WW3 raged rich investors got on the wagon; the idea of escaping to the moon did not seem crazy. The base Branson built was impressive, but small. It was designed for maximum self sufficiency for 300 persons. Perhaps most importantly it was hidden on the dark side of the moon. 

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The Alpha story

In 2017 the European exploration team was sent to the moon, to confirm what probes had picked out as the best location. A year later, after dozens of unmanned cargo pods had been sent, the first construction team made the trip. Work would continue with rotating teams over the next year until Moon Base Alpha was complete in late 2019. Although the work was largely done by Europeans, the Base was intended to be open to all.

In connection with the Moon Base project was the development of the EAGEL space craft. A general purpose utility vehicle built for low gravity use only. It was never expected to land on Earth. Its central cargo pod was detachable, very much like a pace going 20 ft ISO shipping container. 

 EAGLE 1 is seen here on the landing pad ready for take off. The base had 5 pads, each with an underground hanger bay. Passengers generaly used the gantry, located at the left, while cargo was handled down below in the bay. 

Replacement of the International Space Station

Although most attention was on the Luna project, two very important satellites were also under construction in the late 2010s. They were of similar design with a large rotating ring for artificial gravity and a central 0-G docking and cargo cylinder. ( rather like the station seen in the old film 2001 ) Here we see the unfinished station in earth orbit and the new passenger space plane, able to fly to the station with out the need of the massive booster rockets used by the old US space shuttle.

The Annular was located in low earth orbit, in 2018. Strangely it got the nick name “Satellite 5” and almost no one uses its real name today. The Equinox finished in 2021, was located at a Lagrange point opposite the Moon, so as to be in a high stable orbit around the earth. 

The satellite building was mostly the work of a Russian – Japanese team, who used thruster technology discovered by the Macross Project, from the alien ship, to launch massive payloads into orbit. With conventional chemical rockets building a big station would have been mind numbingly expensive, if not impossible.

OLAS Mars Mission

After several probes were sent and a landing site selected, a large number of unmanned cargo pods were launched. They would contain habitat modules, equipment, and an emergency return vehicle. At the same time the sections of the Condor were sent into low Earth orbit and assembled there. In 2020 the Condor left Earth, caring a crew of 20 on the 55 million km trip to Mars, taking 274 days to reach the red planet.

The Condor is the first and last pure Human space craft to make an interplanetary trip. All later generation ships featured elements of alien tech and style. Notice the central ring for spin created gravity, the large fuel tank, the robotic arm and the solar panels. The landing craft, which docs at the front, is not seen here. 

The OLAS mission set up a research outpost and utilities for later use. It did not establish a permanent colony. Although three scientists wanted to stay, they were convinced to come home just before the Condor departed, after its 120 day stay at Mars. The main dome is seen here with the landing craft in the foreground. 

The Ship Yard.

Construction of Alpha-2, a yard for the building of space ships, was started in 2023. Although it was largely a European effort, it was intended for use by the UN-SDF. Not surprisingly it followed a similar style as the original Alpha base, which was 50km away. Once operational in 2026, the yard would construct large craft, able to move a thousand people or ten thousand tons of cargo. More critically it would build warships.

 The view here shows the public landing pad. In the distance are the four main work areas. 

The Dragon’s Turn

In 2023 China, after carefully studying the Mars mission and the Moon base construction, launched a boom of activity. It sent full construction teams to both Mars and the Moon, with equipment and supplies necessary for the construction of a ‘Stage 1’ base. A year later, when the first teams had come home, the colonists were sent out, including workers who would expand the facilities. By 2030 China had sizable bases on Mars and on the Moon; installations that are hardened with serious defensive fire power.  

This is a plan of the 'Stage 1' Chinese Gamma type base. As part of the defenses most of it would be buried under a few feet of local dirt. ( weapons clusters are not shown here ) As part of 'Stage 2' a deep shaft would be drilled and more secure underground segments would be constructed.

Here is the Shenzhou Xian, the work horse of China’s space fleet. Although it uses spin gravity, many of its systems are derived from the Macross Project. Its Mark 2z ion drive enabled it to reach Mars in 140 days, with no worries about fuel consumption. After making several trips between Earth and Mars it was refitted for exploration of the outer solar system in 2028. 

 

Race of red planet control

Not wanting to be overshadowed on Mars, OLAS pushed ahead with its colonization effort in 2025. While not as grand as China’s project, they were determined. OLAS sent a slow and steady stream of cargo pods, while personnel traveled on the Condor. Importantly, they included Europeans who wanted to go explore the red planet, while the Chinese did not. Because of a tragic romance story that happened during the construction of the new base, it was named Sara. 

NASA (New American Space Agency) in action

In 2025 the USA, after much learning from the Macross Project, enters into a joint effort with Japan and Australia to assembled its first ship. They named it Enterprise and built it as a solar system exploration vessel. ( Note: we here refer to the USA with its capital in Hawaii, not the fragmented groupings of states on continental North America. They were systematically excluded from the Macross Project. )

Between 2025-27, there were nine of the Ringmaster type ships built, the first three being pure science craft, the next three being construction vessels and the last three being colonizers. The same basic hull was used, with its small spin gravity area. The major changes were to the central cargo carrying area. The mission of this fleet was to set up permanent observation outposts all over the solar system. Most would be unmanned, but a few key bases would crews of joint science and military specialists. 

Perhaps even more impressive than the ships themselves was the orbiting yard used to build them. It was a huge open frame work that served as a base for the numerous robot arms that helped build the ships. After 2027, the yard was put open for leas; nations and corporations were encouraged to bid on its use. The winner of the first contract was SAMAC a company who wanted to mine asteroids for minerals not found on Earth. They had a ship very similar to the Ringmaster type built. 

First of the Defenders 

The UN-SDF main warship design - Spartan Class Destroyer

Although many details of this ship are top secret, it is known to be a combination of human-alien tech that does not rely overly on the ultra science that is available. In other words, a lot of it ( including the spin gravity central area ) is good old tried and proven solid state Earth invented. The UN-SDF claims that this choice of a sub optimal technology platform as its main warship will serve a critical first contact function; "It will make the aliens underestimate our abilities." The more logical argument for the design revolves around the crew skill sets that are needed. 

( Note - no copy right violations or misrepresentation is intended. The images are used in the context of this RPG because they are cool and represent what I need. )