With rapid advances in quantum technology in the mid twentyfirst century, humanity has gained some measure of control over two of the major limiting factors in space travel: Gravity and distance. With the discovery of instantaneous travel between distant points, suddenly the vastness of space was open to all of humanity to explore. This technology, despite how powerful it is, still has its limitations. It requires first for a network link to be established physically before a gate can be made operational. This require the gate to be connected to another operation gate, then guided either autonomously or manually towards its destination.
Gates function in two different ways. In the first, a standard ship approaches a gateway for transport and transmits it's desired desination from a pre determined list of available gates on the network. The gate first forms a connection to the central gate network, then uses that connection to establish a connection to the desired destination gate. Some ships, primarily those used in military applications and those used in gate establishment operations in new star systems, possess onboard gate drives than enabled them to travel instantaneously to any established gate available in the network.
Initially, gate stations were launched into orbit to every major body and Lagrange point within the Solar System. This created a massive explosion in both industry and eventually permanent human inhabitation. However, even with the boon of this new technology, interstellar travel remains difficullt. An international initiative known as the "Gateship" program was formed, with primary mission of helping to scout the areas around freshly installed insterstellar gates for debris, gather precision astronomical data, and search for possible signs of life.
Approximate timeline
2025: fundamental research establishes link between entanglement and wormholes at the subatomic level.
2029: First experiments establishing the feasability of utilizing these wormholes to transport solid matter.
2032: Due to increasing unrest stemming from problems arising due to global climate change, world governments are forced to annouce global initiative to fund the newly dubbed "Gateway" systems and related space travel technologies. The UNSI (United Nations Space Initiative) is formed as a colaboration between the space agencies of the world under the administration of the UN. Construction of the first interplanetary gate network begins.
2035: First permanent colony established near Jupiter. It's primary purpose is mining resources from the moon system. Secondary purpose includes testing the viability of large scale agriculture in microgravity environments.
2040: As the push to get more of the human population involved in spacefaring industries, Stations and colonies are established near/on every major body in the Solar System. Improvements in self sufficient agriculture filter back to Earth, helping to ease ever growing problems of food and water shortages.
2042: The UNSI, interested in maintaing the pace of developement and expansion, begins preliminary work on the first wave interstellar gates. The targets chosen are Proxima Centauri(4.24 ly), Sirius(8.58 ly), Procyon (11.40 ly),
2051: First microgate probe arrives at Alpha Centauri system. Gate is systematically expanded to allow for full sized transits to occur. Later that year, the first humans arrive from outside the solar system in one of the first operational gateships.
2053: Gate established around the fourth planet of Alpha Centauri A. Ideal conditions exist for human inhabitation detected, however there appear to be no signs of indigneous life. Colonization efforts begin.
http://fast-times.eldacur.com/cgi-bin/S ... on&SVG=off2055: Second wave of insterstellar gates launched. Targeted systems are Gliese_876(15.34 ly), Groombridge 1618(15.84 ly), and Tau Ceti (11.88 ly)
2058: Second microgate arrives at the Sirius system. No Earth-like planets detected, however the system contains plentiful resources and scientific opportunities.
http://fast-times.eldacur.com/cgi-bin/S ... on&SVG=off2064: Third gate microgate arrives at Procyon. Gateships launched simultaneously to both Procyon A and B. First alien life detected on the fifth planet. Despite having an atmosphere composed of primarily noble gasses and poisoness levels of oxone, high levels of chlorophyllic prokaryotes thrive there.
http://fast-times.eldacur.com/cgi-bin/S ... on&SVG=offhttp://fast-times.eldacur.com/cgi-bin/S ... on&SVG=off2070 : Colonization of new systems continues. Quantum theory of gravity worked out, leading to the developement of artificial gravity systems, antigravity fields, and gravity drives.
2077: Microgate arrives at Tau Ceti. A series of ships are commissioned for carrying out initial operations within the system. The ships choses for this task are the Hyperion, the Amazon, and the Pioneer.
Ship Name: Pioneer
Ship Model :Modified Arrow Freighter, carries onboard DGIV, and an Azure rover. Rotation wheel has been replaced due to being redundant with a mounting brace and gate system.
Needed roles:
Flight Deck:
Pilot:
Flies the ship. Military experience prefered.
Copilot:
LadyKate
Assists the pilot or directs the ship in thier abscense. At least commercial experience prefered. Pilots DGIV during any surface operations.
Navigational Astrophysicist / Science team lead:
Handles navigations and leads the astonomical section of the science dept.
Astrophysicists x2
Xeno Biologists(x2):
Joseph Anderson(huhwutok)
Chemical EngineersX2
Communications Specialist:
Handles all ship communication systems and relays docking
Lead Engineer:
Muse
Handles all engineering operation on board including life support and propulsion
Mechanical Engineers x2
Electriconic Engineers x2
Fabrication Technicians x2
Lead Medic:
AhZombies
Helps deal with all medical emergencies that occur during deployment
Medical assistants(x1-3):
KittyQueen
Galley:
Food service personel x1-4
This will be updated as crew join. Crew will be taken in order and non-crew members will be added as they arrive IC.
Basic procedures:
First, a probe carrying a microgate is guided to the desired system. Afterwards, a series of ten
increasingly large gates are constructed using the gate previously constructed.
Each Gateship carries a detachable gate intended for mid-trip refuels/resupplies, crew rotations. Initially, a skeleton crew guides the Gateship to its intended destination. Upon reaching the target, the gate is placed into a stable orbit around the target. The gateship then retrieves a fresh gate from the nearest construction yard, performs preliminary examinations, then carries on to the next destination. Long term stops are made in the event of major discovery, anomalies that bear immediate investigation, or emergency situations.