Timeline

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What follows is a complete timeline of significant events in the known history of space travel in the Milky Way, and the history of the Virgo Orbital Research Establishment.

Or it will be. It's not done yet.

The history of the Space Station 13 universe is (obviously) not entirely our own, but rather one that has diverged from ours during the early 20th century. So while it takes place in the future, it is not our future, but a future as imagined by this community.

Behind the scenes

What would I even put here? Really.

http://ss13polaris.com/wiki/doku.php?id=lore:history Probably gonna steal lots from here.

Editor's Note (TEMPORARY)

If you are taking lore from other communities, please mark it for now until we make it official.

Example:

• 2467: Clowns invade the Mime Republic of "..." in the Faire Taire system. (Goonstation)

Okay that's not actually Goon lore, but it's an example of how I want it written.

Real world events of scientific significance should also be included.

For the moment, go absolutely nuts adding things. I'm going to personally review everything at a later date.

20th Century

1900s

• 1903: Inspired by the writings of Jules Verne, the first serious scientific papers are published that show physical space exploration is theoretically possible.
• 1905: Albert Einstein publishes his Special Theory of Relativity.

1910s

• 1912: Victor Hess discovers the existence of cosmic radiation.
• 1918: Chase Monroe is born in Montana.

1920s

• 1920: The Nazi Party is formed.
• 1926: Robert H. Goddard launches humanity's first liquid-fueled rocket.
• 1927: Verein für Raumschiffahrt (Society for Space Travel) is formed; it includes many top European rocket scientists.
• 1929: Hermann Oberth, with students including Wernher von Braun, launches his first liquid-fueled rocket. Among them is Dietrich Troy, who has been studying Special Relativity among other quantum mechanical theories.

1930s

• 1930: Paul Dirac Dirac's textbook Principles of Quantum Mechanics is published.
• 1931: First German military liquid-fueled rocket engines developed.
• 1932: Adolf Hitler is appointed as Chancellor of Germany.
• 1933: Work begins on the Aggregate series of rockets which leads to the V-2 rocket.
• 1934: Adolf Hitler becomes Führer of Germany.
• 1935: Dietrich Troy joins the Nazi Party.
• 1937: Chase Monroe joins the United States Army.

1940s

• 1941: The United States enters World War 2.
• 1942: The Battle of Stalingrad takes place.
• 1944: Dietrich Troy becomes a Wonder Weapons researcher working on the V-2 rocket under the supervision of Ludwig Brandt. However, Brandt becomes interested in research notes by Troy regarding the possibility of time travel, and has Troy reassigned.
  • September: The V-2 Rocket is the first man-made object to cross what would later be defined as the Kármán line, becoming the first spaceflight in human history.
  • June: Chase Monroe participates in the Battle of Normandy. The allied invasion of Europe begins.
• 1945: Under Ludwig Brandt's supervision, using Dietrich Troy's designs and calculations, the first Bluespace Gateway in history is built within a secret underground facility beneath the city of Lübeck. It is referred to as the Saphirdimensionale Zeitbrücke (SDZ).
  • The Battle of Berlin takes place. Adolf Hitler, realizing the war is lost, escapes in secret with the German 21st Army to Lübeck. An unknown individual, possibly one of Hitler's body doubles, is executed and their body burned to fool the Soviets and even Hitler's personal guard into believing that Hitler committed suicide. Hitler instead goes into hiding at the underground base in Lübeck as the SDZ is rushed to completion.
  • July: The Manhattan Project produces the first nuclear fission explosion during the Trinity test in New Mexico.
  • August: The nuclear bombs Fat Man and Little Boy are dropped on Japan, formally ending World War 2.
  • October: The United Nations are established.
• 1946: Chase Monroe is promoted to Sergeant and reassigned to Operation Paperclip to locate and retrieve Nazi technology before the Soviet Union can do the same.
• November: Monroe and his unit are sent to investigate rumors of a hidden Nazi base in Lübeck. A secret passage is discovered beneath Holstein Tor, leading to an underground complex still inhabited by active Nazi troops. A firefight breaks out between American and Nazi-remnant forces. As American forces call for backup, Chase Monroe breaks from his group to pursue several high ranking Nazi officers including Dietrich Troy, Ludwig Brandt, and even Adolf Hitler himself. The officers evacuate through the SDZ, but Monroe is able to follow them just moments before the portal is deliberately sabotaged by the Nazi-remnants using dynamite. The Incident at Lübeck is covered up by the Office of Strategic Services, and any documents that were not destroyed by the Nazi-remnants are brought back to the United States. However, American scientist are unable to put together the missing pieces, and eventually give up on the project, assuming it to be another impossible Wonder Weapon that never would have worked in practice.
• December: Chase Monroe is declared Missing In Action.

1950s

• 1957: Hugh Everett formulates the many-worlds interpretation of quantum mechanics, which states that every possible quantum outcome is realized in divergent, non-communicating parallel universes in quantum superposition.
  • October: Humanity's first artificial satellite, Sputnik 1, is launched into orbit.

1960s

• 1964: John Stewart Bell puts forth Bell's theorem, which inaugurated the study of quantum entanglement; the phenomenon in which separate particles share the same quantum state despite being at a distance from each other.
• 1966: Humanity's first soft landing on another world (the Moon).

1970s

• 1971: Humanity's first soft landing on another planet (Mars).
• 1977: Voyager 1 and 2 are launched from Earth.

1980s

• 1981: Humanity's first reusable manned spacecraft, STS-1, is launched.
• 1986: Humanity's first consistently inhabited long-term research space station, Mir, begins operation.

1990s

• 1998: The International Space Station begins operation.

21st Century

2000s

• 2001: The Global War on Terror begins, which is considered to be the first truly global effort of the world's nations against a common enemy.
• 2009: Scientists warn that the effects of global warming are now so severe that they cannot be reversed.

2010s

• 2011: The corporate endeavor Mars One is founded, planning for a one-way trip to make the first human Mars, which will be funded by making it a reality TV show.

2020s

• 2023: The Global War on Terror is declared over through a mix of negotiation and (in some cases) complete annihilation of various terror groups.

2030s

• 2032: Mars One departs from Earth after several delays.
• 2033: Mars One arrives on Mars.
• 2034: Mars One colonists all perish due to dwindling supplies and mental breakdowns, making international news as the entire tragedy is caught on live video. An incompetent selection process is blamed.
• 2036: Mars One goes bankrupt.
• 2038: Chronic flooding of the world's coastal cities, combined with droughts further inland, begins to severely devastate the economies of many nations. The Water Wars begin in the Middle East.

2040s

• 2040: The Water Wars result in skyrocketing prices for crude oil, culminating in a standoff between China, Europe, Russia, India, and the United States.
• 2042: For the first time in human history, a nuclear fusion reactor produces a net gain in power. However, the net gain is so minuscule that even wind and solar power are seen as far more practical and cost effective options.

2050s

• 2054: The first sentient AI is created. It has the cognitive ability of a 4 year old child.

2060s

• 2063: The colonization of Luna begins under the aegis of the United Nations opens the door to further extraterrestrial colonization.
• 2068: Despite desperate international efforts to avert a crisis, the Water Wars end with a localized nuclear war between Middle Eastern nations, plus India and Pakistan. Billions are killed. It is the largest loss of human life to a single war in the course of human history. Numerous nations are destroyed or collapse completely, such as Armenia, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Pakistan, Qatar, Syria, Yemen, and the United Arab Emirates.
• 2069: Earth's nations vow to lay down their nuclear arms in order to avoid an incident like the Water Wars, for fear of a war on such a scale that it could be the end of humanity.

2070s

• 2070: In the aftermath of the Water Wars, a reformed interpretation of Islam, known as 'Tariq Al'Islam', takes root in the Middle East. Believing that the devastating war had been divine punishment for centuries of transgressions, this new religious reinforces the idea of a better, friendlier Middle East.
• 2071: Remnants of Egypt, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey sign the Treat of Niqaba, also known as The Brotherhood Treaty. Bitter and ancient rivalries between the four nations are put to an end with the founding of the United Republic of Mesopotamia. Other surviving Middle Eastern nations including Afghanistan, Bahrain, and Oman eventually join the newly formed Republic. Reconstruction and reform efforts begin across the Middle East. However, oil production in the area remains permanently devastated.
• 2072: Rising sea levels due to climate change result in the destruction of New York City during a major storm, killing thousands, and stranding millions. The United Nations headquarters is moved to Paris during the emergency. This change becomes permanent.
• 2075: The Unified Earth Government (UEG) is commissioned by the United Nations as an assembly of political leaders and brilliant minds, and is tasked with attempting to avert the crises of the next century by solving governmental unification issues of colonizing non-Earth territories. Among its first members are much of the European Union, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, and India. The United States, Russia, and China decline an invitation, which creates doubt that the UEG's efforts will be successful.
• 2076: The United Republic of Mesopotamia joins the UEG. Recently elected President Abdul Majeed al-Radwan famously declares that unless humanity can live without borders, the world will perish. He cites the Water Wars as a cautionary tale, and implores the United States, Russia, and China to join the rest of humanity.
• 2078: Permanent colonization of Mars is initiated by a collection of international corporate interests, which brings industry off-world. It also provides some alleviation to the strain on Earth's resources and environment.
• 2079: Bluespace is discovered. The Journal of Higher Dimensional Physics publishes an article about the discovery.

2080s

• 2080: The UEG's nations pool together their resources to colonize Luna, Mars, and a handful of other sites in the Sol system, including the Jovian Moons, and a number of asteroids.
• 2081: The Antarctic Wars begin as China and the United States attempt to seize oil reserves in the antarctic, disregarding international treaties in the process. Neither nations are willing to use nuclear weapons, or attack each other's mainland.
  • November: Rather than participate in the war, Russia joins the UEG, providing the alliance with a strong military presence. In doing so, Cuba, Venezuela, Kazakhstan, and Belarus also join.
• 2085: The first bluespace engine is invented. Slow, bulky, dangerous, and prohibitively expensive, it nonetheless revolutionizes physics and space travel. Japan joins the UEG in order to participate directly in its development. However, it lacks a suitable power source.
• 2086: North Korea finally collapses in violent revolt. The influx of refugees severely hamper the Chinese war effort. The United States is accused for providing weapons, but this is never proven.
• 2088: The first practical fusion reactor is produced, powering cities throughout western Europe.

2090s

• 2090: Orbital construction begins on Hakobune, the first ever colony ship intended to set course for a world outside of the Sol. Companies from Japan and South Korea play a core role in its development, most notably in the development of an on-board fusion reactor to power it. South Korea also joins the UEG.
• 2093: The last gas-powered car in Europe is dismantled for scrap. Without the economic strain of fossil fuels, the UEG experiences a substantial economic boom. The cost of fuel is at its lowest point since the Water Wars, but it's still 150% more expensive compared to any point prior to the Water War.
• 2094: The Antarctic War enters its 13th year, and has become severely bogged down on both sides. The United States and China are both left in poverty, while enviously watching the UEG continue to flourish. To make matters worse, what oil could be recovered at the Antarctic proves to be substantially less than what was hoped for. The public on both sides sees the conflict as a lost cause.
• 2097: Beaten and demoralized, the United States and China reluctantly agree to meet at the negotiation table. The UEG offers economic aid in exchange for an end to their war. China is the first to give in, and joins the UEG. Many Asian and African nations follow suit.
• 2099: China withdraws the last of its troops from Antarctica, signalling an informal end to the Antarctic War. The United States celebrates, though it's a hollow victory.

22nd Century

2100s

• 2100: The Hakobune launches at the turn of the century. This marks the beginning of the Hyperspace Age for Humanity. Equipped with both a warp drive and Matter-Antimatter powered bluespace jump drive, the vessel is capable of reaching speeds of up to ten times the speed of light in warp space, as well as the capacity to enter Bluespace as a means to reach other stars in a matter of hours, rather than days or years. It has a jump range of only 5 light years, but it's enough to reach Sol's closest neighbors.
• 2101: Caving to international and domestic political pressure, the United States at last casts a public ballot to join the UEG. It's a landslide victory.
• 2104: The last President of the United States ends his term in office. The United States formally joins the UEG, and following its example are the last of the world's nations—mostly from South America. For the first time in human history, there are no longer any ongoing wars.
• 2106: The Hakobune charges its Bluespace Jump Drive for the first time and departs for Proxima Centauri, where the first exoplanet, now named Covenant, is colonized. The first colony to be founded is called Goddard's Intent. It is the first of millions of human colonies to come.
• 2109: The Hakobune returns to Earth to resupply, and brings with it word of its successful colonization of an exoplanet. Several new colony ships begin development. They are named Discovery, Event Horizon, La Perouse, Lateralus, Leif Eriksson, Magellan, Sovereign, and Zheng He.

2110s

• 2115: UES La Perouse departs for Sirius.
• 2119: Extrasolar asteroids are found to contain trace amounts of a super heavy element with extreme reductive behavior and an unexplained stability. Beyond becoming a curiosity for chemists and nuclear physicists, the discovery changes little in the field of science. Colloquially referred to as plasma at the time, Phoron will later become a crucial part of interstellar travel.

2120s

• 2129: The United Nations creates the first iterations of the ODSTs. (Halo)

2180s

• 2185: Humanity makes a baffling discovery, requiring astrophysicists to re-examine their timeline of the galaxy: A red dwarf was found in its dying stages. The only anomaly these dwarves exhibit is an overabundance of the previously discovered super-heavy element Phoron.

23rd Century

(This is all subject to being moved around. Discovering phoron's use for FTL should happen before meeting the Skrell. The UEG becoming the USSC should happen after the discovery of the Skrell, but before or during meeting the Unathi and the Hedgemony War.)

2210s

• 2211: A group of researchers led by Eirik Alden and Anastasia Sarapova make a discovery that changes the nature of Faster-than-Light Travel by proving that Phoron naturally contains a stable form of an exotic particle that is entangled with Bluespace. In their honor, it is named the Alden-Sarapova particle.
• 2213: Using the Alden-Sarapova particle, the first modern Bluespace drive prototype is designed on paper, which is theoretically far more fuel efficient and less volatile than any predecessor.
• 2219: The patent for the Alden-Sarapova Bluespace Drive is made public domain. Anastasia Sarapova is quoted saying "it would be a detriment to humanity" to keep the patent.

2230s

• 2231: The first prototype Alden-Sarapova Bluespace Drive is produced. It smashes previous jump distance records by achieving a 27.2 light year jump from Earth to Xi Ursae Majoris. It also sets a record for the smallest ship capable of FTL travel, thanks to more reasonable power requirements that makes Matter-Antimatter ships obsolete.
• 2237: The first commercially viable Alden-Sarapova Bluespace Drives appear on the market. It is also adopted by the UEG's navy. The Expansion Age begins.

2250s

• 2250: The United Earth Government is reorganized into the United Systems of Sol Central. The Navy is likewise reorganized to become the United Sol Defense Force, now with a mission that officially expands beyond the Solar system.

24th Century

2380s

• 2382: A distress signal is received from the private survey vessel Roanoake, reporting that they had suffered an asteroid impact while traversing the Scutum-Centaurus arm, on a course 30 degrees from Sol.
• 2386: The wreck of the Roanoake is discovered on a deorbital trajectory with the local star, with the black box jettisoned into a stable orbit. Logs from the black box indicate that a virulent infection spread among the crew following the impact, and the decision was made to scuttle the ship with all hands. No boarding was attempted.

25th Century

2430s

• 2437: A refining outpost in the Eta Carina sector reports a medical emergency in which a mining crew brought an unknown contagion aboard. The disease was successfully contained, with symptoms reported to be consistent with a highly virulent flesh-eating microbe. Epidemiologists note similarities between this new contagion and that reported in the logs of the Roanoake, but the link is dismissed as the two sites are several thousand light years apart.

2450s

• 2456: The contagion identified at Eta Carina is found to be present at another asteroid mining site between the Sagittarius and Scutum-Centaurus arms. Revisiting the possibility of a connection between these sites despite the vast distances involved, the research ship Aesculap is dispatched to the Roanoake's last known location.
• 2457: The Aesculap positively identifies material from the Roanoake's hull, as well as biomatter matching that found at Eta Carina, embedded in a comet on the outskirts of the system. The contagion is provisionally named "Roanoake Syndrome".

2460s

• 2463: Research into Roanoake Syndrome and its interaction with other microbes discovers that it is capable of rapid evolution and mimicry, consuming other microbes and replicating their own processes, though the disease is still too virulent and unpredictable for this to be useful in medical applications.

26th Century

2510s

• 2514: A colony survey team reports the discovery of a lifeform that appears to be an asymptomatic carrier of Roanoak Syndrome. Despite extensive efforts, no other examples of the species are discovered, though several indigenous species are found that share some characteristics. The specimen is quarantined and isolated for study.
• 2515: Further study of the Roanoake carrier reveals that rather than being an indigenous creature, every cell in its body is mimicking those found in numerous other lifeforms on the planet of discovery, revealing that the mimicry of Roanoake Syndrome is capable of replicating and hybridising macroorganisms. The specimen is designated xeno-chimera 1.
• 2518: The first laboratory-grown Roanoake macroorganism is successfully created - a hybrid of a white mouse and a cockroach. Further Roanoake-hybrids follow.

2520s

• 2524: The USDF Pathfinder and other vessels are commissioned by SolGov to search the galaxy for new worlds to be colonized.
• 2526: The Sergal race is discovered by the USDF Pathfinder, but does not report the finding as all crew are killed.
  • December: The USDF Hoenir is deployed to locate survivors along the Pathfinder's last known trajectory, which eventually brings them to Vilous.
• 2527: The Vilous Incident takes place.
  • February: The USDF Hoenir discovers Pathfinder's distress beacon, but finds no survivors. The Hoenir encounter hostile Sergals and report back to SolGov with their findings.
  • April-June: Glenn Pink orders a task force to the Vilous system, but is forced to stand down by President James Harvard. The mission is passed to Admiral Antoine Fontaine, whose task forceis severely neutered due to micro management and cost reductions by President Harvard.
  • October: USDF Column of Spring, a colony ship, to land at Tal in the Vilous system. Over a thousand USDF personnel are killed in the conflict that ensues.
  • November: James Harvard loses the 2528 presidential election of Sol.

2530s

• 2531: The Virgo-Erigone system is discovered by explorers, found to be rich with phoron. NanoTrasen purchases the coordinates to the system and registers a claim with SolGov.
• 2533: NanoTrasen sends a colony ship to Virgo-Erigone, which eventually becomes the city of Anur.
• 2539: The Virgo Research Outpost is launched into orbit around Virgo-Prime. It is a relatively basic station run only by a small crew of Russian-speaking scientists.

2540s

• 2540: The NDV Brutus launches on its maiden voyage, equipped with a one of a kind Bluespace Artillery Cannon. Meanwhile, NanoTrasen Defense Force promotes James Townes to the rank of Colonel and assigns him to protect the Virgo-Erigone system aboard the Brutus.
• 2542: The first positive identification of a Roanoake-hybrid derived from a sapient species is discovered, showing signs of having replicated the intelligence of its host species. Such hybrids are formally designated as Xenochimera.
• 2546: The Virgo Research Outpost is destroyed. All inhabitants aboard are killed. Colonel James Townes claims a meteor storm was responsible.

2550s

• 2556: The Virgo-Erigone Government Authority (VEGA) is established by NanoTrasen.
• 2557: An Exodus-class space station is purchased from an orbital shipyard in Tau Ceti, and is shipped to the Virgo-Erigone system.
• 2558: The NSS Adephagia begins operation as the first Virgo Orbital Research Establishment (VORE-1) with Kessmia Mills as its first Captain. It is minimally crewed with only some heads of staff, even excluding a Head of Security.
  • February: VORE-1's crew exceeds 20 people for the first time.
  • March: An engineer from VORE-1 is knocked into orbit during an asteroid storm. He survives his injuries and ends up aboard the derelict remains of the Virgo Research Outpost, where he finds evidence of a conspiracy to kill the station's inhabitants, and that the alleged meteor storm was nothing but a cover-up. NanoTrasen blames Colonel Townes for the deaths and subsequent cover-up. SolGov issues a warrant for Townes's arrest. Townes disappears into hiding.
  • April: During a company celebration of VORE-1's success, James Townes returns from hiding alongside sympathizers from the Syndicate, and hijacks the NDV Brutus. In response, Captain Harmony Prechtl leads Operation Magnum, which results in the death of former Colonel Townes.
  • May: VORE-1 is intentionally destroyed in a code Delta nuclear detonation by Captain Jeremiah Acacius during an emergency caused by a xenobio slime infestation that got out of control and attained a hivemind-like sentience. VORE-2 is purchased and shipped in two weeks later, and replaces VORE-1. It is also an Exodus-class station, but with some modernization upgrades.
  • October: A crew from VG-Box outpost in the Tau Ceti system are somehow flown thousands of light years off course to the VORE-2 by mistake. The Red October Riot occurs, resulting in the complete death of the VG-Box crew. The reason for the erroneous redirect to NSS Adephagia remains a mystery to this day. A memorial plaque is put up outside the VORE-1 bar in the aftermath of the incident.
  • December: Tal is annexed under SolGov's control, granting Sol Central passports to Sergals, and later Nevareans. These two races begin leaving Vilous to work for various Trans-Stellar Corporations, including NanoTrasen.
• 2559: The VORE-2 is retired and demolished in favor of VORE-3, which is an asteroid colony based on the blueprints of the Northern Star in the Vir system. Technical issues plague its deployment.

2560s

• 2560: Kitsuhana Heavy Industries sells Resleeving technology to NanoTrasen, intended to replace traditional flash-cloning. Medical trials of the new technology begin on VORE-3.
• 2561: VORE-3 is decommissioned in favor of the tether on Virgo-3B, which is opened for operation, and is designated as the NSB Adephagia (VORE-4).