Lore Wednesday (Yes I know there is no alliteration) - Man's Early Attempts at Colonization
In 2074 the United States Space Corporation (a privatized version of NASA) broke ground in the construction of a new colony on Mars. A colony had already existed on the moon but it was largely earmarked for military use and did not excite the imagination of the Earth-dwelling public in the same way as the Mars project did. Earth, in 2074, by nearly every measurement, was in its death throes. The planet was overpopulated and ravaged by near endless wars. The extinction of numerous animal and plant species, and the near extinction of the common honeybee had left the world's agriculture unable to sustain humanity. Colonization was seen by the suffering masses as a beacon of hope, and by the governments of Earth as much-needed relief for problems they'd been unable to solve.
The Bend Drive would not be invented for another thirty years and so Mars was colonized through more conventional means. Machines; solar powered, and either remote controlled or operated by artificial intelligence were sent to the red planet first. They constructed vast above ground and under ground facilities that would later be used by the first waves of colonists as staging areas. To keep interest high the United States broadcast the construction efforts in real time. The progress was being made before people's eyes and it was sparking their curiosity, and their hope.
One of the young and hopeful was John Vega. Vega was 11 years old when construction began on the Mars colony. Sometimes he'd take three buses to watch the construction machines churn the red soil on the large holoscreen in Times Square. Young Vega was never the same, and the mark the Mars project left upon him would later be realized in one of mankinds largest and most historically influential colonization efforts, the founding of the Independent Systems Commonwealth.
As more and more of humanity pinned their hopes and dreams on the Mars colony the U.S. government and its surrogate the United States Space Corporation were faced with a conundrum. With so much interest, how would the colonists be selected? The rich could buy their way on to the project of course, and the government had its own essential personnel that had to be included, but what of the rest? The colony would require a great deal of skilled and unskilled workers, engineers, police, fire and rescue, and administrators. Who would be chosen?
The government held a lottery, the largest in history, to determine the first six waves of colonists. In many of the large cities riots erupted as lottery results were shared. Foreign powers did all they could to undermine the efforts, knowing the advantages an off-world colony gave the United States. Ultimately, the waves were selected and the next logistical problems had to be solved for. In order to give Mars a breathable atmosphere, asteroids comprised largely of ice had to continually be redirected to the red planet. This was dangerous, difficult, and carried with it great costs but a process that man would later improve upon greatly in their efforts to colonize other worlds.
Constructed in orbit, the colony ships were made with nothing but utility in mind. Cramped, and uncomfortable, with stale recycled air to breath, and bland nutrition paste to eat, the ships functioned for their intended purpose. The voyage was 1.2 years long and not all of the colonists, nor all of the ships made the journey. A single piece of matter traveling at hyper velocities could be enough to cripple one of the large colony ships, dooming thousands of colonists with it. The most notable tragedy of the voyage was the plight of The Conestoga which arrived into Mars orbit a complete ship containing the desicatted corpses of 1400 colonists. The oxygen recycling units on the craft had failed. Inexorably man trudged forward, proving again the human species resilience in the face of adversity.
In 2083, nearly ten years from the beginning of construction, a human colonist set foot on the colony of Mars. The atmosphere was thin, but breathable. The science had worked, and man had left the cradle of his birth.
The ships that traveled from Earth to Mars are referred to as "Slow Boats" because of their use of pre-bend traditional rocket engines for thrust. Redubbed "Freezers", John Vega would later improve upon the design of slow boats and add to them the emerging technology of cryogenics to allow for a far longer voyage to Vega prime in 2102.
If one were to visit Mars today they would have the opportunity to visit the The Conestoga. Still maintaining its orbit around the Red Planet, it has been made a full fledged museum, chonicling man's first concerted step into the vastness of the unknown.
This has been lore. Good day!
~Rob, the Notorios DEV