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In the year 1957 of the old AD calendar (-259 AI) on the 4th of October the Space Age was started by the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR). The first artificial satellite, Sputnik 1 was put into orbit. News of the Sputnik did not go down well with the politicians of the United States of America (USA). The USA and USSR were political enemies at this time. Both tried to influence as many other countries as possible. Both had enough nuclear rockets to destroy the Earth pointed at the other. Both were secretly scared of the other having military control of the space above their heads.
To the politicians the 'space-race' was just another of the political battles to beat their rival. Both sides invested large amounts of money in space technology at this time in an effort to prove that their type of political system was more effective that the other. To the scientists on both sides this was an opportunity to make a 'leap for mankind' but the space-race was only to last so long. When that race finished the scientists would find the same politicians that had recruited them trying to remove their space funding.
The USSR had been ahead of the USA but bad luck by the Soviets allowed the USA scientists to pull into the lead. The USA put the first people on the Moon (something the USSR would never get the opportunity to do) and it seemed like in 1969 that the USA had won. Gradually the Russian Space Agency was starved of funds, eventually they had to sell their services to other countries to make ends meet.
Ironically for the US space agency (NASA), beating the Soviets was indirectly responsible for their own eventual funding crisis. While the US media applauded the first men on the Moon, the second men on the Moon seemed no different to them. To them the Russians had been beaten, space was old news. US politicians repeatedly cut the budget of their space program.
Fortunately for the US and Russian space authorities advances in technology made commercial organisations interested in space and also made space travel less and less expensive.
When the commercial space race started in earnest the technology level of Earth meant that any wealthy country or group could join the game. In the 1980s the European Space Agency was the largest that competed with the two rivals to launch communication and other satellites. Business looked forward to the first permanent orbiting stations which were going to be able to manufacture all sorts of things previously impossible. Also of interest this decade super-conductors working at 240 degrees Kelvin (just over 30 degrees below the freezing point of ice) were being developed and the first evidence of extra-solar planets started to be found.
Eager to have some sort of control of the medical and other advances the USA actually did a deal with the USSR to share a station. Although the USSR had not progressed as far away from Earth as the USA they were far more advance with space life support. Suddenly before the project was about to go ahead the USSR collapsed. The Russian Federation (later to be the Russian Hegemony) could no longer come up with the funding the Soviets had. Scientists from the two sides were forced to cooperate with each other and with other countries with space programs. Space became seen as an international project.
Following the development of near room temperature super-conductors, work began on the first fusion power stations.
By the early 21st century humans were working on a permanent base in high Earth orbit. Probes from the space capable nations explored the planets, moons and other bodies of the Solar System. Bases were planed for The Moon and Mars. Space scientists argued between opening a Luna base or concentrating on sending explorers to Mars but in 2008 astronomers keen to build large array telescopes on the far side of the Moon won there case. A small base would later be installed on the near side of the Moon to service this telescopic array.
Once completed, the Luna Observatories made discovery after discovery. They gave high resolution pictures of all the nearby star systems and soon most of the extra solar planets had been observed. Radio wave telescopes found no signs of intelligent life within 100 light years, but optical telescopes discovered that many of the Earth sized planets, in the habitable zones around stars, had organic chemicals that could indicate some sort of life.
While this was happening space tourism started as a serious business. The first space program by a commercial organisation started in 2015. Spacecab meant that billionaires could fulfil their childhood dreams to become astronauts. The spacecab ships could take off and land at large airports and could switch between jet and rocket engines and could carry six (rich) passengers. The owners of spacecab, Space Inc, paid for a space hotel to built at the L1 Lagrangian point between Earth and the Moon. All potential passengers were sent to the Russian Federation for training. The income from space training, helped keep the Russian Federation in the space race.
Space Inc's marketing stated that where NASA and the ESA went they would follow, comparing space travel to early airline travel. They even subsidised an annual space-lotto. Space Inc lost half a million dollars for every winner they sent up. But the increase in public demand for NASA to re-consider its Mars Direct Program grew. In the next election one of the first space-lotto astronauts, Patrick Znamierowski, a school janitor, stood for election as a US Senator. The independent candidate, who did very little campaigning, won by such a large majority that the next day, the US President, announced a bill to double NASA's budget. Within a few years work began on an international version of Mars Direct. Space Inc contributed funds to the project on the grounds that the program would be designed so that the Mars landers could be adapted to work on the Moon, and later on two of the Jovian Satellites (Ganymead and Callisto).
The first fusion power plants come online. Space Inc, keen to boost interest in space, run adverts claiming fusion fuel from Jupiter's atmosphere can give poor countries virtually free energy. (Space Inc's inacurrate promises to the poor were later judged to be partly responsible the backlash against the rich countries, known as the Bush Wars.)
The moons first Lunar base was founded in a small crater called Zeno. As well as testing some of the equipment needed for martian bases, Zeno moonbase developed moon mining techniques and launched a network of global positioning satellites into Lunar orbit.
The Ixionidae probe in Alpha Centauri (α Cen) became the first probe to transmit pictures and data from habitable extrasolar planets. The time lag caused by the distance meant that the data didn't arrive back on Earth until 2097 AD. The United Nations immediately declaired the four new planets "open to all". However the largest space nations on Earth refused to recognise the UN declaration and started a new space race - a race to stake their claim on the best bits of real estate the Ixionidae probe had found.
The United States of America were the first to complete and launch a sleeper vessel. The starship was named "USS Enterprise", by popular demand. The Enterprise had a mass of 5.2 million tonnes and carried 20,000 colonists in cryogenic "cold sleep". It accelerated towards Alpha Centauri (α Cen) at 0.0005 G, taking 137 years to complete the 5 light year journey to Alpha Centauri A's largest habitable world.
The Russian Hegemony were the second group to complete their sleeper vessel, launching late in 2127 AD. The "Dazhbog" was a slightly lighter ship, having a mass of 4.8 million tonnes. It carried 17,000 colonists in cold sleep along with 9,000 frozen embrios. Dazhbog followed Enterprise to Alpha Centauri (α Cen) at a similar speed, travelling to the smaller (and colder) of Alpha Centauri A's habitable worlds.
Hit by technical difficulties early in their research and development stage, the European Space Agency were last to complete and launch their colonisation ship, "Starship Toliman". Starship Toliman was the smallest of the three ships to colonise Alpha Centauri (α Cen) but managed to pack 11,000 colonists into its 3.2 million tonne hull. The Toliman travelled slightly faster than the Enterprise and Dazhbog, shaving nearly six months off of the 137 year journey time and almost overtaking the Dazhbog. Starship Toliman travelled towards the warmest of Alpha Centauri B's two habitable worlds.
Other related information on Earth can be found by looking up any first wave colony using the InfoDump™ database.