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Extrasolar Colonization
TO TRAVEL BEYOND THE confines of the Sol System, a tremendous amount of energy is required to make the endeavor successful. Technological, sociological, and logistical support is essential, for failure in any of these or hundreds of other areas can result in disaster. But most importantly, before such an effort even begins, one must know where to go.
The beginning of the Twenty-first Century saw the discovery of many worlds beyond Sol, a portion of which held many indications of habitability. Through the efforts of the ExoMAP team, direct imaging by various groups, and even advance high-c probes sent to select targets, planets were found which would support Human life with a minimum of effort. But it was not until the success of the Alpha Centauri Project that the viability of seeding Human life among the stars was demonstrated.
Indeed, the Alpha Centauri Project remained the benchmark for successful extrasolar colonization, even long after the technology that had made it possible was outmoded. In those more desperate times, the ACP was seen as a goal to reach for, while later and more relaxed colonization efforts viewed the ACP as something to be built upon, even improved. Whatever the case, it was this first effort which set the pace, and which had lasting effects which would resonate all the way down to the Tenth Millennium.
THE ALPHA CENTAURI PROJECT (often called the Great Experiment by its initial critics)
| Star | Date Departed | Date Arrived | Planet | Planetary Classification |
| Alpha Centauri A | 2101 CE | date arrived | Ghellhonus | GaianContinental Subdivision |
| Alpha Centauri B | 2101 CE | date arrived | Baahki | EuPromethean Subtype |
| Proxima Centauri | 2101 CE | date arrived | Bester | JaniVesperian Subtype |
THE ALPHA CENTAURI PROJECT was a boon for Mankind, as it benefited from the remarkable circumstance of there being three Human habitable worlds in the system closest to Sol. Had this not been the case, or had there even been a single habitable world here, then the movement into the Local Neighborhood could well have been delayed for centuries. Nevertheless, there were indeed three worlds here, and their discovery rekindled the fierce instinct to explore and colonize.
The three primary colonial vessels were of a basic design, intended to serve as the resting place for 500 colonists each, all locked within a genetically induced hibernative state. Only a crew of twelve would be awake at any one time, and for shifts of 6 months each. These three shifts would be the caretakers of the ships and the colonists, but more importantly they would require only the tiniest fraction of supplies that an entire waking colonial compliment would have demanded. Food for five hundred people, not to mention any number of other incidental supplies, would have been hugely and prohibitively bulky. A shift arrangement made the trip easier, and more economical. The bulk of supplies would be in a veritable flotilla of unmanned vessels, capable of traveling at a higher speed than the 0.13c that the colonial ships moved at, and so would save that much more fuel and oversight. In constant radio contact with the colony ships, status reports would be routinely monitored by the waking crew, although as the distance between the two groups grew, little aid could be rendered if there were a problem.
An unmanned probe also preceded both the supply fleet and the colonial fleet. However, the colonists would be well on their way by the time that the Centauri Traveler arrived, and so this reconnaissance mission communicated directly with the waking crew. As such, those who relied on the data were on the receiving end. Those back on Earth were treated to second hand data streams, but it was enough to quell the curiosity. By the time that the triple successes of the ACP were reported to Earth, people had begun to think hard on the other apparently Earth-like worlds discovered in the Local Neighborhood. With the pressures of an Earth falling into climatic disarray, as well as the many hotbeds of political and social unrest, the stage was already being set for the next wave of extrasolar colonization.
THE NEW HOPE SLEEPER COLONIES
Star Date Departed Date Arrived Planet Planetary Classification Epsilon Indi A date arrived Guaramé MesoAmunian Tau Ceti date arrived Glaucus (Igom) GaianContinental Subdivision Sigma Draconis date arrived Hyannis MesoGaian Subtype Eta Cassiopeiae A date arrived San Gabriel GaianPelagic Subdivision 82 Eridani date arrived Diti (Tsevorda) GaianContinental Subdivision Delta Pavonis date arrived Waterdon Prime AreanLacustric Subtype Beta Canum Venaticorum date arrived Retunda EuPelagic Subtype