ArcBuilder Universe© Time Line Page

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1957 CE October 4: The launching of the first artificial satellite by the Union of Soviet Socialists Republic. Named Sputnik 1, its purpose was to gather data about the electron density of the ionosphere, but far more importantly it was the catalyst which ignited the space race between the Soviets and the Americans. The successful launch, which came as a complete surprise to the West, spurred America into ultimately gaining mastery over orbital space within the next few decades.	What's New May 30, 2007 Reformatted and integrated this page into the rest of the site. August 18, 2006: I've established and completed this page.
2001 CE The public announcement of the discovery of the ruins of Khambat is made. While no on-site investigations have been made, and will not be for years to come due to the difficulty of diving on the submerged location, sonar images do indicate the presence of relatively intact buildings beneath up to 20 meters of sediment. As of this point, there is no indication of Khambat's extreme age, or its relation to alien colonies. Astronomers discover, through telescopic observations, the small moon of Linus, which orbits the asteroid 22 Kalliope. One of the first such asteroidal moons to be found, no one suspects that one day it will provide a major role in Solar System resource exploitation.
2004 CE June 21: After completing several test flights over the previous few years, the orbital vessel SpaceShipOne makes its first orbital flight. This is the first privately funded, constructed, and operated orbital flight to be made, and the feat heralded a later explosion of other private ventures into orbital space. Ultimately, this feat would be credited for launching the private commercialization industries that would come to fill orbital space and, eventually, beyond.
2007 CE: Hearkening back to the old Soviet Union's surprise launches into space, China stuns the world when it launches an unannounced and unmanned mission to the Moon. Meant to be a test bed for in-flight and landing technology, loosely based off of old Soviet designs, the mission is a success when the craft lands, spends three days taking scientific measurements of the Lunar environment, and launches back towards a successful landing on the Chinese mainland.
2008 CE: In response to the Chinese endeavors, the United States launches a hastily constructed unmanned test mission to the Moon. Utilizing technology that has been under development since 2006 CE, the mission does not proceed without some problems. However, over all the flight and landing are achieved without incident. Various scientific instruments fail upon landing, but the ship launches without error and successfully makes its way back to Earth orbit, where it is retrieved by a space shuttle.