KSI Timeline

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Several pieces of writing take the form of retrospectives, as if being written by Freddie in his Memoirs. They talk about various milestones on the final fates of different project pieces. Year 0 in the timeline is the first Valkyrie launch.


Year 0 - First Valkyrie Launch, Mars 1

Year 3 - Second Valkyrie completed, first fully-successful Mars mission and Earth-return (Mars 2).

Year 5 - First Baluster completed; five-years mission to Jupiter begins (Jupiter I), Mars III launches at the same time with the third Valkyrie spacecraft. Both vehicles are in orbit at the same time, first test of tandem Service Shuttle launch (two shuttles mounted to a single first-stage).

Year 6 - Midway Space Station launched. Issues encountered during Jupiter I/Mars 3 orbital phases prove need for a permanent station. Station is used for in-space re-fit on Valkyrie vehicle: first in-space re-fit of space vehicle.

Year 7 - Mars 4 launched for three-year stay on Martian surface. Mars 4 arrives just before Mars 3 departure, marking first time any destination has played host to two manned space missions at the same time. KSI launches mission 'Explorer One', consisting of a large myster-module and a manned Service Shuttle on root to the L3 Earth/Moon Lagrange point.

Year 8 - Mars 5 launches: first mission to use separate, chemically-fueled ascender and descender vehicles while Valkyrie spacecraft remains in orbit (decision made over growing concerns regarding radiation released by nuclear engine of ascent-stage). Mission is carried out while Mars 4 Still on surface. Explorer One revealed to be test of large-scale rotational gravity concept. Initial planning begins on KSI Stardock

Year 9 - Mars 4 returns. Mission built first human structures on Mars: inflated concrete domes and tests of radiation shielding. However, Mars 4 team determined that permanent surface-structures were too challenging to construct. Plans revised for Mars 6. Valkyrie spacecraft launched into polar orbit over the Sun on one-year mission.

Year 10 - Balistner returns, plans immediately begin for second Jupiter mission. Samples brought beck elate the world. Construction on second Balistner spacecraft underway. Midway Station now severely over-crowded: there are now 4 seperate Valkyrie spacecraft and a second Balistner in the pipeline. Mars 6 launches on the modified 'Mars to Stay' plan. Two space craft, the first a normal Valkyrie, and the second specially modified, travel to Mars together and land in different regions. Crew from the first travel to the second by rover, and together begin construction on a series of presurized domes. This is the official beginning of the Mars Colony. The specially-built Valkyrie is eventually broken down and used in the construction of the new base, while the second returns to Earth with a crew of two. Mars Colony population: 14.

Year 11 - Stardock completed ahead of schedule, capable of docking up to thirty-two spacecraft. Station includes two independently rotating rings which provide gravity, as well as extensive storage and maintenance facilities in the non-gravitational sections. Included in Stardock is the largest-ever enclosed area in space: a fully-pressurized shirt-sleeve hangar large enough to accept a Balistner spacecraft, two of which are now completed, with a third under construction. Stardock also doubles as the world's first space hotel, able to accommodate up to forty-eight guests at the price of $24 million dollars for a twenty-eight-day stay. Part of the fee guest's pay is to sponsor a scientist also residing on the station. Stardock is capable of holding up to 140 people. At the same time as Stardock is completed, work begins on a second station in lunar orbit. Saturn I launches from the newly completed Stardock with an unexpected stow-away on board. Despite increased distance between Earth and Saturn, Saturn I is also projected to only take about five years. The Balistner spacecraft will accomplish this by traveling much faster. It will also carry additional fuel and employ a lengthy series of aerobreaking manuever on Earth return (expected to last an additional year). Crew will, however, be able to transfer to a smaller ship for a quicker earth-intercept. Second Valkyrie helology mission, fifth Valkyrie spacecraft.

Year 12 - Mars 7 launches as first supply mission to Mars 6 (Mars Colony) tests a variety of powered and unpowered landers. No Valkyrie spacecraft lands on the surface. Considerations are made for an un-manned supply ship, KSI having ruled out the prospect of expendable supply craft. Mysterious lunar station revealed as construction point for KSI's most ambitious project to date: Epsilon Eridani I. Ceres 1 launches on a mission to the astroid belt using valkyrie.

Year 13 - Cerses I suffers failure and crashes on Ceres. Ship believed lost with all hands. Work begins in earnest on Epsilon Eridani, now revealed to be an Orion mission. The ship will carry two Balistner spacecraft, which must be constructed for this mission. Second-ever Valkyrie spaceraft is re-purposed into one-way powered lander to carry supplies as part of Mars 8, a Balistner spacecraft accompanying the Valkyrie will carry additional colonists and several unpowered descent pods. First time Valkyrie and Balistner spacecraft used together in tandem mission. Work is completed on a supply ship that will use ion engines to move between Earth and Mars. The new ship is pressurized and has a shirt-sleeve environment onboard, but is un-manned.

Year 14 - Mars 9, last Valkyrie landing on Mars. First Mars Pollar Mission. Entire mission set to take two years so craft could "winter" in Martian polar region. First un-manned supply delivery ends in failure; Mars 9 re-tasked to manually unload supplies, but Mars 9 mission still completed.

Year 15 - Following the debacle with the supply ship, Mars 10 is launched carrying equipment to construct a re-usable, manned launch vehicle to assist with bringing people too and from the Mars surface. Each subsequent manned supply mission has also brought additional colonists. Mars Colony population is now 22, and provides 40% of it's own food. Mars 10 brings along four additional colonists and a two-stage vehicle, the upper stage of which does look suspiciously like a flying saucer. The vehicle is then successfully used to intercept with the second arrival of the un-manned supply ship and offload supplies while Mars 10 is still in orbit.

Year 16 - Saturn I returns. Freddie over-sees final stages of EE1 preparation. The ship, simply named Orion (KSI tradition typically does not give individual ships names), is tested on the far side of the Moon: the nuclear pulse propulsion drive works even better than expected. Mars 9 returns; Mars 11 launches. A total of four Balistner spacecraft were constructed for the Eridani mission, with two selected. The others are put into service on Mars 11 and Jupiter II respectively.

Year 17 - Epislon Eridani I launches amidst great fanfare. Jupiter II launches. Mars 12 launches with test of new "Interim Habitat Module": an add-on component designed to add a second rotational-gravity living space to the Valkyrie spacecraft, allowing it to hold additional colonists. The second module proves unsound, causing more than anticipated course corrections, and while Mars 12 delivers its passengers, Valkyrie spacecraft is now deemed unsuitable for future Mars missions. Mars Colony Population: 50

Year 18 - Mission Inner Space launches, two Valkyrie spacecraft go on a tandem mission to visit both Venus and Mercury. A third mission, Mercury I, is launched at the same time, with plans to attempt a manned landing on Mercury. For safety reasion, this mission was to be preformed while the other two craft were in orbit. The two missions combined involves fully half of the Valkyrie fleet. Mars 13 launches to deliver additional supplies and to deliver Mars Stat Net: a network of seven small satellites that will be used for science by the Martian colony. The satellites are designed to be small enough for retrieval and re-orbit by the colonists' ship. Mars Colony Population: 54

Year 19 - First Service Shuttle Landing on the moon. First Valkyrie landing on the moon. Both are accomplished by retro-fitting the spacecraft with external thruster packs. With the Eridani mission underway, it is determined that a second Orion be built, and plans begin to convert the space station for scientific uses. Lacking building materials, KSI begins to experiment with re-enforced concrete to construct a very large station. They harvest water and aggregate materials from the lunar surface. For re-enforcing materials, KSI uses several service shuttle missions to retrieve obsolete satellites, spent rocket stages, and other discarded debris from Earth-orbit, so that only cement and inflatable forms need to be brought from Earth. Negotiations are even made to purchase the ISS for scrap when its operational lifespan ends.

Year 20 - An accident aboard Midway Station threatens the lives of three astronauts onboard and cripples the service shuttle docked to the station. Hope Island begins emergency launch procedures for a rescue operation, while a Valkyrie is dispatched from Stardock. The Valkyrie is given special dispensation to use its nuclear engine on the near-side of the Moon, and arrives within hours of the accident. The three astronauts are rescued and the accident results in zero fatalities. Midway, along with the Service Shuttle, are considered a complete loss. A second Service Shuttle mission stabalizes the crippled station's orbit long enough for it to be recycled as part of the City project. Plans immediately begin for construction of a new low-orbit station, with a Valkyrie spacecraft to be used in the interim. Media coverage of the accident finally brings to the general public's attention the fact that all Karigo Service Shuttles, a vehicle in operation for twenty years, are named for famous prostitutes.

Year 21 - First test of a re-usable Heavy-Lift ELV. The first stage incorporated heat-shielding and a lifting body design, and landed horizontally from the same pad that launched it. The second stage would deploy wings and a stabilizer and was meant to land vertically like and airplane. Early tests were not promising, but with the construction of the new City space station, a re-useable vehicle was now considered a requirement.

Year 22 - Mars 14, first solo Baltistner Mars mission. Mars colonists have begun digging into Mars bedrock and have perfected a method of preasure-sealing large underground vaults using only native-Martian materials. Mars 14 to deliver thirty colonists; 32 total astronauts aboard. First test of Vesuivius: an un-manned, chemically powered spacecraft. Vesuvius left earth during Year 21 and arrived in Mars orbit around the same time as Mars 14. The craft is effectively a tube linked to eight 4-man decent pods, to be used by the Mars 14 colonists(Balistner could only accommodate 4 decent vehicles). Vesuvius remained in orbit. Mars Colony Population: 84

Year 23 - A new space station, named Guadalcanal, is launched to replace Midway. The new station requires just two launches, using a 200-ton ELV similar to the design that launched Stardock's ion engine, and a 100-ton Bambi to deliver the main station sections. A service shuttle mission provides the rest of the supplies and inhabits the station. The new station has considerably diminished capacity to that of Midway, as it will no longer serve to refit Valkyrie spacecraft and is specifically designed as a 'safe harbor' for service shuttles. Among its improvements include two five-man escape pods. No more than 10 people are aboard the small station.

Year 24 - Mars 15, second Balistner Mars mission, carrying only twenty colonists. Eight decent pods are attached to the outside of the ship as "wet" cargo: the intention is to re-use Vesuvius. In addition to to colonists, Mars 15 carries eight calves and four piglets, to determine if they can be successfully raised on Mars. Mars Colony now grows 80% of its own food. Mars Colony population reaches 100 for the first time.

Year 25 - exports.