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Exploration Corps Universe The Exploration Corps universe consists of five fictional eras that range from the late 21st century to the 25th century. In this fictional environment, our galaxy has only a few sentient alien species with star-faring technology. The first era begins in the late 21st century with the formation of the international Interplanetary Exploration Corps. During the 22nd century, a federation of democratic continental governments emerge bringing world peace and prosperity. By the end of this century, faster-than-light vessels appear and the Interplanetary Exploration Corps becomes the Interstellar Exploration Corps. Over the next 150 years, the Human presence in local interstellar space expands. In the mid-24th century, major improvements in faster-than-light drive result in Human space exploration efforts ranging much deeperinto the galaxy.  The Interstellar Exploration Corps grows in size and capability to become the Galactic Exploration Corps. This fictional environment is inspired by the science fiction Arthur C. Clarke and Jack McDevitt. I consider it my most sober portrayal of Humanity equipped with maturing faster-than-light technology combined with equally maturing societal development. Concept  This project is my attempt at depicting a very early starship. To devise a somewhat plausible scheme for the star-faring technology of Starship Daybreak, I did a bit of astronomical research and learned that it may be possible to mine material found in the vast outer volume of our star system for deuterium to use as fuel for nuclear fusion reactors and engines.  These outer regions extend from the orbit of Neptune to as far as 100,000 AU (Astronomical Units) from our sun and are referred to as the Kuiper Belt, the Hills Cloud (inner Oort Cloud) and (outer Oort Cloud). Assuming that other star systems have such regions too, the distance of deuterium-free void separating the outermost fringes of our Oort Cloud and that of our nearest neighbor, Alpha Centauri, may only be 100,000 AU.  From this reasoned speculation and a desired travel time for the trip already in mind, the faster-than-light performance for the vessel was easily calculated.  Of course, as with all my work, this project is meant more as an artistic endeavor than an engineering one.  We still have that pesky faster-than-light technology to figure out!  History The Interstellar Exploration Corps was formed shortly after a number of experimental faster-than-light craft had performed numerous test flights in the outer boundary of the Kuiper Belt. This was the region closest to the Sun where the hyperspace tunnel initiator would work reliably.  With robotic probes confirming the existence of easily obtainable deuterium in the Oort Cloud, a crewed mission to the nearest star system was now feasible.  Three large exploration vehicles were commissioned for this mission: Starships Daybreak, Ascension, and Sunrise. Construction of the starships was completed in July of 2181 AD and they set out together from Earth orbit in December for the eight month journey to Alpha Centauri.  The exploration group arrived at the edge of Alpha Centarui's Kuiper Belt in June 2182 AD and began a three month survey of the stars and planets in the system.  The trio of vessels departed from the center of the Alpha Centauri system in September and arrived back at the edge of Sol's Oort Cloud in January 2183 AD. Sadly, the Sunrise suffered a hyperspace tunnel initiator malfunction on the way back to Sol's Kuiper Belt resulting in the loss of the ship and its crew.  The Daybreak and Ascension arrived back in Earth orbit in May 2183 AD ending the historic mission. The Daybreak class pioneered Human interstellar travel.  These first generation starships utilized nuclear-fusion powered hyperspace tunnel initiators capable of traversing up to 5000 Astronomical Units (AU) per jump.  They were fueled by deuterium mined from material located throughout the Kuiper Belt and Oort Cloud. The Daybreak class starships could perform a maximum of twenty warp-jumps before needing to refuel, allowing them to cross the 90,000 AU void between the outer boundaries of the Oort Clouds of Sol and Alpha Centauri. Early travel through hyperspace tunnel was hard on human crews.  While the amount of time spent in the hyperspace tunnels was short, the crews expereinced physical reactions of several minutes of extreme disorientation followed by up to an hour of  nausea.  They needed several hours of recovery time before they could begin to prepare for the hyperspace tunnel transition.  Fortunately, artificial intelligence computer systems were unaffected and could manage ship operations until the human crew revived.  Hyperspace tunnel sickness would continue to be a serious problem for human interstellar travelers for decades to come. Mission Log Day 1 – 1 AU from Sun: Departure from Earth orbit Day 18 – 40 AU from Sun: Arrival in Neptune space to refuel at automated station in orbit of Triton Day 20 – 40 AU from Sun: Departure from Triton orbit Day 33 – 55 AU from Sun: Arrival at outer edge of Kuiper Belt Day 34 – 55 AU from Sun: Prepare for first warp-jump Day 35 – 55 AU to 2000 AU from Sun: 1st warp-jump from outer edge of Kuiper Belt to inner region of Hills Cloud (inner Oort Cloud) Day 37 – Day 47 – 2000 AU to 20,000 AU from Sun: 5 hyperspace tunnel transitions from inner region to outer boundary of Hills Cloud Day 48 – Day 58 – 20,000 AU from Sun: Prospecting and mining of frozen comets for deuterium to refuel Day 59 – Day 71 – 20,000AU – 50,000 AU from Sun: 6 hyperspace tunnel transitions from outer boundary of Hills Cloud to inner boundary of outer Oort Cloud Day 72 – Day 81 – 50,000 AU from Sun: Prospecting and mining of frozen comets for deuterium to refuel Day 82 – Day 103 - 50,000 AU – 100,000 AU from Sun: 10 hyperspace tunnel transitions from inner boundary to outer boundary of Oort Cloud Day 104 - Day 119 - 100,000 AU from Sun: Prospecting and mining of frozen comets for deuterium to refuel Day 120 – Day 142 – 100,000 AU – 200,000 AU from Sun: 20 hyperspace tunnel transitions from outer boundary of Sol Oort Cloud to outer boundary of Alpha Centauri Oort Cloud Day 143 – Day 223 – 100,000 AU – 50 AU from center of Alpha Centauri system: 23 hyperspace tunnel transitions through Oort Cloud and Kuiper Belt of Alpha Centauri system combined with time to prospect for and mine deuterium fuel Day 224 – Day 313 – 50 AU – 0 AU from center of Alpha Centauri system: explore stars and planets of Alpha Centauri system Day 314 – Day 396 – 50 AU – 100,000 AU from center of Alpha Centauri system: 23 hyperspace tunnel transitions through Kuiper Belt and Oort Cloud of Alpha Centauri system combined with time to prospect for and mine deuterium fuel Day 397 – Day 440 - 200,000 AU – 100,000 AU from Sun: 20 hyperspace tunnel transitions from outer boundary of Alpha Centauri Oort Cloud to outer boundary of Sol Oort Cloud Day 441 – Day 520 – 100,000 AU – 55 AU from Sun: 22 hyperspace tunnel transitions through Oort Cloud and Kuiper Belt combined with time to prospect for and mine deuterium fuel Days 520 – Day 533 – 55 AU – 40 AU from Sun: travel from outer boundary of Kuiper belt to Triton Day 534 – Day 553 – 40 AU – 1 AU from Sun: refuel at Triton and travel back to Earth Orbit  Primary Design Influence 1. Description of a Human interplanetary freighter from a science fiction story by Arthur C. Clarke