Mankind first ventured into space in the later part of the twentieth century. Space travel was sporadic until the mid 21st century. In 2043 the first permanent colony in orbit was started, followed in 2073 by a permanent colony on the Moon.

 

In 2103, the Ytterbium Generator was invented allowing safe, virtually unlimited power to be available to the colonies. A permanent colony on Mars soon followed in 2115.

 

Exploration beyond our solar system began in 2118 with the launching of the first generation Ship, the GS Heinlein, destined for Sirius It was considered a generation ship even though it would take only 43 years because some colonists may not live to see the landing and others would be born during the trip. None were ever expected to see Earth again.

 

Other generation ships were subsequently launched for even more distance stars over the next several hundred years. After the MacPherson Drive came into use, many of these ships were intercepted and carried on to their destinations. Some had already arrived and established thriving colonies. A few generation ships were not successful and some never located, their fate unknown.

 

In 2156, the United Confederation of Earth was founded as a successor to the old UN. The people of Earth had learned to live peacefully together. The UCE was a confederacy recognizing the sovereignty of the member countries. The Confederacy formed an umbrella government.

 

The first Asteroid Colony, Ceres was established in 2202. Other colonies in the asteroid belt were established over the next few years. The colonists in the belt were very independent which led to some friction culmination in the Ceres Incident in 2265.

 

After that, peace reigned and in 2324 the UCE became UC of Sol (UCS) recognizing that mankind was united throughout the Solar System. At that time it was decided to relocate the UCE Headquarters to Indianapolis, Indiana, USA, Earth (Sol 3).

 

       By the time of the 25th century launching of the DSS Chrispin, the true exploration of interstellar space was less than a hundred years old. It began in 2372 with the launching of the Enterprise, named after a number of historic craft and the legendary Star Ship of a popular twentieth century TV show. This was a small ship compared to the Deep Space Ships of today.

 

 The next few years saw a number of exploration ships with a permanent mining colony established on Cygnus 5 in 2398. Four years later the United Confederation of Sol was changed to United Confederation of Stars to better reflect human expansion to the stars.