Aeolus Program

Discovery, Exploration

The Aeolus program was a UNAC crewed spaceflight project that succeeded in its milestone goals of sending humans to the Jupiter and Saturn subsystems and landing humans on the surfaces of all four Galilean moons as well as all of the major Saturnian moons. The Aeolus program's 27-year span was split into two major phases: the Jovian and Cronian phases, in addition to the many years of preparation.

Jovian Phase

The Jovian phase, centering on human visitation of Jupiter, spanned 8 years, from late 2049 to late 2057 CE. Four Jovian-phase missions were launched, each a duration of roughly 460 days with roughly 340 of those spent in the Jovian subsystem itself. All four missions were a success.

Cronian Phase

The Cronian phase, centering on human visitation of Saturn, spanned 8 years, from 2059 to 2067. Though slightly delayed by refitting of the mission vessel UNIS Janus, the four Cronian-phase missions were launched without incident. Each mission to Saturn was slightly longer than their Jovian-phase counterparts, each a duration of roughly 494 days with roughly 262 of those spent in the Saturnian subsystem itself -more time spent in transit meant less time at the destination. All four missions were a success.

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Program Timeline

 

Preparation Phase

 

Jovian Phase

 

Cronian Phase