Project New Ariel
Project New Ariel was the first wave of space exploration in the Galactic Era, motivated by the discovery and demonstration of the Rotation Drive. Because of the competition it generated between the Transeŭropa Demokratia Reto and the Zhongguo-Cruz Corporate Empire Alliance, it is sometimes called the "New Space Race."
Initial Events
Although the theoretical principles underlying the rotation drive were published a few decades earlier, the first year of the Galactic Era is pinned to the first practical demonstration of the functioning engine. That experiment was performed by a team of engineers in Beijing, funded by the ZCCA, who rotated an object from their facility to their partner facility in Kaiping. In response, the Transeŭropa Demokratia Reto consulted with the Central European Institute for Cosmology and Fundamental Physics (CEICO), the institute responsible for the publication of the theoretical basis for the rotation drive, to outline a plan for the aggressive development of a mass-production facility for rotation drive space vessels: the Ianus Autofactory. They ran massive funding campaigns from 24 GE to 30 GE, began construction in 32 GE, and completed construction in 86 GE. The first cohort of Rotation Drive research vessels was completed in 91 GE, marking the start of Project New Ariel.Outcome
Although the Ianus Autofactory gave the TDR a monopoly on the manufacture of rotation drive vessels, the TDR was more than happy to lease its ships to ZCCA researchers. Zhongguo amassed leases on 55% of the vessels manufactured by Ianus during the first decade of Project New Arial, which allowed the ZCCA to play a major role in deciding exploration strategy, and to claim success for anything the ships discovered. The competitive dynamic between the TDR and ZCCA caused Project New Ariel to be informally dubbed the "New Space Race" in the mediasphere. The first wave of ships manufactured by Ianus were De Sitter A1 and B1 probes. These were uncrewed research probes that were sent out to visit stars with known or suspected exoplanets, capture video, audio, and atmospheric data, and bring the data back to earth for analysis. Most of these trips were very short, with the vessel rotating to the target star, spending a day or two gathering data, and then rotating back to earth to drop off recordings and samples before it was washed, restocked, and sent to the next destination. There wasn't much interest or push for crewed exploration vessels during this period. Although the Ianus Autofactory produced some spaceships designed for crewed exploration (Witten and Hořavas model vessels), the general consensus among scientists and politicians alike was that the data being returned by the DeSitter probes was more than enough to keep everyone occupied without the risk of sending out crewed vessels. The possibility of encountering extraterrestrial was discussed from time to time, of course, but was never central to Project New Ariel expeditions. Data returned by De Sitter probes had the potential to shed light on a number of long-standing hypotheses about life on exoplanets, but doing so was not viewed as particularly practical. Projects for investigating extraterrestrial life weren't exactly suppressed, but they were also not prioritized on the very long list of scientific questions pertaining to mineral concentration, factory manufacture, and other matters that corporate interests around the world were eager to explore and exploit.Final Events
That mindset changed when extraterrestrial life was discovered on Nixy in 111 GE by the De Sitter B1 probe, What Goes Around Comes Around. Before that discovery, public attention was already wandering away from the spectacle of galactic exploration. There are only so many photographs of brilliant sunsets, spectacular multi-star systems, and close-up views of imposing ringed gas giant planets hovering in an alien sky, that the general public can "ooh" and "ahh" over before they start to get bored. Politicians were getting pressure to address social problems at home, and research centers were getting anxious that they would lose funding. When viewed against that sociopolitical backdrop, the discovery of new life was a gift... for corporate marketing and public relation departments. Both the TDR and ZCCA quickly recognized that the fleet of uncrewed vessels that had been created for Project New Ariel would not be sufficient for this more ambitious project. The TDR directed Ianus Autofactory to begin producing a new fleet of vessels for crewed expeditions. Project New Arial had come to a close, and Project Expedition was about to begin.
Start Date
91 GE
Ending Date
111 GE
Expressed Goal
Identify and visit extrasolar planets.
Followed By
Project Expedition (123 GE - 213 GE)
