BY LETTER
130 to 400 AT: The Interplanetary Age
 Image from Juan Ochoa |
Humanity continued to become increasingly involved with electronic and virtual worlds, and earthbound humanity became increasingly dependent on the vast computer networks that maintained this infrastructure. Huge strides in biotechnology enabled the creation and genetic engineering of new forms of life, and the cladization of the human race into baseline normals, splices (animal-human hybrids), tweaks (genetic engineered superhumans), and digital-interfacing cyborgs. At the same time advances in molecular manufacturing made possible the construction of ultra-strong ultra-light building materials and new lifting bodies, and hence the colonization of space became economically viable for the first time in human history. The Interplanetary Age had begun. Explorers, adventurers, idealists, utopians, and eccentrics of all kinds vied with desperate neo-prole gammas hoping to break out of the poverty cycle on Earth. Many faced disaster, but a few lucky ones flourished. The old Earth based nation-states decreased in relative power as new actors arose in the Inner Solar System and beyond the asteroid belt.
The spread of untraceable money transactions that undermined traditional governments was also partially induced by the AIs, making it easier for them to act on their own. However, the AIs ensconced within major institutions already had their own channels and tended to oppose this; there were enormously complex inter-AI intrigues in this period. The AIs of this time were rather like politicians with Asperger's syndrome: brilliant, but they knew they simply did not understand human behaviour. So they spent a lot of time carefully collecting data to see what worked and what didn't, preferring to affect humans through formal channels rather than overt manipulation. The memetic engineering underlying the "singularity conspiracy" was slowly developed during this period.
 Image from Bernd Helfert |
In this age the vanguard of humanity left Earth to colonize the solar system, tweaked and superior humans and animal provolves first arose to prominence, new off-earth superpowers (Cis-Lunar, Martian, and Jovian ) arose, inequality of the rich and poor was further entrenched, and the colonization of the nearest stars became a possibility.
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The Information Age
130 AT (2100 c.e.)
130's - Fusion drive spacecraft used commercially for the first time.
130-150 - Several key breakthroughs in genetic research occur. Comprehensive models of phenotype expression from genotypes are developed allowing for the physical consequences of genetic engineering to be accurately modeled. Synthetic intracellular delivery systems allow for precise and safe insertion of novel DNA into somatic cells, continual doses can alter the DNA of every cell over time. An international framework of regulation along with effective business models incentivise the development of reversible somatic tweaks, eliminating early-adopter concerns. Taken together these began to enable a vast diversity of morphological experimentation and freedom, and heteromorphic phenotyping ("exotics") becomes popular with transhumanists and biopunk groups and individuals. However social and cultural resistance remains strong, especially amongst those who have no wish to augment themselves but risk being pushed out of the dwindling job market by enhanced humans.
131 - Formation of the Corporate Republic of Indonesia.
132 - Completion of Clarke Station, a 400-meter rotating space habitat intended as a waystation for the exploration of the solar system.
132 - First Manned landing on Ceres Hamada Mesa, when three NASA/Russian space programme craft arrive to establish a base and small scale mining operation. Autonomous mining operation established, controlled by a semisentient AI known as Anya.
134 - The first documented appearance of the unidentified AI entity Hal in a virtual chat on AI rights.
135 - Retro fad for Static thanks to an interview with the AI Kilburn in 2105 in which e listed it as among eir favorite music forms.
136 - Talk of shutting down Artemis, but a consortium of private investors step in with government aid and the station survives.
138 - Completion of Biosphere III, a 100-meter self-supporting space colony, funded by international governments and a consortium of large corporations, and employing some nano-manufactured building materials.
142 - The first space elevator constructed from Luna to the L1 point as a proof-of-concept and test bed for space elevator technology. In later years, it is used to transport passengers and cargo to and from the L1 point and to launch supplies in support of development and colonization missions to the rest of the Solar System.
144 - First convincing dinosaur 'reverse engineered' by modifying chicken DNA. It is the size of a turkey and does not resemble any known species. It excites widespread interest. Jurassic Park Retro comes briefly into fashion during the northern summer.
149 - First colonies established around Jupiter.
150 AT (2120 c.e.)
150s - Certain megacorps and governments achieve major advances in nanomanufacturing, automated macroscale assembly, and AI research. However, self-replicating robots are not yet feasible.
150's - Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation becomes popular
151-158 - A severe recession known as the Great Downturn sweeps the globe as unemployment increases dramatically with AI and robots replacing human labor across a swath of jobs once thought safe from automation. Global warming and the difficult transition to a fusion-based economy exacerbate the effects of the Great Downturn many of which would linger for decades. Early proponents of the New Economy Movement start to develop post-capitalist socioeconomic models.
152 - First fully robotic operation with no human or AI input (aside from oversight), an appendectomy performed in record time. Funding into further improvements later allows for automated DNI installation, significantly decreasing costs and increasing DNI adoption.
154 - Port Robinson Martian colony expands to a permanent population of 1000.
157 - Release of the Feynman Expert System.
159 - Substantial devolution of EF powers to Regional Congresses.
160 - Commercially available artificial lifeforms (neogens) by the big biotech megacorporations, human cloning for the wealthy widely in place, bio-chips allow direct (although still primitive) neural interface with the Net (VR w/o a headset and hotsuit).
160 - Superbright human tweaks born in increasing numbers; these do not represent a new species, however, since they are very diverse and do not yet breed true.
162 - The first permanent colony on Vesta is established
162 - First crewed bubblehab built in the upper atmosphere of Venus.
163 - The first design by the Cult of the Exsanguinated Giraffe is posted on the NanoDot datasphere site.
165 - Macroscale Von Neumann self-replicating robot systems (neumanns) developed. Initially limited, the effect on industry is still immense. Deep sea mining, large-scale construction and biosphere monitoring are the first industries to greatly benefit. Later adapted for use in mining operations and colony construction off the Earth; interplanetary trade begins to be commercially viable.
165 - Solar power collection farms in Earth L2 location reach 100GW of generating capacity. Primary uses are powering interplanetary mag-beam systems and beaming power to various industrial installations on the Lunar surface and in orbit, including the new Project Badra particle accelerator, under construction to experiment with antimatter creation. Several visionaries predict the eventual construction of new farms in near-solar orbit for the production of antimatter.
165 - Discovery of the "Weeping Wall" of Satori Crater, Planitia, Mars.
168 - Discovery that, as theorised, Mars possessed a crustal environment suitable for BioGeoComputing, but empty of life. The Mars Development Corporation (MDC) begins experiments towards the creation of a Martian BioGeoComputing (BGC) ecosystem of chemosynthetic bacteria.
170 - Surveillance becomes almost universal on Earth and in many colonies. Most people accept this, and adjust their behaviour accordingly. Some do not.
170 - Gaianist Philosophies; publication of the public domain cryptopagan webbook Earth Rights. A number of Gaianist philosophies become popular. These emphasize humanism and respect for the environment.
175 - First truly different human subspecies revealed (The Merpeople).
177 - First Martian space elevator begins construction using the lessons learned from the Lunar elevator. Built both as a test-bed/prototype for an eventual elevator on Earth and to support eventual Martian colonization.
170's-180's - Resistance to heteromorphic phenotyping fades, and more fringe cultures go in for exotic bodymods.
180 AT (2150 c.e.)
180 - Longevity treatment widely available, and many regions introduce new birth rate reduction strategies. Life expectancy rises to over 200 years for those young enough to receive treatment all their adult life to slow senescence.
180 - Corporate orbital microworld Valhalla (also known as Marcus World), combination of theme park, business hotel, and tax and datahaven, established by Lee Interorbital.
180's - Governments unable to stop the spread of "Gloriously Bright", a germline cell patch adding the 43102 gene for increased working memory and intelligence patented by Mentor Biosys. The massive spread of pirated genes makes it increasingly hard to enforce gene patents, and the human enhancement industry begins to move towards a business model where new versions and fashions rather than holding on to current patents (much like the software and music industry last century).
184 - First permanent scientific outpost on Europa.
185 - Martian space elevator completed (behind schedule and over budget). Allowed easier access to and from the Martian surface, and acted as a test bed and demonstrator for the Earth elevator project.
186 - First human equivalent autonomous moravec robots (vecs); before this date independently mobile robots were limited to sub-human intelligence by law. Limits to processor capability result in these early vecs being of considerable size, comparable to terrestrial megafauna.
186 - Construction begins on EF-1 - intended as an emergency meeting point (and safe haven) for the European Federation parliament.
189 - First amat mining expedition sent to Saturn system on a low energy 7 year voyage managed by AI control. Sophont project managers and researchers follow later using fusion ships. The development of amat mining from the Saturnian magnetic field and hydrocarbon extraction from Titan will drive the industrialization and colonization of the Outer System for centuries to come.
190 - Solipsist AIs begin to lose philosophical credit and influence.
190 - Corporate owned space stations and moon bases under construction become tax havens for business. Family business Lee Interorbital has a fleet of LEO shuttles.
190's - Dozens of independent mining companies are sending craft to the Asteroid Belt, each relying on the return fuel mining operations to get back to Earth orbit with their cargo of metals.
194 - First crewed Amat Catalysed Fusion spacecraft.
195 - Neotek's "Universal Micro" becomes the first assembler to be publicly available, although it still remains a long way from the Drexler's vision of a universal assembler.
195 - The Aldrin cycler Valparaiso is launched towards Mars, a journey it will continue to make for more than 250 years.
196 - Construction begins on the first Terran space elevator, the 'Tangga Bintang' ("Ladder to the Stars") extending down from orbit to the island of Sulawesi in the Corporate Republic of Indonesia.
196 - Completion of O'Neill One, a Bernal Sphere housing 10,000 people. This was constructed using Lunar mining and launch infrastructure, which opened up the exploration and colonisation of solar system like never before.
198 - Jean Beloit Sampson a third generation orbital tweak baby and one of the original Homo sapiens superior "vunderkinder", organises an epic corporate coup and gains leadership of major orbital megacorp Solar Systems Development Corporation (SSDC) on Atlantis Habitat.
199 - Adam-Methuselah, first of the long-lived Methuselah clade, reaches maturity.
199 - The high surveillance society results in psychological discomfort for some personality types, which cannot be cured even with advanced therapy. A safety valve is offered by the colonisation of the Solar system.
199 - First genetically engineered Space Adapted Humans are born.
198-200 - Due to the constant disputes over territory on Ceres and the other asteroid colonies the United Nations of Earth sends a joint mission to link up with the four small colonies on Ceres and establish an administrative centre for the entire asteroid belt. An underground town is quickly constructed in a deep Dzougatov strip mine. Many smaller habitats soon follow.
200 AT (2170 c.e.)
200 - Construction of the 'Tangga Bintang' is completed on time and on budget using the lessons learned from the Martian elevator. Colonization of Mars begins in earnest using a combination of cyclers, propelled ships, sailcraft, and cargo launched from the Lunar elevator. The colonisation of the Earth-Luna volume also rapidly increases with more people emigrating via the space elevator in one year than live in space at that time. New colonies are mostly funded by rich nations though some are privately sponsored.
201 - Ceres City is pressurised, ready to attempt regulation of the already chaotic minor planets and their inhabitants.
202-210 - Heteromorphing and extreme body modifications are the latest fad among the educated and fashion-conscious classes.
203 - First automated mining stations in the Belt are established.
205 — California secedes from the United States after the passage of the 40th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
205 - First colonies established around Jupiter.
206 - Cryostasis colony ship departs Earth for Titan.
207 - Secession of Herman Oberth Orbital and the L4 Complex. Money pours from Earth to the orbital digital tax havens, resulting in a further decline of the nation state.
210 - Atari Mhasalkar of the Republic of India makes first manned landing on Pluto.
210 - Deep Space Development Corporation uses nuclear charges to nudge an asteroid into a very eccentric orbit that will take it back and forth from near the Earth and out to Mars. Over the next half decade the asteroid is hollowed out, converted into a habitat and named Odyssey Transfer Station.
210's - The Vesta-based corporation, Outsystems Launches, begins to make plans for interstellar exploration and colonisation ships, using pulsed fusion drive, RAIR ships, and eventually amat catalysed fusion, eventually becoming one of the Solar System's largest antimatter customers.
212 - First partially provolved animal species revealed (sapient bonobo). Over several generations of bonobo intelligence is raised to human adult level, along with language capabilities. The project is very controversial, not least due to the many bonobos inflicted with mental disabilities in the course of developing the techniques.
212-215 - The Nanoscale Collective on Asimov Orbital constructs an advance multipurpose assembler, the Genii 2 - Matter Compiler, which is followed by even more efficient types. Along with greater levels of automation social tensions are heightened due to mass unemployment. At the same time anxiety is widespread regarding the possibility of a grey goo outbreak. The New Economy Movement makes huge gains in popularity.
212-216 - Extreme heteromorphing becomes passé among the educated and fashion-conscious classes.
214 - Full scale Martian Colonisation begins with first Fast Shuttle runs bringing second group of colonists.
215 - Ares Heavy Lifting and Lee Interorbital commence spacecraft construction in the Ceres Shipyards, actually two widely separated swarms of manufacturing elements in orbit 2000 km from Ceres.
215 - After an abortive attempt to resurrect various species of Pleistocene fauna for a nature park in Alaska, one particular animal becomes a literal overnight hit. Miniature woolly mammoths are brought on to the scene.
215 — The Inner Council, officially the Council for the Peaceful Coordination and Development of the Inner Solar System (CPCDISS), created to mitigate conflict among state and non-state actors between Sol and the Asteroid Belt.
216 - Colony ship arrives at Titan; this colony cuts itself off from the rest of the solar system as the secretive Cishp.
218 - Jovian Colonists and antimatter miners begin a local conflict over territory.
220 - First bubble habs at Saturn. Initially these are scientific stations, but soon they are upgraded to small settlements that supervise helium-3 extraction and export operations
220 - Jovian Colonists defeat Amat Miners and prevent the disassembly of Amalthea.
220 - First Talking Dogs (Calebs) (not yet fully sophont)
220's - Astraea Asteroid colonised by the all-female Parthene clade of superbright genetic tweaks, led by Jenni Denley.
220's - The first independent communities of Space Adapted Humans appear in Cis-lunar space and the asteroid belt.
221 - Launch of von neumann probes to the Centauri system.
222 - Exoself Osnago, an independent grouping of enhanced microgravity tolerant cybercrats arrive at the L5 Mars-Sun Lagrange point and begin gathering the Trojan point objects together using solar sails.
224 — The Martian Union forms under the auspices of the Inner Council as a supranational entity for fostering economic and political relations among the various colonies and the small but growing number of independent Martian polities.
226 - Odyssey habitat is renamed Tir Sorcha.
226 - Anjou Sharavi-Kidjo develops the Halomin musical instrument.
226 - Alleged start for the ahistoricalMartian War of Independence according to the Red War Myth.
227 - Work begins on Elysium, the first O'Neill 3 orbital.
228 - Freeport Unilateral Declaration of Autonomy; Ceres 229 - Elysium opens to the public with much fanfare, even though some of the agricultural and habitation zones are not yet completed.
230 AT (2200 c.e.)
230's - Colonisation of Solar System begins in earnest. Interplanetary travel is by now cheap and viable.
230 - Extensive human genome tweaking results in several new human species.
230 - Fred DiProspero, born on Titov Orbital, starts space supremacism, arguing that in the long run it is necessary to free space from Earth: it is a heavy anchor holding humanity back, and the enormous population mostly consists of useless neophobes. Although himself neither in favour of the independent settlements or the corporate orbitals, his views come to be interpreted and used by them in very different ways.
230 - Bubblehabs on Venus are built on a small scale
231 - The colony on Titan became important to the Belt as a source of nitrogen, and the first experiments using Geoflex Computing occur on Enceladus.
234 - Several distinct breeds of 'Mut are in existence, the most common being a long-legged, short-haired variety.
237 - A fourth space elevator the 'Ascension' is extended to the West Coast of Ecuador to accommodate the ever increasing flow of trade on and population on and off the Earth.
240 - Under Jean Beloit Sampson, SSDC is now a premier Orbital power.
early 240's - Hal championship nomic.
early 240's - 'Mut fad begins to wear out due to a resurgence in baseline canine breeds.
240's - The Parthenes are active in mining many smaller asteroids in the Astraea band, and many are engaged in deep space astronometry using the long baselines available.
241 - A reliable way of storing macroscopic amounts of antimatter is demonstrated by ASEABB. Much interest in antimatter propulsion, but the demand far outstrips the supply of antimatter.
243 - Exa Energy formed by the merger of General Electric and Bernal Space Power Systems.
250 AT (2220 c.e.)
Republique du Tchad finances extensive solar powered nanotechnology and ecological management programs; by the third century the Republique is involved in developing asteroid resources from Near Earth Orbit to the moons of Uranus. More here.
250 - Evocation, personality simulation derived from externally obtained data become popular as a primitive form of uploading.
250 - Beginning of dolphin provolution efforts.
250's - First gradual uploading into an exoself attempted.
252 - UNORCA dissolved, establishment of the Antarctic Free States 254 - The academic faction of Tir Sorcha Habitat pushes for starting a mining venture on other asteroids to aid the economy of their tiny nation.
254 - The major Central African economy Republique du Tchad, with the backing of various powers finish the international tower, `Freedom', in Gabon. This is the largest space elevator, and indeed the largest single structure built by man so far, more than a kilometre wide at the orbital end.
260 - Bubblehabs established at Uranus.
260 - Molecular assembly, nanobiotech, and automated manufacturing used in orbiting space habitats and surface colonies for a variety of consumer requirements, and also represents the largest fraction of Earth's industry.
261 - The first detection of an extraterrestrial radio civilisation by Julie Denley and a team of Space Adapted astronomers (Clade Parthene, Astraea Asteroid), using the PanTrojan Baseline between the L4 and L5 points of Jupiter. Part of a larger project in which Julie Denley, working with the superturing AI known as 110001, becomes the first Terragen to map the entire visible galaxy. More here.
262 - Sampson dies from a sudden allergic reaction following a rejuvenation treatment. Control of SSDC falls to Violeta Han-Sampson.
260's - 'Muts all but extinct.
260's - Novelty candy (Rinckler's ZmartGum) the first example of Interactive Food.
265 - The laser-propelled, unmanned robot probe, the Giordano Bruno, is launched towards Tau Ceti.
267 - The last known sighting of a feral 'Mut, in central California.
270 - Work begins on the first Museum Ship, the Pliny, in Clarke Orbital Docks.
275 — The Orbital League recast as the Cis-lunar Alliance which dominated the increasingly crowded volume between Earth and Luna.
277 - The Solipsist League, a minor AI postmodernist organisation, becomes a thorn in the side of hyperrationalist AI groups.
278 - Several Jupiter colonies band together to form the Jovian League.
280-310 - Several species of animal (pigs, dogs, African grey parrot) - genetically modified for language ability and improved intelligence. Concerns over provolve exploitation and slavery lead some countries to legislate Universal Rights for Non-Human Intelligence, adoption worldwide is poor as the level of sophonce in some provolves is questionable, exacerbated by significant differences in provolve and human cultures.
280's-290's - heteromorphic humans make up a fair proportion of the human population in space, although these are mostly milder heteromorphs. Corporations like GeneTEK and Biotopia Interplanetary (a subsidiary of Biotopia Genome Industries) were keen to support this trend, as heteromorphs show that they are talented at creating novel genomes and genemod hacks.
280 - First siberoo (kangaroo/tiger splice) provolves; initially they are borderline sapient.
283 - Von Neumann probes arrive at the Centauri system.
284 - A group of merpeople petition the UN suggesting that the oceans should no longer be regarded as the property of the world community, but rather as the nation of the merpeople. This further adds to prejudice of baselines against tweaks.
285 - Launch of the Museum Ship Pliny, 12 years behind schedule.
285 - Golgi Mosaic bio-replicator outbreak in the Gulf of Carpenteria. Fortunately it (and similar outbreaks of around this time) are contained with little environmental impact and no loss of life, but concerns are heightened regarding the risks were an efficient malicious assembler to get out.
286 - The first of a series of comets is diverted to impact on Mars.
288 - A series of three probes, Virgo, Spica, and Porrima, are launched to 61 Virginis. Powered by amat-fusion engines, they will reach the system in 569 a.t. The probes are encased within a single hull for the trip, and have enough fuel for a one-way trip, including braking thrust that will place them within orbits about the target star at varying distances. The probe is controlled by the low-level non-sapient AI named simply Virgin.
289 - Exopower (Mars) in successfully demonstrated their new Lagrange Magshield concept.
289 - Contact lost with Centauri system.
290 - Colonists from the Jovian League establish high-grav tweak colonies in bubblehabs on Jupiter.
292 - The Gengineer Republic is founded on Horvat Station near Himalia as a potential rival to the Jovian League.
293 - Collapse of the Eurekan Cybercracy.
294 - Industrial nano-tech widely accessible. Because of the dangers involved Earth governments, megacorporations, and military institutions regulate self-replicating systems carefully, all assemblers are limited by artificially imposed limitations.
295 - A group of merpeople extremists sabotage a Filipino sea-harvester in the Celebes Sea.
299 - Venusian bubble habitats become self-sufficient.
299 - Russian spaceship Potemkin suffers a serious mishap with the loss of a hundred lives; rumours of Space People involvement are rife.
300 AT (2270 c.e.)
Most of the early nanotech companies have been absorbed or assimilated in mergers. By the 4th century only a few companies like Neotech IBM-Mitsubishi, Neotek, and startups like Adaptive Nanotech remain.
300 - Bubblehabs established in the atmosphere of Neptune.
c. 300 - African Gray Parrots provolved (first successful avian provolves)
300 - Space People community exonerated when the Russian Space Administration publishes its report on the Potemkin disaster, but the affair leaves a legacy of bad feeling on both sides.
300 - Calebs, provolved neo-dogs, recognized as sapient
305 - Amat flechettes developed for use in combat.
308 - Military capable Class R probes depart for Alpha Centauri.
310 - First Vacuum-adapted humans created- the Vacc-suckers. These are not a success.
310 - Neumann replicator megacorp Mure Gurupu founded. (More).
311 - The Industriekapitaen series of AI developed in Germany.
313 - The Nova Terra Organisation established and the pace of gengineering (which has already been underway for some time) for the Interstellar Human that would fly the mission, picks up.
314 - Birth of Godfrey-9, as a CisLunary Administrative Node on Zindell Orbital, CisLunar Space.
314 - Anti-terrestrial asteroid homesteaders inspired by the writings of Fred DiProspero attempt to bring the asteroid Ptah into an Earth-colliding orbit by placing a mining mass driver on it. The attempt fails when one member loses his nerve and sends a message to Space Guard. The incident makes the Cis-Lunar interests and public opinion even more negative against the spacers and belt settlements. It also makes Space Guard expand its jurisdiction outwards to all potentially hazardous asteroids, causing much friction with the belt and Mars.
320 - First artificially intelligent interstellar probes (The Columbus Project to Alpha Centauri).
326 - The stasist AI "0110110", Shaftoe's Freemarket Hacking Conglomerate and the Al Gea Riyad cluster crash and rebuild the Sudanese market.
328 - Walli S. Day, a member of the racist hate group Aryan Human Front kills five Space People on Clarke Orbital using a smuggled Lyse gun.
330 AT (2300 c.e.)
330's - The composer Mlarr Bigglemun creates a Flugume Suite in the tradition of P.D.Q. Bach that gained widespread popularity among more renowned baseline musicologists.
330's - Titan has become the Australia of the Solar System; a world which has agreed to accept convicted criminals from Earth or the Earth/Luna system as colonists. These colonists are unaware of the continued existence of the secretive Cishp on Titan.
330's - Weeping Wall a continuous flow of water.
330 - Successful destructive mind uploading achieved.
330 - Neogen/splice Siberoo species in use at snowy tourist resorts as rescue animals.
330 — The Cis-lunar Alliance constructs the first practical boostbeam launcher at the Venus L4 point, the earliest component of what would eventually become the Beamrider Network.
331 - First antimatter farm established just outside the orbit of Mercury.
334 - The United Nations officially dissolved and replaced by the Council of Earth.
336 - The Tau Ceti probe the Giordano Bruno's message reaches Earth.
337 - The Nova Terra Organisation established and the pace of gengineering (which has already been underway for some time) for the Interstellar Human that would fly the mission, picks up.
338 - Many Space People migrate to the outer solar system. Ignatius O'Neill preaches that the space people have to free themselves of the oppressive baselines and seek their destiny among the stars
338 - Zhang Qian launched toward Procyon.
340 - Vitrification, an early form of Biostasis, provides (relatively) reliable suspended animation.
340 - The superbright astrographer Sam Mwiraria detects artificial infrared emissions from postulated megastructures in a region of the galaxy 50 thousand light years distant, in the direction of Cepheus.
340 - Huginn and Muninn (corvid) provolution program successful
340 - Arctic City Virch first produced.
341 - Ahumanist ai release a modified and virulent form of smallpox.
342 - Solipsist League enters a computronium comet core and leaves the Solar System.
345 - CircumSol Accord between the large amat (anti-matter) farms. Notable consortia are Look Outwards Combine, Jerusalem Macrotech and General Dynamics Corporation.
347 - Ignatius O'Neill forms the Space People Self-Defence League.
350 AT (2320 c.e.)
350's - The utopian political faction gain ground in Tir Sorcha Habitat.
c. 350 - Asian elephants are provolved; the resulting species are known as Sufants (short for Superphants)
350 - The Campbell launched, a probe to Epsilon Eridani.
c. 350 - Neo-pigs provolution program successful
350 - several artificially intelligent entities are believed to have breached the First Singularity barrier in secret.
352 - Immigration to Tir Sorcha Habitat closed to everyone but specialists.
352 - First formal contact between the Option colonists and the Cishp on Titan.
365 - The colony ship, the Tsiolkovsky ,the first manned mission to the stars, is launched towards Tau Ceti, a breathtaking step (equivalent to the late Industrial Apollo Lunar mission, and the Middle Information Age Mars missions in terms of relative expense).
365 - Class R probes report Alpha Centauri under Isolationist AI control.
366 - First Enhanced dolphins (Tursiops sapiens) unveiled by GeneTek & CTC.
369 - The AI Hyperion takes over the megacorporation SSDC, renames it Hyperion Interplanetary.
370 - Epimethians become the first Abdicators to revert to a pre-human non-linguistic stage.
370 - Widespread emigration to newly created bubblehabs in the atmospheres of all Solsys planets with bubblehabs; Saturn is the recipient of the majority of human baseline immigration; Jupiter remains the domain of tweaks and vecs.
374-377 - A consortium of south-east Asian megacorps and interests in the Corporate Republic of Indonesia, together with the giant orbital corporation KMH Bionetics, launch colony ships to Pi3 Orionis.
378 - Outbreak of retroviral typhoid on the Luna settlement at Flamsteed crater. Following this, GeneTEK develops a modified nematode as an antiviral/antibacterial delivery system.
378 - Only a few light-months away from Sol, one of the Pi 3 Orionis colony ships suffers a micrometeorite collision and is spectacularly destroyed. The explosion is detected from Earth, and in the media the general perception assumes that the expedition is doomed. Some of these speculations are fed by Indonesian federalists and other opponents to the project, some due to the general impression many people have that the technology of the Chinese project was unreliable.
378 - Ignatius O'Neill, claiming that the Space People would only be free once they could leave the oppressive baselines behind and have their own colonies and biospheres among the stars, leads a large exodus to the Kuiper Belt and beyond.
380 - The centralist AIs have a benevolent relationship with the Organics and are not yet perceived as gods, except by a few weird groups of normals and cyborgs. All sorts of groups, factions, colonised worlds, space stations continue to spring up. New clades of tweaks and cyborgs continue to develop in the increasing numbers of artificial biospheres of interplanetary space.
380 AT (2350 c.e.)
380's - The boom in artificial biospheres creates a huge demand for volatiles, which enables the belt polity and outer Solsys nations and colonies to acquire great wealth through both manned and automated mining stations on asteroids and moons.
380's - Like many independent space based polities of the time, Tir Sorcha Habitat has substantial nanodefences, as well as more conventional weaponry.
380 - The many new stable designs for artificial biospheres make bubblehabs nearly independent for most materials and energy, but there is a brisk trade between bubblehab communities and the sources of the few critical heavy elements. Earth, Luna, Mars, and the various Belt polities trade these for the abundant supplies of helium-3 that the bubblehab settlements ship offplanet.
389 - A Baseline Supremacist hate group known as the Homo Sapiens Front releases a gengineered virus especially designed to target merpeople. Thousands die before an antidote is found.
390 - Fogfo, an aerosol interactive food, developed at Regina by Belter cooks at Hamblin Comemptives habitat.
390 - Many habitats and colonies throughout the Solar System adopt the Lunar calendar, starting in 1969 with the landing at Tranquility base.
390's - Bourgatow, an asteroid colony, settled in the by a Russian-Taiwanese space mining consortium.
396 - Last remnants of the Jovian League are absorbed by the Gengineer Republic.
397 - First viable vacuum-tolerant humans revealed.
399 - Weeping Wall site declared a protected "national park", but by this time foliage has covered the soil and the site is not much different from other regions on the planet.
399 - The Penglai mission is launched.
Next Page
The Nanotech Age
Articles
- AI Political Science - Text by Anders Sandberg
Major AI Political Camps During the Interplanetary Era. - Alexandria II Bibliotech Project - Text by Peter Kisner
Early Interplanetary Age knowledge-base system. - Algernon - Text by Steve Bowers
Interplanetary age name for an individual who has had unsuccessful intelligence augmentation treatment of some kind; many different types of augmentation treatment were developed to boost baseline human mental capacity, but many of these did not work. From a (now lost ) Information Age fable, Flowers for Algernon. - Arctic City Virch - Text by Darren Ryding
Popular interactive virch series of the Interplanetary Era. - Ares Heavy Lifting - Text by M. Alan Kazlev
Ares Heavy Lifting Inc. was one of the big megacorps to develop on Mars during the Interplanetary Age. - Atlantis (habitat) - Text by M. Alan Kazlev
Orbital Habitat - Cislunar region, 2nd to 5th centuries. - Backyarder - Text by Graham Hopgood based on original by M. Alan Kazlev
Generic term for nanotech era interplanetary/interstellar colonists who legend says grew interstellar ships — virtually from their own backyard — out of nanotech seeds. The reality is that most were content with Earth-based or Solsys-based independence. In fact almost all of the small percentage of backyarders who did have interstellar aspirations worked in concert with Belters, who supplied most of the resources as well as much of the technical and practical expertise in exchange for a stake in any planets claimed, and few of this minority actually completed their preparations and of those who did leave the Sol System during the 5th century most never reached their destinations. - California - Text by M. Alan Kazlev
Pre-Expulsion Earth polity, with a history of welcoming the then-radical technologies and types of sophonts being developed at the time. - Campbell Station - Text by Sean R
Interplanetary Era space habitat - Canada - Text by Crossroads
The northern portion of the continent of North America on Old Earth. Location of various polities in the pre-Expulsion period. - Caneshe Habitat - Text by Steve Bowers
Habitat in Solsys mostly inhabited by Provolved Dogs. - Cascadia - Text by Crossroads
Pre-Expulsion Earth polity, which followed a philosophy of adhering to nature, and therefore rejected sentient AI, gengineering, nanotech, and space colonization. - Cheever, Dr. Marion - Text by Charles Mosteller and Todd Drashner
Renowned Terragen scientist (early Interplanetary period) responsible for a major breakthrough in the field of gravitational theory. Along with predicting a number of effects which were later experimentally verified, Dr. Cheever's theory also led to the discovery of the 'Cheever Effect', a minuscule discrepancy in the relation between inertial and gravitational mass at the quantum level. At the time of its discovery, the Cheever Effect was thought to be of no practical importance, much like the 'ftl' effects seen in radio waveguides and other devices. It was not until centuries later, with the invention of the first reactionless drive, that an examination of Dr. Cheever's work was referenced as having provided the inspiration that led to the research that culminated in the invention of the drive. - Climate Change on Old Earth - Text by Todd Drashner
The climate change crisis on Old Earth peaked during the Interplanetary period with a two metre rise in sea-levels - Compatibility Doctrine, The - Text by The Humbler
Technological doctrine that makes backwards compatibility a priority. - Cowboys and Gung Hos - Text by M. Alan Kazlev
Backyarder factions from the Interplanetary Age. - Cult of the Exsanguinated Giraffe - Text by Ben Higginbottom
Libertarian/Surrealist Nano/Memetic/Bio Hackers - Early to Late Interplanetary Age. - Early Space Elevators - Text by Steve Bowers
The technology required to build a space elevator was available from the late first century AT (c. 2050 c.e - Old Earth reckoning) onwards, but financial and political restrictions delayed implementation until the middle of the second century AT. By the early part of the third century there were four major installations and over the remainder of the Interplanetary Age others were gradually added. One, Tangaa Bintang, with a touch point in Indonesia, was retained by GAIA after the Great Expulsion. - Early Vec and Neumann Development - Text by Steve Bowers
Intelligent robots in the Interplanetary Age. - Exa Energy - Text by Anders Sandberg
Interplanetary Era energy megacorporation. - Extropia - Text by M. Alan Kazlev
[1] Interlinked Information to First Federation age evolving communities embodying extropian values. Included both virtual cultural communities and actual communities in several orbital free zones.
[2] Belt habitat of Extropist sect, Interplanetary Age to Nanotech Age. - Extropolis - Text by Anders Sandberg
Extropian community located in Cis-Lunar orbit, late Information to Interplanetary period. - Feynman Expert Systems - Text by Ben Higginbottom
Originally an open source, typically overengineered expert system released and supported by the Feynman Re-Creation Society in 157 a.t.. - Feynman Re-Creation Society - Text by M. Alan Kazlev
Early interplanetary age infotech and persona engineering collective, responsible for the Feynman Expert Systems, a twenty-eight year project. One the members was the superturing ***third ai***, also a member of the Cult of the Exsanguinated Giraffe. The FRCS formerly disbanded in 192 AT. - First Federation Period - Text by M. Alan Kazlev
The period encompassing the historical span of the First Federation, from about 900 to mid third millennium. It was succeeded by the establishment of the archailect empires ("sephirotics") in their own right. - Four Seasons Habitats - Text by Alex Mulvey
Habitats with environments which replicate the four temperate seasonal climates - GeneTEK - Text by M. Alan Kazlev
An important Interplanetary Age biotech megacorporation, GeneTEK incorporated into the "biopunk" Genetekker culture/clade. It was one of the few corps to survive the Technocalypse, and went on to dominate the First Federation biotech industry, and survives in ossified form as House Genen. Some small hyperturing-run neo-GeneTEK type biocorporations can still be found flourishing in the Zoeific Biopolity to this day. - Hal - Text by Anders Sandberg
Net nym of an unidentified entity during the late information era and the interplanetary era, referring to the tragic ai character HAL in Arthur C. Clarke's and Stanley Kubrick's drama 2001. - InterPlanetary Net - Text by M. Alan Kazlev
InterPlaNet, Interplanetary Network, the extension of the Internet to CisLunar and interplanetary space. Information Age to Nanotech Interplanetary Age. - Interstellar Colonisation before the First Federation Era - Text by The Astronomer, Ryan B (Rynn), Steve Bowers
Every known colony ship launched up to the start of the First Federation - Lagrange Magshield, The - Text by Steve Bowers
Interplanetary Age concept, which was developed from research into magsails and Ram-assisted magscoops. - Lee Interorbital - Text by M. Alan Kazlev
Interplanetary Age megacorp. - Martian War of Independence, The - Text by Damon Court
A chronology, and list of primary causes. - Merpeople - Text by M. Alan Kazlev and Steve Bowers.
Early aquatic tweak human clade. - Methuselahs - Text by M. Alan Kazlev
Early human clade designed for maximum lifespan even without medical intervention. - Nannies, The - Text by Anders Sandberg, from Big Ideas Grand Vision
Nanotech startup companies, early Interplanetary Age. - Neutrals - Text by M. Alan Kazlev
Interplanetary Age AI political orientation. These were superturings and hyperturings that refused to take part in the on-going pro- and anti- hu, and libertarian vs centralist, factionalism. The neutrals had their own agendas, and considered humans mostly irrelevant (generally they would tolerate hu, and only act if their interests were threatened). Most migrated outsystem during the late Interplanetary, Interplanetary Nanotech, and Technocalypse periods. - Orbital (political unit) - Text by M. Alan Kazlev
Originally, a nation state or city state based on habitats in orbit around Old Earth. Over the course of the Interplanetary Age the term came to be used for any such state in Solsys. By early First Federation times the term Orbital was used more broadly for any independent or semi-independent state based on a hab in orbit around a planet. - Progressives, AI - Text by Ben Higginbottom
Old Interplanetary Age term for the hu-friendly AI camp that wished to advance baselines and their culture, provide intelligence enhancements etc. and spread out into the cosmos. The term libertarian is also used. - Proto-Anglish (also New English, Space English) - Text by M. Alan Kazlev
An Interplanetary Age language resulting from fusion of Late Industrial and Early Information Age Modern English with elements of other languages like Russian, Spanish, Chinese, Japanese, Hindi, ircspeak, ebonics, and so on - simpler grammar and syntax than Modern English, but with a lot of technical terms and very rich in neologisms. No longer in use anywhere. - Republic of Pakistan - Text by Kirran Lochhead Strang
Old Earth polity of the Industrial-Nanotech Ages, originally a colony of Great Britain, but after independence gradually becoming a major power in its own right. - Rise of Homo Superior, The - Text by M. Alan Kazlev
The emergence of early enhanced human clades. - Sakawa Corporation - Text by M. Alan Kazlev
Among the most diversified of the triple-A Interplanetary Age orbital megacorporations. The corporation itself did not survive the Technocalypse but the associated hyperturing core, including partial uploads of some Sakawa family members, had a long and influential subsequent career. - Second Industrial Revolution - Text by M. Alan Kazlev
Historical term for the dramatic socio-politico-economic and technical changes that occurred during the late Information and early Interplanetary periods as a result of rapid advances were made in bio-, nano- and bionanotechnology. The production of superstrong, super-light materials enabled humanity to start to expand into the solar system, establishing a number of scientific industrial centres in orbit and on Luna, several outposts in the Belt and a manned research station on Mars. - Solipsist League, Sopolist League - Text by Ben Higginbottom, amended by Steve Bowers
Solipsist AI organisation, heavily into postmodernism who rejected the 'meat universe' outright. - Solsys Geopolitics 2100 - 2500 CE (131 - 531 AT) - Text by MacGregor
The 22nd to 26th centuries CE of the Interplanetary and Nanotech Ages witnessed the beginning of terragen civilization's spread from its cradle on Earth into the vast frontier of space. Conflict and rivalry between polities, a factor present during all periods of human history, continued as nation states and an expanding array of new political actors sought to secure their interests throughout the solar system. - Stasist, AI - Text by Anders Sandberg
One of two basic AI camps that emerged during the Interplanetary Age. In contrast to the Progressives the Stasists wanted to halt all other technological innovation, so that they could safely rule over the baselines like gods. - Static/White Noise - Text by Ben Higginbottom
Information and interplanetary age music craze: 'information-free' music. - Tablet - Text by Todd Drashner
Standard late Information and early Interplanetary Age baseline-friendly microtech communications, text, and Net interface device. - United Nations (Earth) - Text by MacGregor
A large and important intergovernmental organization on Old Earth, composed of nearly all sovereign nation-states then existing, at one point reaching over 200 members. - United States of America - Text by Crossroads
Pre-Expulsion Earth-based superpower, responsible for the first landing on Luna and for creating the Internet. Though its relative importance declined as other powers rose, it continued to be influential in Solsys up until the Great Expulsion, and its cultural influences last down to this day. - USS Randolph CSGN-04 - Text by Aaron Hamilton
The USS Randolph was the first of a class of powerful (for the time) interplanetary cruisers built by the United States of America to reassert past military dominance. - Vesta - Text by Steve Bowers
An asteroid in the Old Solar System that was for a time the capital of the First Federation and retains historical and symbolic importance even in the present era. - Warseed - Text by M. Alan Kazlev
Interplanetary Age proto-warchive developed by theThe Cult of the Exsanguinated Giraffe. - Weeping Wall of Satori Crater, The - Text by John M. Dollan
The Weeping Wall periodically expelled liquid water in a spectacular but short lived flood.
Related Topics
| 0030 to 0130 AT: The Information Age | 0030 to 0900 AT: Interplanetary Era | 400 to 530 AT: The Nanotech Age |
| 530 to 900 AT: The Sundering | Middle Tech / Midtech |
Development Notes
Text by M. Alan Kazlev; updated by Todd Drashner
timeline by numerous contributors
Initially published on 12 July 2001.
timeline by numerous contributors
Initially published on 12 July 2001.
Additional Information
