Sourced from Dr. Tetsuo Haldeman. Keeping the Peace: Hegemonic Discourse and Technological Coercion in the Periphery. Accessed from The Network on 2282 AD.

1969

Monkeys learn to control the deflection of a biofeedback meter arm with neural activity at the Department of Physiology and Biophysics, University of Washington.

Apollo 11 completes its lunar landing on 20 July.

1975

Viking I lands on the surface of Mars and returns data until 1982.

Twenty-two European states establish the European Space Agency (ESA), an intergovernmental organisation dedicated to the exploration of space.

1989

Voyager II conducts a flyby of Neptune.

1990

Doctor Phillip Kennedy and colleagues build the first intra-cortical brain–computer interface by implanting neurotrophic-cone electrodes into rhesus monkeys.

2005

Matthew Nagle is the first human to use brain computer integration to restore function after paralysis.

The Asia-Pacific Space Cooperation Organization (APSCO) member states include Bangladesh, China, Iran, Mongolia, Pakistan, Peru, and Thailand, Indonesia and Turkey.

2010

The NASA Authorization Act of 2010 provides a re-prioritized list of objectives for the American space program.

NASA proposes to move forward with the development of the Space Launch System (SLS), which will be designed to carry the Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle, as well as important cargo, equipment, and science experiments to the farthest reaches of the solar system. NASA estimates the journey will take eleven years.

2013

Duke University researchers successfully connect the brains of two rats with electronic interfaces allowing them to directly share information.

2023

The Arab League forms the Pan-Arab Space Agency (PASA).

2032

MIT Researchers successfully connect the thoughts of two humans via an intra-cortical interface.

2039

NASA launches the Space Launch System into orbit, and Orion Multi-purpose Crew Vehicle into the far reaches of space.

The Orion mission is touted as an example of international cooperation with astronauts representing ESA, APSCO, PASA and NASA.

2050

The Orion reaches the far edges of the solar system and enters the Kuiper Belt- the collection of asteroids that lies beyond Neptune’s orbit.

Orion lands on Salacia’s moon of Actaea, and goes ‘dark’ for a period of two days. When Orion reconnects with NASA Control the news is not good.

A disastrous life support malfunction has ended the lives of all astronauts bar the Americans.  The non-American space agencies stop short of accusing the US of any deliberate wrongdoing but the lack of trust ruins any future potential alliance between the different agencies.

2051

Desperate for funds and international goodwill, the US Government announces a new inter-governmental partnership organisation with various countries around the Pacific Rim.  The organisation is now known as the Pacific Rim Institute for Space Exploration (PRISE), consisting of Japan, South Korea, the Philippines, Australia, New Zealand, Chile, Mexico, the United States and Canada.

2052

Mass produced and surgically implanted BChips enable users to communicate telepathically between each other via The Network. The BChip revolutionizes the entertainment industry with virtual gaming decimating traditional media market share. The Network is populated by fully realised sovereign nations, virtual economies, and legal systems. The WTO estimates that 35% of Network use is pornographic.

2064

Tensions rise as China and North Korea conduct joint military exercises in the East China Sea and the Sea of Japan.  Japan and the US in turn conduct their own exercises in the same area.

2066

Orion returns with a new mineral named “Actium”.  Analysis by PRISE scientists determines that Actium is both extremely malleable and strong.  It also had a rare atomic structure that, when combined with Nanotechnology, can be used to create just about any mechanical structure imaginable.  The possibilities are endless.

Tensions escalate between China and Japan. The countries with the biggest influence in PRISE – US and Japan – recognise the strategic advantage of Actium and pressure the Director-General, Aiko Karuki, not to share the discovery.  He agrees wholeheartedly.

2067

Several PRISE scientists disagree with Karuki’s decision, believing Actium’s properties could sustain the planet, and potentially bring peace to the region. They conspire to reveal Actium on the world stage at the United Nations General Assembly held in New York.

Flight 217 to New York suffers a severe malfunction, exploding mid-air, killing 130 passengers on board, including the PRISE UN delegates.

2075

Rumours abound about the existence of Actium, PRISE’s continued efforts to keep it secret, and their involvement in Flight 217’s destruction.  Sentiment rises against combined governmental organisations such as the various space agencies.

At a PRISE strategy meeting, the single priority is determined to be the procurement and protection of Actium.

Hacking organisations grow in numbers and merge with pseudo-terrorist organisations. Dr Zeus is identified as the number one risk to Network integrity.

Thousands of hacking attacks on the Network are instigated, but with little success.

2083

Dr Patricia Castigan disappears from society shortly before completing her PhD in Dynamic Programming of BChip Systems After Integration.  Her work concentrated on individuals capable of extending the BChip’s programming to modify the coding of both the chip, and the Network.  An investigation is conducted into her disappearance but apart from possible links to the terrorist organisation known as Dr Zeus, nothing was concluded.

2085

Dr Zeus successfully releases an unstoppable virus into the Network. Unchecked it kills millions within seconds. Millions more suffer incurable mental illness and psychological disorders.

Populations riot, attempting to destroy all examples of machine intelligence from sophisticated AIs running national grids to network-connected domestic appliances such as refrigerators and vacuum cleaners.

PRISE and Actium are all but forgotten about, but the organisation survives.

2092

The AI riots lead to the signing of the international pact banning complete human computer integrated intelligence.

Despite this, PRISE scientists continue to experiment with BCI technology maintaining careful procedures to provide defences against Network viruses. BCI tech also goes underground.

2100

PRISE completes their development of the Nuclear Magnetoplasma rocket, which enables return flights between Earth and Mars in four days.

2120

Mars colonies 1 & 2 established.

2150

PRISE successfully sets up rudimentary fuel depots on Mars and Saturn’s moon Titan. Over the next few years, mining refineries unearth thousands of tonnes of Actium in the Kuiper Belt.  Processing plants are set up on the periphery of the solar system.

PRISE hires Moshe Kadish, a former Mossad agent, to head up its new ‘Diplomatic Investigations’ department.

2153

Dr Castigan goes public, revealing that she is the head of Dr Zeus and is based on Mars Colony 2.  She warns that PRISE is still investigating BCI technology and lists PRISE’s various wrongdoings.  PRISE denies all of her claims, but agrees to send a representative to discuss her claims.  Dr Castigan agrees, on the condition the meeting is held in the very public arena of Mars 2 Hall.

Moshe Kadish sighted on Mars.  No PRISE representative appears at the hall, but as Dr Castigan is about to present her case, Mars 2 Hall suffers an explosive decompression failure, killing all inside.

2154

PRISE finally goes public with their discovery of Actium. With vast supplies in the Kuiper Belt, they know that it is only a matter of time before other space agencies achieve the ability to reach the belt and mine Actium for themselves.  Negotiating with world Governments they extract a punishing tax on the mining of Actium, in return for their research on the metal, and on the Magnetoplasma rocket.  PRISE is guaranteed an income in perpetuity from legitimate operations.

Overnight, PRISE’s public announcement overturns entire economies and membership to space aeronautic agencies becomes compulsory for nation state survival.

In light of the biggest announcement of the millenia, the investigation into Dr Castigan’s death and the Mars 2 explosion is forgotten about.

2160

Using the special properties of Actium, PRISE scientists create an intra-cortical device for the control of military vehicles.

2166

PRISE successfully tests the first completely BCI operated jet.

2170 – 2200

Rapid expansion of space flight industries, including the mining and harvesting of Actium both legal and illegal.

2204

PRISE creates the Titan Pilot Academy, and reveals the Peacekeeper Mk 1.  Its main purpose is to stop the illegal mining of Actium and its transport through the solar system.

2226

Scientists create an atom of Dark Matter at the Moon-Earth Lagrange Point.  This discovery is the missing piece of the development of the Alcubierre Drive which enables Faster Than Light travel.

2228

Political conflict arises over how Kuiper systems in other solar systems is affected by the 2154 PRISE Covenant.

2250

At the fringe of newly visited solar systems, frontier trade stations are developed, with the rule of law questionable at best.

Continued in FUSION Pilot Training