THE JUPITER PROGRAM RE VISITED

THE JUPITER PROGRAM: RE-VISITED While the plan was to build long range, deep space, craft, to survey planets, to house the worlds populations, the first problem was not a question of the ships design. No, the Jupiters would follow Irwin Allens classic design. The question was about both the engines, and the fuel core. Scientists would agree that the ships would need a renewable fuel core. This because it is a known FACT that, outside the Earth's atmosphere, there are NO gas station/convenience stores. While scientists developed what they THOUGHT would be considered Hyperdrive, the problem remained "What kind of FUEL, to use." While the scientific community wanted a contest, for renewable fuels, the nuclear industry out-bid all other fuel sources. While the public WAS told that the Jupiters would search for habitable planets, then report in, to Earth, when contact was made, What the public was NOT told was about the seventy-two hours, that the nuclear cores would need, to build up, and store, enough energy, for lift off. Once the energy stores were at sufficient levels, the crews would board, as well as supplies. N.A.S.A., and the European Space Community, had learned a hard lesson, from the Jupiter 1 program. In order to try to save tax money, the Jupiter 1's had their flight paths programmed, from before Earth launch. This way, the ships could save millions of dollars, by not deploying expensive sensors, until outside the solar system. The system MIGHT have worked, except that, beyond the moon, very little is known, even about our own solar system. While the ships were programmed with the most direct route, to, and beyond, Polaris, what the programmers failed to calculate was the presence of asteroids. Following their pre-programmed courses, the ships had no reason to doubt their human programmers. That is, until the ships began running, directly, into the path, of asteroids. The destruction, of the nuclear power plants, gave Earth just a "pin-prick" of light, in the sky, as acknowledgement of the explosions. It was not until the last, of the Jupiter 1's did not last, to the edge, of the solar system, that scientists won the "battle", for a better (if more expensive) design, for the Jupiter 2's. The odd thing, that scientists found un-nerving, was not the fact that, having active sensors, on the new craft, during solar system exit, meant adding millions more dollars to total, project, cost. It was the fact that, While the Jupiter 2 concept had, first, appearred, on American television, the Russians had been the first, to begin building the actual ships. This is why, when the Jupiter 2 class vessels were designated, Russia would receive the "honor" of having built Jupiter 2-A. N.A.S.A. would be stuck with the designation Jupiter 2-B. As for propulsion, the nuclear industry threw enough money, at the program, to make SURE that their engines were used. For the ships crews, and the space agencies, this meant a week, of energy build up, just to reach Earth orbit. This is why the fuel tanks were storing energy even as the last press conferences were held. Once the supplies, as well as a limited supply, of cryo gas, had been loaded, the ships would begin count down, to launch. The nuclear community would promise that, once free of the atmosphere, the nuclear engines would drive the Hyperdrive engines far beyond light speed. Now, sure, the nuclear engines DID (with a weeks stored energy), lift the ships from the ground, not all of the ships launched, successfully. While "A"-"E" had smooth launches, it was "F"-"H", which just did not reserve enough power, for lift off. "I" -"L" suffered electronic faults, on lift off, and crashed. Jupiters "A"-"E" did make it, to orbit, with the International Space Station photographing their arrival, what stunned the scientists was how, once in orbit, the ships took another two weeks, to build enough energy storage, for the flight just to leave the solar system. While hyperdrive systems, such as from Lost in Space, Stargate SG-1, and others, showed how the engines could send the ship hurtling into deep space, far beyond light speed, the scientific community had tried to warn governments, that the world did not yet have the tech, all that places, such as Washington D.C. would respond with was "We see it, on television, all the time." The scientists would try to explain that what television viewers were, actually, seeing was high speed backgrounds, and other special effects. As for the "distant" planets, the scientists would remind leaders that those scenes were not shot, on alien worlds. They were shot, on movie sets. Here on Earth. What was of even more concern, to the scientists, was the fact that it was projected that the nuclear engines would take seven days, to build enough power, to reach the edge of the solar system. When it took two weeks, the scientists just HOPED the other calculations were more correct. What proved to be completely "lack luster" was what the crew, of the space station saw, when the Jupiters engines came back on-line. The scientists had expected to see a flash, similar to Stargate SG-1, or from Star Trek. What the scientists saw, and reported, was something more like a model "T" Ford, "crawling" from orbit. This was with the Hyperdrive engines set to maximum power. It would take the nuclear engines five days, to push the ships just to the lunar body, then a full twelve months, to push the ships to the edge of the solar system. Now, the space community had a new problem. There were only two years worth of coolant, on-board the ships. With only one year left, once the ships stopped, to re-build fuel levels, at the edge of the solar system, N.A.S.A., Russia, and the Europeans would have to discuss how to ship additional supplies, to the ships. This, with transit taking twenty-five times LONGER than predicted. While it was suggested the Earth send an un-manned probe, with additional supplies, the problem was that, even with the best engines, the supplies would not reach the ships, before they transitted. The crews hope would lie in the nuclear engines working better in deep space, than they had done, so far. By the time the ships transitted, about six months later, even the electronics firm, which had "guaranteed" that communication would remain possible, under any circumstances, had to repay the government millions of dollars. This because, once the ships transitted, to "hyperdive", ALL signals were lost. All that the scientists could hope for was that the computers worked, properly. All of the tons, of data, which Earth had expected to receive, as the ships transitted past many planets, failed to be sent. With no way, to track the ships, it was decided that the ships would be listed as "Missing". This caused a demand, not just to overhaul the design, of the ships, but of their engines, as well. With so many failures, of the nuclear designs, the space community agreed with the public. What good was saving dollars when return on investment is, practically nill. This is why, when the Jupiter program went "back to the drawing board", another group was tasked with the question of "What is the most economical way to transport man-power, and material, to space?" Space shuttles were far too limiting. Rockets would have to be insanely HUGE, to transport parts. This is when science would turn to classic fiction, again. It would take ten YEARS, of effort, but the Transporter unit, from Star Trek was changed from a model, on a set, into a functioning, cargo, carrier. There was just one problem. The Transporter only worked during the one hour cycles, when the surface pad lined up, with the space pad. This meant that, out of every twenty-four hours, supplies could only be shipped every other hour, for a total of just twelve hours per day. This is why the platform took twice as long to complete. Once the platform was finished, however, a ranking politician stated "I will be the FIRST, to represent my state, by walking that platform." The politician forgot that, in space, there is no gravity, to hold him down. The politician nearly floated away, until pulled back. This lead those, back on Earth, to discuss another, science fiction, idea. When it was suggested that Moonbase: Alpha would be a great site, from which to build, and launch, the sub-committee, on the use of outer space, had to call a closed meeting. Only committee members, and scienitists were allowed behind the closed doors. Once the place was deemed "air-tight", the sub-comittee would announce the following: During the Apollo missions, the public was only showed what we allowed them to see. This was especially true of that rock overhang. When the English ambassador would ask "What are you saying? That the equipment did NOT fail?" The sub-committee would say "We could not risk the public seeing what Apollo, really, saw." When England said "Proceed." The sub-committee would say "We did not just find soil samples. The reason why we have left the moon alone, since Apollo, is that we found that someone else had, already, built a base, there. The "caverns", which some Earth observers had found, turned out to be part of a complex, very similar in design to NORAD, Cheyenne Mountain." When Russia would ask "You mean that some, other, race built, then abandoned, a base, inside the lunar surface?" The sub-committee would lower their voice as they said "NO one said that they abandoned the base. Based upon the lack of dust, we believe that the base is active. Just not when Apollo visited." When England would ask "Are you saying that Romulans built a base, this close to Earth, yet we have never even detected their ships?" The sub-committee would suggest "Never said they were Romulans. We dont, really, know WHOSE base it is." When England would push, asking "IF what you say is correct, HOW is it that we, never, spotted their ships, coming or going?" The sub-committee would suggest "Do you remember that final scene, from the Star Trek movie, about the Borg traveling into the past, to destroy the founder, and creator of Warp Drive, before the tech could be created?" "Do you remember how the Enterprise masked its own, warp signature?" England would reply "Oh, come now, sir. That was just science fiction." The sub-committee would ask "Where do you think that the idea came from?" During the same, ten years, when the Transporter was being created, both N.A.S.A., and the European Space Agency, would continue to try to make contact, with the Jupiters. It would be twenty years before Earth gave up trying to make contact. The report, to the United Nations, would consist of "Either of two things may have happened. Either the ships have travelled beyond our range, and ability, to receive, or the ships have lost power." When the Secretary General would ask "How far is your equipment reliable to?" and was told "Maybe three light years." The Secretary General would laugh, saying "You must be joking. This is just outside this solar system. How could you hope to remain in contact, beyond the solar system?" The communications company would remind the United Nations "We are in un-charted territory. No one has travelled beyond this solar system, before. Even if the ships are operational, the crews have no way, short of returning to Earth, to report in." By the time the United Nations was asking "What would be needed, to boost signals, from beyond the solar system? What would the COST be?" Germany would come forward with the projections. The cost would have to be international. The German scientist would say "I propose another solution. One, suggested by Herr Roddenberry. Germany suggests that Earth begin work on creating the sub-space radio." When the United States would ask "What good will that do the Jupiters?" Germany would say "IF we can develop a REAL, functioning, Warp Drive system, then we can send ships out, and make contact, with any, surviving, Jupiters." When the American space sub-committee would ask "Has Germany any idea of how MUCH this would COST the world?" Nationally, the figure would bankrupt any economy. This is why Germany would propose "If we split both the cost, and the information, between the worlds nations, the cost will be acceptable." While the White House was back under the control of "I REFUSE to tax the rich...!", the international community would be un-daunted. This is why, as American ambassadors, around the world, would begin reporting on national work, being done, by other nations, on the technologies, Congress would have to ask "Do we REALLY want them to reach the goal, first?" This is why the Jupiter program was re-visited, and placed under the control of Lockheed-Martin. If Warp Speed, and sub-space radio were possible, the skunkworks would be at the front of the line. While Washington D.C. wanted to impose TIGHT budget, controls, on the project, the simple fact was that such controls would only hinder the project. After all, the technologies would have to be created, from nothing. It was nothing like turning the F-22 Raptor into the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. While sub-light engines existed, even today, no one had come up with a design, for exceeding light speed. It would take the very best minds, and a very blank check, as well as forty years, for an operational system to be invented. Thankfully, the cost, for both Warp Drive, and sub-space radio, were covered by more than a dozen nations. Still, over those forty years, minimal attempts were made, to make contact with the Jupiters. It would not be until the passage, of year number 65, that the first, truly interstellar, Jupiter design would sit on the launch pad. If the launch was successful, the ships first test would be to spend a couple of months, trying to track the older ships. Since this ship was equipped with Warp Speed, no cryo tubes would be needed. The launch would be an inspiration, for generations to come. Because Lockheed had felt that crews might need G-Force protection, during take-off's, the company had created an electronic shielding system, to surround the craft. This is why take-off was even smoother than ever. In orbit, the aging, yet growing, International Space Station had to grab camera's, to photograph the ship, as it rose, not just to orbit, but away from Earth. (The ship would transit to Warp Speed, behind the moon). Six hours later, the ship would report in "Just departing system, now. Unknown when next contact will be made." With that, the ship would vanish, from conventional radar. Only laser radar could track the ship, now. Just three days out, and the modified ship would report "Found Jupiter 2-D. Our readings show that the ship is, highly radioactive. We dare not approach." When Houston would call out "Can you detrmine if the ship was attacked?" the interstellar Jupiter would report "Just found reason. It looks like the nuclear reactor went critical, and exploded." After Houston would order the ship to destory the dead ship (for safety reasons), the interstellar ship would continue on course. Two, more, ships would be found, with highly contaminated interiors. Since these showed no damage, the interstellar ship would report "Most likely cause would be leak, in nuclear reactor. Crew appears to have died, in hybernation, due to exposure to radiation." Houston would order the destruction, of these ships, as well. The most hilarious incident, that the interstellar ship would have to report, was the incident, of a ship, whose nuclear reactor had not been strong enough, to fight off gravity, from a planet. While the ship had made a forced landing, its crew had been un-able to even send a distress signal. The crew had set up housing, on the alien world. It was not until the interstellar ship had landed, made contact, and prepared for launch, that the crew cheered the Skunkworks. The new engines DID have enough power, to defeat gravity. The sub-space radio, however, would NOT work, until the ship was out of the gravity well. After this, the crew gave the ship forty-eight hours, before proceeding. The remains, of the last three Jupiters, were found on the surfaces of asteroids. The interstellar ship scanned for, and found, the remains, of the nuclear reactors. As near as anyone could determine, the nuclear engines just did not have enough power, to pull the craft away from the rocks. Based upon skeletal remains, the crews must have died, either in cryo, or upon impact. The only reason why the interstellar ship declined an immediate return order, was because its sensors detected an Earth-like planet, in a nearby system. When this was reported, to Earth, the approval, to explore, was given. The crew would have given Earth a positive report, on the planet, except for one thing. Planet-side, the crew discovered that the planet was more Earth-like than they imagined. The crew even found remains, of abandoned cities. Whats worse was that, lettering, found in various places, was a version, of various, Earth languages. Some in English. Some in other languages. Man-kind had been to this planet, before. Why was it not registering, on any maps?" What annoyed the ships captain was when the interstellar ship returned to Earth, and the man stated "It is evident that we HAVE been there, before. The evidence was all over the place. Why wont you admit it?" Just a week later, the ships captain would have to apologize, for his mistake. While modern day humans had NOT been to the other planet, some very old, religious, texts made mention of the place. Scholars had just thought that the authors had been trying to embellish the old stories. This left space command with a whole new problem. If there was evidence, older than Earth, of human presence, then this would call, into question, the entire religious community. "Were we, in fact, descended from a previous, more advanced, culture?" As the new class, of interstellar Jupiters, were rolled out, the question, before the space sub-committee, would be "What if evidence, of human habitation, IS found, on other planets. HOW do we keep our religions intact, when people realize that we are, actually, descended from the stars, themselves?" This is why the international orders were given. No matter what was found, on other planets, there would be NO public information, until this information was approved by Earth's own religions. While the next, five, interstellar, Jupiters, would find evidence, of inhabitation, it would be the first Jupiter which, while exploring a planet, would come across an actual Morse Code S.O.S.. The odd thing was that the orbital, and surface, probes did not detect any pathogen, known to Earth science. What the crew wished that they had NOT discovered, on this planet, was the intact remains of a scientific, and biological, research center. Back on Earth, a center, of this very type, was just in the design stage. Here, it looked centuries old. When the ship reported in, to Earth, the directive was clear. "Demolish the place. Leave no evidence." Instead of demolishing the place, the ships captain left a disaster beacon, marking the planet as hazzardous to human life. Between this, and the distress beacon, no one would come near. A month later, when the crews found a deserted space station, and docked their ships, they realized that their courses held a pattern. Sometime, deep in the past, ships had travelled, from planet to planet, settling primitive worlds. There was a definite path forming. A path, which pointed both to the center, of the galaxy, and out the edge. This left the question of "Did mankind come from the center of the galaxy, or from outside the galaxy?" The ships were ordered NOT to proceed, either way. They were to survey worlds, and find new places, for mankind to inhabit. This, however, was not the only question, back on mother Earth. A new fear, based upon another students remarks. While Greta Thunburg had challenge climate change deniers, another student had asked the question: Even if we send our excess populations, to other planets, what is to prevent yet ANOTHER disaster, destroying other planets, as we have done, with Earth? How do we control the population? No one wanted this question asked, either. While climate, and population activists, were urging caution, the governments were working on what they HOPED would be the worlds best deterent, to abusing other planets. Here, again, science fiction was coming into play. Many people wondered what the late George Lucas would have thought, had he lived to see the day when Earth would begin construction of its own Death Star. This project would take another decade, to complete, yet there was, already, a waiting list, of volunteers. As for the ships, which would transport humans to new worlds, the idea, of a generalized design, was trashed, when the cost was announced. While the Earths, major, government's were trying to make the tech more affordable, smaller governments were working in a new direction. These government were working WITH industry, on a whole new class, of freighters. The goal was to have private enterprise pay for the ships, by allowing companies to advertise on the insides, and outsides, of the ships. To the surprise, even of the United States, once private enterprise was involved, companies were willing to invest even MORE money, in better equipment, and design. (It would make great publicity). While the international transporter unit came into more active use, than ever, the problem, for scientists, and workers, was how to move freight between the Transporter, and the job-sites. Again, science fiction would be the leader of the "pack". In fact, it would be Gene Roddenberry's teams, working on one of the newest versions, of the Star Trek universe, which created the answer. Since the public had been calling for a series, which told the back-story, not just of the men, and women, of Starfleet, but to show the actual creation, of a starship, the team, at "Star Trek" had created what they HOPED would be the future of space, freight, movement. While the design was no "beauty contest" winner, its simple design would become the basis for the orbital, freight, movement. To cover the cost, of the cargo movers, corporations were allowed to place labels on the units. This, however, gave a whole, new, meaning, to "traffic control". The Professional Air Traffic Controllers (PATCO) would have to train a whole new generation. A generation, of controllers, whose main concern was not having planes crash. In space, the main problem would be keeping everyone on-course, and not losing any pilots, to the depths of outer space. Ofcourse, the GOOD news was that the Skunkworks did its job, better than expected. They not only built craft, for interstellar travel, but they had created an energy source, which placed nucelar on "notice". While the discovery had been an accident, this accident had come from "What if ships run low, on fuel, during flights? Ther are NO fuel stations, beyond Earth." This had lead the skunkworks to create another, splinter, group. A group, of scientists, whose only job was trying to solve the fuel problem. While anti-matter was, in fact, being harvested, the problem was that the quantity was just not enough to meet the need. While the new fuel had no name, it did turn out to be easy to create. It was, also, self-replicating. While even world leaders knew that it would be impossible to control human reproduction, there were other methods, placed into operation. Methods, normally used only by brutal dictators. While the governments began massive public awareness campaigns, including free birth control, and voluntary sterilization, some people did not "get the point". It would take an example, of a disgusting technology, to make the public aware of the problem. Across the world, and on live television, dozens of rebellious families, all spouting the scripture of "Be fruitful, and multiply", were executed. After the executions, the moderator would remind the public "To avoid such a tragic end, all citizens are encouraged to use, and utilize, contraceprtives. The more we reduce our population, the longer this planet can sustain our race." Once word, of the executions, reached the interstellar Jupiters, the commanders returned to the abandoned space station, and worked on a solution of their own. This is where the idea, of just building barriers, and listing area's as "Off-Limits", would lead to dozens of planets being opened, to human transport. Since the colony ships remained under construction, the Jupiters had time, for supply, and personnel, deliveries, to the "abandoned" worlds. Soon, the concept, of the "concentration camp" would be applied, in REVERSE. Instead of trying to keep the public within walls, the group would work to keep prying eyes OUT of ancient tech. It would be the tech, which would be "imprisoned". Sadly, while this was going on, in deep space, back on Earth, atleast three cults, all of which insisted that their membership follow scripture, to the letter, held their own version of either Jonestown, Guyanna, or Waco, Texas. Maybe 30,000 people took their own lives. This, while sending the pope the message "If we cannot live as God commanded, then we shall strike a blow, for the Holy Father." Hoping for the popes, and the Vaticans blessing, of their acts, what any survivors found was the papacy condemning their actions. It was because of these holocausts that the Papacy made public its plans NOT to abandon Roman-Catholics, who departed Earth. A new breed, of cardinals, was being trained not just in scripture, but for the needs of space travellers. The pope even declared "NO matter where Christians may travel, they will know that the Lord travels with them." While the idea, of a space station based Vatican City was discussed, and considered, the cardinals college was not so much in favor of moving Vatican City off of Earth, and to a more "centralized" point, among the colony worlds. Legend/History says that, while the Vatican would, eventually, be moved, from Earth (as the Earth lost its ability to sustain human life), that three locations were tried, before the Vatican bowed to the wishes, of Catholics, and had its own version, of the Death Star built. With this mobile Vatican City, the cardinals, and the pope would be able to stay in closer contact, with the colony worlds. Legend also states that the first Death Star only had to be used, to implode planets, twice, before colonists understood. Lack, of proper population controls, would result in an un-welcome visit, from the space station. The new Vatican would be just the opposite. The station would deliver new priests, retrieve aging priests, and minister to the sick. For reasons, that history does not reveal, legend says that some people stayed on Earth. This, even as the planet because more myth/legend, than an actual place. What was to be gained, by remaining on the dying planet? What is known, even to those, born on the colony worlds, is that space travel is as normal as cross-country travel. Each planet had its population centers. (This, despite an order to spread out, given from Earth, and given centuries before). While the Death Star had its orders, regarding population SIZE, even the stations various commanders had seen no problem, with colonists forming into groups. As the Death Star's own crew-men were told "While we have not been called, to assist, in many years, it is our obligation, to keep this station ready, at all times." The last, that anyone knew, of the interstellar Jupiters, was that half had followed the line, heading into the center of the galaxy, while the other half had set course, in the opposite direction. Nowadays, only a few colonists manned the listening posts, hoping for a signal, from the ships. While Earth would be a memory, as forgotten as Atlantis once was, the colony worlds could look at the skies, and see what mankind had accomplished. Finally, the wars would have ended. This, since there was, always too much work to be done, to worry about arguments. Nowadays, people lived just to survive, and care for family. Freighters would transport commodities, from planet to planet, while the Vatican station kept watch. What would the Jupiters eventually find? Some hoped that the ships would discover mans true origins. Others wondered. Some, even feared that, once the Jupiters found mans source, that the race would be so advanced that Earth's people would be like "microbes", by comparison. The passage, of time, would be forgotten, again, before a Jupiter would return to the colonies. The ship bore a message. "Yes, we have watched you grow, and develop, many times over. We watched as you departed the Earth, and set out for other worlds. So long as your violent ways do NOT infect our way of life, we will wait until you "mature" before making contact. Until then, we will do nothing more than watch." How long would it be, before mankind matured enough, for contact? WHO can say?