Editing Magellan Program

{{otheruses|the science project|other uses|Magellan}}

The '''Magellan Program''' was an ambitious [[Western Alliance]] scientific project to send unmanned probe ships to nearby star systems.  These ships then dropped survey probes onto worlds that might be suitable for human habitation.<ref name=DSJS8>''DropShips and JumpShips: ComStar Intelligence Summary'', pp. 8–9</ref><ref>''House Davion (The Federated Suns)'', p. 7</ref>

==History==

Western Alliance scientists reported to the Alliance World Parliament in [[2028]] regarding the possibility of sending fusion powered exploration probes to nearby star systems.  While some debate occurred in the Parliament, it was ultimately decided to approve this daring experiment.

The main plan was to send eight fusion powered vehicles, each equipped with several survey probes that would be dropped onto prospective interstellar worlds.  These probes would then relay their observations back to the main vehicle and that would, in turn, be relayed back to [[Terra|Earth]].

The scientific community moved quickly and within a year of the Parliamentary approval ([[2029]]) the first interstellar probe ship was completed and christened ''[[Magellan Program#Magellan One|Magellan One]]''.  While the design of the probe ships were new, they were still based on the fusion drives that made the [[AS Columbia]] mission to [[Mars]] so successful.

Magellan One was launched from [[Crippen Station]] in [[2030]] bound for [[New Earth|Tau Ceti]].  Over the next five years, seven more probes were constructed at the Challenger construction facility orbiting the Earth's moon.

The Magellan Program was a resounding success with three probe ships finding and reporting on habitable worlds.  Despite the excitement generated by these discoveries, the Alliance Parliament did not authorize further exploration due to high cost and political pressure from the poorer nations of the Western Alliance.

Interstellar space exploration languished until the start of the [[twenty-second century]].

An interesting footnote to the Magellan Program was the [[TAS Pathfinder]] discovering one of Magellan One's survey drones on the surface of [[New Earth|Tau Ceti IV]] in [[2108]].<ref name=DSJS8/>

==Technology==

The Magellan probes were similar in design to the [[AS Columbia]] except almost twice the size.  These large ships contained four remote controlled excursion vehicles each reporting back to the master control system on the main ship.  Each vehicle was designed to take the rough punishment of landing on a planet and were protected by the large shields on the main ship for space travel as well.  

[[General Motors]] fusion engines were used to deliver the two G acceleration out of the [[Sol]] system for a period of months until just under half the total stored fuel was spent.  Lying dormant for many years the Magellan probes would awaken at their preset time and start deceleration until in the heart of the target system.

The probe would then deploy their excursion vehicle to the surface of the planets, relaying data back to the Magellan probe itself which in turn relayed the information back to Alliance scientists on [[Earth]].  Because of the large interstellar distance, those reports took dozens of years to return.<ref name=DSJS8/>

==Accomplishments==
===Magellan Zero===
It was a prototype used in the [[Terra]]n system to demonstrate high-speed navigation and debris shielding.<ref name="JCIP2p66>''Jihad Conspiracies: Interstellar Players 2'', p. 66: "Columbia"</ref>

===Magellan One===
Discovered [[New Earth|Tau Ceti]] system roughly 24 years after launch from Crippen Station in [[2030]].<ref name=DSJS8/>

The ''[[TAS Pathfinder]]'' found the Magellan One probe in [[2108]] on surface of Tau Ceti IV.<ref name=DSJS8/>

===Magellan Two===
No discoveries reported.<ref name=DSJS8/>

===Magellan Three===
No discoveries reported.<ref name=DSJS8/>

===Magellan Four===
Discovered [[Epsilon Eridani]].<ref name=DSJS8/>

===Magellan Five===
Discovered [[Epsilon Indi]].<ref name=DSJS8/>

===Magellan Six===
Unknown to the Public, this probe had been converted to a [[Slowboat Colonization|slowboat]] colony vessel by anti-Western Alliance members in the [[United States of America]] (USA) who worked to hide the changes. The ship's payload bays had been replaced with even larger habitats. For the public it failed to decelerate and was lost.<ref name=DSJS8/>. In reality, the ship succeeded and founded the colony today called [[Columbia (system)|Columbia]].<ref name="JCIP2p66/>

===Magellan Seven===
No discoveries reported.<ref name=DSJS8/>

===Magellan Eight===
No discoveries reported.<ref name=DSJS8/>

===Magellan Nine===
Though for the public it was "expended in a flight test" to eliminate the storage costs of the spacecraft, in reality it was launched but lost to a debris collision near the orbit of Neptune. Public was not made aware of this as anti-Western Alliance members in the USA worked to hide the project and had in fact changed its payload bays replacing them with even larger habitats.<ref name="JCIP2p66/>

==References==
<references />

==Bibliography==
* ''[[DropShips and JumpShips]]''
* ''[[House Davion (The Federated Suns)]]''
* ''[[Jihad Conspiracies: Interstellar Players 2]]''

[[Category:Science and Technology Events]]