1609

Galileo Galilei builds the first astronomical telescope. His observations about the moon, planets in the solar system, the sun, and individual stars in the Milky Way confirm Copernican theories. The sky is no longer the sole domain of mystics.

1666

Sir Isaac Newton postulates laws of universal gravitation – linking celestial and earthly mechanics – and his three laws of motion, and develops calculus to discover and describe his theories.

1799

Henry Spencer of Baltimore, Maryland, builds a sailing ship, a schooner named Enterprise.

1877

Giovanni Schiaparelli sees lines on Mars, which he calls canali – Italian for channels or furrows. Canali is translated as canals, suggesting they are not natural phenomena. Humans actively speculate about intelligent life on other worlds.

1903

The Wright Brothers build and fly the first motorized airplane in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, proving that man does not need wings to fly.

1905

Albert Einstein introduces his special theory of relativity and quantum theory, and introduces the idea of space-time. Einstein also predicts that the speed of light is the absolute velocity in the universe and that mass and energy are equivalent and transposable.

1927

Aviator Charles Lindbergh makes the first nonstop solo transatlantic airplane flight and galvanizes world interest in avionics.

1937

Aviator Amelia Earhart, who captured the world’s attention as the first woman to match Lindbergh’s transatlantic flight, vanishes somewhere over the Pacific Ocean while circumnavigating the globe.

1947

It is reported that observers in Roswell, New Mexico, find a strange craft, and its crew, crashed in the desert. Officials claim the object was a weather balloon. People begin to believe beings from outer space are visiting Earth.

1947

Test pilot Chuck Yeager travels faster than the speed of sound in a new rocket-powered plane. Yeager’s supersonic flight begins the Jet Age.

1957

Earth’s Space Age, and the so-called space race, begins when the USSR puts an artificial satellite, Sputnik-1, into orbit around the planet.

1960

Earth’s first radio telescopes devoted solely to the search for extraterrestrial life go online.

1961

Yuri Gagarin is the first human to achieve orbital space flight. His craft, Vostok, circles the Earth once. The craft is ground controlled because there is doubt that the human body can withstand such a journey.

1961

The first nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, the U.S.S. Enterprise CVAN-65 is commissioned.

1969

First manned lunar landing. The crew of Apollo 11 — Neil A. Armstrong and Edwin E. Aldrin, Jr. (with Michael Collins remaining in orbit) — set down in the Sea of Tranquility, collect moon rocks, and return safely to Earth.

1972

The Pioneer 10 Jupiter flyby space probe sends 500 images of this enormous planet, plus amazing technical data, back to Earth.

1976

Viking 2 lands on Mars at Utopia Planitia and sends images from the planet’s red surface to Earth. Viking conducts experiments to discover the presence of microorganisms. The test results are debated.

1976

NASA unveils its first reusable orbiting craft, or shuttle, named Enterprise (Space Shuttle OV-101). Flight testing begins the following year.

1983

Pioneer 10 passes Pluto’s orbit boundary and becomes the first man-made object to exit Earth’s solar system. The probe carries an engraved plaque with a message of greetings from the people of Earth.

1986

The first human habitat to permanently orbit Earth, the Mir space station, begins construction. Mir becomes a shared resource and training ground for future space stations.

1986

NASA’s space shuttle Challenger explodes shortly after lift-off, killing all seven on board including the first civilian in space. The tragedy brings the space program to a temporary halt, pending an investigation.

1994

An organization that places dead loved ones into cryogenic capsules orbiting Earth receives a brief surge in popularity. The hope is that future generations will revive the departed.

1996

Earth scientists announce the discovery of life on Mars based on a Mars meteorite containing fossilized evidence of primitive bacterial life. Other scientists do not draw the same conclusions from this evidence.

1999

The sixth space probe in the Voyager series is launched and continues studying the planets in Earth’s solar system.

1999

Astronomers witness the first extrasolar planet passing in front of a star, confirming that solar systems may be a common phenomena in other parts of the galaxy and boosting the odds that intelligent life exists elsewhere.

2002

Earth launches the first interstellar space probe, Nomad. Designed by Jackson Roykirk, Nomad is tasked with seeking out new life forms.

2009

Captain Shaun Geoffrey Christopher leads a successful Earth-Saturn space mission, paving the way for the continuation of manned space exploration.

2018

Propulsion technologies, and speeds, continue to improve. “Sleeper ships” become a thing of the past.

2030

Zefram Cochrane is born.

2032

Lieutenant John Kelly, piloting the Ares IV command module in Mars orbit, reports the approach of a large unknown object seconds before he and his craft vanish. Crewmates Rose Kumagawa and Andrei Novakovich, on the planet surface at the time, are stranded but later rescued.

2037

NASA launches a deep-space exploration vessel, Charybdis, with Colonel Steven Richey in command. This is the third mission of its kind to depart Earth. The first two were unsuccessful.

2053

World War III begins and humanity struggles to survive.

2063

In the post-war era, Zefram Cochrane converts an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) into the first faster-than-light, or warp, spaceship – the Phoenix. The Phoenix’s test flight attracts the attention of other space travelers and “first contact” is soon made between humans and Vulcans.

2065

The first deep-space exploration vessel since 2037, the S.S. Valiant, departs Earth. Transmissions from the ship eventually die out.

2067

John Burke of the Royal Academy is the first to map an area of space that contains Sherman’s Planet.

2067

Because previous deep-space exploration attempts ultimately failed, a new approach, an unmanned probe named Friendship 1, leaves Earth with a message of peace, warp technology instructions, and an invitation to visit Earth.

2103

Humanity establishes a foothold on Mars and the colonization process begins.

2113

Having learned the lessons of the last World War, the first united Earth government is established. Australia is the only nation that declines membership.

2119

The Warp 5 Complex is established to create technology that will allow humans to safely explore deep space. Zefram Cochrane is present during the groundbreaking ceremony. Cochrane, now advanced in years and a resident of the Alpha Centauri system, soon takes off for “parts unknown.”

2123

A privately-funded ship, the Mariposa, departs Earth carrying two groups of colonists bound for the Ficus sector and the two planets selected as their new homelands.

2150

Australia, the last holdout, joins the United Earth government.