posted on 2024-05-14

 posted on 2021-07-27

 posted on 2019-10-06

 posted on 2019-10-05

 posted on 2019-09-26

 posted on 2019-09-15

 posted on 2019-09-06

The Chaotic Diaspora In 2061 three of the nations top astronomers took the news to the president. The next day the ambassador spoke at the United Nations. There was no doubt. The orbit had been calculated and checked. In 960 days a comet was going to hit the earth. Astronomers all over the world confirmed the observations. The internet burned up with possible solutions that quickly became two. "Save The World" and "Get The Hell Out". Generally speaking the East wanted to STW while the West wanted to GTHO. PTP or "Populate The Planets" was quickly seen as a death trap but a few small nations still chose PTP. To STW nuclear rockets would be launched to land on the comet nose first and to move the comet sunward just enough to miss the earth. To GTHO nuclear powered generation ships would be launched carrying the seed of humanity out to the stars. This is considered to be the most important event in the history of man. It has been called The Chaotic Diaspora. In The Chaotic Diaspora many tales were told. hairylarry posted on 2018-04-28 at 12:30 Central Time. - link to this story -

One of the most uplifting yet sometimes tragic stories from those who chose to depart is the voyage of the Wanderer. The ship carried not only those looking for a new start but also the embryos of many who chose to stay behind but wanted a backup plan to give their progeny a chance to survive. The Wanderer was a marvel of scientific and engineering skills. It took years to assemble and it was launched only days before the comet's arrival. On board was a crew of seasoned spacers and their families as well as children taken from orphanages to be raised and trained in the many skills needed to sustain a ship of this complexity and size and to feed and educate further generations in those skills. vivian 2018-04-28 at 14:38 Central Time.

Since STW and GTHO both relied on nuclear fuel uranium mining went into high gear. Investors thought they could reap rewards buying uranium stock only to see the mining operations nationalized. And finally, after years of promises, the bombs were dismantled. Both factions needed the nuclear fuel more than they needed bombs. Since GTHO was building generation ships their engineering problems far outweighed the STW ships. In fact it was less than six months after the announcements when the first STW ships launched. To alter the orbit of the comet we had to start as soon as possible. So the ships were designed with enough nuclear fuel to burn for three years. They were launched on chemical boosters and then put on continuous thrust toward the comet. At about a third of the way there they had to flip and reverse thrust. It wasn't enough to completely reverse their thrust, the comet was coming toward us and the ships had to match the comets velocity then flip again and land nose first. hairylarry 2018-04-29 at 13:37 Central Time.

The most iffy of the three plans was to find an inhabitable planet within the reach of small vessels with limited fuel supplies. Still groups from countries with enough resources to either build or refit ships began a race with time to outfit and launch into space those who wished to search for a planet that could sustain human life. These ships carried the most accurate charts and maps that were available to them in the hope that they would provide needed guidance once they were in flight. There was some disagreement about whether they needed to establish a collective or if they should each try a different potentially habitable planet in the hope that at least one ship would find a place able to sustain them and give them a place to call home. Eventually they reached the conclusion that the collective solution was the least viable. As each ship lifted off all those on board and those who stayed behind knew they would never return. vivian 2018-05-02 at 02:17 Central Time.

Some took chemical ships to Mars, Europa, and the asteroids, hoping to find water to drink and to turn into hydrogen and oxygen. All of the experts gave these refugees the least chance of survival. Some took smaller nuclear ships to the nearest stars with exoplanets. If you looked at the exoplanets optimistically these refugees had a better chance. But we really didn't know much about exoplanets at that time. The huge generation ships, full of families destined to live and die in space hoping they might find a Goldilocks planet in the future so their great great grandchildren might breath an atmosphere and till the soil were given the best hope of perpetuating mankind. In fact many of these ships did survive but instead of populating distant planets most of them adapted to life in space. Their ship was their home, the only world they ever knew. And a few Goldlocks planets were found and populated, each with it's own struggles for survival. Each with it's own unique civilization. hairylarry 2018-05-02 at 03:25 Central Time.

"The Chaotic Diaspora" started by hairylarry. All stories are licensed Creative Commons-Attribution. You can attribute the writers like this. These writers contributed to "The Chaotic Diaspora" on Collab - hairylarry, vivian