THE MISSION
Following the enclosure of the asteroid and the establishment of an atmosphere and a terraformed surface, a pre-flight shakedown will likely be undertaken in our Solar System. Navigating the planets at low speeds for twelve months, the shakedown will allow hardware, software and crew to be checked before leaving the Solar System. Minor problems in any systems hardware could quickly be repaired and! serve as hands on experience for the crew. This twelve-month period will also allow crew members to become acquainted with one another and discuss social norms and mission guidelines.
Boost and Coast Phase
Once vessel and crew have passed the shakedown portion of the mission, the antimatter engines will accelerate them to approximately thirty percent of the speed of light. Once this velocity is attained the engines will be shut down as the vessel enters the coast phase of the mission, traveling at sub-relativistic speeds for approximately three decades. After a decade of travel, one-way communication time will exceed a year, limiting communication to the transfer of data on recent events or discoveries. As the vessel nears the Centauri system, one-way message times will be roughly forty years.
During this coast phase, the crew will have the freedom to define social norms, establish routines for government and education of the children, and refine the physical aspects of their environment. As the colony settles down to living normal lives on this microplanet early planning can begin for the eventual need to expand habitats as the population grows. In conjunction with the sociological tasks of the crew, mission planners will have established an itinerary of specific research goals and programs. It is assumed however, that the crew will be allowed the flexibility to develop schedules, pursue new lines of research, launch space probes and develop new mission goals and hardware as needed.
The forced autonomy of this vessel after leaving the Solar system makes freedom of schedule planning an absolute necessity. Cognitive conflicts between Earth based planners and the vessel would quickly develop, should any group based in our Solar system attempt to dictate behavior patterns to an interstellar crew. The cognitive conflicts are caused by differences in information and rules regarding situations having no single concrete solution.
This will be particularly true with interstellar travel where the information and experiences of the people living on this micro - planet will be vastly different from mission control back in near solar space. Indeed, it may be the case that the need for a 'mission control' as we now define it will no longer exist. Other than serving as a rational voice from a distance, there is little else that we here in the Solar System could do to influence or assist this crew once they are on their way.
Major activities of this phase of the mission will likely center around long term research efforts in astronomy, astrophysics, human sociology, particle physics, and constant analysis and refinement of the star vessel and systems. In addition to looking back at our Sun and planetary system, the research teams will also be looking ahead to probe the Centauri system to better define its structure and formalize a plan of action upon arrival. The crew itself must do much of this phase of the mission planning, for they will have access to the best data as they close in on the system.
Deceleration and Exploration Phase
As the interstellar vessel nears the appropriate distance from the Centauri star system, computers programmed
by the crew will automatically begin to slow the vessel at a deceleration rate no greater than 1g. Based on years of observations during the cruise phase of the mission, an exploration plan will have been developed to best utilize the peculiarities of this three star system.
Arriving at this star system will be a crew in transition as the second generation prepares to takeover an increasing responsibility for the mission. The population of this microworld having at least doubled by arrival time will be influencing social and leadership dynamics as well as the physical environment.
The exploration phase will afford a level of excitement for the crew after a long period of quiet research and social development. Travel within the Centauri system will allow the vessel to utilize solar energy to power various on-board systems, and perhaps even distribute natural light throughout the vessel during the daylight phase. Spaceport activities will likely increase as shuttles and experimental pods are orbited around the individual stars. If planetary bodies or asteroids are found, landers may well be deployed to explore their surfaces and collect samples. The five-to-ten year stay within the Centauri system will allow the crew to draw on the natural resources there to replenish stocks of raw materials. The presence of solid bodies in the system would allow mining operations to provide elements facing exhaustion from the vessels asteroid or stores.
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