



On the 1st of May 3301, an Asp Explorer named 'Skyprowler', piloted by Commander Katejina, left its berth in the Smethells 56 system and began an ambitious expedition to circumnavigate the Milky Way. During the epic journey, Commander Katejina travelled to some of the furthest reaches of the galaxy, including Sagittarius A* and the distant Aphelion regions. The intrepid commander catalogued data on almost 16,000 star systems, travelled in access of 400,000 light years, and clocking in a total of 201 consecutive days in the cockpit.Katejina returned from her expedition last week to the congratulations of the galactic community. Her achievements have been catalogued, and will no doubt inspire future adventurers. Commander Erimus.



In this latest edition of our series revisiting key points in human history, award-winning journalist Fiona Parker discusses 'the missing' – the lost explorers who played a key role in the golden age of human exploration.



"Our preoccupation with progress means we tend to forget about those who fall by the wayside, but our present-day interplanetary civilisation would arguably not have come to pass without the pioneers of the mid-third Millennium."



"Between 2200 and 2700 the galaxy bore witness to a period of massive expansion, as huge numbers of expeditions and colonisation missions set off into the black. At the time, sending messages at faster than light speed was impossible, so it could take years, or even decades, for a message to reach its destination. In those days, you really were on your own, with nothing but your own ingenuity to rely on in times of crisis."



"We knew much less about the galaxy then than we do now, and scanning technology was considerably less sophisticated, so colonisation missions were particularly risky. Sometimes colonists were confronted with issues they couldn't possibly have prepared for, and many of the early settlements lasted only a few years."



"Of course, this phenomenon is not confined solely to the past. Only last year we lost Jasmina Halsey, the former Federal president, when her starship disappeared during an interplanetary tour. It's a fact both of our past and our present – an inescapable reality of life among the stars." The Revolutionary Noti Values Party has announced that its request for Xihe Companions has been successful. The organisation issued the appeal last week as part of an initiative to improve its so-called 'Master Chefs' – a special strain of slave labour specifically designed to serve as culinary workers. According to a spokesperson for the group, the Xihe Companions will be used to develop implants that will give the slaves access to every known recipe and culinary technique. The creation of the Master Chefs has angered human-rights campaigners, which have accused the Revolutionary Noti Values Party of inhuman practices. The campaigners have cited a Federal Times report in which it was claimed that the slaves were subjected to "the most punishing, dehumanising training imaginable". The organisation was approached for comment, but responded only with an image of its shareholders laughing uproariously while drinking cocktails.On the 1st of May 3301, an Asp Explorer named 'Skyprowler', piloted by Commander Katejina, left its berth in the Smethells 56 system and began an ambitious expedition to circumnavigate the Milky Way. During the epic journey, Commander Katejina travelled to some of the furthest reaches of the galaxy, including Sagittarius A* and the distant Aphelion regions. The intrepid commander catalogued data on almost 16,000 star systems, travelled in access of 400,000 light years, and clocking in a total of 201 consecutive days in the cockpit.Katejina returned from her expedition last week to the congratulations of the galactic community. Her achievements have been catalogued, and will no doubt inspire future adventurers. Commander Erimus.In this latest edition of our series revisiting key points in human history, award-winning journalist Fiona Parker discusses 'the missing' – the lost explorers who played a key role in the golden age of human exploration."Our preoccupation with progress means we tend to forget about those who fall by the wayside, but our present-day interplanetary civilisation would arguably not have come to pass without the pioneers of the mid-third Millennium.""Between 2200 and 2700 the galaxy bore witness to a period of massive expansion, as huge numbers of expeditions and colonisation missions set off into the black. At the time, sending messages at faster than light speed was impossible, so it could take years, or even decades, for a message to reach its destination. In those days, you really were on your own, with nothing but your own ingenuity to rely on in times of crisis.""We knew much less about the galaxy then than we do now, and scanning technology was considerably less sophisticated, so colonisation missions were particularly risky. Sometimes colonists were confronted with issues they couldn't possibly have prepared for, and many of the early settlements lasted only a few years.""Of course, this phenomenon is not confined solely to the past. Only last year we lost Jasmina Halsey, the former Federal president, when her starship disappeared during an interplanetary tour. It's a fact both of our past and our present – an inescapable reality of life among the stars."