Dusk Galactic Paradise

Chapter 1: The Cage of Mankind The following is the backstory of the Dusk series: 69 YEARS AGO The year is 2348. It is the time of technological advancement and prodigious innovation. It is also the time of conspiracy and anarchy. The world is confronted with human overpopulation, scarce natural resources, depleting forests and many other environmental problems. Global warming has also hit critical levels, and is responsible for melting glaciers and increasing sea levels worldwide. As these environmental issues continue to persist, the world inevitably renders an “inhabitable Earth”. To prevent such problems from escalating, almost every country across the face of the Earth implemented several acts, policies and schemes to rectify them. However, even with the help of high end technologies and renewable resources, the Earth continues its deterioration. Such technologies used during this age include internet contact lenses, hologram, invisibility, teleportation and forcefields. Even a space elevator is situated at Los Angeles, leading all the way up to a station in space. The space elevator is a kilometre tall colossal structure situated on an artificial island about 2 kilometres from the shore of Los Angeles. Since the past 50 years, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) in the United States has been the most well-known space cooperation in the world for owning the most advanced technologies ever conceived - technologies that does not only allow mankind to explore space, but to colonize the Milky Way galaxy. Therefore, the future of the human race lies mainly in the hands of NASA. NASA alone will determine the future and continuation of the human species. In astronomy, a galaxy is a gravitationally bound cluster of stars in space which usually contains about millions to trillions of stars, depending on its size. There are three main types of galaxies in the universe – ellipticals, spirals and irregulars. For example, the Earth which we live in is located within one of the outer arms of a spiral galaxy known as the Milky Way. Although the Milky Way galaxy is relatively small as compared to other galaxies, it already contains about 200 to 400 billion stars. Conversely, the largest known galaxy to man as of the year 2011 is IC 1101, a supergiant lenticular galaxy at the center of the Abell 2029 galaxy supercluster. IC 1101 is located about 1.07 billion light years away in the constellation Serpens, and is classified as a cD class of galaxy. cD galaxies are supergiant galaxies that are believed to be created from the merging of two or more smaller galaxies like the Milky Way. January 1st, 2354: The state of the Earth has deteriorated to critical levels, and is on the verge of Armageddon. At this point, NASA had no other choice, but to begin taking appropriate actions before regrets arise. April 13th, 2359: After many years of debating with SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence), they finally came to the decision to colonize space for the very first time in human history. Besides, the Terrestrial Planet Finder (TPF), which was launched in 2014 has detected over 6,000 Earth-like planets orbiting other star systems, marking the tip of space exploration. However, before they could even begin that, the great costs required to establish the first spaceport on Earth must first be overcome. The idea of establishing the first spaceport on Earth apparently owes much to George Thane, an astronomy enthusiast in NASA. In this novel (Dusk: Galactic Paradise), spaceports function very similarly to airports which we commonly see on Earth. However, instead of managing air and world travel, they manage space exploration and colonization. Furthermore, by comparing them in terms of size, spaceports are also much larger and sophisticated. September 28th, 2359: After several months of financial difficulties, SETI and JPL (Jet Propulsion Laboratory) assisted NASA by funding the project. Eventually, they managed to overcome the great costs, marking the successful beginning of space exploration and colonization. The total cost required to construct the spaceport is a staggering US$250 billion. Moreover, the spaceport has been planned to be built in the state of Colorado, USA, about 16.5 miles due east from Denver International Airport. Before groundbreaking begins, news about NASA’s successful act infested the world through BBC News. October 1st, 2359: The construction of the spaceport began with massive groundbreaking. The total land area of the groundbreaking site is a mind-blowing 125 square miles (16,900 hectares), which is equivalent to the land area of 280 Pentagons in Arlington County! The construction lasted for exactly 12 years before completing. The spaceport is an immensely huge structure situated in the heart of Colorado, with its main structure lying in the middle. According to measurements and dimensions, the main structure as mentioned previously is hexagonal in shape, measures up to 3 kilometres across and soars up to 600 metres tall, with walls inclined at 31° relative to the ground. Furthermore, five runways, known as starship runways, each stretching about 9 kilometres long also protrude from five sides of the hexagonal main structure. The side that is not affiliated with a starship runway faces southwards, and is the iconic main entrance of the hexagonal main structure. Since the spaceport resembles very much like a massive hexagon, NASA decided to call it "The Hexagon, Cooperation of Space Exploration and Colonization". We know of The Pentagon in Arlington County, Virginia. However, that is not all. This time, we have the Hexagon in Colorado, which is now the largest and newest space cooperation ever built on Earth in human history. October 2nd, 2371: A few hours before the completion of the Hexagon, a major countdown was held worldwide at twelve midnight, which was indeed the most anticipated countdown event ever held in the history of mankind. People from all over the world participated in the countdown, and could not wait for the opening of the Hexagon. A few seconds before the end of the countdown, the entrance of the Hexagon was flooded with people - almost everyone from the city of Denver flocked towards the hexagonal megastructure to witness its grand opening ceremony. The world cheered along as they shout the last five seconds: “5!” “4!” “3!” “2!” “1!” Immediately, epic celebrations and the greatest fireworks displays infested the world, marking man’s greatest achievement in history. The firework displays were so great, that it appears as a bright spark from space. Sphere-veyor, a man made satellite which was launched in November 4th 2204, took an aerial image of the United States - a bright prominent spot was observed in the state of Colorado. BBC news reported about this event and it was a big hit. The fireworks display lasted for approximately 15 minutes before subsiding. As the fireworks display has subsided, a man dressed in a dark suit emerged from one corner of the Hexagon and approached the front stage, which was situated right before an ocean of spectators. The man was the very same person who initially proposed the idea of establishing a spaceport to NASA and SETI in April 13th 2359. As the man draws closer towards the front stage, he was filmed and watched worldwide. After stepping onto the stage, he held the microphone upright and began speaking to the world: “Good midnight everyone!” Everyone cheered. “Well… only for those in this time zone haha!” Everyone laughed. “Thank you, thank you!” Everyone continued cheering. “Haha… well well… what do we have here!” The man received many responses from the crowd. “Welcome to the Hexagon everyone!” The cheers intensified.