Discovery

The Exploration of the Solar System

The European programme of outer solar system exploration in the 22^nd century was unprecedented in its aims, scale and duration.  Over a period of fifty years, every known object within 100 AU of the sun, with a diameter greater than 200 kilometres, was visited, mapped, probed and explored by robotic swarms and astronauts, along with many smaller objects of interest. 

One of the most unexpected findings of the endeavour was the discovery in CE 2161 of a significant cluster of unexplained physical anomalies on just such a smaller object:  Kerberos, one of the small, rocky moons of Pluto.   This first exploration discovered unexpected results in the microgravitational, neutrino, magnetic and other spectra.  These appeared to be focused on a small, roughly spherical volume with a diameter of approximately 10m, located some 250m below the surface at one end of the moon.  A volume which followed Kerberos as it tumbled chaotically in its orbit around the dwarf planet. 

Exploring this further, and applying findings from the most cutting-edge theories of physics available at the time, scientists proposed that the Kerberos Multiple Anomalies (KMA) arose from the existence of an area of ‘softness’ between this quantum cosmos or Reesian ‘patch’ and another.  According to theory, such areas could enable the construction of wormholes, thus supporting interstellar travel at translight speeds.  

The military implications of such a finding were clear, and a joint EuroAfrican (EA) crash programme was initiated to secure and develop the KMA and the area of space surrounding it.