Earth's early colonization(Canon)

[Ronald Held]

What do we know about the earliest efforts to colonize extrasolar planets. Do we know that Earth sent out all of the earliest xhips after the Phoenix? How long before the colonies sent out ships of their own?
I am looking for some data to base a presentation on.

 

[Mark_Nguyen]

Guess you could start with a little timeline research:

http://memory-alpha.wikia.com/wiki/21st_century

http://www.trekcore.com/timeline/timeline3.html

Mark

 

[Timo]

ENT "Terra Nova" is pretty informative here: it establishes that

a) the colonization described there was the very first attempt at Earth setting up an interstellar colony, as far as the history books of 2151 can tell
b) previous efforts included successes with New Berlin at the Moon, Utopia Planitia at Mars, and a few asteroid colonies
c) colonization was by the warp-capable Conestoga after a nine-year flight that launched in 2069 and arrived at a location less than 20 ly from Earth in 2078, dubbed Terra Nova
d) the colony soon cut contact with Earth but survived till 2151

What the episode leaves open is whether other colonies were founded earlier on without the knowledge of Earth, but no other episode has revealed the existence (brief or ongoing) of such colonies. Given the timing, such a founding would probably have been without the benefit of warp drive, or then relying on a warp ride provided by aliens.

We never explicitly hear of a human colony launching a second-generation colony. Yet we do know that the colony at Deneva can build ships for further colonization as of "Operation: Annihilate!", so second-generation colonization must be at least theoretically possible.

We learn that as of the ENT era, human settlements exist at Proxima (possibly the real Proxima Centauri) and at Vega at least, the former actually closer than 20 ly to Earth if the assumption is correct; supposedly, this location was still deemed unsuited for colonization back in 2069. Tellingly, so was Mars, according to VOY "The 37s" - perhaps the early Utopia Planitia colony failed?

Since a great many DY series ships are listed as founding interstellar colonies in the 22nd century, it would stand to reason that vessels in the series were at it in the 21st century already, as "Space Seed" does not appear to make any significant distinction between the interstellar propulsion capabilities of DY-100 and DY-500. Supposedly, neither type had warp drive, but refitting is always a possibility.

Timo Saloniemi

 

[Ronald Held]

Useful, thanks
By the Nx-01 launch, there were colonies on Terra Nova, Alpha Centauri systems, and Vega?

 

[Timo]

Possibly lots of other places, too. Otherwise, Proxima and Vega would have been likely to receive much more attention and comment...

We know of the existence of an "Earth Colony Two" from TOS. That would be an odd name for a colony that was the fifth one to be founded, say. So is it Proxima or Vega, or some other, unknown second-to-be-founded colony? Perhaps even Deneva, as that's where Sam Kirk ended up by Stardate 3287 while he was applying for a transfer to Earth Colony Two when Kirk's mission started a couple of years earlier?

Speaking of Earth Colony Two, that sounds like a colony founded by Earth, but not on Earth, right? So what do we make of Martian Colony Three, mentioned in "Lights of Zetar"? Evidence of second-generation colonization after all?

Then there are the possible "unofficial" colonies, of which Archer, Kirk or even Picard might yet have known nothing, but which were founded early on nevertheless. More is unknown than known about early colonization beyond the Terra Nova case and its hard evidence on the events until 2078.

Timo Saloniemi

 

[Ronald Held]

All the colony ships came initially from Earth, it seems. No idea how long it takes a colony to produce colony ships of its own? Maybe 100 years?

 

[Timo]

For TOS, we only know the upper limit: Deneva can't be older than 200 years or so, and produces its own ships.

But in TNG, the limit might be something like two days, if that's how long it takes to complete the checklist on activating an industrial replicator. Entire industries in TOS are probably still difficult to move from place to place; not so in TNG!

ENT already sets the pattern of colonies typically being secessionist to the extreme - heck, the very first one was! TOS and TNG follow (precede) suite. So it would make sense for a colony to almost immediately sprout a band of dissidents who want to go somewhere else. Do they need to build a ship for that? Not if the original ships that founded the colony are still available, or if the service that provided the colony with transportation is still taking orders. Might very well be, then, that within a hundred years, a colony has gained three generations of "descendants". But not in exponentially growing numbers - instead, every colony buds off exactly one further colony, using the same resources that founded the original colony.

Timo Saloniemi

 

[Ronald Held]

Wouldn't a colony ship be dismantled to use for the colony? I can see a few generations of colonists before enough want to leave. I want to limit the discussion to pre TOS,.