Timeline (Per Aspera Ad Astra)

Per Aspera Ad Astra is a speculative timeline with a special emphasis on space travel by Seanathan26fan. It is told from the perspective of the year 2200.
Also see: List of Presidents of the United States (Per Aspera Ad Astra) , List of offworld cities (Per Aspera Ad Astra)
== 2020s ==
* The COVID-19 Pandemic
* 2020: Following the death of George Floyd by police, protests and riots demanding criminal justice reform erupted across the United States.
* 2020-2021: The Chaotic Election - following Joe Biden's defeat of incumbent Donald Trump in the polarizing 2020 United States Presidential election, Republicans including former President Donald Trump claimed that the election was fraudulent. In the months that followed, Trump put forward an unprecedented legal challenge to overturn the election results. This culminated in a mob of his supporters storming the US Capitol Building on January 7th, many armed with weapons, hoping to prevent the certification of Biden's victory by Congress. While a failure, the insurrection shocked the nation and energized far-right movements.
* 2021: COVID-19 vaccines become widely available; however, anti-vaccine sentiment is high, especially among the right.
* 2021-2029: The Biden Presidency - Biden's years in office were marked by extreme challenges, such as the disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan (2021), congressional gridlock, an unapologetically conservative Supreme Court, post-COVID inflation and recession, a crisis at the southern border, and high fuel prices. Despite this, he managed to pass infrastructure and pandemic relief packages to lower unemployment, and helped to unite NATO and US allies in the Pacific in the wake of increased hostility from Russia and China. Narrowly winning the 2024 election against former president Trump, his final term oversaw gradual economic recovery, tensions between him and a Republican-dominated congress, increased concerns about his age and cognitive function. 
* 2022-2023: Russo-Ukrainian War - Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, 2022, following a decade of tensions between the two nations. The invasion caused the largest refugee crisis since WWII and global food shortages. By the end of 2024, the war had drawn to a stalemate and a treaty was agreed upon in which Ukraine and its allies would recognize the Russian annexation of their occupied territories (Crimea, Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson). While the war was considered a pyrrhic Russian victory, it put a lot of strain on Russia’s economy, triggered anti-government sentiment, and helped accelerate an ongoing period of Russian decline
* 2022: Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization ended the nationwide guaranteed right to an abortion, sparking outrage from progressives across the country. States would be free to restrict or ban abortion until Planned Parenthood v. Stauder (2063), when it would be relegalized nationwide.
*2022: China suffers from a birth rate collapse, and India becomes the most populous country in its place
*2023: Xi Jinping assumes another term as leader of China, effectively becoming dictator for life
*2026: Fourth Taiwan Strait Crisis - tensions between the United States and China come to a military confrontation. Ends after a ceasefire and PRC occupation of Kinmen and Matsu islands.
*2027-2030: Iranian civil war results in an end to the Ayatollah’s deposition, the establishment of a secular republic, and the holding of mostly free elections.
* 2029-2033: Youngkin Presidency - Glenn Youngkin entered the white house during a period of polarization and insecurity following the tumultuous Biden years. He is best remembered for signing off on controversial voting laws, attempting to crack down on the fentanyl crisis at the southern border using the military with limited success, launching an attack on “wokeness” and critical race theory in education, and escalating tensions with China.
==== Space ====
* 2010s-2030s: Second Space Race
** The United States/NASA and allies, including CSA (Canada), ESA (EU), UKSA (UK), JAXA (Japan), and private sector allies such as SpaceX and Boeing
** China/CNSA and allies, including Roscosmos (Russia), ISA (Iran) and private sector allies such as Space Pioneer and i-Space 
** Independent groups such as ISRO (India), and private companies such as Blue Origin playing both sides
*2018-2028: ESA-JAXA’s BepiColombo probe conducts research in orbit on Mercury and Venus
*2020-2040: Tianwen Project - CNSA-led Mars, Asteroid Belt, and outer planet exploration program by robotic missions.
** 2021: Tianwen I landed on Mars and deployed Zhurong, China’s first rover on the planet.
** 2025: Tianwen II: Asteroid sample-return mission
**2028: Tianwen III: Mars sample-return mission
**2029: Tianwen IIII: Gan De Jovian exploration probe and Callisto lander
**2030s: Tianwen V-IX: various Mars missions in preparation for the establishment of a manned Mars base
* 2022-2034: Artemis Program - NASA-led effort to return humans to the moon in partnership with private sector companies and national space agencies. Despite a tight space budget that delayed many plans, the mission objectives were eventually completed. Artemis 3 (2027) put humans on the moon for the first time in 50 years, and further surface missions helped to locate a location for a manned surface base.
**This effort was aided by the Lunar Gateway (launched in 2024, permanently manned 2028-2048) a space station in lunar orbit from which to launch missions to the surface. The station was a joint effort between NASA, ESA, CSA, JAXA, and more.
* 2004-2036: Chang'e Project - Chinese-led effort to explore the moon with robotic missions and land humans on the moon in rivalry with the Artemis program. This project also located helium-3 on the moon, a highly valuable isotope used as the power source of early fusion reactors, among other applications in cryogenics and medical imaging. 
** 2020: Chang'e 5 collected lunar soil samples
** 2024: Chang'e 6 and Chang'e 7 investigated the topography, composition, subsurface structure, and potential resources of the lunar south pole
** 2027: Chang'e 8 focused on the utilization and development of natural resources. It also transported a small sealed ecosystem experiment and tested technology necessary to the construction of a lunar science base.
** 2029: Chang'e 9 mission, China's first crewed lunar landing using the newly developed LM-9 rocket
*2008-2047: Chandrayaan Program - Indian project to explore the moon with robotic missions and eventually land humans on the moon. 
** 2008: Chandrayaan-1: orbiter and impacter
**2019: Chandrayaan-2: orbiter and failed lander/rover
**2023: Chandrayaan-3: lander and rover
**2026: Chandrayaan-4: Lunar Polar Exploration Mission, joint Japanese-Indian on-site sampling/analysis mission to the Lunar South Pole
**2029: Chandrayaan-5: on-site sampling/analysis utilizing rotary-percussion drilling
**2034: Chandrayaan-6: sample return mission
**2038-2045: Chandrayaan-7 to 9: manned orbital missions
**2047: Chandrayaan-10: first Indian crewed lunar landing 
*2013-2040: Mangalyaan Program - Indian project to explore Mars with robotic missions and eventually land humans on Mars
* 2023: Tiangong, China's first long-term space station, enters its permanently manned stage.
*2024: After many setbacks, the Russian Luna 25 lander reaches the moon. However, later missions would see limited success. Eventually, Russia would scrap the Luna program and its personal lunar base plans in order to focus its space budget on a joint moon base with China
*2024: Russia exits the ISS after tensions with the west and intense budget strain. 
*2025: The Lunar Polar Exploration mission, a joint Indo-Japanese mission, explores the lunar South Pole
*2028: NASA-ESA Mars sample-return mission 
== 2030s ==
*Urban air mobility and space become trillion dollar industries, in-vitro meat becomes a mature industry
*Breakthroughs in quantum computing power allow for quantum computers to be more accessible for the first time.
*Genetic engineering and CRISPR technology rapidly become more advanced and commercially available, raising serious concerns about how far humans should be able to go in these areas, especially among religious conservatives.
*2033-2037: Whitmer Presidency - rode a wave of progressivism to the White House, saw incremental yet major progress on climate change action, healthcare reform, minimum wage increase, and other key progressive issues.
*2034: The first human ectogenesis occurs, raising controversies among conservatives.
*2039: Following the death of president Vladmir Putin, the Russian government collapses. Incumbent Vice President Dmitry Kovalev became the President.
==== Space ====
*2030-2080: The Einstein space telescope is operational
*2030-2039: The High Def Space Telescope is operational
*2030-2033: NASA’s Europa clipper explores Europa
*2030: The International Space Station deorbits
*2031-2035: ESA’s JUICE mission explores the Galilean moons and enters in orbit around Ganymede
*2035: Moon Base Alpha (later: Armstrong Base), an American-led lunar base, is completed and operational.
*2035-2041: CNSA's Gan De mission explores the Galilean moons, completing the first Callisto landing.
* 2036: The International Lunar Research Station (ILRS), a Sino-Russian led lunar base, is fully completed and operational
*2037-2042: Ares Program - A NASA-SpaceX-led series of missions of manned Mars missions. Ares II (2039) landed the first men and women on Mars and established the beginnings of the first manned Mars base.
*2039: Hawkins base, led by NASA-SpaceX, becomes the first manned Mars station.
*2039: China lands its first person on Mars as part of the Tianwen project to establish a Mars base.
== 2040s ==
*Indian Decade: rapid period of Indian economic growth, especially in the technology and biotech industries, as companies movie from China to India fearing China’s declining birth rates.
*The Oil market sees a major collapse as renewable energies are on the rise, crippling the economies of Arabian gulf monarchies, which are becoming increasingly reliant on Chinese aid.
*2040: A Pan-European hydrogen pipeline system emerges
*2040: Global Temperatures have risen 2°C from pre-industrial levels.
*2042: Fusion power reaches commercial availability
==== Space ====
* 2041: Hongyi Station, the first Chinese martian base, enters its operational phase.
* 2045: Gan De II, a CNSA probe included in the Jovian Gan De mission of the 2030s, makes a fly by of Uranus.
*2046: NASA’s Caelus flagship mission reaches Uranus
*2048: JAXA-NASA’s Titan Submarine Explorer mission delivers new data about the Saturnian moon’s methane lakes
== 2050s ==
==== Space ====
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== 2060s ==
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== 2070s ==
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== 2080s ==
* Global Temperatures have risen 3°C from pre-industrial levels. Past this point, however, thanks to climate action, the rise in temperatures slopes off as the world enters a carbon-zero economy.
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== 2090s ==
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== 2100s ==
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== 2110s ==
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== 2120s ==
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== 2130s ==
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== 2140s ==
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== 2150s ==
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== 2160s ==
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== 2170s ==
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== 2180s ==
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== 2190s ==
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Category:Per Aspera Ad Astra