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=== Races | Culture ===

====== THE LAST FRONTIER PROJECT ======

===== Overview =====

The Last Frontier Project was a space mission of the [[the_humans|ExoHumans]] in the [[the_alpha_age|Alpha Age]]. The starting point of the project was the worsening climate crisis on [[the_earth|Earth]], as a result of which the Earth became less and less habitable for mankind. To create a new home for humanity, the goal of the Last Frontier project was to create  a multigenerational spacecraft to carry 30,000 selected pioneers to the star system Trappist-1, 40 light-years from Earth, where 
astrophysicists had discovered seven Earth-like planets. On one of these planets, the pioneers were to lay the foundation for a new home for humanity.

The initiator of the project was the European Space Agency (ESA). It worked closely with NASA, Russia's Roskosmos, China's national space agency and the Japan Space Exploration Agency on the project. Together, the five agencies selected the 30,000 most suitable passengers from among several million applicants for the journey of the first multigenerational spacecraft.  

After twenty-one years of research and development, the [[last_frontier|Last Frontier]] launched in the year 2421 from the ESA-spaceport Kourou in North Africa towards Trappist-1, 

The journey of the Last Frontier ended with the landing of the spaceship in the year 2625 on the [[the_planet_voi_700_d|planet VOI 700 D]]. Since the spaceship caught fire during the landing, it was forced to make an emergency landing. The fire destroyed a large part of the spaceship. Its wreckage has been on the planet VOI 700 D ever since.

The maximum cruising speed of the Last Frontier was half the speed of light. 

===== Selection criteria for passengers =====

The following criteria were applied in the selection of passengers: 

  * **Health and genetic diversity:** To ensure that future generations on the spacecraft are healthy and genetic diversity is maintained, health screenings and genetic testing were conducted. Individuals with genetic diseases or health risks were excluded from participation.

  * **Skills and knowledge**: In order to have a diverse group of people on board with a wide range of skills, knowledge, and experience, attention was also paid to the composition of occupations among the passengers. 
  * 
  * **Age structure:** Care was taken to ensure that both young and older adults were on board to ensure community continuity and to preserve the experience of different generations for the community,

  * **Social and psychological factors:** Social and psychological factors were also considered in the selection of passengers to promote a harmonious and cooperative community aboard the spacecraft. 

  * **Ethnic and cultural diversity:** to ensure a rich, diverse, and pluralistic culture on board, passengers of different ethnic and cultural backgrounds were selected. 

===== The Spaceship - designed as a home for generations and building material for a new beginning =====

The Last Frontier multigenerational spacecraft was the first of its kind built by mankind. It could accommodate a total of 30,000 passengers and had a usable area of 600,000 square meters. It was cubical in shape and had a base area of roughly two soccer courts, and 42 decks in total. The average deck height was three metres, with 2.5 metres for crew quarters and up to five metres for special multi-purpose decks.
The Last Frontier's propulsion system was a tribid system consisting of an antimatter drive, solar panels on the outside of the spacecraft, and ion thrusters. 

For propulsion and energy generation the Last Frontier relied on a threefold system consisting of an antimatter drive, solar panels on the outside of the spacecraft, and ion thrusters. The outer skin of the spacecraft was made of a combination of aluminum-lithium alloys, titanium and carbon fiber-active plastics. 

The entire spacecraft was designed to serve its passengers as a supplier of raw materials and ready-to-use building modules upon arrival on the new planet, based on the [[human_settlement_plan_hsp|Human Settlement Plan (HSP)]]. This means that the Last Frontier was to be built completely from scratch and that it was to become dwellings, industrial complexes, mines, machinery and administrative buildings. 

The control of the spaceship, the coordination of the non-human workforce as well as the organization of the social interaction was taken over by an artificial intelligence. The so-called [[gaia_system|GAIA system]]. The GAIA system had also been designed to help the people on the new planet implement the Human Settlement Plan through calculations and blueprints.  

To meet the needs of its passengers, the Last Frontier included the following areas: 

  * **Living Areas**: The Last Frontier's living areas included family and single sleeping cabins with and average of six square metres per passenger. Those close quarters were used for sleeping, studying or times of retreat. Free time and community life mostly took place in common areas.

  * **Common and Recreational Areas**: Common areas and recreational zones were mostly multi-purpose decks that could be transformed as needed on a simple command by GAIA. With their collapsible floor and wall elements they were usable e.g. as swimming pools, soccer courrts, bowling centers, gyms, libraries, theaters, cinemas or as an artificial cross-country ski area. There were also various gardens / dining areas designed in the style of parks on Earth. Transformation of and access to areas was strictly regulated by GAIA – the reason being that, according to the 24th century idea of hands on education, most of these multi-purpose areas served as classrooms for schooling, university education and job training during the day.

  * **Medical Facilities**: To ensure the health of passengers, several medical facilities were available on the Last Frontier. These included three doctors' offices, a maternity ward, a spa center for the recovering patients, a hospital with operating rooms, and an intensive care unit. 

  * **Educational facilities:** Given the long duration of the voyage, the Last Frontier also had educational facilities to ensure that each new generation aboard the starship also received a comprehensive education. The educational facilities covered everything from elementary and secondary to university education and training on the job.  

  * **Cropland:** To support self-sufficiency, areas were established on the Last Frontier for growing crops and raising livestock, which provided a continuous food supply for passengers.

  * **Police and firefighter zone:** To ensure order as well as security on board, there were 500 armed Guarding Troopers and 100 firefighters on board the Last Frontier. The troops were housed in the so-called "p and f zone". There was also a prison wing with cells for passengers who had been sentenced to prison by a starship court, which was also located in the police and firefighter zone. 

  * **Disposal and recycling area:** The Last Frontier had a recycling facility capable of recycling materials that were no longer needed, such as metals, plastics or paper, and returning them to the production cycle. There was also a hall where organic waste was composted to produce nutrients for plants and life support systems. Waste that could not be composted or recycled was burned in an incinerator.  

  * **Life support systems:** The Last Frontier also had extensive life support to produce and recycle air, water, and food for passengers.

  * **Burial and memorial area:** On the Last Frontier there was also an area where the dead among the passengers were composted through a so-called "ecological burial" in containers provided for this purpose purpose (cf. above, “Disposal and recycling area”). In addition, in order to commemorate the dead, there was a room specially set aside for this purpose.

===== Armament of the Spaceship =====

The Last Frontier was not built as a warship but as a passenger transport ship. For this reason, above all, had an modest defense system against the possible dangers in space. This included: 

  * A fully automatic laser defense system against asteroids and space debris.

  * A missile defense system based on matter/antimatter thermic reaction

  * [[Laser cannons]] and microwave weapons to defend against enemy attackers such as spacecraft

  * In addition to the fixed defense system, the  500 Protection Troopers on board were armed with [[laser_gun|Laser Guns]].

===== Communication with Earth =====

Because the Last Frontier was on a long interstellar journey, it could not maintain continuous real-time contact with Earth. This was due to the vast distances involved and the fact that all communication technology was limited to the speed of light. Nevertheless, various methods were used to maintain limited communication between the spacecraft and Earth. All of them were based on electromagnetic waves, so they had to take into account obstacles like suns, planets or black holes and different types of Cosmic radition. They differed primarily in range, noise level and data size side effective communication:

  * **X-ray communications**: Using highly directed, high energy x-ray pulses, the Last Frontier could exchange encoded data packages with special observation stations on Earth. The signals traveled at the speed of light – thus, it would take one year for it to cover a one light year (9.5 trillion kilometers) distance.

  * **Infrared laser communicationa**: In addition, the Last Frontier used infrared laser signals as a backup for data exchange with Earth. The frequency was much lower than in the X-ray band, therefore the amount of data carried per second was much smaller.

  * **Long-range radio as an emergency solution**: In case both X-ray and infrared laser communication failed, the spacecraft was equipped with powerful emitters and antennae on each side for sending and receving microwave and radio signals. While due to their long wavelegths they were the most stable means of communication, they could also the least information. Only short messages could be send this way. Furthermore, they had to compete with cosmic background radiation. In practice, a message needed to be broadcast multiple times to make sure that it could be pieced together back on earth.

As the distance increased between vessel and home planet, messages had to be increasingly carefully chosen and formulated – for they would take e.g. 20 years to reach their destination 20 light years away. A question and answer dialogue would take decades, short-term exchange was soon impossible, and both side were basically on their own in making important decisions.

===== The legal system on the Spaceship =====

To strengthen social cohesion and establish rules, a so-called Starship Council was set up on board the spaceship. The council consisted of 14 members and a council chairperson. It was elected every two years and was considered a model for the so-called [[federal_council|Federal Council]], which was elected by the settlers in the [[the_gamma_age|Gamma Age]] on the planet [[the_planet_voi_700_d|VOI 700 D.]]  
 
The first official act of the first Starship Council was the ratification of the [[Universal Declaration of Human Rights by the United Nations]][[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Universal_Declaration_of_Human_Rights|External Link]]  as the basic law for the coexistence of the Last Frontier community in space. Subsequently, a comprehensive Civil Code and an extensive Criminal Code were created by the various councils on the Last Frontier's 200-year journey, both of which - based on the Human Rights Charter - regulated everyday interaction. 

===== Culture on the Spaceship =====

The culture on the spaceship was primarily characterized by the limited living space as well as the close coexistence of different ethnic groups and cultures. For this reason, adaptability and tolerance were core values for the pioneer community. 


To promote tolerance, there were some fixed rituals and ceremonies aboard the Last Frontier: The most important holidays of the world's cultures were basically celebrated together - no matter which original religion or culture a fellow passenger belonged to.  
 
Another important ritual was the morning service: All passengers gathered every morning in the Common Areas to conduct a morning service together with the Council, which was connected via screens, at the end of which the names of passengers who had a birthday or who had recently died were read out. Weddings and births were also announced at the morning service. 

===== Birth control and common family planning on the Spaceship =====

The original passenger count at the launch of the Last Frontier was 30,000 passengers. Of these, 15,000 were young couples who wanted to implement their family planning on the spacecraft. This was to ensure that there would be a basic potential for a new generation on the spaceship. The other 15,000 passengers, who were not couples, were divided into 7,250 men, 7,250 women and 500 people who identified e.g. as nonbinary, gender fluid or agender.  

To ensure that the resources as well as the space available on board the Last Frontier were not overly burdened and, on the other hand, that the future viability of the rice mission could also be ensured, family planning was a "community matter".  This means that at the beginning of each new year, the artificial intelligence GAIA calculated how many newborns would be needed by the community. 

In principle, GAIA based its calculations mostly on an average number of children per woman of 1.2.This value varied depending on the mortality rate.

Couples who decided to have offspring (again) had to seek permission from the Spaceship Council to do so. To avoid too few couples coming forward on the other side, it was always ensured on board that parents had access to a functioning childcare and childcare infrastructure. In addition, there were regular information events on how important targeted family planning is for ensuring the future of a multigenerational ship. 

===== Health care and life expectancy on the Spaceship =====

During the 204-year voyage of the Last Frontier, the average life expectancy of the passengers was 92 years. The value increased from 87 years in the first generation to 92 in the second generation. Since the third and fourth generations are still alive to a large extent, no conclusive value is available here yet.
 
The high life expectancy in comparison with the human population on earth was due on one hand to the fact that health and genetic criteria were also taken into account in the selection of the passengers, and on the other hand to the living conditions on board that were constantly optimal. Every passenger had access to a first-class health care infrastructure. 

Moreover, since the food was organized collectively, the passengers ate a balanced diet for the most part. And the environmental conditions  

===== Working life on the Spaceship =====

Most of the physical work on board was done by so-called [[Service Bots]]. Service Bots are robots that are connected to the GAIA system and perform tasks such as cleaning, cooking, farming, waste disposal and manual labor for humans. In addition, there were also so-called Med Bots aboard the Last Frontier that took care of basic medical care. 

Nevertheless, work played an important role for people as an occupation during the long travel time as well as a structuring element. Each adult passenger was required to spend at least four hours a day serving the community and assisting the other passengers. This commitment was fulfilled mainly through social activities. Thus, there were many people who worked as nurses, midwives, social workers, librarian, psychologists, chaplains, or companions for the dying. 

In addition to these more voluntary occupations, there was also a contingent of five hundred [[guarding_troopers|Guarding Troopers]] and one hundred firefighters selected by the GAIA system, each serving four years of mandatory service. 

===== Related Pages and Further Information =====

  * [[the_alpha_age|Alpha Age]]
  * [[the_earth|Earth]] 
  * [[the_planet_voi_700_d|VOI 700 D]]
  * [[The Blues|The Blues]] (Hidden Passengers of the Last Frontier)