The Expedition Program

The Expedition Program was a series of unmanned probes launched to explore the Hope System from 1959-1989. These missions were the first to explore the outer planets like Scurra and Cailus, while also reaching the outer bounds of the Hope System and exploring dwarf planets such as Tiecho.

Expedition 1

Expedition 1 was the first Aronian attempt to document many planets of the Hope system, as until this point the only other visited planet had been Sera through the Ursa Program, also by the UFSL.

Launching from the Rilton Space Center in 1959, it performed a gravity assist around Nyx, taking the first photograph of its dark side while doing so. On this trajectory it later gravity assisted around Poree in mid 1960, performing the measurements of its magnetic field, atmosphere, and environment, as well as taking and transmitting the first photograph of the planet. In late 1962 the probe reached the gas giant Scurra where it took never before seen measurements and photos of the planet. Skipping Tiberius due to a lack of useful planetary alignment, the probe reached the massive gas giant Cailus in early 1966.

Following its encounter with Cailus the probe had no further gravity assists planned, and continued on its trajectory out of the Hope System. In 1968 the last picture was taken with the probe, where it was pointed back towards Hope to take a final photo of the Hope system and Aron. After this point its aging systems were shut off as the years went by, and the probe's communications finally went silent in 1981. Theorizing using the trajectory and speed of the probe at last contact, Expedition 1 left the bounds of the Hope System in 2007

Expedition 2

Expedition 2 was the second version of the Expedition series of probes, and was planned to fill the gaps which Expedition 1 left, mainly the outer gas giant Giras and the mysterious binary pair of Polion and Tiberius. Expedition 2 was built with cooperation between the UFSL and Rohandile