Elysium Program
Елисиум програма Programma Elisio | |
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| Headquarters | Durova, Galania |
|---|---|
Official language | Cacertian Syaran |
Parent organisation | Cacertian Interstellar Exploration Institute Syaran Space Agency |
The Elysium Program was a manned spaceflight program of Ristar, the joint Syaran and Cacertian space exploration program, created with the intention of conducting a successful crewed landing on the moon followed by a return home.
The idea of a manned lunar mission originated by the Cacertian Interstellar Exploration Institute (Cacertian language: Instituto di Esplorazione Interstellare di Cacerta, IEIC) in the 1960s but faced problems with limited resources and funding. Following the formation of Ristar in 1969, preparations for a lunar mission commenced, built largely off Cacertian experimentation and theory. Eventually named Elysium, the mission goal became one of the trifecta of Ristar operational missions, which also included the creation of a continuously manned space station in orbit around Tyran, and the creation of a reusable space plane that would later become DreamWeaver. Elysium was to be the first major undertaking of Ristar, with the goal of landing a crew safely on the moon and returning them home by 1972.
Chairman of the IEIC Romero Sacchetti revealed the stages and phases of the program in 1970; a series of test missions designed to certify the ability of the Ristar program to reach the Moon, a crewed mission to orbit the Moon and identify landing sites, and finally a crewed mission intended to land on the lunar surface. The final mission would be accomplished using a newly and specially designed Elysium Gamma Lander; the mission would lift off using Syaran Hárma rockets, after achieving the correct trajectory would travel to the Moon in the Elysium Beta spacecraft' upon arrival to the Moon the Gamma Lander would detached from the orbiter and land on the lunar surface. The Lander would then be separated by the Lunar Return Component which would launch back into space and reconnect with the orbiter, forming Elysium Delta which would then return home.
As became common in the Ristar Program, the IEIC was responsible for providing much of the electronics, sensory, and research equipment for the program while the Syaran Space Agency provided rocketry and construction material. Thanks to Cacertian research into lunar missions prior, progress was rapid; in 1970 Elysium 1 successfully deployed the first Hárma Zeta rocket into orbit, the same type that would later transport the manned mission into space. Two more launches were carried out in 1971, an unmanned mission designed to collected telemetry and information on the lunar surface in March, then again in October as a manned mission meant to provide more information on potential landing sites. Elysium 4, launched in April 1972, successfully tested the deployment of the landing and orbiter components that would land on the Moon.
Elysium 5, the first crewed mission to the Moon, launched on December 18th, 1972 containing Syaran Cosmonaut Konstantin Rashaikov and Cacertian Aethurnauts Armenia Irenaea and Gaspare Palermo. After three days of travel the Elysium 5 Beta craft arrived in orbit around the Moon, after which the Gamma Lander detached and carried Rashaikov and Irenaea to the Lunar surface. Both descended to the surface while broadcasting live to audiences across the Republic of Syara and Cacerta, becoming the first Syaran and Cacertians respectively to land on the Moon. The two remained on the moon for 32 hours, collecting 46.8 kilograms of lunar debris and dust before they returned to the orbiter and along with Palermo returned home three days later. The return of the Elysium 5 crew sparked widespread celebration across both Syara and Cacerta and the trio were received as heroes, becoming instant celebrities to their respective nations.
The Elysium program was originally intended to continue for another nine missions, with the eventual intention of establishing a protracted presence on the Moon through the deployment of shelters and equipment that could transmit back information on the Lunar environment. Although two more missions were conducted in 1974 and 1975, the Elysium program ended shortly afterwards and all remaining proposed missions were cancelled. The biggest obstacle was funding and resources; DreamWeaever and the Aurora Space station quickly ate into the budget for Ristar and material construction of further Hárma Zeta rockets was hampered by the need for Omnicron variants needed for the construction of Aurora. The program was officially cancelled in 1976.
Despite its early cancellation the Elysium Program was hailed as a major success by both Cacertian and Syaran governments; it had provided the necessary political and motivational capital to fund further space programs, while building confidence in the program and its members. Elysium furthermore spurred major advances in rocketry, avionics, communications and computers, and became a major cultural icon amid space exploration.