By 2500 AD, personnel transportation within the Solar System was primarily driven by the Deep. The Turtle Colony was established on Neptune’s largest moon, Triton, in 2518 AD. The colony was established as a waystation between Earth and the heliosphere, and was used to facilitate deep-space study and exploration. On 8 June 2529, all 2,361 persons within the Turtle Colony biosphere were discovered to have perished. At trial, the Witch who oversaw shipments to Turtle Colony reported that she had used an inaccurately worded statement when talking to the Deep. This misunderstanding resulted in conditions inhospitable to sustaining human life. The victims of this avoidable tragedy are honored each year on Turtle Day, and the Witch’s name and rank have been struck from Lancaster’s records.
While the Turtle Incident was significant in terms of overall loss of life, it was not the only tragedy humanity has faced on our journey to the stars. Other notable disasters include the Soyuz 1, the Soyuz 11, the Apollo 1, the STS-107 Columbia, the STS-51-L Challenger, the FG81-6 Griffon, the…