Exodus: 2200

Background: The Chinese moonbase of 2017 set off a second space race between governments. By 2040, Japan, India, Brazil, Brunei, the European Union, and numerous corporations all developed or controlled independent launch capapabilities for sending people into space. The Soviet presence continued to be a stabilizing force on the space expansion, balancing governmental control with private participation. American development split between the two approaches, with NASA limited to military and scientific missions, while corporate missions grew independently.

Unlike previous expectations, early corporate involvement was not based upon resource mining but upon the tourism model provided by the Soviets. Private corporations and some governments built tourist destinations both in Earth orbit and on the moon. Asteroid mining missions were developed during the 2050's using robotic technologies rather than human crews. Corporations under government sponsorship built mineral depots at Earth-moon LaGrange points for receiving cargo from these automated systems.

Despite all efforts in the first half of the 21st century to send a human mission to Mars as quickly as possible, the first mission was not launched until 2052. No continuous habitation was developed, but a research complex for scientific missions was completed in 2061. It is visited for a period of about one Earth year and then abandoned for years until the next crew arrives. Automated systems replenish fuel and oxygen supplies during the fallow period.

For decades, scientists had been refining methods for observing planets around nearby stars. In 2071 March, the International Astronomical Union published a paper detailing their understanding of star systems within 50 light years from our home Sol. They identified 17 systems with a high probability of terrestrial planets: small solid planets with indications of abundant water and nitrogen molecules but limited carbon dioxide.

The world was surprised in 2072 January by the declaration from the Christian Broadcasting Network of its intention to launch a colony ship to one of the new worlds so that they could establish a new god-praising civilization. A third space race instantly developed as scientists around the planet quickly rallied to launch missions before the CBN. The scientists succeeded.

Using resources from the mining robots, constructions sites were established at the Earth-space mining depots. 2084 marked the launch of the first colony ships by governments. The CBN launched the 7th colony ship in 2089. For 16 years, launches continued from every capable institution on Earth. Now, in 2200, the ships have been traveling for one century. Their original crews are dead, and the current populations are the first to have no recollection of their home system. Their ship is their only home.

Communication is limited. Messages between ships or from Earth are received years or even decades after their original transmission. Early captains of the seed ships developed the custom of broadcasting private status messages to each of the other ships. Timeliness is irrelevant; far more important is the simple knowledge of the social problems that each ship encounters and the solutions that each society finds.

Each broadcast season follows one trajectory. Normally, only one ship is traveling to a particular star, but season two should have 2 or 3 ships on the same trajectory. We learn about distant ships from the captain's broadcasts to each other. So in season 1, we may already be introduced to the societies for some of the ships in the other seasons.

In addition to the ships described in each mission. Other ships should also be introduced during the captain's broadcasts. These other ships could include the following societies:

• Ship 1: English-Zionist-American
• Ship 2: Malay-Sultanate-Bruneian

The crews refer to themselves collectively as "The Children".

The first season should emphasize the fact that life in space is tenuous, and there are no resources to spare for some of the ideals developed on earth.

Points of interest during this season.
• Leading cause of death on ship is physician-assisted suicide. Most people choose termination when age-related factors begin affecting their ability to perform ship duties. The government may order termination when crewmembers require more services than they provide to the society.
• All material (including human bodies) is recycled.
• A decompression accident leaves some crewmembers deaf and blind. They are terminated. All but one case is voluntary.
• Abortion is commonplace. Embryo screening includes searches for debilitating physical, mental, and social (homosexuality) conditions. One child survives to 16 months before the crew realizes that it has a mental condition. They terminate the child because they can't take the risk of him accidentally opening an airlock as an adult and endangering the crew.
• The basic technical requirements of all the ships should be revealed this season.
• A character makes the point that their "earth-clock birthday" has shifted ahead of their "ship-clock birthday" because of time dilation effects at their current velocity. Guests decide to bring two gifts to the birthday party, one for each timeframe reference, since the birthday person "turns 30" twice during the celebration.
• Their society uses a religion that refers to a G.O.D. presence (Gathering Of Deities). They use this generic term to refer to the multiplicity of faiths that are present on the ship. By honoring GOD in this way, they honor each of the faiths equally, maintaining social stability.

The second season destination is a planet with indications of copious liquid water. Because of its great potential, several ships have been launched to this destination. Ship 1 leads the convoy. Ship 2 is one light-day behind. These two ships are close enough that non-human material transport between them is a possibility during the season. Ship 3 is two light-weeks behind. This ship is far enough behind that time-relevant communication is possible but no material exchange.

Points of interest during this season.
• Communication between the 3 ships is in their native language. Translation occurs by computer-generated subtitles.
• The English ship chose a different social organization from the first-season ship. They choose embryonic abortions in such a way as to ensure a 50% homosexual population. Their theory is that such a crew will produce fewer babies in transit and therefore the society will have to make fewer abortion/termination decisions overall, improving morale.
• The English ship carries a crew of humans and cuttlefish. Mission planners expected aquatic workers to be useful on the destination planet. The cuttlefish are being genetically modified during the trip to improve their sentient abilities. They communicate using orientation/motion/coloration of their appendages. The show should make it apparent that the new cuttlefish are as intelligent as pre-humans. We don't find aliens out in space; we create our own intelligent neighbors instead. The ship passages includes waterways alongside walkways.
• The season should discuss the planetary dual requirement that the air environment be suitable to humans and the water environment be suitable to the cuttlefish. Perhaps both humans and cuttlefish are being genetically modified as more information about the destination planet becomes available.
• This convoy reaches mid-journey during the season. They must cut engines; reorient their ships; then fire engines to begin the deceleration half of the trip. All acceleration occurs at a rate to mimic Earth gravity.

Ships 1 and 2 are headed to one of the more distant planets. They were both launched in a way that would conserve their fuel supply. Each was launched using a laser-pulse system to give them their initial velocity out of the Sol system. Ship 2 is a light-month behind ship 1.

Points of interest during this season.
• The English society prefers female leaders, as women promote communication and unity wihin their social structure.
• One episode is taken over to show information provided by a broadcast from another ship. It's a ship that's making a planned "pit stop" for 40 years at a black dwarf system to restock fuel supplies before continuing to their final destination system. We finally get to see closeup shots of another star and gaseous planet. There were 2 rocky planets in the system but there's nothing left of them except a dead surface and no atmosphere after the star went nova and died 100 million years ago.
• The third-to-last episode ends with the destruction of ship 2 crew. A natural biological variation produces a mutant bacteria strain that quickly kills all but 4 of the crew. The four survivors are all male. There are no artifical wombs available for gestating a new crew.
• The second-to-last episode continues without dialog for most of the show. The four survivors dispose of crewmates, shut down ship systems, then dispose of themselves rather than face a failed mission and isolation for decades of their life. It is not possible to transfer crew ahead to ship 1. They leave the ship on "autopilot" and transmit security codes to ship 1 so they can receive and dismantle the ship for resources at their destination.
• The last episode features the Portuguese ship (with English subtitles). The episode begins as if the whole season has involved this ship and crew. Near the end of the episode, they recieve the final transmissions from ship 1 in English (with Portuguese subtitles). Upon hearing of the infection, they transmit to ship 2 that their doctors are analyzing the medical data and will transmit their findings as soon as they make a discovery. When they send this message, they do not yet realize that ship 2 crew has already been dead for weeks. They learn this truth over the next few days as further transmissions arrive at ship 1. The solemnity of the event should be obvious on the entire crew. They are now alone on their journey. They realize that disaster could strike any of the ships.

Points of interest during this season.
• At some point during the season, they receive a broadcast from Earth. The planet was hit by a significant asteroid. Society survives as before, but Atlantic coastal cities are washed out by the tidal wave. The asteroid was detected only 15 years before impact. A diversion attempt succeeded in blasting the asteroid into 3 main pieces, and 2 pieces did not impact. Minor debris impact on moon, but no complexes were damaged.