<div class="floatleft">(http://t3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQSBm7xZ9JoVDmYS3gnUYH-VLi4viUyAB_l_vvmIi1pC58uyCvxYfZenNKm)</div><strong>Name(s): Caitlin Powers, James Braitwaite, Dr Hoshi Kimura, Sumalee Voclain, Dureke Sokolov.</strong><br/><strong>Location: UNS-Pioneer</strong><br/><strong>Date: January 24th 2052</strong><br/><hr/><br/>Once free of the orbital dock Powers is able to engage the main drive and the Pioneer starts its acceleration away from the gravitational pull of the moon and Earth. Setting a pre determined course to minimise power usage and avoid the worst of the asteroid strikes the ship slowly pulls away from its birthplace and heads out into space.<br/><br/>For the next two and a half days the UNS-Pioneer powers away from the gravity well of Earth and the crew maintain a round the clock vigil of its vital systems. The maiden voyage of the ship was a first not only for Mankind, but also the crew and perhaps more critically, the ship itself. This was the first time it had flown under its own power. The crew had only ever piloted the simulator and the ship had only ever journeyed out of Earth orbit in ultra realistic computer simulations of the trip to Mars.<br/><br/>The crew rarely left their stations in this critical phase of the journey, sleeping and eating in their seats. Stimulants and high energy, low fat foods were used to keep them alert and able to operate with a minimum of sleep. Such a stressful time was bound to take its toll, regardless of any amount of training and fortunately the ship made progress as planned and the crew were able to engage the vessels sophisticated automatic systems on the third day of the journey.<br/><br/>This freed the crew to take some much needed R & R, making use of the artificial gravity created by the spin of the crew habitation wheel at the rear of the ship. The cramped crew quarters were situated here and while it was travelling under its own power the Pioneer's crew module had the equivalent of full Earth gravity. There were enough sleeping quarters to easily accommodate the crew with some to spare, should some of the expertise of the cryo-sleepers be needed (some of those aboard included those involved in the design of the ship). The whole of the inner wall of the wheel was a running track and there were other gymnasium equipment in the crew module to help combat the effects of prolonged weightlessness the crew may experience while in the main command centre of the ship.<br/><br/>---<br/><br/>11:45<br/><br/>"Captain Powers, Commander Braitwaite. This is Tranquillity Control, its time for your first probe launch." The voice came over the intercom loud and clear despite the vast distance now separating the moon base and ship. As planned, the Pioneer was to launch a small satellite that was designed to speed off ahead of the Pioneer and enter orbit of Mars a week or so before the ship. Its primary function was to locate the cargo pods that had been launched previously and confirm their position and the integrity of them and their payloads. The window to achieve such a launch was however limited by the orbit of Mars around the sun and the relative speed of the Pioneer - the performance of their pilot in leaving the dock and the precision with which they initiated and controlled the acceleration of the ship would have a huge effect on how much time they had to launch the probe. They and the commander between them would set the probe in its launch bay in the ventral cargo bay of the Pioneer and then initiate the launch and amount of fuel the probe would be equipped with for its journey.<br/><br/>For a short while the probe could be controlled remotely, the pilot able to determine the amount of thrust applied and the heading given to the probe. The uncertainty came from the potential presence of asteroids that had broken off from the main belt heading toward earth, adding to the enormously complex calculation and split second timing required for a successful launch.