The Ulysses Crisis
June 3rd, 1999Asteroids have long posed an existential threat to life and civilization on Earth. In addition to the asteroid that caused a major extinction event ~65 million years before the present day, early human civilization may have been affected by a smaller impact, responsible for a major civilizational collapse and profoundly influencing human culture (especially eschatology). [1] The Ulysses asteroid that would come to threaten Earth in the 1990s once again stoked these fears, and although it was ultimately a minor impact on a cosmological scale, its planetfall inflicted severe political ramifications, degraded space infrastructure, and caused a heavy loss of life.
BackgroundFirst observed by Shieldsbridge University's observatory in October 1995, Ulysses 1994XF04 was a 1 mile wide asteroid. In December, following computer analysis of the asteroid's orbit, the International Astronomy Union announced that the asteroid would make a close pass with Earth on June 3rd, 1999 and possibly collide. On April 20, 1996, the FCU government announced that collision was inevitable and that planetfall would take place on the Usean Continent. The FCU pledged that it would lead an effort by the Central Usean Treaty Organization (UTO) to take countermeasures. [1]
The FCU faced an exacerbation of its domestic issues due to Ulysses' impending planetfall as well. Anticipating riots and terrorism following the announcement, the FCU military ended its foreign deployments and the Department of Communications restricted civilian cell phone and internet traffic in order to better control information. [2] The FCU repurposed its conceptualized anti-ballistic missile program into an anti-asteroid weapon. The Spaceguard Turret Network (nicknamed Stonehenge) was built under the auspices of the multinational UTO to stress its political neutrality, given the FCU's longstanding rivalry with Erusea. Its location in the neutral nation of San Salvacion was also intended to demonstrate the project's apolitical nature, although this drew the ire of many protesters opposed to hosting the project. [3] Osea and Yuktobania both expressed an interest in assisting the FCU, but the human and financial toll of the Belkan War affected their willingness to contribute. Ultimately they were more concerned with maintaining orbital infrastructure than preventing planetfall on Usea. [4] As Ulysses drew closer, a probe rendezvoused with it to take imagery and perform gravitational mapping. This revealed that the asteroid was mostly hollow and would split into two large fragments by Earth's gravitational field, affecting eastern Anea in addition to the whole Usean continent. Given that Stonehenge was nearly completed and its already politically divisive nature, the FCU was unwilling to extend its range to cover Anea. Emmeria relied on relatively conventional shelters in order to safeguard its population, while Estovakia failed to complete its own anti-asteroid weapon before planetfall. [5,6] OverviewUlysses breached the Earth's Roche limit on June 3rd. The asteroid proved to be more hollow than anticipated, and Earth's tidal forces tore it into over one thousand fragments. [7] The majority of these fragments impacted Anea and Usea over a two-week period beginning on June 8th. [8]
Over half a million people died in the initial planetfall, and Usea suffered damage equivalent to 18 months of the continent's GDP. [9] Though most fragments impacted sparsely populated areas, the Ryker fragment struck the Erusean capital Farbanti, annihilating a densely populated section of the city. The Ryker impact also created "secondary disasters" in the form of seismic events, sinking segments of the city below sea level. Estovakia also suffered significant damage to urban areas, [10] while the neighboring countries of Emmeria and Nordennavik went largely unscathed. [11] OutcomesUlysses' damage to Estovakia led to the breakdown of its central government
Citations[1] Usea Today April 21, 1996
[2] Our Science September 1998 [3] Gaze 2003, “War?” [4] ACES WEB AC04 World [5] Ace Combat 04 Mission 1 Briefing [6] Ace Combat 04 Mission 1 [7] ACES WEB AC04 World [8] ACES WEB AC04 World [9] ACES WEB AC04 World [10] Ace Combat 04 Mission 12 [11] Ace Combat 04 Mission 14 [12] Ace Combat 04 Mission 15 [13] Ace Combat 04 Mission 17 [14] Ace Combat 04 Mission 18 [15] ISAF Bulletin September 24, 2006 [16] Gaze 2008, “Arkbird Declaration” |