A2

Also known as the 'Comet' the A2 was a joint spacecraft first constructed in orbit in 2049 by NASA and the ESA, it was to be the replacement for the Odyssey programme of the 2030’s and 40’s and after the sentient ENO programme was deleted the A2-9 was an early testbed for ion ring coil (IRC) technology in the late 2050’s and 60’s that would pave the way for quantum thrusters and eventually gravimetric quantum drives. It used a ring assembly that accelerated ion particles after they left the thruster, although the vessels still needed sufficient breaking distance and used planet’s gravity in a new manoeuvre called ‘orbit deceleration’ the A2 cut travel speeds between Earth and Mars down to four and a half months. After the joining of NASA and ESA into IASA the A2-11 variations continued development as the Galileo-type.

History
The success of the NASA Aries and Orion vessels landing Humans on Mars in 2032 pushed the development of the A1 Comet program in 2041. Originally developed by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) the vessels were continued by the International Air and Space Agency (IASA) as one of its first projects after NASA joined with the European Space Agency (ESA) in late 2069, the A2 Comets were used between Earth, the moon, Venus and Mars in the 2070's for automated and manned missions. The A2-09 and manned A2-10 were something of a test bed for IRC technology that accelerated ion particles in to jetstreams and pulse thrusters providing better and more fuel-efficant thrust to standard chemical rockets. The vessels could reach up to 400, 000 mph. However cargo and the ship's structural frame often suffered as these vessels were in operation before the development of artigrav, inertia dampeners, quantum thrust and hyperdrive/hyperfield technology which can all be used to control a starship's inertia and speed in the 31st century. The A2-11, known as the Galileo-type built in 2092, featured an improved ring assembly and structural integrity. However development of the A2 programme stopped shortly after the mark 11 series due to the influence of the sentient ESO Program on Earth, the A2-11-b was also an early testbed for artificial gravity using a centrifuge assembly. After the deletion of ESO, IASA began developing the A3 series that would look more in to the use of proposed hyperspacial warping theories and inertia dampeners to combine with the use of the exotic vennimite element as a core material for "hyperfusion" reactors.