The Dawn of a New Age
With the coalessing of world governments under one central authority, your mandate is clear. The survival of your race.
Your civilisation is still reliant on fossil fuels to supply power. Unfortunately, fossil fuel use has caused many planet wide problems including a breakdown of the protective ozone layer and excessive build up of greenhouse gasses. The advent of Nuclear Fission had allowed the harnessing of great amounts of power. Power which could allow the advancement of your civilisation, but at great potential cost.
Nuclear reactors using fission are inherently unstable and potentially dangerous as has been demonstrated on a number of occasions when the nuclear reactions run away causing meltdown and large amounts of toxic damage when this occurs. There is also the problem of disposing of the waste generated by the process.
Your scientists have been working for years on a more stable alternative to Nuclear Fission. This alternative is Nuclear Fusion. A more stable, safer and more efficient means of energy production. You can assist this research, and bring in a new cleaner age.
What to do with your people
Your population has increased dramatically in recent years, and soon there may not be enough resources to support them all. For many years you have had ships exploring the deepest recesses of your own solar system, and while scientists have identified some potential alternatives to settle, the harshness of living outside your own planet's habitable zone means that the support cost required to settle in your own immediate neighbourhood may not be worth it.
Your vision to look outside of your own solar system brings additional problems. The great distances involved in interstellar travel have severely limited thoughts of possible expansion to the stars. Simply because of the time it would take to travel the distances involved with the technologies currently available.
Travel to the stars
Scientists theorise that faster than light travel is possible and are constructing and testing rudimentary FTL technologies. The light barrier still has not been broken and frantic research is underway to test theories of ways around this limiting factor.
Hyperdrive or the ability to warp space and emerge far from the point of origin is very much in the theoretical stage. There may also be naturally occuring wormholes which could if found answer some of the scientists questions.
Cheap, efficient and safe energy production is needed for any journey far from the safety of your earth. Fusion reactors or another alternative means of power must be researched and built in order to further your goals, as any journey over the vast distances involved will require enormous amounts of energy.
Your path is up to you to decide. You must direct your population toward the fulfilment of your goals, keep them happy and productive and carry out the necessary research in so many different fields. Is there anyone else out there to assist you, or will you find another race who will only be bent on your demise. Only time will tell.
