Menoitius 9

The first manned flight with a spacecraft

The first spacecraft to land on a moon (Rhea or Iapteus). Named Menoitius, ill-fated might, to ward off bad luck. Shaped like a lance, painted with wellwishes for the crew and the moon. Rendevoused with a satellite dock with a lander to visit the moon, and fuel for the trip home.
Communication between Saturn control and moon control.
The development:

• First Contact
• When Saturn sent their first signals into space, they got a response from Rhea and Iapteus.
• They could not understand eachother, so the first challenge was learning to communicate. They tried different thing, sending math problems back and forth, broadcasting their music and culture.
• Kicking the basic exploration of space (flying higher, telescopes, thetheoretical science of space) into high gear and with a clear goal
• human desire to physically meet
• Satellite/Gifts
• exchange of gifts, unmanned voyages that laid the way for the Menoitius program. A bridge language is developed to aid communication
• finally able to properly communicate, true science cooperation between the two begins
• test flights, demos and R&D
• setbacks but perservering
• Menoitius Program
• Each section of the hull was painted by a different artist. Famous artists were given their own sections, but many of the sheets were also placed in public. People came to add their greetings to the Iapteans, to leave their name on history, or to paint warding symbols on the ship for good luck.
• ultimate success with a design where the initial craft is launched, fueled in space, transits to the moon to dock with another craft there, then a lander to bring them to the surface.
• massive press, hospitality, celebration of culture
• safe return and an indelible formative experience for saturnians broadly (incl moons)

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