Ulysses 1994XF04

"Ulysses Impact Event" redirects here.
For the asteroid in the Infinity universe and the subsequent "Ulysses Disaster", see 1986VG1 Ulysses.

A fragment of Ulysses observed from the ground

"Every now and then, I'd tell my daughter the story of the night some years ago, a night when the sky was radiant with shooting stars."

― Melissa Herman

Ulysses 1994XF04, commonly referred to as Ulysses, was a Strangereal asteroid approximately 1.6 km (1 mi) in diameter. It was the catalyst of the Ulysses Impact Event in 1999.

Professor Jonathan Payek first discovered Ulysses in October 1994 while working at Seals Bridge University. Subsequent research in the Comona Islands predicted the asteroid would pass close to Earth in 1999 with a high chance of impacting and causing devastation.

The Federation of Central Usea announced the asteroid's prediction to the world in April 1996, sending Earth's countries into a panic. Usea and Anea were the two continents predicted to suffer the most damage, resulting in mass migrations and large shelter development. Usean countries developed the Stonehenge railgun to combat Ulysses; on Anea, Estovakia attempted to develop the Chandelier railgun but could not complete it in time.

Ulysses made impact as predicted in July 1999. Within two weeks, over half a million human lives were lost; Usea and Estovakia's infrastructure collapsed; and a widespread humanitarian crisis quickly developed as refugees lost their homes. The political instability from the impacts lasted years and inevitably resulted in the Continental War and the Estovakian Civil War.

Etymology

Ulysses is named after the Roman name for the Greek epic hero Odysseus, the protagonist of Homer's Odyssey.

The 1994XF04 designation is based on the minor planet naming conventions used by the real-life International Astronomical Union, and subsequently Strangereal's International Astronomical Union. In this naming convention, the designation is more accurately depicted as 1994 XF4 and it translates to the following:

• 1994 – The first element indicates the year of discovery.
• X – The first letter indicates the half-month of the object's discovery within that year. X indicates the period from December 1 to 15. This does not match up with the asteroid's discovery in October, meaning one of the following:
  • This letter should have been either T or U.
  • This letter refers to when Comona University performed further research on the asteroid.
• F₄ – The second letter and following numerical suffix indicate the order of discovery within that half-month. The first 25 discoveries in a half-month receive a letter from A to Z (the letter I is never used) and any sequences after that use a number to show how many sequences of 25 letters have been already used. F4 means that four letter sequences have already been used, and F is the sixth letter in the sequence, making this the 106th minor planet discovered in the half-month period.

In the packed form of minor planet designations, 1994XF04 would be designated J94X04F.

History

Discovery

Researchers from Usea's International Astronomical Union (IAU) at Seals Bridge University discovered Ulysses in October 1994. Researches at Comona University used computer models to calculate the asteroid's trajectory; by December 1994, they confirmed that Ulysses would pass through Earth's Roche limit on July 3, 1999 at 3:30 PM Usea Eastern Standard Time. It would then shatter into numerous fragments and bombard the northern hemisphere with the force of two million nuclear warheads; the atmosphere debris generated by the event would plunge the affected areas into a nuclear winter. July 3, 1999 was known from then on as "Ulysses Day".

The IAU reported its findings to the Federation of Central Usea (FCU) government. The FCU withheld the impact confirmation from the public "due to political and cultural considerations" and called an aerospace conference to decide how to prevent the impending disaster. The conference ended in a clear consensus that the FCU would have to cooperate with its allies to combat the asteroid.

Defense efforts

Edition of Usea Today concerning the Ulysses announcement

"This is an impending disaster, not only for Usea, but the entire world. ... We must take every means so that we may live to see the new millennium."

― FCU President Robert Sinclair

On April 20, 1996, the FCU's serving president, Robert Sinclair, disclosed the existence and impending impact of Ulysses in an historic press conference, generating considerable shock and panic around the world. Later that day, FCU Secretary of State Stateson attended an emergency meeting of the Committee of Foreign Affairs at the Central Usea Treaty Organization (UTO) headquarters. During the meeting, Stateson proposed the creation of a "National Missile Defense" (NMD) system between UTO members. Alternatives to the NMD included a partially completed satellite-borne anti-asteroid laser system and a re-purposing of North Point's Fortress Intolerance.

Despite initial hesitations stemming from the NMD's potential use as a weapon of war, it was ultimately chosen by the committee as the most viable option. However, the NMD plan was eventually scrapped in favor of the FCU's "Defense Initiative", internally known as "Project STN" (Spaceguard Turret Network). The plan proposed an array of railgun cannons, known as Stonehenge, which was ultimately built through an international collaborative effort.

Final months

The Stonehenge facility

The Stonehenge complex, envisioned as the "defender of the continent", was completed in June 1998; the turrets were completed several months later. Both Osea and Yuktobania initially expressed willingness to collaborate on its construction, but were unable to participate due to reconstruction efforts from the 1995 Belkan War.

In that same month, gravitational analyses obtained by an IAU space probe revealed that Ulysses had a hollow interior. Recalculations performed by the international scientific team concluded that the asteroid's fragments would impact a much larger area of the planet's surface than had been originally predicted. However, the STN project had progressed beyond the point at which further modifications to the weapon's capabilities could be made. Prior to the IAU's revised report, it was believed that the weapon's range of 1,200 kilometers would provide sufficient coverage for Usea; it now became clear that areas of the planet between meridian lines 135 degrees east and 30 degrees west would be hit. This brought the continent of Anea in range of Ulysses's impact.

The Chandelier, Estovakia's giant railgun intended to defend against Ulysses

After the news of Ulysses's projected range was made public, the FCU opted to make Stonehenge more reliable for its allies and refused to make additional revisions to the weapon's range. This decision left Anea completely unprotected and sparked continent-wide protests at the perceived lack of crisis management efforts. At the suggestion of Lord Alberto Lawrence, the Emmerian government began evacuating areas that were most likely to be hit and constructed a network of underground shelters in and around the nation's capital, Gracemeria, capable of housing 200,000 individuals. As a result, Emmeria was well equipped to handle the aftermath of Ulysses, and Gracemeria became one of the primary relocation sites for Anean refugees. In the meantime, Estovakia constructed its own defensive weapon, the Chandelier railgun, to defend against Ulysses; however, it was not completed in time.

In Usea, the UTO announced its intentions to shelter refugees in each UTO-member nation. Around the world, governmental and private-sector organizations made extensive preparations concerning food and medical supplies, evacuation drills, humanitarian outreach, and disaster relief in anticipation of the impact.

Impact

Ulysses fragments entering Earth's atmosphere

"Usea was on the wrong side of the planet and got hit. Hard."

― Avril Mead

On July 3, 1999, Ulysses passed through Earth's Roche limit as predicted. The asteroid spent the next five days shattering into thousands of fragments that, on July 8, began to hit the planet. The majority of fragments fell to Earth over the next two weeks. Stonehenge successfully intercepted a large number of them, preventing mass extinction, but it failed to completely protect all locations within its interception range. Some urban areas such as Comberth Harbor and Anchorhead were unharmed, but many others—including Saint Ark, Farbanti, Newfield Island, Los Canas, the Skully Islands, and Selatapura—suffered powerful impacts that radically altered their geography and devastated the local populations. Stonehenge's facility itself was hit by one fragment that disabled one of its railguns (number 4). Over 30 impact craters measuring over 1 mi (1.6 km) in diameter were created across the continent of Usea.

Fragments of Ulysses over Gracemeria, Emmeria

Approximately 500,000 people were killed in the initial two-week planetfall period, and at least one million more were displaced as refugees. Economists estimate that the damage inflicted was equivalent to 18 months-worth of the Usean continent's total GDP. Around the world, however, certain nations were more affected by Ulysses than others (e.g. fragments that struck Anea heavily damaged Estovakia, while neighboring Emmeria remained relatively unharmed).

Aftermath

The Ulysses's planetfall triggered many changes and upheavals within the nations of the world and had a profound effect on the global population. The event became the catalyst for a number of crises and military conflicts within Usea and Anea, leaving a lasting legacy which spans nearly 20 years. The anniversary of Ulysses Day is likely observed as a day of thanksgiving and solemn remembrance of the innocent lives lost.

Northern hemisphere

The Megalith missile launch facility

Following the impacts, Usea was inundated with millions of civilian refugees, which led the UTO to initiate a quota-based refugee relocation effort. Erusea, which had suffered thousands of casualties, responded by restricting its issuing of visas to refugees, preventing their entry into the country. Makeshift camps appeared along the Erusean borders, exacerbating the humanitarian crisis in western Usea. The heated dispute between Erusea and the FCU-backed UTO eventually culminated in Erusea's armed takeover of the Stonehenge railgun facility, triggering the Continental War. At the end of the war, Erusean officers completed and commandeered Megalith, a missile launch facility that could weaponize Ulysses debris still stuck in orbit. Mobius 1 destroyed the facility during Operation Judgement Day.

A destroyed Estovakian city

On the Anean continent, Estovakia was one of the countries most adversely affected by Ulysses, suffering widespread destruction and leaving its economy in shambles. The fall of the nation's infrastructure led to a prolonged civil war waged between infighting factions, which only ended when these groups were forcibly united under a junta of top military officers known as "The Generals". As with Usea, the junta declared war on neighboring Emmeria in August 2015.

Osea and Yuktobania

In the years following Ulysses, minor fragments continued to linger in low orbit and fall onto the planet. The elimination of these remnants was rendered impossible by the destruction of Usea's STN facility, and later the Megalith facility as well, during the Continental War. The issue was brought up during the 2008 G7 Summit held aboard the Osean Federation's Arkbird spacecraft, where it was decided that the ship would be used to clean up the debris left by Ulysses.

After the summit, the Arkbird was equipped with weapons built through the joint efforts of Osea and Yuktobania. The maneuverable space vessel was outfitted with Yuktobanian pulse-laser guns for smaller fragments, and an Osean beam laser system and missile launchers for large fragments. Though this was not a perfect solution—it required shattering the fragments into even smaller ones that occasionally survived passing through the atmosphere—the Arkbird successfully cleared 80% of debris around the planet's lower orbits. This led to renewed interest in the construction of an international space station, a project which was sponsored in large part by Osea and Yuktobania.

Craters

The fragments of Ulysses produced several craters across the Earth's surface. Many of the most well-known impact sites are located in the northern hemisphere, and all known impact sites are located in Usea or Anea.

Anderson Crater

Located south of North Point, the impact that formed Anderson Crater obliterated a large area of Newfield Island's eastern face. In the years after Ulysses, plans were put forward to restore the crater area, though these efforts were hampered by the Usean Geological Survey Society's protests and the Continental War's outbreak.

Krasinsky Crater

Officially named after Usean astronomer Dr. Romanov Krasinsky, this 1.7-kilometre (1.1 mi) wide impact site is located at Mount Shezna. The residual heat from the impact melts the snowfall within the crater, which generates billowing white columns of steam in the frigid northern climate.

Mackenzie Crater

Due to its location in the arid Faith Park region, researchers believe that the crater will remain virtually unchanged for thousands of years. The area surrounding the crater and the crater itself became the site of a massive Erusean solar power plant, but it was destroyed by an ISAF airstrike during the Continental War.

Goldberg Crater

Found in the desert terrain of the Whiskey Corridor, it is one of the largest craters created by Ulysses with a diameter of 8.4 kilometers. The force of the collision redirected the flow of water from the Irsali River, causing Old Anchor Point City's port to dry up and become a graveyard of stranded ships.

Ryker/Laker Crater

One of the deadliest recorded impacts, a Ulysses fragment decimated the coastal area of Farbanti, killing thousands and flooding the site with seawater. Despite the catastrophe, the Erusean government and many of the city's inhabitants remained there in the aftermath.

Unnamed crater in Saint Ark

One of the most devastating Ulysses fragments to strike urban areas was the one that impacted in the outskirts of Saint Ark, destroying its airbase and leaving a crater almost 5 km (3.1 mi) in diameter.

Newman Crater

Located north of Fort Grays Island. Prior to the impact, the island had a population center and its abandoned remains still exist on the island's western side.

Earth Port crater

Created by a Ulysses fragment which struck 20 km (12 mi) off the coast of Selatapura, it later became the base upon which the Earth Port and International Space Elevator were constructed.

Antenora Crater

Located on Sonne Island in northern Estovakia, the impact that formed this crater occurred in the vicinity of the Chandelier.

Other craters

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  A smaller crater also located on Sonne Island

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  An unnamed crater in the Chopinburg Rainforest

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  An unnamed crater in Roca Roja

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  An unnamed crater (left) at the Stonehenge facility

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  Concept artwork for a second crater on Newfield Island

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  A map highlighting all major impact craters on Anea