1980s (FASA)

Reference Stardate -1/8000 through -1/8900

1980

RSD -1/8000: Space Shuttle flights begin as available payload space is booked full. Early missions will demonstrate the many uses of zero-gravity. The Space Shuttle program will remain in operation for twelve years.^[1]

RSD -1/8200: Galileo departs from Earth orbit for Jupiter. It will descend into the Jovian atmosphere behind a heat shield, radioing back data until the increasing pressure crushes the hull, about 30 minutes after entry.^[1]
RSD -1/8200: The Lunar Polar Orbiter transmits data containing surface chemistry and heat flow on the moon.^[1]

RSD -1/8300: The Space Telescope is orbited. This 2.4m aperture optical telescope, working above atmospheric turbulence, will revolutionize man's view of the universe.^[1]
RSD -1/8300: The Venus Atmospheric Balloon enters the Venusian atmosphere, sending back data from its gondola of scientific instruments. It circles the planet on the stratospheric winds for several days.^[1]
RSD -1/1609.08 (8 September):^{[Notes 1]} The Orion Registry, 73rd Edition, reports the stabilization of Orion contraction. Only 12.7 billion Orions survive on 64 worlds, most of them less than 20 parsecs from Rigel. Colonies beyond this limit, no longer in contact with Botchok, are not included.^[2]

RSD -1/8500: A probe flies past Comet Halley with a battery of instruments that measure its tenuous tail, and continues on to encounter Comet Tempel 2 in 1988.^[1]

RSD -1/8600: The Multiple Asteroid Rendezvous Mission will view these bodies up close in space with an eye on the future mining of these interplanetary travelers.^[1]
RSD -1/8601 (January): The Romulan Star Empire begins to expand spinward.^[3]
RSD -1/8601.28 (28 January): The Space Shuttle Challenger explodes shortly after launch, killing all seven crew members aboard. This is the worst tragedy to date in Earth's fledgling space program.^[4]
RSD -1/8602 (February): Humans launch their first permanent, orbital space station.^[4]

RSD -1/8703 (March): The Andorians test their first prototype interstellar spacecraft.^[4]

RSD -1/8800: The Mars Sample Return Probe is launched. It will retrieve soil and rocks for analysis back on Earth when it returns in 1991.^[1]

**Notes**
↑ "The Orions: The Book of Common Knowledge" gave the years of all negative stardates in reverse order; in this case, -1/16 is actually 1983, rather than 1916.

**References**
↑ ^1.0 ^1.1 ^1.2 ^1.3 ^1.4 ^1.5 ^1.6 ^1.7 Goldstein, Stan and Goldstein, Fred with Sternbach, Rick. Star Trek: Spaceflight Chronology. Pocket Books, 1980. ↑ Rogan, Peter R. "The Orions: The Book of Common Knowldedge." Star Trek: The Role Playing Game, Supplement 2008A. FASA Corporation. 1987. ↑ Tepool, David F., McLimore, Guy W. Jr., and Poehlein, Greg K.. "The Romulans: Game Operations Manual." Star Trek: The Role Playing Game, Supplement 2005B. FASA Corporation. 1984. ↑ ^4.0 ^4.1 ^4.2 Menke, Bernard Edward and Stuart, Rick David. "The Federation." Star Trek: The Role Playing Game, Supplement 2011. FASA Corporation. 1986.