1609
Galileo Galilei builds the first astronomical telescope. His observations about the moon, planets in the solar system, the sun, and individual stars in the Milky Way confirm Copernican theories. The sky is no longer the sole domain of mystics.

1666
Sir Isaac Newton postulates laws of universal gravitation — linking celestial and earthly mechanics — and his three laws of motion, and develops calculus to discover and describe his theories.

1799
Henry Spencer of Baltimore, Maryland, builds a sailing ship, a schooner named Enterprise.

1877
Astronomer Giovanni Schiaparelli observes what he believes are markings on Mars, which he calls canali — Italian for channels or furrows. Canali is misinterpreted as "canals," suggesting artificial structures. With subsequent writings by Percival Lowell and others, humans actively speculate about intelligent life on other worlds.

1903
The Wright Brothers build and fly the first motorized airplane in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, forever giving mankind "wings."

1905
Albert Einstein introduces his Special Theory of Relativity and contributes to the development of quantum theory. Introducing the concept of space-time and postulating that mass and energy are equivalent and transposable, he formulates the equation E=mc². In doing so, Einstein predicts that the velocity of light is the absolute "speed limit" in the universe.

1927
Aviator Charles Lindbergh makes the first nonstop solo transatlantic airplane flight and galvanizes world interest in aviation.

1936
American warship U.S.S. Enterprise CV-6, a Yorktown-class carrier, launches. After barely missing the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941, the Enterprise will participate in every major battle in the Pacific theater during World War II and become one of the most decorated ships in U.S. history.

1937
Aviator Amelia Earhart, who captured the world's attention as the first woman to match Lindbergh's transatlantic flight, vanishes somewhere over the Pacific Ocean while attempting to circumnavigate the globe.

1947
It is reported that observers in Roswell, New Mexico, find a strange craft, and its crew, crashed in the desert. Officials claim the object was a weather balloon. People begin to believe beings from outer space are visiting Earth.

1947
Test pilot Chuck Yeager travels faster than the speed of sound in a new rocket-powered plane. Yeager's supersonic flight begins the Jet Age.

1957
Earth's Space Age, and the so-called space race, begins when the USSR puts an artificial satellite, Sputnik-1, into orbit around the planet.

Although unverified, its been reported that in October of this year a Vulcan scientific party observes Earth and the Sputnik launch. After three weeks of surreptitious intelligence gathering, the party is forced to land on the planet. The fate of the four Vulcans remains a mystery.

1960
Radio astronomer Frank D. Drake carries out humanity's first attempt to detect interstellar radio transmissions in an effort called SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence). The stars chosen by Drake for the first SETI search are Tau Ceti and Epsilon Eridani.

1961
Yuri Gagarin is the first human to achieve orbital space flight. His craft, Vostok I, circles the Earth once. The flight, which lasts less than two hours, proves that the human body can function in the weightlessness of space.

1961
The first nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, the U.S.S. Enterprise CVAN-65, is commissioned.

1969
First manned lunar landing. The crew of Apollo 11 — Neil A. Armstrong and Edwin E. Aldrin, Jr. (with Michael Collins remaining in orbit) — set down in the Sea of Tranquility, collect moon rocks, and return safely to Earth.

1972
The Pioneer 10 Jupiter flyby space probe is launched. During its journey, the probe sends 500 images of this enormous planet, plus amazing technical data, back to Earth. This mission is followed up by Pioneer 11 and the Voyager series, all of which allow mankind to closely observe the large outer planets and their moons.

1976
Viking 2 lands on Mars at Utopia Planitia and sends images from the planet's red surface to Earth. Viking conducts experiments to discover the presence of microorganisms. The test results are debated.

1976
NASA unveils Enterprise (Space Shuttle OV-101), the prototype for its new fleet of reusable Earth-orbiting shuttles. Flight testing begins the following year.

1983
Pioneer 10 passes Pluto's orbit boundary and becomes the first man-made object to exit Earth's solar system. The probe carries an engraved plaque with a message of greetings from the people of Earth.

1986
The first human habitat in permanent Earth orbit, the Mir space station, begins construction. Mir becomes a shared resource and training ground for future space stations.

1986
NASA's space shuttle Challenger explodes shortly after lift-off, killing all seven on board including the first private citizen in space. The tragedy brings the manned space program to a temporary halt pending an investigation.

1994
An organization that places dead loved ones into cryogenic capsules orbiting Earth receives a brief surge in popularity. The hope is that future generations will revive the departed.

1996
Earth scientists announce the discovery that a Mars meteorite may contain fossilized evidence of primitive bacterial life. While the findings are considered inconclusive, the possibility that life may exist or have once existed on the Red Planet adds urgency to Martian exploration efforts.

1999
The sixth space probe in the Voyager series is launched and continues studying the planets in Earth's solar system.

1999
Astronomers make the first direct observation of an extrasolar planet passing in front of a star, leading scientists to conclude that planetary systems may be a common phenomenon in the galaxy and boosting optimism that intelligent life exists elsewhere.

2000
The first resident crew of the International Space Station Alpha launches into orbit, establishing a permanent human presence in space. Mankind is no longer a purely planet-bound species.

2001
A terrorist attack on the United States leaves thousands of innocent civilians dead, a horrific tragedy that forces all nations of the world to re-evaluate their values and priorities, and galvanizes the people of Earth to strive harder to put their differences behind them.

2002
Earth launches the first interstellar space probe, Nomad. Designed by Jackson Roykirk, Nomad is tasked with seeking out new life forms.

2003
On February 1, the entire crew of seven aboard the Space Shuttle Columbia is killed when the ship breaks up in the Earth's atmosphere. President George W. Bush paid tribute to the crew "These astronauts knew the dangers, and they faced them willingly, knowing they had a high and noble purpose in life. Because of their courage and daring and idealism, we will miss them all the more."

2009
Captain Shaun Geoffrey Christopher leads a successful Earth-Saturn space mission, paving the way for the continuation of manned space exploration.

2018
Propulsion technologies, and speeds, continue to improve. "Sleeper ships" become a thing of the past.

2030
Zefram Cochrane is born.

2032
Lieutenant John Kelly, piloting the Ares IV command module in Mars orbit, reports the approach of a large unknown object seconds before he and his craft vanish. Crewmates Rose Kumagawa and Andrei Novakovich, on the planet surface at the time, are stranded but later rescued.

2037
NASA launches a deep-space exploration vessel, Charybdis, with Colonel Steven Richey in command. This is the third mission of its kind to depart Earth. The first two were unsuccessful.

2053
World War III begins and humanity struggles to survive.

2063
In the post-war era, Zefram Cochrane converts an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) into the first faster-than-light, or warp, spaceship — the Phoenix. On April 5, the Phoenix's test flight attracts the attention of other space travelers and "first contact" is soon made between humans and Vulcans.

2065
The first deep-space exploration vessel since 2037, the S.S. Valiant, departs Earth. Transmissions from the ship eventually die out.

2067
John Burke of the Royal Academy is the first to map an area of space that contains Sherman's Planet.

2067
Because previous deep-space exploration attempts ultimately failed, a new approach, an unmanned probe named Friendship 1, leaves Earth with a message of peace, warp technology instructions, and an invitation to visit Earth.

2103
Humanity establishes a foothold on Mars and the colonization process begins.

2113
Having learned the lessons of the last World War, the first united Earth government is established. Australia is the only nation that declines membership.

2119
The Warp 5 Complex is established to create technology that will allow humans to safely explore deep space. Zefram Cochrane is present during the dedication ceremony. Cochrane, now advanced in years and a resident of the Alpha Centauri system, soon takes off for "parts unknown."

2123
A privately-funded ship, the Mariposa, departs Earth carrying two groups of colonists bound for the Ficus sector and the two planets selected as their new homelands.

c.2143
Starfleet pilot Jonathan Archer meets engineer Charles "Trip" Tucker III while the two officers are working together on tests for the warp-capable NX-Alpha and Beta ships. Henry Archer, Jonathan's father, was the main designer of the NX ship engine.

2150
Australia, the last holdout, joins the United Earth government.

2151
With veteran Starfleet pilot Jonathan Archer at the helm, the first Warp 5 capable ship, the Enterprise NX-01, is sent on its first mission. The actual launch is pushed forward to April 15 when a diplomatic crisis escalates. The ship's assignment: to return a mysterious Klingon who landed on Earth at Broken Bow, Oklahoma, back to his homeworld.

2152
The very fate of Earth rests in the hands of Enterprise and its crew as the NX-01 is assigned to find out more on the Xindi, a multi-species alien race responsible for an unprovoked attack on Earth that resulted in the deaths of millions.

Several weeks after the attack, Enterprise enters an area of mysterious and uncharted space called the Delphic Expanse