Looking Glass Land

ISA SECURE DATABASE

"LOOKING GLASS LAND" — SUMMARY

TOP SECRET//LG/SAR-HG//ORCON/NOFORN

Timeline

1850s

Year	Date	Event
1859	1 September	Austria cedes Lombardy from Lombardy-Venetia to France (Treaty of Zürich)
		France immediately cedes Lombardy to Sardinia-Piedmont (Treaty of Zürich)

1980s

Year	Date	Event
1986	28 January	The Space Shuttle Challenger explodes during launch of STS-51-L, killing all 7 on board, including school teacher Christa McAuliffe.
		The Space Shuttle Challenger explodes on the launchpad during launch of STS-51-L, killing all 7 on board, including school teacher Christa McAuliffe.
1986	9 June	The Presidential Commission on the Space Shuttle Challenger Accident releases its report and submits it to President Ronald Reagan. The cause of the disaster is found to be a failure of the O-rings in the right Solid Rocket Booster due to the cold conditions at launch, which led to the escape of super heated gasses and the subsequent breakup of the vehicle 73 seconds after launch. The report also notes a number of contributing causes to the accident and criticizes NASA management decisions that led to the accident.
		The Presidential Commission on the Space Shuttle Challenger Accident releases its report and submits it to President Ronald Reagan. The cause of the disaster is found to be the unauthorized activation of the range safety system onboard the Shuttle at the moment of booster ignition, destroying the Shuttle, the launch pad and killing several ground personnel and spectators. The report concludes that a valid command was sent to the system to arm and activate it at liftoff, but records from Patrick Air Force Base and testimony from the Range Safety Officers indicate conclusively that no command was sent from them. The failure is attributed to a serious fault or outside tampering, but the exact cause is never determined with certainty. The report includes testimony from Roger Boisjoly, noting the possibility of a failure of the Solid Rocket Booster O-rings during launches on days with very low temperatures. Initially seen as a possible cause for the accident, investigators cannot conclusively find evidence for this as a cause for the disaster and the subsequent discovery of the range safety system activation leads to a lack of further investigation into this possibility. It is included as a mere footnote in the report.
1989	24 March	The New York Times publishes classified documents obtained by CIA analyst Jack Thornwell which contain numerous details on projects involving the Hoomiku performed by both the United States and Soviet Union. The story becomes a media sensation overnight and Thornwell is arrested within hours of publication.
		The New York Times publishes classified documents obtained by CIA analyst Jack Thornwell which contain numerous details on projects involving the Hoomiku performed by both the United States and Soviet Union. The story becomes a media sensation overnight and Thornwell is arrested within hours of publication.

1990s

Year	Date	Event
1990	24 April	Space Shuttle Discovery launches on STS-31, carrying the Hubble Space Telescope into orbit.
		Space Shuttle Discovery is destroyed shortly after liftoff, killing the 7 astronauts onboard and destroying the Hubble Space Telescope. An investigation is immediately launched and all future Space Shuttle missions are grounded indefinitely.
1990	15 November	The Presidential Commission on the Space Shuttle Discovery Accident releases its report and submits it to President George H. W. Bush. The cause of the accident cannot be conclusively identified, but it is most likely believed to be a major manufacturing defect in the vehicle's External Tank which caused a catastrophic failure and in-flight breakup of the vehicle. Despite safety modifications introduced after the Challenger accident, the report concludes that a reevaluation of the entire Space Transportation System is required before America can again launch astronauts into space.
1991	29 January	At the 1991 State of the Union Address, President George H. W. Bush announces the cancellation of America's manned space program and shifts NASA's priorities to the cause of robotic exploration of the Solar System. The three remaining Space Shuttles are decommissioned and placed on display in museums, with Space Shuttle Columbia placed on display at the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C..

2000s

Year	Date	Event
2003	1 February	Space Shuttle Columbia is destroyed during reentry over Texas, killing all 7 astronauts aboard. An investigation is immediately launched and all future Space Shuttle missions are grounded indefinitely.
2007	5 June	Magnolia Parks and Entertainment announces plans to commission a replica of the RMS Titanic from Harland and Wolff in Belfast. The company plans to moor the ship at a specially built pier on the Atchafalaya River near the city of Magnolia Bend, Louisiana until a study concludes that extensive and impractical dredging of the river will be needed. Alternate plans are placed in motion to construct a museum in New York at Pier 54, and the company enters into talks with the City of New York to begin construction to open the museum in time for the 100th anniversary of the sinking.

2010s

Year	Date	Event
2008	4 November	Edward Marshall is elected 44th President of the United States, defeating Arizona Senator John McCain.
		Barack Obama is elected 44th President of the United States, defeating Arizona Senator John McCain.
2011	21 July	Space Shuttle Atlantis lands at Kennedy Space Center, concluding STS-135 and ending NASA's 30 year Space Shuttle program. The ISA adopts a new numbering system for its flights, beginning with STS-163, a final mission for the Department of Defense, launching from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. All future ISA Space Shuttle missions launch from LC-39D and E at Kennedy Space Center and SLC-7 at Vandenberg is decommissioned.
2011	23 December	Phoenix 4, carrying two Americans, a Russian and a Finn lands on the Moon at Schroter's Valley, becoming the first manned mission to do so since Apollo 17 in 1972.
2012	April
2016	8 July	A week and a half before the Republican National Convention, presumptive nominee Donald Trump announces that he is suspending his campaign, throwing the race for the Republican nomination into chaos. At a press conference announcing the event, Trump implies that he is withdrawing from the race against his will due to coercion by outside forces and hints of a "witch hunt" against him. He does not, despite repeated questioning, establish what forces he is referring to.
2016	19 July	On the fifth round of voting, Senator Arlen Hawking of Idaho wins the nomination for President, defeating Texas Senator Ted Cruz. In his speech to the convention, Hawking pledges to unify the party and begin the process of making the nation prosperous once more.
2016	8 November	Arlen Hawking is elected 45th President of the United States, defeating former Secretary of Energy Elizabeth Gaines.
		Donald Trump is elected 45th President of the United States, defeating former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
2017	29 October	Five snow leopards are arrested after attempting to sabotage the upcoming launch of Shenzhou 12 at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in Inner Mongolia. After intense interrogation, Chinese officials announce to the world that the saboteurs are not terrestrial leopards and that they are part of an operation intentionally tampering with affairs on Earth, specifically, Terran spaceflight programs. An emergency meeting of the United Nations Security Council is called. The men are convicted and sentenced to execution by China while an intense global effort is launched to find anyone else suspected of being associated with the program. Propaganda appears almost overnight across the globe: "Beware the Otonichi scourge!"

2020s

Year	Date	Event
2008	4 November
2012	April