Prometheus 1 was an American space probe, the first to utilize a White-Alcubierre Drive or Warp Drive, which was launched to the Alpha Centauri System 11 October 2059. It was used to chart a safe course to the system and then conduct scientific surveys of the system and its planets prior to any human mission. The flight out took 18 months in which the warp drive was active for 5 jumps.
Prometheus 1 would be the progenitor to not only all crewed warp capable spacecraft, but also the 18 successive probes of the Prometheus program which were used extensively by NASA to chart safe courses through interstellar space and conduct missions of exploration and scientific observation prior to human contact. As of 2160, only the Prometheus 1, 9, and 14 have survived the program, with Prometheus 1 being featured in the Smithsonian Space Museum. Prometheus 9 and 14 are still in use, orbiting the neutron stars RX J1856.5−3754 and PSR J0108−1431.
Design[]
The Prometheus project was unique among interstellar space probes in that they predate chronoscopes and thus had to conduct far more warp jumps to provide an even semi-accurate simulation of interstellar space.