Alcubierre-Grenadine drive

The Alcubierre-Grenadine drive is a faster-than-light acceleration drive invented in 2134 CE by Emmanuel du Grenadine based on the Alcubierre drive. The Alcubierre-Grenadine is now the standard method of faster-than-light travel used by human interstellar ships of the Earthen Confederation and other human nations. The drive is based around the theory that to travel faster than the speed of light, an entity must propel itself forward by displacing space in front of itself and replacing that space behind it. While previously speculated impossible without the existence of an exotic matter, with the creation of the synthetic element Grenadite, the Alcubierre drive was tested by Emmanuel du Grenadine and proved to be an effective method of faster than light travel. As of 2247, the Alcubierre-Grenadine drive has become a common part of space ships and is considered to be one of man's greatest technological advancements.

History
In 1994, Alcubierre proposed a method for changing the geometry of space by creating a wave which would cause the fabric of space ahead of a spacecraft to contract, and the space behind it to expand. The ship would then ride this wave inside a region of flat space known as a warp bubble, and would not move within this bubble, but instead be carried along as the region itself moves due to the actions of the drive.

In 2129, humanity was limited to its solar system in terms of space travel. As global resources became under high consumption, the United Nations of the West began an international committee to study the possibility of interstellar transportation. Several methods were proposed, but each one proved to be false and resulted in the loss of thirty-six test astronauts. On March 7th, 2129, Emmanuel du Grenadine, an astrophysicist at the University of Paris, began an initiative to test the works of Miguel Alcubierre by researching the creation of a matter that could create negative mass. After several tests at the University's particle accelerator, Grenadine noticed the tendency of a Martian mineral called Marzite to create small pockets of negative mass within the particle collider. The pockets would activate the emergency shutdown of the collider before they could be further studied, and so Grenadine presented her research to the UNW government to ask for a grant to build a collider far from a human population to further study the negative mass. With slim majority, the Western government approved the grant and constructed a facility on Luna, the colonized moon of Earth.

With the new particle collider located far from a human population, Emmanuel du Grenadine continued her research on the negative mass pockets at high risk. After five months of continuous research, Grenadine concluded that Marzite had the properties that would allow for the Alcubierre drive to work if the properties could be correctly harnessed. At her Luna facility she began the high electrification of Marzite in order to super charge the properties of the mineral and possibly create a negative mass field which could accelerate by the displacement of space. On April 16th, 2131, Grenadine charged 5g of Marzite by 2.34 GW. The super charged Marzite was then used in the particle accelerator, and the result was the creation of an entirely new mineral, Grenadite. Grenadine requisitioned the Western government to create a test vessel that utilized the Grenadite to test the theorized Alcubierre drive model. The Western government accepted, and created the vessel WSV Franklin according to the specifications given by Grenadine. An experimental Grenadite consuming "engine" was placed within the doughnut-shaped vessel to create the conditions similar to the Marzite within the particle accelerator on a much larger scale.

On January 17th, 2132, the WSV Franklin was prepared for a journey from Luna to Uranus' moon Umbriel (the location of the outermost Human settlement at the time). After having a clear route mapped out across the Solar System, the Franklin was launched according to the model.