UES Mariner

Third Pandora Ark-class colony ship of the Pandora Program, the UES Mariner was launched from Lunar orbit in 2075 with nine-thousand colonists destined for the Alpha Centuria colony of Pandora.

The ship arrived in 2121, one-month before a new motion to break away from United Earth and gain independence passed overwhelming on Pandora. Pandora declares itself a republic, broadcasting its declaration of independence back to the Sol-system and electing Thomas Atkinson as its interim president. The Mariner colonists integrated into the city of Hellenic.

Atlantis Station was built from the drive sections of Mariner, along with parts from the UES Voyager and Constellation.

Trivia
Mariner is named after the Earth name for an individual who navigates or assists in navigating a ship. Specifically the ship is named after the Mariner Program, a project conducted by the United States of America space agency NASA in conjunction that launched a series of robotic interplanetary probes designed to investigate Mars, Venus and Mercury from 1962 to 1973 C.E. The program included a number of firsts, including the first planetary flyby, the first pictures from another planet, the first planetary orbiter, and the first gravity assist maneuver.