



With the gradual exhaustion of resources, the space exploration program would peter out by 2034, when the remaining space exploration vehicles like the Delta IX rocket were converted to military ordnance - foreshadowing the eventual fate of the American state. Valiant 11 mission members, Captain Richard Wade, Captain Mark Garris, and Captain Michael Hagen became the first humans to walk on the surface of another celestial body - with weapons drawn. By the end of the decade, the United States had achieved victory in the space race, as the Virgo II lunar lander touched down on the surface of Earth's moon on July 16, 1969. However, the claim was widely disputed by the Soviet Union and China. The first steps were taken with the pioneering flight of Defiance 7 on May 5, 1961, when Captain Carl Bell became the first human in space. The Armed Forces have also worked towards the militarization of space, with the first tentative steps being taken during the Virgo II lunar landing. Throughout the 20th century, they participated in numerous wars, including the First World War and the Second World War. The United States military was a crucial tool of the United States foreign policy from the beginning and the formation of the Continental Army. Though the civilian government formerly exercised control over the military, the Resource Wars combined with the deteriorating economic situation led to the erosion of civilian authority and gradual transition of a federal republic into a military junta, with the President of the United States exercising dictatorial control over the state.įollowing the collapse of the United States in the Great War, surviving USAF military units and servicemen would become a crucial influence on the United States, founding the Brotherhood of Steel, the Enclave, Junktown, or otherwise influencing entire communities.
