Hermes Program (Canadian Independence)

The Hermes Program was a space program developed by NASA of the USA. It's goal was the land humans on the moon, which is did in 1996. Developed by the great NASA chief James Brady, it began in 1988 with the launch of Hermes I. It was ended in 2004 with the launch of Hermes XX.

Hermes I, II, III
Hermes I was launched on June 18, 1988. Using an improved upon command module, Hermes I successfully reached orbit around Earth, keeping it for 11 days until returning back to Earth. Hermes II was scheduled two months later, and was scheduled to achieve orbit around the moon. On the launch, disaster struck when a fire erupted in the module, killing the astronauts on board. Due to investigations of the accident, Hermes III was delayed until February 1989. The investigation revealed that several wires sparked and ignited fuel near it. Technichians fixed this on Hermes III, and launched. The G2 Rocket they used misfired while travelling upward, and the rocket crashed back to Earth, killing the astronauts and many bystanders. The past two accidents had several tarnished NASA's and Brady's reputation, and many feared the plug would be pulled on Hermes.

Hermes IV, V, VI
After the past two accidents, NASA decided to experiment with unmanned missions. It was decided that a new rocket would be built, and the Saturn I rocket was created. On July 6, 1989 unmanned Hermes IV was launched with the Saturn I rocket. Hermes IV entered Earth orbit and then returned back down. Hermes IV was a success as the Saturn I rocket performed well and the heat shield let Hermes fly into Earth's atmosphere at a higher speed than normal.