Interstellar exploration does not begin when you arrive another star.

It begins, we decide to slow down.

Welcome to Science and Futurism with Isaac Arthur.

Today, we're continuing our Fleet Unity series, as one of humanity's first interstellar

colonization fleets nears the end of its journey from Tau Ceti, the first star system settled

after leaving Earth, to 82G Irodani. These fleets take a very different approach to colonization

in the classic single destination colony arc. Instead of traveling to one world and stopping,

they are designed to settle an entire star system, resupply, and then move on again.

Part of the crew remains behind to build a permanent civilization in that system.

The rest continue onward, beginning another multi-decade journey,

along the way they rebuild, using raw materials harvested from the system they just settled,

to replenish equipment,

expand habitats, and grow their population in transit.

We explored this model in our previous episode, Fleet Unity, humanity's first interstellar

armada. What began as a single ship, Unity, used its time in Tauce to build itself larger

and stuff its hole full of raw materials,

then spent the next 80 years constructing dozens of additional vessels during the voyage to 82G

Yer Dani. By the time it arrived, it was no longer a single ship, but an entire Gardner fleet,

one that stops to see the system, then continues on.

In this episode, we'll be joining the very first ships to arrive, a vanguard squadron,

set ahead of the main fleet to establish a beachhead.

This series started way back in 2016 with a single ship traveling to settle one of Saturn's

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