History PlayingWith / Zeerust

** Fedoras, trenchcoats, and suspenders for men and bouffant hairdos and polkadot dresses for women are simply back in vogue in regards to fashion. As for the technology, the designers had to [[BreakOutTheMuseumPiece break out some museum peices]] to deal with the [[ThisIsReality "realities"]] of space travel. Vaccuum tubes are immune to {{EMP}}. [[ShinyLookingSpaceShips Mirror-coat]] helps to deflect radiation (especially lasers). RetroRocket "fins" are actually thermal radiators to keep from roasting the crew alive with the waste heat of the ship's single-stage-to-orbit [[NuclearTorchRocket bimodal radio-thermal engine]], and they pull triple-duty as landing gear and atmospheric control surfaces. The cigar-shape also keeps a narrow profile to make hitting the ship more difficult. The crew's weapons are particle-beam based. The large, parabolic mirror muzzle brake shields from backscattered radiation, a fin does double-duty as a sight and radiator, and thus their {{Ray Gun}}s look exactly like what pops into your head when you hear the phrase "ray gun." Furthermore, their white FantasticPlastic hardshell spacesuits reflect heat and pull double-duty as body armor. Sociologically, a conservative government heavily incentivizes traditional gender roles and Good Old-Fashioned Family Values [[superscript:TM]], resulting in women mostly coming out of the workforce and becoming housekeepers (not that there's much housework to do with cheap robotics giving every home mechanical servants). A Neo-Soviet Union sprung up around China in the intervening time between Now and Then, resulting in a cultural reversion to Cold War-era DirtyCommies sentiment.

** Fedoras, trenchcoats, and suspenders for men and bouffant hairdos and polkadot dresses for women are simply back in vogue in regards to fashion. As for the technology, the designers had to [[BreakOutTheMuseumPiece break out some museum peices]] to deal with the [[ThisIsReality "realities"]] of space travel. Vaccuum tubes are immune to {{EMP}}. [[ShinyLookingSpaceShips Mirror-coat]] helps to deflect radiation (especially lasers). RetroRocket "fins" are actually thermal radiators to keep from roasting the crew alive with the waste heat of the ship's single-stage-to-orbit [[NuclearTorchRocket bimodal radio-thermal engine]], and they pull triple-duty as landing gear and atmospheric control surfaces. The cigar-shape also keeps a narrow profile to make hitting the ship more difficult. The crew's weapons are particle-beam based. The large, parabolic mirror muzzle brake shields from backscattered radiation, a fin does double-duty as a sight and radiator, and thus their {{Ray Gun}}s look exactly like what pops into your head when you hear the phrase "ray gun." Furthermore, their white FantasticPlastic hardshell spacesuits reflect heat and pull double-duty as body armor. Sociologically, a conservative government heavily incentivizes traditional gender roles and Good Old-Fashioned Family Values [[superscript:TM]], resulting in women mostly coming out of the workforce and becoming housekeepers (not that there's much housework to do with cheap robotics giving every home mechanical servants).