Timeline
1973
June 15:
Skylab I/II mission accidentally produces a light brown, slightly orangish organic powder, that will be codenamed 'the Spice Melange.'
June 22: Skylab I/II expedition undocks from Skylab and returns to Earth.
July 2: The Spice is tested on three female rats. One (Rickie) appears to be unaffected beyond intoxicated behavior, but the second (Suzy) is seen to levitate, escape her cage, and playfully fly around the lab for several minutes at a speed of about one yard per second. The third (Toni) becomes blurry and translucent for a similar duration. A second test later the same day is recorded on film, to be sure that the scientists are not hallucinating; similar results are recorded. Tests on male rats likewise result in the appearance of psychic powers in some of them, and the possibility of unrecognized abilities in others.
July 5: A report on the Spice reaches the desk of President Nixon. After determining to his surprise that it is not a hoax or prank, he orders that more of this substance is to be made, and that human testing is to begin 'as soon as sufficient volunteers of appropriate security clearance are available.' He further orders that the head of the CIA and the Joint Chiefs of Staff be read in on the reports.
July 9: A test on Rickie Rat shows that she can, under the influence of the Spice, easily solve unfamiliar mazes of complexity that would have been beyond her when sober.
July 13: NASA scientists note that the rats which have been exposed to the Spice most often have blue eyes, and demonstrate symptoms of addiction.
July 15: The production of and experimentation with the Spice is officially designated PROJECT MELANGE.
July 17: Scientists at both NASA and the US Naval Research Laboratory determine that the Spice cannot be made in Earth's gravity. Nixon orders that 'scientific manufacturing satellites' be produced with all possible speed, as maintaining Skylab would be too expensive.
July 23: Human testing of the Spice begins, over the protests of several NASA scientists and medical doctors.
July 30: Skylab II/III expedition docks with Skylab. Mission has been modified to include attempts to replicate the Spice created during the previous Skylab mission.
August 10: CIA telepaths determine that Frank Herbert has no idea about the Spice being real.
September 14: CIA warns President Nixon that it is too late to 'fix' the Watergate investigation, and indeed, it was already too late by the time the Spice was discovered. Nixon offers special prosecutor Archibald Cox what will later be called the 'Colby Compromise' - Nixon would hand
a number of taped conversations over to Director of Central Intelligence William Colby (he does not inform Cox that he has already done this for all tapes from July 5 to July 18, 1973, to preserve the secret of the Spice), who can review and summarize the tapes without risk to national security. This compromise is rejected.
September 20: First Spice factory satellite launched.
September 25: First Spice factory satellite re-enters and is retrieved. However, the material created is clearly not Spice, and has no effect on psi abilities, nor does it relieve the withdrawal symptoms of Spice addiction.
September 28: Skylab II/III expedition undocks from Skylab, and splashes down safely in the North Pacific.
October 30: Second Spice factory satellite launched.
November 5: Second Spice factory satellite is retrieved. Again, the result is useless. Nixon reluctantly orders NASA to begin working on ways to extend the use of Skylab, or otherwise to maintain manned spaceflight capabilities with sufficient room to produce the Spice, and perform scientific duties to disguise Spice production, in the event that automated production attempts continue to fail. CIA telepaths begin examinations of the minds of influential senators and representatives. Engineers at NASA and various aerospace companies (primarily McDonnell Douglas, Rockwell, and Grumman) begin reviewing and refining existing capsule designs.
November 12: Skylab 3/4 expedition docks with the space station.
December 6: Gerald Ford is confirmed as Vice President by Congress.
December 10: Richard Nixon resigns as President, and is pardoned by incoming President Gerald Ford. Ford is read in on PROJECT MELANGE, and convinced that it is not a prank.
December 11: Third Spice factory satellite launched.
December 17: Third Spice factory satellite is retrieved. The substance produced is once again useless. Manufacture of the Spice cannot be automated at this time.
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