Ares One

Ares One is the name of the first manned spaceflight to Mars. Its crew were three astronauts: Jacob Hardy, Mihaylova, and Qiao. While humanity had contemplated exploring Mars for decades, this mission was different; an unknown extraterrestrial object was discovered flying around the other planets of the solar system, performing some unknown activities. It had finally settled on Mars, and Ares One was tasked with finding out what it was doing. Upon reaching the object, the astronauts made first contact with what would be known as the Traveler, sparking the beginning of the Golden Age of humanity.