The Gilded Lion
The History
As we all know, true Interplanetary space travel was first demonstrated by Thomas Edison in 1870, and while it is hardly commonplace even in this enlightened day, it is an accepted part of life in 1889. As embraced by the major governments, most notably under Queen Victoria's Royal Navy, this etheric travel has made possible the establishment of extensive colonial interests on both worlds of Mars and Venus, as well as frequent visits to Mercury, and occasional visits to the barren surface of our own beloved Moon by hearty explorers.
These space voyages are fairly long in duration, with the craft and crew typically taking a month or more between worlds. These voyages are made in interplanetary ether flyers, the finest technologies available to the might of man's mind; they are powered by large solar boilers that generate electricity by the means of a reflecting lens that directs the Sun's rays onto the boiler's water tank to produce steam and power the ship without the need for combustion. It must be thus as while on Earth, the Ironclad is powered by the use of coal, these ethereal craft cannot carry enough oxygen to support the continuous burning of coal over the course of a voyage that lasts several weeks. At this time, and unfortunately, because the Sun's rays are quite weak further out from the Sun, solar boiler-powered ships have so far been unable to explore beyond the asteroid belt.
