History
Even after Terra had sent spaceships to Venus and Mars, it took many years before a manned expedition was sent to Jupiter; concerns involved not only distance, time, and energy, but also the dangers of crossing the Asteroid Belt in the time before effective anti-impact deflectors were built. The impenetrable area around Jupiter was then known as the "Jovian Gulf" (Cube from Space). The first manned expedition to Jupiter was launched from Mars, and included Stephen Vance. Even after this expedition, however, travel to Jupiter was very difficult; crossing the Asteroid Belt was dangerous, and several ships disappeared in the mysterious "Veil", which was a menace for three hundred years. It was not until the invention of the Rosson deflector and the disappearance of the Veil that it was possible for large numbers of people to travel to Jupiter safely (The Veil of Astellar).
For a long time, the human settlements on the Jovian moons were mere colonial outposts, in conflict with the natives of Jupiter's moons and dependent upon the Inner Worlds for supplies. Abortive attempts were made to organize the colonies from an early date, such as the Brotherhood of the Little Worlds (really a criminal enterprise masquerading as a political movement) of Arrod of Callisto (Queen of the Martian Catacombs/The Secret of Sinharat); there were also native uprisings, such as the one led by the Mercurian Eric John Stark (Enchantress of Venus). But it was not until the much later influx of settlers that Jupiter acquired its own identity and nationhood.
This new unity was powerfully expressed in the Jovian war, fought against all of the Triangle Worlds, in which the Jovians had the advantage due to their possession of Jovium, an isotope capable of disintegrating metal (Outpost on Io).
Jupiter obtained control of a considerable number of asteroids (the "Jovian Mandate"), including three of the most water-rich planetoids, as well as a forward base on Ceres. Conflicts over this territory led to a brief war with Venus (Interplanetary Reporter).
Read more about this topic: Jupiter In The Fiction Of Leigh Brackett
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