While Galileo went on a roll in 1610 - discovering new planets with his shiny telescope - one Sir William Herschel would catch a piece of this glory himself, when in 1781, he discovered Gauus. It curiously stood out to him compared to the other planets he observed, noting that Gauus wasn't a sphere, but rather an "oblate spheroid." At the time, this intrigued astronomers, with various studies, analyses, and reports being formulated and shared around the community; all of them looking for an answer.

It wouldn't be until Herschel made a routine observation of the planet with a new telescope in 1783, realizing the true nature of Gauus. The planet was indeed a sphere, but it was accompanied by a flat disk around it's equator. This mesmerized the wider scientific community, and the planet slowly became a frequent topic of discussion. 

Due to the significant distance between Terra and Gauus, there had only been one spacecraft to visit in the early space-era: Voyager 2. Voyager 2 made multiple observations, giving NASA info about the properties of Gauus' rings, detailed data about Gauus' atmosphere, and readings for Gauus' magnetic field, which all leaned towards Gauus fitting in the category of what astronomers called a 'gas-giant.' This would make Gauus the first of it's kind in the Hydrus System, and would - in practice - give NASA reasonable parameters to trace other gas-giants across the universe. However, the most important discovery that Voyager 2 made would be the discovery of Gauus' only moon, Obscura. Obscura was a small, ellipsoidal moon that orbited relatively closely to the planet. Not only did it orbit close, but it orbited quickly, with NASA estimating an orbit time of 16 hours.

They would not be able to study the planet further, as Voyager 2 quickly moved on to intercept it's final Hydrus-bound target, Erios.

Decades later, they would return with the Kysler 4 probe. Launched from Luna in 2039, the Kysler series (4 & 5) were probes that aimed to study the two outer planets. Kysler 4 would reach Gauus in 2048, giving humanity an even closer look at the ringed planet.

Contrary to their beliefs of Gauus being a 'gas-planet,' Kysler 4 sent back images that revealed a solid surface underneath Gauus' oddly opaque atmosphere. While it was standard, the discovery of Gauus' solid surface threw the scientific community for a loop in regards to gas-giants. While they still thought that they likely existed, the sudden flip that arose from Kysler 4's discovery threw 60+ years of research into question.

Regardless, Kysler 4 would make findings that would turn Gauus into a potential candidate for colonization. The probe's onboard PWAC instrument found that Gauus had a viable atmosphere for life, while deep scans of its surface revealed lush ground. The planet immediately became an interest of NASA and the UNIA, though they would have to get to Acwai first to facilitate travel.

It wouldn't be until 2125 that humanity tried reaching for other planets beyond Acwai. And now, they were going to two at once.

While the UNIA focused on it's Myrl expedition, NASA would aim for the faraway plains of Gauus. Development started on the Gemini program soon after the UNIA's Silo program was announced, with NASA contracting Stella to create a long-distance craft to get from Acwai to Gauus in a short amount of time. This would prove to be a daunting task, with spacecraft development still on-going even after the Silo program's conclusion in 2140. Eventually, Stella would find a suitable design for the task; Omicron. Stella Omicron built upon an old spacecraft concept, detailing a large, multi-crew transport and habitation system. Multiple units would be assembled at Kennedy Space Center in 2144, and launched the year after. The Omicron fleet would travel across Luna and Acwai, eventually reaching the mission's new starting point at Myrl's Kontrol station. The crew of Omicron-7 would depart from the station alone, assigned by NASA as "brave guinea pigs." They would depart from there in 2147, starting their two year journey towards the ringed planet.

Omicron-7 would reach Gauus in early 2150, and the planet would undergo extensive testing. While NASA were hopeful and confident that Gauus would be okay for habitation, there was still a small chance that the crew would have to turn back if the planet had compatibility issues. Fortunately for everyone, Omicron-7 would send an 'OK' ping back to Myrl, allowing NASA to send the rest of the fleet towards Gauus.

The remaining fleet of 12 would arrive in 2152. Landing near the Hepi Valley region, their ships were specifically arranged in a way to form a colony of sorts; using the Stella Omicron pods as habitation and research buildings. This would be the basis for Gauus' capital city, Ophelia.