This, too, shall pass

Overview

     Faced with disaster, one of the most obvious solutions was fleeing the planet. One method was handled by the Mars option, but some agencies had more far-reaching plans in mind.
     Project Exodus was set up to create colony ships, capable of interstellar travel. The first designs were crude, capable of only small fractions of the speed of light, and never left the simulators. By the 2040s, significant advances in Domain technology allowed close to light speed travel.
     There was a desire to scout out possible new homes for humanity through probes, then set up Gates to bootstrap development. A few probes and scouting missions were launched, but suffered from funding cut-backs. Most felt that there was too little time, that the impending doom was too close to pursue such a careful plan. This view was correct.
     With help from just about every major player in the world stage, the first colony ships were launched in the mid-2050s. By the time these ships were underway, growing disasters aborted further missions. A few partially-constructed ships fled, and a few others created far-orbit colonies.
     All in all, 24 ships of varying size left the system successfully, accounting for a total population of 121k crew and suspended colonists. Most had extensive genetic libraries, designed as arcs wherever they ended up.
     Conservative planners expected only one or two to find and establish a colony.