Yeah.
The colony ships couldn't exactly fit that many people on-board.
Earth just- spread amongst the stars.
Each colony ship- landed on a planet and made a home there, and its' own sovereign government.
Some of the ships just didn't make the trip- or are still searching for homes.
... Most are observable.
But- I agree. I don't always know the exact details.
edited 31st Jan '16 3:31:18 PM by RegularDefender
1.5 imperial gallons of tea were consumed during the writing of this postI have three, by technicality. What would you want with one of them?
The only alternative is that a cataclysm happened to your colony ship, and it got destroyed or left- the people or survivors left behind might have had some things, but then in successive generations the knowledge of yesterday's technology gets lost, and abandoned in some-place.
The wisdom of keeping records maintains- hence why- you have records of your times as primitive farmers.
1.5 imperial gallons of tea were consumed during the writing of this post

(Miyu emerges from the upstairs bathroom, several non-drinking bottles in hand)
... (she looks around, scanning the upstairs hall)