Yes, you are correct on both counts. I'm sorry about the PSG/PSD and the Arioch/Icarus mix up. I have various sets of notes lying around and I occasionally copy information from the wrong one. I've proofreaded it several times, but a handful of mistakes still managed to slip through. Another error is the number of Federation planets, which is actually much lower than stated above. Now, I've doublechecked everything again, and I'm confident that all the information is now correct.
Most of the answers to your second set of questions can be found at the end of the Character Creation post. I've added a bit more background information there, to clear things up. The United Terran Alliance actually consisted of only a few planets, who fought to keep the PSG intact. Only their technological advantage over the others allowed them to remain standing. It was only the fear of invasion that eventually motivated the former PSG-planets to re-unite and form the Coalition. Of course, The Coalition was little more than a treaty-organisation that allowed for considerable regional-autonomy. So there definately was a strong incentive to join, even among planets that were strongly opposed to the PSG-government. The Orion Alliance survived the war and many Serperatist planets opted to join either the CO-ID, The Coalition or become completely independent. Note that the various Seperatist-planets had different reasons for joining the Seperatist-cause. Mostly, they just wanted to be free from the increasingly authoritarian PSG-government.
The Cyborgs are in no way related to the GenMod reign, seeing as the technology has been around for centuries. Cyborgs are basically normal humans, with enhanced physical abilities. GenMods are not only stronger and faster, but also much more intelligent than the average Terran. What makes them especially threatening is their ability to alter their appearance at will. Although that proces does take considerable time.
To a degree, the background of the crew is explained in the first post of ingame-thread. It consists of those that are too experienced, competent or connected to let go, but are also too unstable or unreliable (for one reason or the other) to set loose in the Inner Systems. Note that this criteria does not apply to every member of the crew. While the ship itself is at least seven decades old, this is to be its first voyage in years. Therefore, most of the crew is new. I cannot answer questions about the background of the captain, as I'm hoping one of the players will play that part. Note that people are free to pick whatever part they want, but it should reflect the amount of time they're willing to invest in the game. If someone wants to play a member of the senior staff, I expect to see him or her more then once a month.
I'm personally playing much more modest roles, such as the Senior Navigator and the ships computer. I'll PM important data to the players whose character has access to it, so my involvement will be a bit less visible than in other games.
By the way, Legolas, didn't you once host an RP game on the Ironworks board in Empirequest? I have to say I was sad to see that one end.