Hundreds of years after the earth recovered from a global ice age, humanity rebuilt what it once had, pulling civilization from the brink of total collapse (A story for another time). Hundreds of years after that, humanity is thriving and expanding throughout the Sol system and now beyond.
This story follows a lone explorer as he tries to escape the newly developing challenges of a society where lifetimes last centuries instead of decades. He is uploaded into a ship bound for distant stars. He now awakens to a fresh start orbiting a strange new world.
These are the logs of Edwyn Layander, recovered many centuries later.
How do I even start…Ships Log, year 1, day 1.
I don't really know who I'm making these for. The psych docs told me it would make it less likely for me to go insane over the course of this expedition. No promises.
The reconstruction was not at all what I expected. I woke up feeling like every muscle in my body was made of gum that had been stuck to my boot for six months. After a few hours, I loosened things up a bit, but the headache that followed is still making it so I can barely see straight.
It was probably the strangest experience I had ever had. One moment I was lying down in a massive sensor chamber, the next I woke up strapped to a table in zero-g on a starship, alone. I know that years have passed as the ship traveled, but it took me a moment to mentally warm up to the fact that I had been a few dozen zettabytes of data just a few weeks ago.
It took me about thirty minutes to get out of the straps that held me down to the reconstruction cradle and another ten to get readjusted to zero-g again.
I did a "walkabout" or, I guess, float about through the ship to see if anything was out of whack. It seems from a quick glance that all is well, surprisingly. It was strange waking to a dark, cold, and quiet ship. Eerie, that's the word, Ive been on spacecraft my whole life, but never alone.
The reactor was on low running for the majority of the journey, barely outputting any power, so the radiators didn't need to be deployed. This was so they were protected by the nose cone during transit.
I spooled it up to accommodate the increased load about an hour ago and it looks steady. Life support seems to be operational for the time being and the heat is finally back on. All that time spent training slowly came back to me as I combed through every access panel and component I could access from the inside.
With the initial housekeeping done, I can finally focus on my mission. Speaking of which, I should probably explain in case this is found without context. I am Edwyn Layander, Pioneer first class of ISEC, the International Space Exploration Committee. This mission is one of many sent to distant solar systems in search of habitable worlds compatible with human needs.
My target is SYMBIO 447, a double-star system discovered by the SYMBIO telescope. This system was flagged for having at least one rocky planet within the habitable zone of its primary star. Other than that, I really don't know much about it. The limited time we had to prepare for this mission led to a less-than-thorough investigation into the system.
For the next few weeks, I'll use my various telescopes and sensors to get a lay of the land as I coast into the system. From what I can recall I was supposed to be woken up about three weeks outside of SYMBIO 447. Plenty of time to survey the majority of the system.
For now, I'm going to get something to eat, run a few diagnostic checks, and maybe take a few spectroscopy scans of the planets.
Ed, out.
Okaaaay…ships log year 1 day 3.
I've got some good news and bad news
I've gone through every system of the ship top to bottom and found a couple less obvious issues that I'll have to fix before getting into orbit around SYM A4.
The life support is not working as efficiently as it should, enough to keep me alive for now but I need to find the issue and fix it soon before it gets any worse. Along with that it seems a few external components were damaged in transit. The ventral radiator only opened halfway and got a bit stuck on itself. I'll need to EVA and get that extended properly, aaaand while I'm out there, one of the bow RCS thrusters seems to have been hit by some debris at some point.
Here's the good news, I've been taking periodic images of the system as I approach, and it is fascinating. From what I can tell SYM A, the primary star, has 6 planets orbiting it. 4 of which are inner rocky planets, and two are outer gas giants. SYM B, which orbits SYM A, has two planets, one inner hot gas giant, and an outer rocky planet, although my focus won't be on SYM B for some time, this rocky planet does skirt the inner edge of the habitable zone. I'll send some probes out once I get some infrastructure set up.
SYM A4 Is the planet that brought me here. it's slightly on the outer side of the habitable zone so it's most likely a bit colder than earth but from what data I've been able to get from my spectroscopy scans, it has liquid water on its surface, and a LOT of it! I can't wait to get close enough to get a clear image.
Ships Log Day 3.5?
It's been a long night…the life support has sustained damage at some point during the transit. Each time I try to pressurize a module it slowly vents itself over the course of 24 hours, almost exactly.
I had originally assumed it was some sort of means to help my lungs gradually "learn" how to breathe but it didn't correct itself. I've sealed the interlocks, isolating myself in the core module for now.
I can't find where the problem is from the inside, so I'm planning an EVA to open up an external panel on the outer hull…I can't let my nerves and lack of sleep get to me, I'm one of the top astronauts known to humanity, trained by the best there is, I'm a Pioneer, and this is just one of many EVAs I will do on this mission.
It just happens to be when I'm low on sleep and still getting used to my reorganized body. What could go wrong.
Ships Log Day 4
I'm an idiot. I'm also still groggy after the reconstruction. My first instinct was that the issue was mechanical, but it's not—it's a software problem.
I was remembering correctly, there is a system in place to slowly introduce higher pressure over time, to let my lungs build up instead of tearing.
I should credit the software engineers. It's good software; it's just flawed in very obscure and hard-to-find places.
The EVA was…stressful and fruitless. I got a good look at the radiator and have an idea for how to fix it, but other than that, the area I thought would be damaged was spotless.
When I got back I reluctantly described the issue to the ship's text based aid or TAD, ISEC loves their acronyms. It immediately suggested testing the ship's life support sensor software for any bugs.
Turns out the internal timekeeping of the ship got absolutely turned on its side. Instead of slowly introducing higher atmosphere levels over the course of a week, the system was venting the atmosphere over the course of a day. I'm lucky I didn't wake up to a vented ship, or not at all. Anyways the TAD gave me a fix for the problem and I updated the software. Problem solved.
I'm currently running checks on all the other software systems to look for bugs. It should take a few hours so I'm gonna get some sleep. My sleeping bag never looked this comfy.
Ships Log Day 6
Hello again, comp screen and microphone.
It's been a couple days since I fixed the life support issue. Ive run every kind of scenario I can through a simulation of the system and I think its stable. TAD gives the thumbs up too, which gives very little reassurance.
I found a couple more bugs in the operating system and with the help of TAD, patched them up within a few hours.
I did find something I was not expecting while snooping around the ship's computer-based systems...The Floreum storage matrix that held all the data used in my reconstruction is still full.
After staring at it for a few minutes, I realized that the data within those frozen containers is…me. Every cell in my body is recorded and stored a dozen meters from me in a shielded and cooled compartment. I'm not going to lie. I had a bit of a second life crisis for a while.
If I am me, then who is that stuck in the data? Maybe I’m still having a crisis…anyways I should distract myself, I'm going to go get some images of SYM A4, I think im close enough to see some definition on the surface.
Ed, out.
This was the first image, no real detail other than color and the basic outline of what could be ice or clouds.
Those are definitely clouds, I can also make out some topography below them, or some kind of color variation.
Wow...Not many words can describe the beauty of this place. It looks like below the surface there are large craters or they could just be dark spots. I have no idea how deep this ocean is...it could be just a shallow layer of water, or hundreds of miles deep. I cannot wait to enter orbit.
This was the first image, no real detail other than color and the basic outline of what could be ice or clouds.
Ships Log Day 7
I have been spending a long time trying to find the words for this log…These images are absolutely beautiful. I had some idea of what to expect from the data I had gathered earlier, but this was not what I had in mind.
I've spent the past 30 minutes just staring at it.
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This mission was meant to find suitable worlds for human colonization…what am I kidding, this mission was never about finding colonization targets, at least for me. This…this right here, is my goal.
I have trained for this expedition for nearly two decades, all the while constantly getting the mission directive pounded down my throat by ISEC: find colonization targets, if one is discovered, build a beacon to relay that information back to Sol, build automated infrastructure, move on to the next closest star in the database, repeat.
Over those two decades I learned a lot about what the government wanted from me, but also what I wanted from this mission. I made my mind up about the time they said there was no end planned, I was basically banished from my home, although…voluntarily. I figured if I was sent away to forever explore the vast beyond, I would do it on my own terms.
Anyways this brings me to what I am doing currently, which is sifting through every bit of programming on this ship and searching for any…training wheels…hard guidelines, or restrictions that may have been in place to keep me from going AWOL. So far I've found a few worrisome bits of code that I was not aware of. All of it revolves around TAD.
TAD is a bit of a strange piece of tech that the big wigs at ISEC fought tooth and nail to get installed in the Galileo vessels. I should also correct an error in one of my logs in the last collection. I was listening to the earlier logs and realized I called ISEC the International Space Exploration Committee, that was what it was called when I started. Now it's called the Inter Sol Exploration Committee. They changed it due to the idea of nations getting phased out on earth, as the global government took hold.
Anyway, the TAD is a text-based AI that can process questions and answer them, simple as that. It can also use data stored in the ship's systems to provide context to such questions. Pretty simple, compared to some of the AI tech that private companies had been pumping out when I left. Anything more advanced had become somewhat Taboo after the ARC uprising that happened a decade or so before I left.
So now that you know what TAD is, here's the weird part; I found systems that allow TAD to access the navigation and control computers, as well as printer queues, but these systems have no roots in TADs code. I think I'm going to have to do a deep dive into TADs core systems to get a better sense of what my only companion really is. But that's for another day.
I'm about 14 hours away from a minor course correction burn that will put me in a trajectory where I will get captured by SYM A4s gravity well in a high orbit. I'll get to fly by its largest moon in about three weeks, then one final burn to circularize. This is the first time I've entered the orbit of a planet from interstellar velocities, should be a piece of cake…and I've got a freaky AI assistant to help me make the calculations.
Ed, out.
Ships Log Day 8
Ouch…the burn went well, my course is spot on and it even shaved a day off my projected timetable. But damn, I was not expecting acceleration to be so painful after reconstruction. Some of my muscles tore when the burn started. I was sitting in the main acceleration couch on the bridge and had to float back to the infirmary while trying not to pass out.
I'm going to have to start a serious workout routine if I'm going to be walking on SYM A4 anytime soon…oh…I guess swimming more than walking…to be honest that's probably going to be a lot easier to get used to.
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SYM A4s moon is pretty standard as far as moons go, its smaller than Luna back home and isn't tidally locked which I found interesting. It has a dull greenish hue to the regolith, it almost looks like mint ice cream.
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I could really use some ice cream...
Ships Log Day 10
I've been a busy bee. I've sent out 2 small probes to skim the atmosphere of A4…I really need a name for this place…anyways, these probes will give me a more concrete atmospheric makeup of the planet and some closer images. They will arrive in six days.
My plan to get ahead of my eventual resource needs is to send out prospecting probes earlier than what the mission plan called for.
I'm going to use the gravity of SYM A4 and my current ridiculous velocity to slingshot 8 probes to the asteroid belt in different orbits.
When they reach their target asteroid clusters, they automatically locate the rocks, take core samples, and analyze them before sending back the data.
This will hopefully give me a broad picture of what I can expect resource wise throughout the asteroid belt. Next step after that is to send out the four mining drones I have attached to the hull. They are more multipurpose than just mining too, they can refine the ore into ingots while in transit, saving time.
The first big construction project is to build more robust probes for exploration. I have a truly astonishing amount of files on ISEC designs that were used to survey Sol, as well as some designs provided by various private partners. I might make some tweaks to suit this particular challenge but I'll have a better idea of what will work when I'm in low orbit.
It's time to hurry up and wait. I'm going to do a bunch of math and anxiously await my arrival at…uh, I'll find something that fits.
Ed, out.
Ships Log Day 16
Eleon, that's what I'm calling it. It's an old Andorran sailing ship that was the first of its kind to make it across the Alabaster Ocean back home. I'm somewhat of a history buff and this ship was one of my favorites to learn about as a kid.
So now that it has a name let me tell you what I know so far. The two probes that I launched about a week ago hit the mark I had aimed for, one skimmed the atmosphere at the north pole, while the other fully entered the atmosphere at the equator.
Eleon’s atmosphere is about five times denser than Earth's, with a makeup of approximately:
70% nitrogen
23% oxygen
4% Co2
0.7% Methane
And other trace elements
It is extremely promising, all things considered. But my fantasy of being able to walk around on the surface without a suit is not viable. The excess oxygen, Co2 and methane are very exciting. And with the presence of this much water…the chance of life being present on the surface or in the oceans is very high.
The gravity is 0.87 G, which will make things a little easier when I eventually get down there.
The largest moon, which I am calling Chandra, is about half the size of Luna, so the tidal forces will be less than on Earth, although, with that much water, the currents are going to be all over the place. The only experience I have with ocean worlds is with Europa and Titan back in Sol, and they don't have anything close to this size.
I haven't been able to get any significant data on the smaller moon, but it is very small; it is barely a moon at all really. I'll send a probe out there eventually but it's not a priority.
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I know you are probably like, "Eddy, where the flip are the images from the probes?" I am right there with you. My orbit has perfectly aligned so that the probe that entered at the equator will be obscured until I finish my insertion burn plus three hours. I couldn't have planned it any worse.
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I'm a little nervous about this burn. Last time, I nearly tore my muscles apart with a minor adjustment burn. This is a minutes-long orbital insertion burn from interstellar velocity. I might have to break it up into many smaller burns to minimize risk...we will see. I need to run some numbers through TAD.
Ships Log Day 19
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I've entered orbit around Eleon. I split up the burns into three, but it was still the most painful thing I've ever experienced. Everything feels more sore than when I woke up. Luckily, the infirmary was stocked with basic pain meds.
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I cannot express how beautiful this place is. The teal-blue color covering nearly half of my view brings back memories of orbiting Earth all those years ago...
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The thicker atmosphere is making the connection to the probe unstable. I'm only able to get snippets of data. No images yet, but it is in water, warmer water than I expected and deep, really really deep. I have yet to get a good read with the sensors on board the probe.
There is a strange anomaly with the data. I'm getting some kind of vibration from somewhere, at first I thought it was one of the instruments moving within the probe but its too random. I'll have to send more to get more data points.
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​I should have an image by the time I wake up from this nap I'm about to take.
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Ed, out.
Ships log Day 20
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Wow...need I say more?
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An enormous weight has lifted off of my shoulders. When I started this mission, there was a significant chance that this world I was headed towards was just a lifeless rock. The images I just received are...well, let's just say that fear wasn't necessary.
The first orbital spectroscopy surveys revealed significant biosignatures, and common sense told me that a world completely covered in water was the perfect place for life to evolve, I was trying not to get my hopes up too much. I didn't know the extent of that life, now its safe to say that this place is equivalent or similar to Earth's biodevelopment.
I opened the files from the first probe to see a truly exquisite sight. A teal blue creature gliding just above the water's surface, almost like a flying fish but much larger. It has a long beak at the front and a long, thin tail. It has two pairs of thick triangular wings, one smaller and toward the rear and lower, and a larger pair where I might consider its shoulders to be. Two redish tendrils extend downward from just below the wings. They lower down and skim across the surface, I theorize that these might be some kind of sensory organ to keep it at a certain altitude.
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I think I will call these creatures Waveriders for obvious reasons. Once I get a better idea of the ecology I will develop a system for scientific nomenclature.
The real head scratcher are the glowing openings on either side towards the rear of the creature, I only saw the side facing the probe but I assume that there is another on the far side...I guess I shouldn't assume, nature is predominantly symmetrical on Earth but I shouldn't make assumptions based on that. Anyway, I couldn't help but be reminded of a jet engine from an aircraft, which would be a significant development if they are some kind of propulsion. A few speculative biology media projects back home had examples of organic naturally forming jet propulsion, but I had my doubts. I guess I probably need more data to confirm it, I've got nothing but time so that shouldn't be a problem.
I can also see what I think are other specimens of this creature beneath the surface although they are hard to make out. There are long streams of bubbles following them, so I believe that this propulsion method might be their main means of locomotion underwater as well. I wonder how much time this creature spends in the water as opposed to the air. Does it fly to hunt or gather food, or does it hunt underwater and fly to avoid predation?​
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I need more data. The probe is still operational, but the atmosphere is making it difficult to transfer data, as I mentioned. I'm going to try and have the probe tilt slightly using its onboard gyros. Maybe I can get a better look at the bottom.
It looks like there are smaller creatures schooling in the image, too! More evidence of convergent evolution.
I haven't even begun and this place is unimaginably beautiful, I should have my hands full for the next few centuries at least!
Next steps are to send more probes and continue to build up orbital infrastructure so I can construct a lander to go down there myself. The probes I sent out to survey the system for resources should be done in a few months or so, then I get to live my fantasies of being a space miner like the comp games I used to play as a kid.
Ed, out.
Ships Log Day 21
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I still cannot believe that first photo is real. Not only does Eleon have life, but extremely complex life. I could barely sleep. I set up a probe to enter a polar orbit so I could get a detailed scan of the entire planet.
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Something has already made itself clear; this place is beautiful. I've been looking through my onboard telescopes, and there seems to be some smallish continents! They look nothing like anything I've ever seen in a geological sense. Parts of coastlines are perpendicular to the underlying topography.
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Once the polar survey is done, I will get a better sense of the geography. For now, I'm waiting for the probe to come back into view so I can issue some commands to it. I'll have it try to tilt down to see what's below. I noticed that I can actually see the bottom in that image, so the probe must have landed in a really shallow area.​ Hopefully this means that there is a higher density of lifeforms like in Earth's shallows.
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I only have two more exploration probes left. I'll have to choose wisely until I can get some infrastructure built up. Exciting times.
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Ed, out.
Ships Log Day 25
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Okay, the survey is complete and these continents are extremely strange. They almost look organic in the way that they "reach" for nearby islands.
Rough Location of the first probe
The groups of circular lakes are also baffling, again I can't think of any geological explanation for...any of this. One of my remaining probes is reserved for one of these. I think I'll aim it for the coastline to try and get a better sense of what is going on.
Heres another image from the survey probe's radar instruments, you can see that the topography of the continents and the surface topography is mismatched
The Synthetic Aperture Radar onboard the probe gives me a pretty good idea of the bathymetry on Eleon. I ran it through TAD to get an image of what the surface would look like and had it run through the data to get some highlights:
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The deepest points (the darkest blue) are between 18-21 km in depth (Depending on the density of the water, this could mean pressures up to 1,787-2,085 atmospheres...yikes)
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The average depth is about 8 km, much deeper than Earth's oceans average depth.
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The minimum depth is about 60m and only at a few points.
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What doesn't make any sense whatsoever is that these continents do not match up to the topography...at all.
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And another anomaly, the probe is nowhere near any of the points that reach 60m in depth, but I can see the bottom in the images I've received! I cant tell if that means the water is somehow clearer than I am expecting (that doesn't make sense at all) or this structure I'm seeing is something else entirely.
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This waiting is killing me; the anxiety of waiting for the next images has me sleep-deprived and not thinking straight. This kind of behavior is not going to be sustainable...If I'm going to be here for centuries, I'm going to have to figure out how to take care of myself. Thats a task that has been tacked on to the end of my growing to-do list...
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​Ed, out
Ships Log Day 28
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Ok, lots of developments in the continental conundrum, ha, see what I did there, wordplay.
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I don't think these are continents at all. I know, dear reader, you are probably thinking, "Oh no! Ed has lost his marbles already!" You are probably right, but I have a theory. There is a significant amount of oxygen in the atmosphere, more than any natural process could create other than...PLANTS. Yes, I think that these "continents" are absolutely HU-UGE kelplike beds, like massive mats of vines or something similar. I can't think of any other way that they could be so disjointed from the geology below, and the oxygen has to come from somewhere. One data point I have to figure out is the extreme elevation changes on these continents. The higher regions (shown in a light tan on the map) are almost as tall as some mountains on Earth. They also form circular structures around those lakes or pools.
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This theory has to be tested, and that's where Kilo comes in (yes, I've started naming my probes; get over it); he will enter the atmosphere in a few hours, targeting the northeastern coast of the largest...Biocontinent, that has a nice ring to it. I've also started to name some of the significant geographic landmarks on Eleon.
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I'm calling the largest biocontinent, Liera, named after one of the people who pulled humanity from the brink of extinction many years ago; she is also someone who has a legacy library large enough to fill a continent! I've studied in her libraries many times in my life, and her story has always been an inspiration.
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The second largest I'll call Maya; she was an ARC, or AI Rooted Consciousness, who sacrificed herself for others of her kind to see that they were freed from captivity and slavery. I think this fits because I get the sense that this biocontinent separated from Liera at some point. She also saved my crew from disaster during my first tour as a sensor operator in the Navy, so I think I owe it to her to continue her legacy.
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Liera
Maya
The Rended Isles
Abroban
Abroban
Aeromytha
Kraviru
Cape Catastrophy
Kilo's Target Landing Area
I'm calling the three other smaller biocontinents 'transients' if only because they seem to have a trailing tail that implies movement. This could be totally incorrect, but that's what I'm going with for now.
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The largest, which seems as though it's on course to collide with Liera, I will call Abroban. This was a ship I used to serve aboard in the UHR Navy, it seems fitting as it's a vessel of destruction (maybe who knows the dynamic these biocontinents have with each other)
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The two smaller ones are, interestingly, almost exactly opposite of one another in both location and shape. I think I will call the northern one, Kraviru, after humanity's aerial brethren (distant relatives of the ravens of old earth), and the southernmost, Aeromytha, the natural predators of the Kraviru.
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I don't have any names for the smaller islands that are connected to the poles, but maybe when I eventually explore them I'll come up with something.
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Im going to get some sleep before Kilo lands, and maybe root through some of the strange software associated with TAD to see if I can find anything useful or dangerous.
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Ed, out.
BUCK Image #2
Ships Log Day 29
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​HA! I did not expect it to get even better!​
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As I said a few logs back, I commanded the first probe...Buck, to rotate so the camera pointed toward the bottom. These little guys seemed quite curious about the strange metal ball that fell from the sky.
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I can't quite tell which side is the front of the reddish-orange specimen; that tube on the left looks like a siphon similar to what you might find on a squid or octopus, but it could be a mouth. If it is a mouth, then the tentacle appendage just above it could aid in placing food in the potential mouth, the second creature in the image makes me think that is the case, if these creatures follow a similar evolutionary path. The general shape makes me suspect that the left is the front, so I will go with that until I can get a video that shows movement.
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The big clear dome with that tube inside was similar to structures I observed on the waverider in the first image. This could be the Eleon equivalent of eyes or some other sensory organ! The tube could be very mobile and allow for a wide range of vision. The clear dome could be a protective layer.
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The other two creatures look like they are moving quickly. Those bubbles suggest some sort of reaction that is causing propulsion. They share many features of the waveriders; these might be a similar species or even juvenile waveriders!
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I believe the closer one is exhibiting the first instance of predation! If it is, the two small appendages are reaching for the smaller creature to guide it into a mouth.
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​I think I will tentatively name the smaller species as juvenile Wavriders, while the red species I think I will call Siphonoids.
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Kilo has landed, or should have landed by now so I'm just waiting the for the first transmission. I really need to get a satellite network up and running so I can constantly get data from the probes...on more thing added to the To-do.
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Ed, out
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Ships Log Day 30​
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​Another day down, another awe-inspiring image. This is the eastern coast of Liera, taken from Kilo, my second probe to land on Eleon.
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H.P. Lovecraft was an old-earth author who wrote about themes beyond our understanding, unknowable creatures of massive scale and power. I think the genre was called eldritch horror. This image reminds me of some of his work. I shivered the first time I saw it.
After gathering my thoughts, I believe these structures are similar to the ones I saw on the orbital scans that seemed to reach for the smaller islands but on a smaller scale. This organism, if it is one organism, is extraordinarily complex. I can only imagine what the relationships with other species will be. A living ecosystem that is constantly changing and growing...I can't really wrap my head around it.
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Kilo is healthy and occasionally transmits data as expected. The water is warmer near the bio-continent, but I only have 2 data points, so that could be variations based on climate or region.
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I'm going to hunker down for a few days and design some modifications to the probes to allow them to submerge and gather more data. I will also look into strengthening the antenna so the comms aren't so spotty. I should have enough spare parts and emergency materials to fabricate one if I make some adjustments to the internal structure.
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Ed, out
Ships Log Day 32
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Ok, I have the updated design. It's not the best work Ive ever done but for my purposes I think it should do the job.
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Parachute Hatch
Thruster Hatch
Sensor Hatch
Heatshield
Antenna Chamber
Parachute Chamber
Fuel Tank
Thruster
Water Pump/Sample Collector
Sensor and Comp Core
Micro Reactor
2.4 m
The idea behind this design is to utilize the cavity between the outer hull and the inner comp core as a ballast. The pumps will fill the space with water and cause the probe to sink while also grabbing a few samples as the water passes through the pumps.
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As you can see, this probe will be named Nemo, after a character from another book written by an old earth author I am fond of, Jules Verne. It is already under construction in the main fabricator. I used my last remaining probe and modified it with the new design. Along with those modifications, I've also added a few low-power lasers set exactly six inches apart so I can get an idea of the scale for some of these species.
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I am really dreading the long wait for resources to start coming my way...
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In the meantime, I will read 20000 Leagues Under the Sea again. I might need some inspiration for other vehicles in the future.
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Captain Ed, out
Ships Log Day 36
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Nemo is finally done; I wasn't able to get the second antenna completed, so I took it out and put it in storage. Im not sure where to send it, there is literally an entire planet to explore.
Buck
Kilo
Potential Nemo Landing Sight
With the limited control I have once the probes land, I think I want to avoid getting too close to a bio-continent. I think Kilo is on track to eventually get smashed against the shoreline.
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There is a relatively shallow area to the northwest of Maya near some islands. It's far enough away from any bio-continents, and I might be able to check out a new ecosystem near the islands and stay far enough away from any coasts.
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Nemo will land, check for hazards, lower itself 10 meters, and then rise back up to the surface to test the pump system. If all checks are good, it will lower itself to the bottom if there is a reasonable bottom below it. It will take a few pictures, stay long enough to get temperature readings over a few minutes and rise back up to the surface.
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Hopefully, I will get some good images of the bottom, the strange pattern in Buck's second image has me curious.
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Im in a pretty good orbit to release Nemo so I thought I would do it while writing this for some reason.
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3...2...1 Released...and nothing happens for you because that's not how text logs work.
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Maybe I'm going insane quicker than I thought...
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Ed, out.
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