Post by Dorothy Deucalion on Jan 24, 2016 21:10:16 GMT -7
It had been a month since Dorothy had gone to speak with her boss about the HSS Ark, which had gone missing during a trial run. The HSS Ark was a prototype space ship with artificial intelligence that had been intended to ease interstellar exploration.
Space travel had advanced substantially in the past decades and even travel to other parts of the galaxy were feasible. Aliens from hundreds of light years away found their way to the Sol system, and it was not unheard of for humans to venture into deep space themselves. By and large though human civilization remained centered on Mars. Dorothy estimated that 90 percent of humans lived on the red planet. It was hard to know the exact number. The goal of the Robotics Institute, where Dorothy worked, was to make the technology necessary for space colonization. The flaw of the institute, as Dorothy saw it, was that it was insufficient to have the technology to colonize space if humanity was not willing.
Her talk with an ecologist at the Martian Academy had driven home that point. Humanity could colonize the stars, but it would have to take gradual steps away from the cradle planet.
That was why Dorothy was leading a fleet of ships to the Jovian moon of Europa with the intent to claim it. Her fleet was composed of traditional space ships. The HSS Ark was a necessity in interstellar colonization, as it was possible that communication would be cut off and the ship would need to act in real time without human orders. However for travel within the Sol system traditional ships sufficed. Dorothy was joined in her mission along with a small army of robots and a few dozen humans. She had left her husband and toddler daughter home.
As the ship traveled through space Dorothy looked inside portrait pendant. She would send for her family once the initial colony had been set up. Europa was a potentially habitable world, but would still need terraformed significantly before it had a significant population. It was no world for small children. Her husband had tried to convince her that it was no world for frail scientists either, but Dorothy insisted on being part of the initial colonization group. It was hard finding volunteers for the project, and if she did not go herself she feared they would give up after a few weeks due to low morale.
Plus someone needed to be there to order the robots. It would be the robots that would be doing much of the actual terraforming. The humans for their part would spend most of their time in leisure inside the pre-fabricated domes. Only rarely would they need to put on their space suits and go outside. It would be the robots that would have the difficult task of surveying what materials were available to work with and what would need to be imported. It would be the robots that would provide much of the labor to begin farming and growing trees.
Dorothy smiled as she closed her portrait pendant and stared outside her window. She could make out countless of stars. Mars could still be viewed, albeit it was a small speck of dust so far out in space.
She was alone in her quarters. Outside her room was a robot, stationed to protect her from any possible stowaways. She doubted she would encounter any trouble from other sentient life forms though. Why would her or her party be targeted? She was an independent as far as politics went. She could imagine space pirates attacking her fleet, but otherwise...
Space travel had advanced substantially in the past decades and even travel to other parts of the galaxy were feasible. Aliens from hundreds of light years away found their way to the Sol system, and it was not unheard of for humans to venture into deep space themselves. By and large though human civilization remained centered on Mars. Dorothy estimated that 90 percent of humans lived on the red planet. It was hard to know the exact number. The goal of the Robotics Institute, where Dorothy worked, was to make the technology necessary for space colonization. The flaw of the institute, as Dorothy saw it, was that it was insufficient to have the technology to colonize space if humanity was not willing.
Her talk with an ecologist at the Martian Academy had driven home that point. Humanity could colonize the stars, but it would have to take gradual steps away from the cradle planet.
That was why Dorothy was leading a fleet of ships to the Jovian moon of Europa with the intent to claim it. Her fleet was composed of traditional space ships. The HSS Ark was a necessity in interstellar colonization, as it was possible that communication would be cut off and the ship would need to act in real time without human orders. However for travel within the Sol system traditional ships sufficed. Dorothy was joined in her mission along with a small army of robots and a few dozen humans. She had left her husband and toddler daughter home.
As the ship traveled through space Dorothy looked inside portrait pendant. She would send for her family once the initial colony had been set up. Europa was a potentially habitable world, but would still need terraformed significantly before it had a significant population. It was no world for small children. Her husband had tried to convince her that it was no world for frail scientists either, but Dorothy insisted on being part of the initial colonization group. It was hard finding volunteers for the project, and if she did not go herself she feared they would give up after a few weeks due to low morale.
Plus someone needed to be there to order the robots. It would be the robots that would be doing much of the actual terraforming. The humans for their part would spend most of their time in leisure inside the pre-fabricated domes. Only rarely would they need to put on their space suits and go outside. It would be the robots that would have the difficult task of surveying what materials were available to work with and what would need to be imported. It would be the robots that would provide much of the labor to begin farming and growing trees.
Dorothy smiled as she closed her portrait pendant and stared outside her window. She could make out countless of stars. Mars could still be viewed, albeit it was a small speck of dust so far out in space.
She was alone in her quarters. Outside her room was a robot, stationed to protect her from any possible stowaways. She doubted she would encounter any trouble from other sentient life forms though. Why would her or her party be targeted? She was an independent as far as politics went. She could imagine space pirates attacking her fleet, but otherwise...
