Mission Status Report: Gliese 518e ExoPlanet Expedition
Date: 2732.09.22
Chief Reporter: Richard Parkes, Senior Science Officer, UEISP (Ahern)

BACKGROUND

In 2005, the Observatory of Geneva and Grenoble University announced that they had identified an exoplanet (Gliese 581b) orbiting M-class red dwarf star Gliese 518 (spectral type M3V); this development was rapidly followed by the announced discoveries of 5 additional orbital bodies (Gliese 581c-g). Attention of astrophysicists and astrobiologists in this period initially focused upon Gliese 581d and 581g as the most likely candidates in the extrasolar system to host life.

The subsequent recognition that Gliese 581d and, consequently 581g, were in fact false positives, their planetary signal the result of solar activity resulted in a new focus to the sustained study of the system; while SETI continued to both monitor and send signals to Gliese 581, the Observatory of Geneva turned its attention to the system’s innermost planet, Gliese 581e (1.7 earth masses), despite the consensus in the scientific community that that body’s close proximity to the system’s star rendered the existence of liquid water and an atmosphere, and hence life, untenable.

In 2153, the scientists at Geneva, employing the HARPS instrument in the European Southern Observatory in Chile, announced the observation of detectable “spots” or artifacts upon the surface of that planet that appeared to be in motion.

“Natthimmel” – Pooka

MISSION ORIGIN AND PARAMETERS

When the first practical application of an Alcubierre Drive 43 years ago made interstellar travel a reality, some within the astrophysics community advanced the advisability of an expedition to Gliese 518, with a particular focus upon Gliese 518e. However, some initial setbacks with the IPD Development Program (including the Alpha Centauri C Disaster of 2605), and competing priorities pushed the schedule for a crewed expedition to the system back for two decades. In 2627, however, the United Earth’s Intersolar Space Program authorized a research expedition to the system; construction of the UESS Rocinante, designated to carry the research team to Gliese 581e, began in 2629.

Selection and training of a crew for the Rocinante began the year following. It was determined that the expedition should include seven engineers with specializations covering a wide range of fields determined to be relevant to the research design, as well as an experienced former military pilot, Tatiana Aurelia, with two previous IPD expeditions under her belt. To round out the group and ensure the continued safety of the crew in a likely hostile environment, two experienced medics were added to the crew. The mission was to be directed from Earth by renowned astro-mathematician Dr. Saskia Selden, employing the newest update to the Ansible Galactic Communications System.

The Rocinante, with its full complement of crew, departed Ahern Station in 2632.

“Nathimmel” – Séb

MISSION STATUS REPORT

The UESS Rocinante was scheduled to arrive in the vicinity of Gliese 581e on 2732.09.18:65:34, at which time the Alcubierre IPD would be disabled, and the expedition establish orbit around the planet employing impulse drive. The crew, however, missed their scheduled check-in with mission control at 2732.09.18:65:45, and attempts were made to hail them via Ansible. No response was received.

At the direction of Dr. Selden, mission control communications engineers then proceeded to, first, locate the UESS Rocinante and, second, access directly flight data and mission logs through an Ansible data relay. On 2732.09.20, a Simultaneity Relay signal succeeded in accessing a much-garbled and decayed stream of data representing both flight data and crew log entries.

So badly degraded is the flight data (hypothetically through damage suffered by an emergency landing upon the planetary surface of Gliese 581e) that it is nearly impossible to determine precisely what happened. Mission control specialists, working with engineers at the IPD Rocket Lab, have suggested a likely malfunction of the Negative Energy Dampener, with the result of a massive release of kinetic and thermal energy at the moment of arrival.

Such an effect is to some degree the predicted result of the application of elements of quantum physics upon the Alcubierre Metric in the absence of NE dampening, and may have resulted in a forced landing or even a crash upon the planet’s surface.

Other effects, however, remain unpredicted and, at the time of writing, unexplained. Crew logs, although badly damaged, remain coherent enough to piece together a partial experience of what the mission complement has experienced since coming out of warp. Reported effects upon the crew include the experience of extremely vivid hallucinations or “daydreams” that included the sensation of “drowning” upon arrival at the star system, and reports of a crash landing (which remain unconfirmed) upon the planet’s surface. Crew logs also report “out of body hallucinations” (sic) that included credibly “real” visions of members of the crew in environmental suits upon the surface, apparently disabled or deceased. Finally, and most interestingly, the logs also reference the appearance of strange alien beings, resembling most closely now extinct creatures from Earth’s marine past such as squids, jellyfish, and crabs.

“Gliese 581e Status Report” – Scylla

CONCLUSIONS

There is, at the moment, insufficient evidence and data to determine precisely what happened to the Rocinante and its crew, the current status of the expedition, or the meaning of the data thus far retrieved from ship. The actual existence of life forms upon Gliese 581e, as reported in the damaged logs, remains unconfirmed and, in the forms described, very much unexpected, particularly given the predicted absence of liquid water upon the surface of the planet. It is also possible, and has been hypothesized as one conceivable explanation by Dr. Selden. that what has occurred through the malfunction of the IPD drive is something like a rupture of the time/space membrane that separates alternate dimensions.

RECOMMENDATIONS

In the absence of further reliable data, it is recommended that a salvage/rescue mission be planned post haste. While it seems unlikely that any survivors will be found by the time that such an expedition might reach the system, a further investigation of both the causes of the mission failure, and of the nature of the putative ecosystem existing on Gliese 581e are imperative.

“Gliese 581e” – Konard

Above Mission Report is a background story to our second installment of Natthimmel. We built planet Gliese 581e, inspired by its real nature (potentially rocky, larger than Earth exoplanet which discovery was announced in 2009, see NASA site), some of our favorite sf stories (Foundation by Isaac Asimov, The Expanse by James S.A. Corey) and loose concepts and ideas about space and other planets. We are both deeply interested in science, astrophysics, spacetime nature so performing this research and figuring out the story, written for us by a dear friend Scylla Rhiarda, was a great adventure and a very satisfying experience.

Details

The site was open between 22 June 2023 and 22 July 2023.

See here our gallery on Flickr (pictures by Saskia Rieko)

See here the gallery gathering pictures of Gliese 581e as seen by our visitors