Europa

August 6, 2048

Commander Hunt had a bit of a surprise planned for us yesterday. Considering it would be one of our last days on Earth he arranged for a little party in our quarantine area amongst the six of us to ensure that our morale was high. Not only was there a ton of foods, specifically the types we would be missing in space, but there was also all you could drink booze. He was smart having this little party two days before the launch and not one, because I am way too hungover to launch today. The rest of the crew definitely feels the same.

In a lot of ways, the party felt like one of those college parties where you got to know all the people on your floor. We actually ended up setting up a pong table and playing some beer games. For that night, I actually forgot about all my worries about the upcoming mission and leaving my family behind. I was just having a good time. I have a feeling it was just the alcohol.

I think the food I'm going to miss the most on Earth has got to be pizza. There is nothing like a good slice of pizza. I think the first thing I will do when I get back from this mission is head to New York and try a slice of that New York pizza. I had more than enough pizza for a while last night, but I have a feeling that after eleven and a half years I will be craving it once again.

To be honest I don't remember all of last night, that has to be the first time I've blacked out since my freshman year in college. You don't get a high-level position at NASA by partying after all. I actually woke up this morning laying by the toilet, with Jenifer slouched by the tub in her room. To be honest I could not even tell you which of us was the sick one last night, and she couldn't tell either.

There are worse places I could have woken up honestly. Waking up in a bed that did not belong to me could have resulted in total disaster.

I do not know if the mission coordinators are surveilling us in quarantine. Knowing how through they've been they probably are, and I can't even complain about it. I signed my right to privacy away when I accepted this mission. The only reason I wonder is that any sexual activity has been prohibited between members of the team. It is understandable why. Sexual attraction can result in unplanned accidents. I know that all too well, although I would prefer to refer to my son Diego as a gift, not an accident.

The thing is, while an unplanned pregnancy can be a blessing in disguise on Earth, it can lead to disasters in space. There have been no studies on whether a human can even definitively give birth to a healthy child in space, or on another planetary body. That is an experiment that NASA does not want to conduct, especially not on a mission to Jupiter that involves cryogenic freezing. Sure, I have been taking birth control that stops my menstrual cycle entirely, mostly because it seems like it would be extremely difficult to take care of those issues in space, but the policy on this mission is still no sexual contact between any parties. That goes for members of the same sex as well. I think the thought behind the rule is it could lead to jealousy and irrational thought. Honestly, it makes a lot of sense.

Fortunately, nothing like that happened last night, not that I was too worried it would. I don't have feelings of attraction for any of the members of the crew. I used to find Richard attractive back when we worked together but nothing had ever happened there, and frankly those feelings had faded long ago. I viewed all my crewmates like a family of brothers and sisters who had united to do a job. For me personally I don't feel like I will have any issue with the no sex rule. Hopefully no one else would either.

The other thing I checked that I thankfully did not do while I was under the influence was call home. I would have been so embarrassed if Diego saw me like that. So much for the final impression I had tried to leave him with, drunk me would have flushed that down the toilet. Fortunately, I had made no calls. Based on my sleeping position by the toilet I was probably too sick to.

I honestly almost felt too sick to call home today, but I did anyway. With the launch tomorrow I wanted to make sure I had a chance to talk to Dad and Diego one last time. While I do intend to call them in the morning before we eat our traditional steak and egg astronaut breakfast (just thinking about food now made me gag) before heading into the rocket I wanted to make sure I called them to tell them I loved them just in case. I know things can get crazy on launch day.