Europa

March 2, 2054

Europa is more beautiful than I ever could have possibly imagined her to be. If only Richard had lived to see this. If beauty is a sign of what lies ahead, there is no question we will find life on this moon.

We landed smoothly, just a kilometer shy of the target landing site in a small crater. The crew insisted that I be the first person to make the spacewalk onto the surface. I pushed back but they insisted. This had been something I'd been dreaming of for a long time, and they knew it. Commander Hunt accompanied me as we suited up in our space suits for the first time since we'd tested them out and stepped into the airlock to depressurize. The moment the airlock opened, and the ramp lowered my mouth fell agape.

I think one of the hardest parts of imagining an alien world like Europa is that your brain tries to borrow parts from what you've experienced in life. The thing is, while they have similar traits, Earth is nothing like Europa.

As I walked down the ramp, I almost lost my footing and fell because I was so focused on the giant icicles that protrude from the edges of the crater, glistening from the sunlight that hit them. As I touched down on the surface, I was mesmerized by the light glow that seemed to give each and every crystal-like rock a greenish-blue glow. Out in the distance there were massive icy cliffs that looked both sharp and smooth at once.

Despite the fact the sun was peeking out over one of the icy cliffs, you could still see the stars in the night sky. It was neither light nor dark on the moon, but the night sky was less plain than the one you'd see on Earth. Rather it was full of bright colors ranging from purple to green, that was the parts of the Sky that were not taken up by the gas giant Jupiter, which glowed in the night sky. I thought I knew what Jupiter looks like, after seeing images of the planet for years, but those images didn't do it justice. There was so much more color to the planet than I expected. Its many storms looked as if they had been painted on the planet with a soft stroke of a brush, distinguished by the layers of orange and white. What really struck me however was all the touches of blue, green and red that can be seen between the layers. The planet was almost too detailed to look away from, almost as if it wasn't meant to be gazed upon by human eyes.

"That's a view I can get used to," Commander Hunt said through the space suit comms. I'd been so focused on taking in the view that I forgot he was out here with me.

"Get used to it," I responded, looking over to see him staring straight up at the monster of a planet Europa orbiting around. "Europa is tidally locked. We will be staring up at Jupiter as long as we're on this moon."

Taking another look up at the gas giant I noticed a sphere in the sky beside it. I had been so focused on the planet itself I hadn't noticed one of the other moons beside it. Compared to the rest of the sky it was a bit duller. It was a grayish sphere that didn't quite have the same glow as the rest of the night sky, about the size of our moon on Earth. Still, there was something fascinating about its simplicity that made it so that I couldn't look away once it caught my eye.

I could have stood there admiring the view for hours. It truly was to die for. I could only imagine what it would be like if we didn't need to peer upon it through the glass of our helmets. I probably would have removed my helmet right then and there if I didn't know any better. Looking up at that sky, I knew I was where I belonged. At that moment, all the doubts I had about accepting this mission left my mind.

After a few more minutes me and Commander Hunt turned back to allow the rest of the team to experience the beauty we'd seen.

There seemed to be something for everyone here on Europa. For me and Commander Hunt it was certainly the view. Lee and Adams went out on the next spacewalk, and they seemed far more preoccupied with the gravity, vaulting as high as they could in the air. Adams even did a flip in the space suit, which caused Commander Hunt to reprimand him on the coms. That was the Commander Hunt I remembered from training camp.

Miller and Horvat also seemed to be more interested in the beauty with Horvat admiring the rocks picking some up in the glove of his suit and letting them trickle down between his glove's fingers. It was strange to see how slowly they fell to the ground. Miller on the other hand looked straight out into the sky, looking away from Jupiter and toward the stars.

As for Richard, Europa presented the perfect burial site to a man who had dedicated his life to discovering alien life. We will bury him once the base camp is set up.