The drill is finally operational. I could not have sighed louder when they relayed the news. Within a week the drill should reach the ocean and begin to return samples of the ocean below for me to analyze.
In a few days Commander Hunt will be returning to base camp with Horvat to receive me. Horvat would then go with Lee to the second drill location. And I would go with Commander Hunt to be ready to test the water samples.
While the rest will be mostly to determine if there is oxygen or carbon in the water, it is possible that the samples hold trace microbes if they are abundant on Europa. Still, that is unlikely. Life on Europa, if it exists, is most likely to occur the deeper you travel into the ocean, closer to the volcanic ocean floors.
Still, it feels good to see this mission is moving again after a speed bump. It also feels good to feel needed again.
YOU ARE READING
Europa
Science FictionIn order to embark on a mission to discover alien life on the icy moon of Jupiter Maria must leave her life on Earth behind, including her father and her seven-year-old son Diego. She thought the hardest part of the mission would be saying goodbye...
