[ WP ] [ X-Post from /r/futurewhatif ] We send a small group of diverse people with supplies to a planet similar enough to Earth to allow them to colonize it . Soon after they land , Solar flares ( or whatever ) stop us from contacting them for 100+ years . After that time we are able to speak with them again .

*So I kind of just wrote the beginning part* 
 
 In his 18 year career as NASA ’ s Administrator, Major General Charles Bolden has never been this emotional over a mission. His feelings of excitement and pride were dwarfed only by his intense feeling of nervousness. Never had there been a mission with as much on the line. For the last 12 years of his time as Administrator he had overseen the development of the first manned mission to another world. The world which they had named Providence. 
 
 There was a soft knocking on the door to his office. “ Come in, ” he said in a hollow voice. 
 
 The door opened slowly and Donald Stennes, the lead engineer of the mission Alpha Outreach, stepped into the room. Bolden had worked closely with Stennes over the last decade on AO, and he could see that Stennes was just as nervous as he was. “ 15 minutes out, sir. ” Bolden gave a terse nod as Stennes backed out of his office and closed the door. 
 
 As much as he wanted to remain in his office and receive updates in this manner, he had devoted too much time and effort to this mission to not be there for the landing. He collected his thoughts and composed himself. Despite his feelings he would not allow himself to appear unsettled in mission control. Bolden picked up his cup of coffee from his desk and headed for FCR 1. 
 
 Stennes looked over as Bolden walked into FCR 1 where he was overseeing the mission. The two exchanged brief greetings and turned to watch the progress. On the main monitor was the video feed from the lander. The video was delayed by five minutes because of the distance the signal had to travel and did not relay any sound. Everything seemed to be going well on the deck of the lander. Commander Martin looked calm and in control, carefully relaying commands to the rest of the flight crew. 
 
 Bolden turned his attention away from the main monitor to a console on the right. Brian Yates was manning this particular station. Yates was the brain behind this advanced monitoring system. Quantum entanglement had never been used in a mission before, but it had been proved to be able to provide a basic status of the mission with near instant feedback. 
 
 “ Everything green, Yates? ” Bolden demanded. 
 
 “ All good, sir. ” He replied. Yates was probably the only man in the control room that was more nervous than Bolden and Stennes. This was the first mission that his technology had been approved for and it was very important that it worked correctly. All of the indicators on his console were lit with solid green lights. 
 
 Bolden nodded and returned his attention to the main monitor. His nerves were starting to settle more as periodic status updates were called out from each station indicating that the mission was still on track. 
 
 “ Atmosphere breech in 30 seconds. ” Called Stennes to the room. 
 
 The tension was palpable in the room at this point. Everything everyone in the room had spent the last decade or more working on hinged on the next 2 minutes, from the breech of the atmosphere to landing on the surface of Providence. 
 
 “ Atmosphere breached, all systems green. ” Updated Stennes. Most of the room breathed a sigh of relief. 113 Brave men and women were on that lander, and Bolden would not allow himself to relax until he had confirmation that each and every one of them had arrived safely. 
 
 To his right, Bolden heard a modest beep come from one of the consoles. Turning his attention to Yates he called for a status update. “ What ’ s the status, Yates? ” 
 
 Yates couldn ’ t bring himself to respond. He slowly rose from his seat with a ghostly look on his face. 
 
 “ YATES! Update. ” Commanded Bolden. The blackness of the lights on the Quantum Updater console gave an empty feeling in Bolden ’ s stomach that would haunt him for the remainder of his life. 
 
 Yates reported, “ It ’ s gone. ” 
 
 “ What do you mean it ’ s gone? ” Questioned Stennes. “ I need sit. reps. on all stations! ” He ordered the room. 
 
 Every head in the room had turned to look back at what was happening with Yates. Everyone quickly returned their focus to their individual consoles and reported all systems green around the room. 
 
 “ All systems are reporting green, Yates! What do you mean it ’ s gone? ” Stennes pleaded. 
 
 Yates stammered. “ I ’ ve never seen the lights go out before. ” He tried to explain. “ The lights are always either red or green. Never just off. They can ’ t be just off. It ’ s not possible. ” 
 
 “ Well they sure as hell look off to me, Yates! ” Roared Bolden. “ What does that mean?! ” 
 
 Yates replied in almost a whimper. “ It means it ’ s gone. I don ’ t know how else to explain it. ” 
 
 “ Well you had better figure out how to explain it. Our lander is set to touch down in 45 seconds, and your device suddenly loses signal. I demand an explanation! ” Bolden replied. 
 
 “ It doesn ’ t use a radio signal or anything, there is no signal to be lost! ” Yates exclaimed with urgency. “ This console is connected with that lander on a quantum level. ” He said, pointing a finger at the main monitor where the flight deck of the lander still showed everyone operating normally. “ By the laws of physics, the only way that these lights could be black while the power indicator on the console is still lit is if the quantum connection were broken. I don ’ t know how to explain that, because that can not happen according to our laws of physics. That lander is gone, sir ” 
 
 There was a deafening silence throughout the room as the gravity of those words sank in. Everyone looked at Bolden with the same pained look. Bolden simply returned his empty gaze back to the main monitor. Everyone else followed suit. 
 
 All they could do now was watch. 
 
 According to the mission clock to the left of the main monitor the lander had just touched down. It would still be three painfully long minutes before the video feed caught up to the report of total loss from Yates. 
 
 A ominous beeping from one of the consoles on the left dragged everyone ’ s attention away from the monitor. 
 
 “ Sir we have a critical failure reported from the life support systems ” one of the engineers reported. 
 
 Almost as if on cue the scene on the monitor became panicked. They had just been indicated that their life support was malfunctioning. 
 
 As the room watched on in horror consoles started beeping and flashing all over the control room. Engineers were reporting in as each system on the lander was reporting in with critical failures. The scene in the middle of the room became even more terrifying. 
 
 Commander Martin was shouting instructions and frantically working on his station. Each of the men and women on the flight deck tightened their harnesses and began to frantically stab at their stations. The only thing that could have made the scene worse to watch would have been if there were sound coming through. It was like a silent film from hell. Commander Martin ’ s station was the only other means of communication the Providence Lander had with the control room. 
 
 The screen to the right of the main monitor displayed the message feed from Commander Martin ’ s station. The message “ Approaching Providence, all systems green. ” was still displayed with a timestamp from 15 minutes prior. As the engineers in the control room watched on in horror Commander Martin ’ s final message came through: 
 
 “ All systems critical failure. Engines non responsive. Mayday. Mayday. Surface impact eminent. Mayd ” 
 
 As the message ended on the monitor there was a blinding flash of light on the main monitor. Several engineers shielded their eyes from the light. Bolden ’ s gaze remained fixed on the screen as the bright white light turn to a strangely calm, dull black glow. 
 
 “ It ’ s gone. All contact with Providence Lander unresponsive. ” Droned Stennes.
