[ WP ] You 're the captain of the first deep space voyage , Upon arriving at the destination , your crew finds something ...

We figured the lights were a geographic phenomenon – NASA chalked them up to volcanic eruptions occurring deep under Europa ’ s icy surface, most likely caused by the gravitational pull of Jupiter. 
 
 Advances in ion propulsion engines and terraforming had allowed humanity to migrate from Earth to Mars in 2085 - and NASA was eager to establish the red planet as a push-off point for future expeditions that would, god willing, carry us beyond our solar system. 
 
 In the ensuing decades, many private companies and governments saw the potential in the cosmos ’ endless resources and survey teams were sent to mine the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. Asteroids were scanned and assessed for their composition, value, and level of extraction difficulty before routes were planned. Unfortunately for Unicorp – humanity ’ s first and largest multi-planet conglomerate –the asteroids with the most valuable resources that were easily accessible via a Mars slingshot orbit had been exhausted. To make ventures profitable again, Unicorp was forced to venture towards the asteroids closer to Jupiter. 
 
 In 2105, a mining team was sent to harvest the far side of an asteroid high in platinum and rhodium on the fringe of Sol ’ s asteroid belt – so close that Jupiter and its moons were visible with the naked eye. The miners reported interference two days prior when they first landed, but they were told not to worry and that the anomaly had been a solar flare, or perhaps another harvester ship working close by. Yet, two days later, the interference returned, emanating from the deeper regions of the solar system. 
 
 The mining equipment and the harvester vessel went offline immediately. They tried for hours to make contact with Mars but their instruments remained lifeless. Alone in the void, the miners observed the silhouettes of Jupiter ’ s many moons dancing against its face. One moon in particular, that passed them every 1.7 days, seemed to be experiencing what the miners explained as “ extreme weather ”, the likes of which they had never seen. The phenomenon caused their equipment to resurrect itself each time the moon passed, and they were able to make contact in the brief period that their coms came back online. 
 
 The year is now 2110, and the phenomenon has not occurred since the mining incident. NASA has assigned me to the Columbus-1 - Humanity ’ s first manned venture beyond the inner solar system. 
 
 *** 
 
 “ We ’ re out of the thick of the belt, Captain Emmerson. We ’ ll be coming up on Jupiter shortly. ” 
 
 “ Excellent, follow the planned route. We should enter Jupiter ’ s orbit seamlessly. ” 
 
 “ Captain, NASA is experiencing com difficulties – please advise. ” 
 
 
 - May continue later.
