[ WP ] Humans have discovered the secret to high-speed inter-planetary travel . and it is the most stupid and ridicilous thing possible

The first group of humans arrived at the distant planet officially named E2-70042, but affectionately nicknamed Earth 2 by the vast majority of society. The planet, just over one light year away was deemed to be a plausible destination back in 2016, after a group of scientists from the United States, Russia, France, and Australia formed a joint commission to study space exploration. The planet, ironically, rests roughly 93 million miles away from its very own star, and has an oxygen rich atmosphere, much like Earth. 
 
 In 2018 Presidents Putin and Trump drafted a team comprised of a few top scientists, and experienced astronauts to complete a journey to this planet. Using a new breakthrough in fuel cells, a ship was designed to travel around a third of the speed of light, making the trip to Earth 2, a feasible 4 year journey. 
 
 The world rejoiced in patriotism as the brave crew set out to be the first humans to set foot onto an alien planet. A place that could one day become a new home. 
 
 As the giant rocket launched, people from all over were glued to their television, computer, and phone screens to see this once in history event. Everything went off without a hitch. As the ship breached Earth ’ s atmosphere, Presidents Putin and Trump held a joint address to the world, speaking about how the events of the past couple of years had seemed to force the two countries to become powerful allies, and without those events, this project would have never come to fruition. 
 
 As the ship coasted further away from the gravitational pull of Earth, Captain Frank Proper, from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA announced to the crew that they were able to move freely about the ship, but would be transitioning into deep space travel in one hour. 
 
 Dr. Boris Sokolov, from St. Petersburg, Russia, was relived, and immediately released his seatbelt. He longed to be able to stretch out his legs after being strapped to his seat all day in preparation of the launch. This was his second time in space, after previously coming up to perform some diagnostic and repair work on the space station. He took delight in the way the lack of gravity made his hair feel. 
 
 Dr. Sokolov and Captain Proper became fast friends during the training phases, and often sat up late at night drinking coffee and sharing old hunting stories. On the night before the launch, the two had visited until nearly midnight, drinking a pot of decaffeinated Folgers and listening to “ Space Oddity ”. 
 
 Sargent Dianna Walker, from Arlington Virginia, USA, was a lifelong member of the Air Force, joining ROTC in the 7th grade, and taking every opportunity she could to be involved with the military until she could enlist, as she did, at the age of 17 with parental consent. She attended training right in Arlington, and quickly climbed the ranks through flight school. She was the first woman to pilot a ship into space with a multinational crew. She did not choose to wander about the ship; instead, she stayed in her seat and ran tests on the equipment. She was chosen largely for her unwavering dedication to her mission ’ s success. 
 
 Dr. Douglas Smith, a Canadian native, moved to Seattle, Washington at age 16, and became a citizen of the United States at 18. He was accepted to MIT at 21 years of age, and finished his doctoral degree in physics and astrophysics at 27. This was Dr. Smith ’ s first trip into space, something he had looked forward to since he was a child. He immediately went to the nearest window and stared out into the darkness, in awe of the vastness. 
 
 Captain Yousef Ivanov, also from St. Petersburg had been chosen by President Putin personally for this trip due to his display of patriotism, and his extensive work in engineering and rocket science. His work contributed to the creation of the new fuel cell that would power their trip. 
 
 This small crew would be sharing close quarters for the next four years while they travel to their destination on Earth 2. Although there had been advances in cryogenic technology, the reanimation process had not been successful at this point, so the crew would be placed into medically induced comas for three months at a time, in shifts. This would not only conserve resources, but would make the trip seem much shorter to the crew. 
 
 Once the ship reached optimal speeds, and the tests were ran, the first half of the crew went into the sleep chambers. The awake crew manned the controls, and monitored the ships systems. Every several thousand miles, the ship would launch a couple of probes that would remain stationary, and communicate. The idea behind this was to build a bridge of communication back to earth, much like signal boosters, so that the crew would be able to speak to command from Earth 2, despite a large delay. 
 
 Three years and one hundred eighty five days passed without incident. The crew had remained in communication with Earth, finding that with the probes assisting communication, they could get communication back to Earth in as little as one year, nearly twice as fast as anticipated. 
 
 They were within five hundred thousand miles of Earth 2, and the entire crew was awake, and anxious. They could see in the distance, the blue-green hue of the new planet, growing closer by the minute. Sargent Walker ’ s eyes remained fixed on the target, her steel-like appearance unwaivered by the frenzy of emotions raging within her. 
 
 “ Prepare for landing ”, Captain Proper called out to the crew. “ Home, this is USS Patriot phoning home for the last time before making contact. I really wish more of you could see what I ’ m seeing now. She ’ s so vivid. So very blue and green. In my life, there has been a lot of talking, a lot of simulations, and a lot of video games where I have roamed foreign planets, but nothing could have prepared me for this. ” 
 
 “ Captain, ” called Dr. Smith, “ We ’ re leaking fuel. ” Smith ’ s voice had brought the mood of the crew immediately to a low point. 
 “ How, Smith? ” The Captain replied. 
 
 “ It has to be one of the seals. Maybe it froze, it ’ s had to say but the levels are dropping fast. ” 
 
 “ Switch to secondary fuel, and stop the flow to the primary! ” Sokolov interjected. 
 
 “ Already done ”, said Walker, as she worked her fingers along the control board. “ We ’ re coming into the gravitational pull of Earth 2 now. We won ’ t need much to get us down. ” 
 
 Despite the fuel setback, Walker successfully piloted the ship into the atmosphere of the planet, and safely landed it on what appeared to be a salt flat in the southern hemisphere of the planet. The scare was over when the ship finally came to a stop and the crew stared in awe at the surroundings through the windows. The planet appeared uninhabited, and completely untouched. In the distance, they saw alien vegetation that was not so different from that on Earth. There were grass and trees of a deep green. They could see snow dusting the tops of mountainous peaks on the horizon. 
 
 “ Pardon my language, but this is fucking fantastic! ” cried Sokolov. 
 
 The crew roamed about the craft performing diagnostics on the ship. Dr. Smith began the ships automated sample collection, testing the air and soil, analyzing it. This continued for several days, with the crew discovering that the fuel leak was caused by a stuck injection flap in the engine. 
 
 The leak was far greater than they had thought, and now faced the crisis of how to get home. Smith found that the atmosphere was nearly identical to that on Earth, consisting of slightly more oxygen, and less carbon dioxide. It was, however, able to support life. The crew was exited at the thought of being able to go outside onto this new planet without protective gear. They would be able to feel the wind touch their faces, and feel the soil on their skin. 
 
 

