The Alpha Centauri Expedition

17. Orange Sky

"Bimasakti Crew, this is the first encounter of humankind with living beings outside our solar system. This is a historic moment...," Mission Commander said again. Everyone remained silent, unable to speak because of what they were witnessing.

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The New Year's Day of January 1, 2459, which was being celebrated on Earth, would also mark a new milestone for humanity. On the first day of 2459, the astronauts of Bimasakti would establish a historic moment as the first humans to set foot on a planet in another solar system, 490 years after Neil Armstrong landed on the Moon. They would be the first to walk on the surface of a planet within the Alpha Centauri star system. This event was about to become a reality, no longer just a dream that humanity had cherished for thousands of years.

At eight in the morning, all the Bimasakti crew were seated in their respective chairs on the bridge, fully dressed in their spacesuits and astronaut helmets. The suits had to be worn as it was a standard procedure they had to follow for any orbital landing, even on Earth. At that moment, it was Captain Bagas and Lieutenant Azis who were in charge at the pilot and copilot seats. Rizki and Gayatri were seated behind them, along with other crew members not on duty. Everyone was filled with excitement to begin the historic landing, especially Gayatri. There was nothing she loved more than discovering new adventures in space. And this was an unimaginable new adventure. The images of the planet's surface she had seen yesterday left her in awe. It was a world she had never even fathomed before, and her desire to explore it felt unstoppable.

Dr. Sisca had reported that there was absolutely no intelligent life detected on Proxima Centauri b. The only life present on the planet was flora and fauna, or in other words, it was inhabited only by plants and animals. Since there were no intelligent beings living there, Bimasakti could land on the planet's surface without the need to hide. Captain Bagas had maneuvered Bimasakti out of orbit and entered the atmosphere. Bimasakti's anti-G engine worked to neutralize the gravity of Proxima Centauri b, which was eight percent stronger than Earth's gravity. As a result, Bimasakti smoothly entered the atmosphere without being pulled in by the planet's gravitational force. Then Captain Bagas began to fly Bimasakti along the oasis belt at an altitude of ten kilometers to find the best landing spot. From that altitude, the surface of the oasis belt appeared not much different from Earth. It had high mountains, valleys, forests, rivers, lakes, and seas. The winding rivers flowed into the sea, which extended to the dark side of the planet and froze there, resembling the frozen Arctic Ocean. The sky was adorned with white clouds that provided rain for the plants and animals on the land. After observing the surface of the oasis belt they were passing over, Commander ordered Captain Bagas to head towards a vast and open plain. They were still unaware of the potential threats on the planet's surface. Anything could happen. Attacks from wild animals, dangerous insect bites, toxic plants, quicksand, earthquakes, and who knew what else. There was still so much they didn't know about this planet.

Captain Bagas began to lower Bimasakti's altitude, approaching the surface of the oasis belt below. The spacecraft descended and penetrated through layers of white clouds. As they got closer to the surface, the view became clearer. All the crew members on the bridge couldn't take their eyes off the scenery displayed on their console screens. Now, the expanse of forests and vegetation below became more visible. However, the sight was unlike anything they were used to on Earth. The forests and vegetation on Proxima Centauri b were not covered in green foliage. Instead, they appeared in shades of purple, occasionally interspersed with yellow, red, blue, and green hues. The purple color seemed to dominate the landscape, much like green does on Earth. From that altitude, the forests and trees in the oasis belt looked like a beautiful tapestry with a purple hue. Gayatri thought to herself that the chlorophyll in the leaves here must be purple instead of green like on Earth, and there must be some unique natural conditions in the oasis belt that led to this phenomenon. She couldn't take her eyes off the breathtakingly beautiful purple tapestry before her.