The Alpha Centauri Expedition

18. Celestial Belt

A joyful smile appeared on her lips. Her heart whispered, who else has ever experienced the sweetness of dating her beloved when rain falls in a beautiful flower garden like a heavenly garden on a distant planet in Alpha Centauri?

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On the first landing day on Proxima Centauri b, Wednesday, January 1, 2459, after lunch, the Bimasakti crew began the first survey in the oasis belt. The survey would utilize both shuttles and both rovers of Bimasakti. Additionally, they would conduct ground surveys on foot assisted by anti-G suits. They had also divided their tasks. The Bimasakti-Alpha shuttle would perform an aerial survey towards the West, while Bimasakti-Beta would head East. The same division applied to the rovers. Rover-Alpha would conduct ground surveys to the West, while Rover-Beta would head East. The crew would also explore the areas around the spacecraft on foot, using anti-G suits to ease their steps, and even fly if necessary.

Rizki and Gayatri were seated in the two pilot seats of the Bimasakti-Alpha shuttle, which was parked on the deck at the rear of Bimasakti. Behind the two pilots were two seats for passengers. At that time, joining the survey with Bimasakti-Alpha were Mission Commander and Dr. Sisca. Both of them were already seated in the two passenger seats.

"Mission Commander, permission to take off," said Rizki, turning to Mission Commander who was sitting behind him.

"Go ahead, Captain," replied Mission Commander.

"Gaya, take the controls." Rizki allowed Gayatri to take control of the shuttle because he knew her eager desire to start the adventure on the planet.

"Roger," Gayatri responded briefly, but her excitement was evident on her face, like a child given permission to play outside. She immediately activated Bimasakti-Alpha and prepared for takeoff.

"Bimasakti, open the hatch," Rizki commanded the Bimasakti AI. The hatch door above the deck area began to slide to the side and opened wide. The orange light from the sky streamed into the deck space. Rizki had also released the shuttle's landing gears lock on the deck floor. Gayatri started moving the control levers in her hands, guiding Bimasakti-Alpha to ascend towards the open hatch. A moment later, they were above Bimasakti, and the beautiful scenery of the oasis belt filled the shuttle's windows. Bimasakti-Alpha began moving westward, skimming the surface of the oasis belt at a low altitude. Quantum cameras and all the sensors it carried were activated to continuously scan and record data from the planet. From this low altitude, the landscape on the oasis belt surface was clearly visible. Purple meadows and forests dominated the scenery below.

"Doctor Sisca, why are the leaves here purple? Not green like on Earth?" asked Mission Commander.

"It is likely that the strong and fluctuating radiation exposure from the Proxima Centauri star for millions of years has modified the genetics of living beings on this planet, Mission Commander... including changing the color of chlorophyll in plants here to purple," replied Dr. Sisca. It turns out Doctor Sisca's opinion is just as I suspected, thought Gayatri. Then she noticed something else peculiar about all the plants living on the surface of the planet. Almost all of them had their leaves facing towards the sunlit horizon. Whether they were large or small trees, shrubs, grasses, or weeds, all their leaves were oriented towards the sunlit horizon, as if they wanted to capture sunlight as much as possible.

"It seems that all the foliage here is facing the horizon," said Gayatri while looking down at the ground.

"Yes, Gaya, the leaves here are all directed towards the light source on the horizon. It actually happens on Earth too. For example, like sunflowers that always face the Sun. But here, because the sunlight is dimmer and the source is on the horizon forever, the leaves have evolved and grown to face the horizon in order to capture as much sunlight as possible," explained Dr. Sisca. This phenomenon made the landscape on the ground unique and beautiful, as all the foliage on the surface of the oasis belt looked like hair that had been neatly combed. The sight was mesmerizing to all of them.