Tellus | ONC 2020

112:03:08:20:45:22

Sebastian Gray accidentally tipped over his coffee, causing the brown, bitter liquid to spread quickly across the dining table, staining today's newspaper with the main heading FIRST NASA SPACE PROBE ARRIVAL TO NEAREST STAR SYSTEM TO BE CONFIRMED THIS MORNING. He was old school, still subscribing to the printed news. It was a mystery to everyone why the news agency had complied with his request to print it exceptionally for him and deliver it to him every single day. But he always said that the world had become so technology-centered, and that reading from paper helped him clear his mind.

"The world seems to be holding its breath this morning, as we are all waiting to hear from the Tellus I, sent to explore the atmosphere and surface conditions on the confirmed planet Proxima b," a female voice spoke in a formally engaging tone from the news running in the background of  the morning activities in the house, "The destination planet is orbiting Proxima Centauri, a red-dwarf host star located in the Alpha Centauri triple-star system."

Sebastian Gray tried to salvage his newspaper, quickly removing it from the table, but he disregarded the flow of coffee that continued to make its way towards his daughter, still unaware at the opposite end of the table. She had finished her breakfast several minutes ago, and now she was quietly waiting for her mother to get ready to take her to school. She had pulled out a piece of paper and a selection of colored pencils like she often did when she had to entertain herself. A patch of golden early morning sun had made its way through the dining room, now cascading over the girl and her drawing. She was so focused on the motif that she did not notice the insidious coffee slowly approaching her work. Soon, the dark liquid sunk its teeth into the paper and began eating away at it, as it was slowly absorbed. But the oil-based lines fought off the coffee, and the colors were not affected by the invasion, remaining just as bright as before.

"The probe has travelled no less than 4.2 light years, making it the longest successful mission into the deep space, should it have reached the triple-star system. There is a four-year delay in the information transmissions, as the radio waves are moving at the speed of light, so communication with the probe will be primarily one-sided. Four years is a long time to wait for a reply," the anchorwoman smiles at her own comment for a second, before continuing to read from her information sheet, "It was launched from the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida back in 2052, and it was scheduled to arrive just over four years ago, making the trip almost twenty-two years long. The Alpha Centauri exploration program Tellus was established by NASA in 2017, making the real journey much longer – a total of 57 years. Confirmation will hopefully reach Earth in just a few minutes."

The girl's mother pulled the drawing out from underneath the purple colored pencil between the girl's fingers, and only then did the little one lift her blue eyes. She had her mother's eyes, and the same two blue oceans were staring back at her.

"Honey, you know plants are green," she said with a hint of worry as she studied her daughter's creation of what resembled a tropical environment with distinguished purple and orange colored vegetation amidst all the green, "That's what makes them able to breathe like us."

"I know, Mom," the girl said unconcerned, before she jumped down from the chair and went to sit on the couch with one of her stuffed animals. This one was a white polar bear. Her Dad had gotten it for her when they had visited an exhibition of Anthropocene extinction at the Perot Museum of Nature and Science last year. She had named him Po. She turned her attention to the TV, grabbed the small, squared glass-plate that was the remote control, and dragged her finger along its surface to increase the volume, allowing the voice of the anchorwoman to fill the room.

"Richard Watson is here with us today from the NASA Head Quarters in Washington, D.C.. Richard, you were involved with the launch of the Tellus I orbiter, and I do hope that you have exciting news for us."

"Thank you, Jenny," the grayed scientist began, "That's right, I was the lead navigator in the Tellus program at the time of the Tellus I preparations. It was my primary responsibility to make sure that the probe would make its way to our neighboring star system, Alpha Centauri. Now, we are, uh, currently still waiting for the update from the probe, but we should have information about its status shortly."

"Well, while we are waiting, Tellus is a name for the Roman personification of Mother Earth. Tell me, Richard, why has NASA chosen this name for this program?"

"This is very exciting. It also happens that Tellus is a Latin word meaning Earth. The exoplanet Proxima b revolves around Proxima Centauri in its habitable zone, and it is believed to be very similar to our planet Earth. It is estimated that there is a 75% chance of finding a habitable planet in the system. With the Tellus missions to Alpha Centauri, we are hoping to confirm more planets, as well as to explore the possibilities of extraterrestrial life. Hold on, Jenny," Watson said as he held his hand to his ear and tuned into the message being delivered to him. He listened for a few seconds, before turning his attention back to the camera with shining eyes and a proud smile.

"I am pleased to inform you and the rest of the world that the Tellus I orbiter has reached Proxima b. It has initiated its first orbit around the exoplanet, and we will begin to receive information shortly. This is a great day for America."

"Thank you, Richard. It is indeed a day of celebration. We have made it to Alpha Centauri. But the Tellus program has many more missions planned, so far at least two additional probes are in interstellar crossing on their way to join the Tellus I. But, Richard, the real question here is, will we ever manage to get humans to Alpha Centauri?" the anchorwoman asked, and the girl leaned closer to the screen, almost falling off the edge of her seat. She held Po so tightly that her fingers nearly pierced through the furry fabric of the polar bear, as she waited for the scientist to answer the question that had burned itself to the inside of her little head.

"That will certainly be a future goal, but I think it is pretty safe to say that none of us will live to see that day," Watson smirked, but his body tensed when something seemed to interrupt him.

While the girl watched the man on TV get distracted by the small phone in his ear, the screen of her father's watch lit up, and he tapped it twice to answer the incoming call.

"Yes," Sebastian Gray answered, and his face stiffened as the person on the other end spoke. The connection to Richard Watson got cut off and Jenny the anchorwoman had to introduce the weather report prematurely.

"Right, I'm on my way," Sebastian Gray said as he quickly gathered his things and grabbed his coat before running out the door. It was June, and the hot Florida air clashed with the cool, airconditioned climate of their house. He often did this – got so preoccupied with work that he would forget what day it was. This time he even seemed to have forgotten what season was upon them. His wife patted the girl's damaged drawing with a paper cloth, before she added a note to the back of it like she always did when she collected her daughter's drawings.

Polaris, 4 years old, June 5, 2078

This was the day it all started.