BOREALIS
- A Space Suite -
Borealis
Part Two
Chapter List
OCÉANO TRANQUILO
OCÉANO TRANQUILO
Empower
Growth
Chapter I. "Unexpected Message"
During the return trip to Earth, while the Hipparchus crew was in stasis, one of the cockpit's monitors suddenly flickered and displayed a Level 1 Security Warning.
Instantly, Hydra, the spacecraft's AI, took emergency measures. It sealed the lab where the crystal samples collected on Centaurus X-3 were stocked, entered new coordinates into the SpaceTrack Navigator and sent encrypted transmissions communicating the situation.
The COMMS officers at the AstraNova station and at the Earth base could not believe their eyes when they read on their screens:
​
- HYDRA LOG 0684684 - 2094 / 02 / 17 - 1253 UTC
- ID: hip / 0528482 / X-3
- SHIP: Hipparchus
== RADIATION HAZARD ==
​
- Location: main lab
- Crystal's COND = UNSTABLE
- Mission = COMPROMISED
- Return to earth = ABORTED
- Human command = OVERRIDEN
- Command: ai
- Crew's COND = stasis
​
= MISSION =
- New DEST = Vela constellation
- Target: vela x-1
- Distance: 2 kiloparsecs.
- Right ascension: 09h 02m 06.681 sec.
- Declination: -40º 33' 16.90''
- ETA: 62 days 15 hours 37 min 28 sec
- COMMS = silent mode ACTIVATED
>
>
>
-
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
WELCOME
Welcome visitors to your site with a short, engaging introduction. Double click to edit and add your own text.
Chapter II. "Stasis"
Suspended in time, in a state in which all forces are equal and opposite cancelling each other out and in which no evolutionary change takes place, with all their vital processes stopped although constantly monitored and assisted, the whole crew of the Hipparchus was travelling light-years away from their initial target destination without noticing the modifications introduced in the original flight plan by the on-board Artificial Intelligence, Hydra.
Completely unaware of the factors that had caused these modifications as of their new destination and the radical change that their mission had just undergone, they were oblivious to any sensation or feeling, to any external stimulus and to the new situation they would have to face when they awoke from stasis.
Instead of travelling back to Earth they were heading to the Vela X-1 pulsar in the Vela constellation!
==>> 3 other different alternative hypersleep modes (sound settings resulting in different sounds) proposed by SpaceNap Inc. - commercial company creating stasis gear and software - can be tested by clicking, once you'll be at the player's page and once you'll start playing the music, on the blue dots next to the 3 first comments in the "Community Comments" section.
Refresh the player's page to return to the original settings.
​
Text for the first alternative setting:
"Experience stasis but be sure that when you wake up you will have aged as everyone else!
Delta sleep 2 Hz isochronic tone suppressed"
​
Text for the second alternative setting:
"Stasis VE™: the ultimate in space hypersleep!! Enjoy all the benefits of stasis without missing out on the beauty of outer space. Thanks to this top-notch technology, all the organs involved in the sense of sight remain awake during stasis and are focused on the view tnat can be perceived through the spacecraft's cockpit windshield."
​
Text for the third alternative setting:
"Minimalist space traveler?
Tired and bored of so many supernovae and comets?
Love the tranquility of space but miss the peace of the underwater depths?
Are you the first to raise your hand when your space center is looking for volunteer crew members for black hole missions?
Don't hesitate! Stasis UWBH™ is for you."
​
Refresh the player's page to return to the original setting.
​
WELCOME
Welcome visitors to your site with a short, engaging introduction. Double click to edit and add your own text.
Chapter III. "Blue Supergiant"
Everything was flowing normally aboard the Hipparchus except for the fact that Hydra, the AI, had changed the destination coordinates.
From the beginning of the return trip to Earth the crew remained in stasis and, therefore, no one on board was aware of this change of course and that the spacecraft, on its way to the pulsar Vela X-1, was inexorably approaching the B33-type blue supergiant star HD 77581, which is part of the pulsar's binary system.
​
WELCOME
Welcome visitors to your site with a short, engaging introduction. Double click to edit and add your own text.
Chapter IV. "Circumstellar Disc"
As the spacecraft approached the HD 77581 Blue Supergiant at high speed under Hydra's control, the star's circumstellar disk, a ring-shaped disc of matter composed of gas, cosmic dust, planetesimals, asteroids and colliding objects orbiting it, seemed to grow out of all proportion.
Upon detecting the first debris Hydra activated the Hipparchus' protective shields and secured all essential spacecraft systems. Despite the increasing density of cosmic matter, everything seemed to be proceeding normally.
Despite Hydra's skill in avoiding all the obstacles, at one point a meteoroid finally hit one of the shields, shattering it. Moments later, the impact of several particles affected one of the ship's gyroscopic sensors, which are vital for its flight stability
The faint bluish light changed to red on all floors of the ship. In the stasis department a hydraulic hiss began to sound in the vital compartment where Captain Harris was, indicating its opening.
​
==> There is 1 different alternative setting for this music proposed by its creator, resulting on different sounds in it. To be able to listen to the different options, once you open the player's page and after having started to play the music, click at the "Community Comments" section on the blue dot next to the first comment.
Refresh the player's page to return to the original settings.
Text for alternative setting:
"As soon as Hydra detected the malfunction of some gyroscopic sensors caused by the impacts of debris, it automatically started transmitting its position along with a distress message on all space alert channels."
​
Refresh the player's page to return to the original setting.
​
WELCOME
Welcome visitors to your site with a short, engaging introduction. Double click to edit and add your own text.
Chapter V. "Shock Wave"
A gloomy atmosphere had settled in the AstraNova Station. It really boded ill for the Hipparchus’ crew.
Minutes before, the station’s plasma and X-ray sensors monitoring the activity of the Vela X-1 pulsar had suddenly detected unusually high anomalies. When the science team analysed the data, they could not believe their eyes: It was a big shock wave.
Checking Hydra’s log, they observed that before it was registered, a brief but huge luminosity variation had occurred in the Vela constellation quadrant. Almost at the same time, they realized that they had stopped receiving telemetry from the Hipparchus.
The COMM officers tried many times to contact the spacecraft; to no avail. For hours they kept calling the Hipparchus but they got anything but static.
​
==> There are 3 different alternative settings for this music proposed by the creator, resulting on different sounds in it. To be able to listen to the different options, once you open the player's page and after having started to play the music, click at the "Community Comments" section on the blue dots next to the first 3 comments.
Refresh the player's page to return to the original settings.
​
Text for the first alternative setting:
"Once alerted by the alarm system, the scientists at the AstraNova station switched off the plasma and X-ray sensors."
​
Text for the second alternative setting:
"After several hours of unsuccessfully calling the Hipparchus, the AstraNova COMM officers ceased transmissions, but continued to monitor all bands."
​
Text for the third alternative setting:
"It had been a long, sad day at the AstraNova station. After finishing their duty shift, the members of the science team retired to their sleeping compartments. There, each of them continued to think long about the sad events of the day and the Hipparchus crew."
​
==>> A fourth setting is also proposed. At the player's page, clicking on "Reset" at "Current Slider Settings" should change the generator's mood from gloomy to mournful.
​
Refresh the player's page to return to the original setting.
​
​
WELCOME
Welcome visitors to your site with a short, engaging introduction. Double click to edit and add your own text.
Chapter VI. "Adrift"
Despite being awakened from stasis by Hydra – the onboard A. I. -, the captain was unable to avoid the collision in time. The spaceship received multiple impacts of varying severity and several explosions shook it.
As a result of those impacts, several sensors of the main gyroscope had been damaged and caused the Hipparchus to drift off course. There was also damage to the fuel cells and so Hydra shut down the main reactor.
​
​
​
==> There are 3 different alternative settings for this music proposed by the creator, resulting on different sounds in it. To be able to listen to the different options, once you open the player's page and after having started to play the music, click at the "Community Comments" section on the blue dots next to the first 3 comments.
Refresh the player's page to return to the original settings.
​
Text for the first alternative setting:
"After analysing the situation, the captain went to the propulsion control compartment and proceeded to make the necessary repairs"
​
Text for the second alternative setting:
"After several hours of work and having restored several vital modules, the captain performed several propulsion tests. The results were encouraging."
​
Text for the third alternative setting:
"After some testing, everything seemed to work fine. However, the replacement of the damaged gyroscopic sensors would take several days and numerous space walks to complete."
​
Refresh the player's page to return to the original setting.
​
WELCOME
Welcome visitors to your site with a short, engaging introduction. Double click to edit and add your own text.
Chapter VII. "Extravehicular Activity"
Every time the captain left the Hipparchus on those EVA (Extravehicular Activity) outings he experienced that strange sensation.
On the one hand, he was fully focused on the task he had to perform, striving for maximum efficiency and following safety protocols, while also monitoring various parameters of the spaceship and maintaining communication with the AstraNova station and the base on Earth
On the other hand, the grandeur of outer space was always captivating him. It was impossible not to marvel at such beauty; how could he not lose a few seconds - or hours - enjoying the unique views before his eyes and the absolute peace of that cosmic landscape?
At the successful completion of each EVA, he always deployed his artificial umbilical cord - the tether that kept him firmly attached to the Hipparchus and to life - as far as possible and enjoyed floating in that immense void that contains everything.
​
​
==> There is 1 different alternative setting for this music proposed by its creator, resulting on different sounds in it. To be able to listen to the different options, once you open the player's page and after having started to play the music, click at the "Community Comments" section on the blue dot next to the first comment.
Refresh the player's page to return to the original settings.
Text for the alternative setting:
"After completing the repair of the gyroscopic sensors, and to better appreciate the beauty of outer space, the captain, after communicating the success of the EVA to the AstraNova station and to the base on Earth and before re-entering the ship, switched off his suit's communications system for a few minutes."
​
Refresh the player's page to return to the original setting.
​
WELCOME
Welcome visitors to your site with a short, engaging introduction. Double click to edit and add your own text.
Chapter VIII. "The Fate Of The Crystal"
After the successful restart of the main engine and once the flight parameters were restored, there was still one thing left for Captain Harris to do.
Checking the Hydra's logs he learned that the initial course change that had driven the Hipparchus toward its new destination, causing the incident on the circumstellar disk of the HD 77581 star, had been introduced by the ship's AI when it detected that the crystal samples collected on X-1 were unstable.
He went down to the laboratory and inspected the condition of the samples. Indeed, their X-ray radiation level had increased dramatically, potentially endangering the lives of the crew, just as Hydra had calculated.
After donning his E.V.A. suit, he transported all the samples to the depressurization airlock. Not without appreciating the beauty of the crystal one last time, he opened the hatch to evacuate it into outer space.
​
==> There is 1 different alternative setting for this music proposed by its creator, resulting on different sounds in it. To be able to listen to the different options, once you open the player's page and after having started to play the music, click at the "Community Comments" section on the blue dot next to the first comment.
Refresh the player's page to return to the original settings.
Text for the alternative setting:
"After being absorbed for several minutes watching the glowing samples moving away from the Hipparchus, the captain returned to the spacecraft and, once he was back in the cockpit, he communicated the situation to the Astranova station and to the base on Earth."
​
Refresh the player's page to return to the original settings
WELCOME
Welcome visitors to your site with a short, engaging introduction. Double click to edit and add your own text.
Chapter IX. "Approaching Vela X-1"
Once the captain fixed all the breakdowns occurred during the incident that happened while the Hipparchus was flying through the circumstellar ring of the blue supergiant star HD 77581, he woke the crew from stasis, as they were approaching their new target: the neutron star Uhuru source 4U 0900-40, the other component of the Vela - X1 pulsar's binary system.
Then he explained to them what had happened: the incident at HD77581 and the loss of the Centaurus X-3's crystal samples. After that, he briefed them about their new target.
When they reached the exact position, probes were deployed to analyse the neutron star's X-ray radiation, caused by the capture and accretion of matter from the stellar wind of the supergiant blue star companion.
The analysis showed positive results.
After checking them, they cautiously proceeded to the final approach and got ready for the landing manoeuvres.
​
WELCOME
Welcome visitors to your site with a short, engaging introduction. Double click to edit and add your own text.
Chapter X. "Flight Back Home"
The samples collected from star 4U 0900-40 were already on board the Hipparchus. This time, the captain decided that the analyses would be carried out in the spaceship's own laboratory instead of waiting for them to be performed at the Earth base after their return.
As soon as the scientists at the Earth base would receive the results of the analysis, they would have the opportunity to carry out the research for the crystals' cloning and for its subsequent mass production.
They still had a long journey ahead of them and many things could happen. He still remembered with displeasure what had happened with the crystal samples collected on Centaurus X-3.
As soon as the analyses were finished, he could dispose of the samples, and he expected that after having done so, they would have a safe and pleasant return trip to Earth.
He hoped it would be so.
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
Welcome visitors to your site with a short, engaging introduction.
Double click to edit and add your own text.
Chapter XI. "Land Ahoy!"
Grow Your Vision
- Land Ahoy!
Pointing at it with his finger and miming making a visor to protect himself from the sunlight with the other hand, the captain had shouted to the crew the mythical phrase as in the times of the ancient navy. For they were indeed sailors; the space kind.
After long months of homeward travel, the old blue sphere had just appeared in front of the Hipparchus' panoramic windshield.
He thought to himself that he might as well shout the command "splice the mainbrace" but there would be plenty of time for that as soon as they had successfully landed at the Earth Base.
In a few minutes they would be home for good, safe and sound.
​
==> There is 1 different alternative setting for this music proposed by its creator, resulting on different sounds in it. To be able to listen to the different options, once you open the player's page and after having started to play the music, click at the "Community Comments" section on the blue dot next to the first comment.
Refresh the player's page to return to the original settings.
​
Text for the alternative setting:
"Congratulations were coming over the airwaves from the Astranova station team, the Ground Control, and from various astronomical stations around the globe."
​
Refresh the player's page to return to the original setting.
​
​
​
​
