95 Worlds;Trip to Europa-Lindsay Okrent

Trip to Europa: Day 1After two years of traveling, I have finally made to one of Jupiter’s many moons; Europa. Don’t get me wrong, it isn’t just “another moon”; it is actually Jupiter’s most well known moon. Europa is the only other place in our Universe, besides Earth and possibly our moon, that scientists are fairly certain could hold some form of life. Therefore, Europa is the next place scientists are looking to travel, and since they’ve already gone to our moon, Europa is next! (I’ve always been ahead of science and technology, so I made it up here on my own before anyone else in the world got a chance to, shhh!) Day 1, hour 1 on Europa…and I’m already bored. It seems like a fascinating place, and I can’t wait to begin exploring, but I have been so lonely for two years now, that it is getting boring! Because no one trusts getting into a spaceship to travel to a moon that not even professional scientists have gotten a chance to travel to, no one came with me. Not even my own family! So I’m alone on Europa. When I first arrived here during what seemed like Europa’s “morning” (not that I could really tell because it is almost always dark out here), I immediately jumped off my ship to begin exploring. Right when I hit the icy ground, I began taking off my oxygen helmet, but immediately stopped myself. When I realized what I had almost done, I ran back into the spaceship. Not quite ready for exploring if I can’t remember the most important survival skill of being up here: never take off your helmet! Because Europa’s oxygen atmosphere is 1,000,000,000 times thinner than on Earth, I would have instantly suffocated after removing my helmet. Good thing I remembered! Well, maybe I’ll try going out there again…Okay, this time it was a success! I stepped outside into the -360 degree Farenheit weather, and this time got a chill of actual coldness instead of nervousness. This time I was actually excited and ready to explore Europa! As I began walking away from my ship I noticed two things. Number one, I was walking on solid ice. Europa’s entire surface is one thick layer of ice that goes down so deep it would take my entire trip to dig through it and reach the water (if there is any; I’m crossing my fingers!) So, naturally, I raced back to my ship and grabbed my ice skates! One great thing about skating up here is that the ice is untouched, unlike the scratched up and dented ice at ice rinks on Earth. Number two, I noticed how incredibly cold it was. I knew it was going to be cold but I had no idea it would be this cold! Based on the constant darkness that only seems to be getting darker, I assume it is around 6 P.M. on Earth, and I am getting hungry. I am going to take a quick skate around part or Europa’s surface, and then come back to the ship for some canned meat (which is what I will be eating my whole time here).That was very cool! I saw some of the deepest valleys and biggest mountains that I’ve ever seen in my life. Compared to Europa, Mt. Everest is nothing! After I finish my dinner, which I am getting sick of eating over and over again, I think I’ll do more exploring. I am forced to eat the same thing every day and night because if I had brought any vegetables or fruit to grow it wouldn’t have lasted a single day due to lack of sunlight and oxygen. Since I am used to spending all day and night sleeping in my ship, today has seemed like one busy day! I know I was planning on exploring, but I am way too tired, so I’m going to get some rest. Maybe tomorrow I will start digging into the ice, and by the end of my trip I will hopefully reach some water! If I find any life on this planet I won’t feel so lonely, and it would be a great discovery! We’ll see what happens!