Planet XI - Geology

On the bridge of the Nomad
Joint post by Omni, Jaxx, Liltroll2, and Kudzu

Dr. Adama was still drinking his coffee as he looked at the data on his pad. He was looking at the layout of the planets and moons and then spoke up, "This looks promising from my perspective. Gas planets tend to have rare gas deposits that are worth some good coin if we find it in abundance. The Terrestrial planets and moons tend to be a good source of rare ores depending on the market. Even huge deposits of iron will be good for the shipyards. My main concerns are the stability of the planets, moons, asteroids and biological lifeforms since we have to watch out for toxic, parasitic and radioactive materials and lifeforms. I think we should run some scans on the more ideal hot spots and then send a probe to verify." Dr. Adama then sipped his coffee as he waited for the others to speak.

Captain Yoshida nodded thoughtfully, acknowledging Dr. Adama's points.

"Precisely as Dr. Adama has said, our primary mission is to survey and prospect the worlds of Astryllis 179 for Blackwood-Mori before they decide what they want to do next.

For all intents and purposes we ARE the probe and while we can conduct rudimentary scans for resource potential from orbit, the company has also requested that we take various specimens from each world. Remember… we have no shuttle, so that means any exploration and extraction will require planetfall. Meaning..." he paused for dramatic effect. "We land the Nomad planet-side."

He then looked around for more dramatic effect and scratched at his scruff, "I want to focus on Planet XI first as it's the closest to our current vector, and its frozen surface could offer us some unique opportunities.” Turning to the synthetic pilot, he said, “SA-Miii, let's bring the Nomad closer. We’ll need a more detailed scan to identify a suitable landing zone."

SA-Miii nodded, her fingers already moving over the controls as she adjusted the ship’s course.

"Aye. Bringing us in, Captain. We’ll be within scanning range in a few minutes."

Dr. Blaire listened on with interest as he started building a folder structure in his P-DAT for this new solar system. He opened the newly created 'Planet XI' folder and created a text file to begin documenting his thoughts, observations and questions.

Making her way closer to the others, the botanist currently was nursing her second cup of coffee while listening to the presentation.

"Chances of flora on the planets?" She asked, now looking over the data. "I assume most of it hasn't been cataloged as of yet?"

Mick Stamfer responded to the Xeno-botanist’s inquiry with his typical cool manner, “On this ice block? Not likely…. But… we’ll find out soon.”

As the Nomad drew closer to the 11th planet in the Astryllis system, monitors chirped with the incoming data as more detailed information about the planet’s surface came in.

The screen displayed topographical maps, revealing vast ice plains, deep crevasses, and several large glaciers.

None of the monochrome data was as exciting as seeing, with their own eyes, the orb that slowly grew into view. As the ship accelerated toward the right side of the remote planet, they saw the shadows on the dark side recede to reveal a brilliant white and blue sphere.

SA-Miii commanded the new AI, “Langley, tint the viewport two levels lower please.”

*…affirmative… …adjusting viewport tint…* came a voice over the internal comms. The voice couldn’t be placed as male or female but it sounded like a young child.

The pale yellow light from Astryllis 179 glinted off Planet XI's frozen surface, creating a soft, ethereal glow. The dimming of the electronic blinds built into the viewport helped the crew see without being blinded by the reflecting glare.

Faint, wispy clouds of frozen vapor swirled around the poles, barely visible against the bright ice.

The planet’s four moons could also be seen in orbit, tiny specks of light that cast shadows across the surface. The Nomad’s sensors indicated lower gravity than earth’s and sub-zero temperatures, confirming that this world was a frozen wasteland, likely uninhabitable by most forms of life.

Captain Yoshida addressed the crew, specifically the science team, “Dr. Adama, scan the planet and give me a preliminary report on what kind of resources we can expect to find down there. Dr. Blaire and Miss Del Ray, I don’t expect we will find much in the way of life, but feel free to run scans from orbit as well. We’ll do extensive checks again upon landing. Vieregg, scan for signs of potential communication arrays.”

Dr. Blair moved to begin a scan...as thoroughly as he could perform from orbit. Despite the discouraging environment, he was hopeful that something worth finding would show up.

Dr. Adama replied, “ On it,” as he began tapping on his data pad. Then he made an annoyed face before he tapped his pad several times since it was glitching on him. Then he replied, “It’s running but we may need to run a scan a few times since my P-Dat is glitching.”

Yoshida chuckled to himself at the scientist and his tech, "Perhaps you'll have more luck at one of the terminals. There are plenty of them, doctor. You'll want to get strapped in soon anyway if we are to land. SA--iii, find a good landing spot based on the science team's data."

"You got it, Captain," said SAM-iii, the tone of a smile was clear in her voice.

Eventually the scan on his pad finished and Dr. Adama read the data as he pondered it for a bit. He ran the possible scenarios in his head for the resources he could find given the data he found.

Name: TBD
Planet Type: Ice Planet
Position: XI
Planet Size: ~6,000 km
Gravity: 0.6G
General Climate: Frozen
Atmosphere: Breathable
Hydrosphere: Temperate Dry
Daylength: ~60 hours
Orbital Period: 632 days
Axial Tilt: 25* mild seasons
Excess Radiation: None

Adama listed a host of potential hevy metals and noble gases that the planet could provide as more geological data came in.

Regions and potential for resources
North Pole: Extensive Tundra
Northern Hemisphere West: Impressive coastline of fjords and cliffs
Northern Hemisphere East: Tall, gravel-strewn mountains
Equator: Extensive Desert
Southern Hemisphere West: Disturbing wind-cut rock formations
Southern Hemisphere East: Vast Oceans
South Pole: Extensive Tundra

"It looks like the southwestern quadrant around what we would consider the tropics or subtropics is the best potential for finding resources, but we should wait till the others check out the scans first... Of course we need to take a lot of samples to verify if this matches the scan. If we find a big score of in demand resources we can expect a fat check after this mission." Dr. Adama gave a charming smile to the others.