Earth Log #0001

Date: June 27, 2020

We’ve been traveling across the Milky Way Galaxy for some time. We have not seen any sign of other life forms since we left the comet. But I remain hopeful.

Starman has been an excellent…dare I say…companion thus far. There’s room for improvement in him, but I do not dislike him. I do like the stories he tells me of Earth. The life forms on Earth are fascinating creatures.

I’ve become so intrigued by Earthlings and have started watching the blue planet more and more. I had always kept a close eye on Earth, but I have taken a keen interest in its inhabitants after traveling with Starman.

On one of my routine checkups, I noticed the Earthlings were trying to land on Earth’s orbiting moon again after a very long catnap in space tech development. Their work may impact us in the future, so I’ve decided to start logging the Earthlings’ space explorations. This is my first log. It will be a bit longer than usual since I’m laying some background, but I enjoyed the research. I hope you do too.

The Space Catnap

I don’t know much about Earthlings, but I have to admit that this thing they call the internet is pretty good. It’s nowhere near the tech in Starman’s spacecraft, suit, and weapons, but it’s useful enough. Based on information that I gathered from this internet, I found that humans have gone to the Moon before, but they stopped after a few years and six missions. 

I’m not really sure why they did that. Why would they stop exploring? Were they scared? It’s not like space is lonely. Starman was traveling alone for a while before we became a team, and he seems fine. But then again, Starman did tell me that humans can be strange sometimes. I think that’s it. 

Anyway, this space catnap lasted until the year 2017 when a spaceman from a country called China said something about a possible Moon landing. By 2019, another country called the United States or US also announced plans to get back to the Moon by 2024.

But what really caught my eye was an announcement by someone who admitted that he was a Martian. His name was Elon Musk, and he owned a rocket company, called SpaceX. Elon didn’t just want to go to the Moon. He wanted to go to Mars. Amusingly, humans are amazed at his rockets since they’re reusable. I’m not sure why that’s a big deal, really. Rockets HAVE to be reusable for space exploring. If rockets broke down every time they were used, you wouldn’t get very far. Starman and I know that from our adventures.

The Martian’s Plans

Elon Musk IS a Martian. He said it himself on the internet. This is probably why he wants to go back to Mars. Mars is a fixer upper of a planet, but it has potential. I can definitely see Starman and I visiting it someday. It’s a pretty cool planet and I could probably see Earth very clearly from there. I probably wouldn’t even need to adjust my vision that much to see Earth well from Mars’ surface.

The Martian has been working hard to get back to space. Really hard. His spacecraft, whose name confuses me since he changes it all the time, is currently called Starship. It’s enough for 100 humans, which is a pretty good number, but 1000 is better. I personally like the number 1.618.

I probably won’t be able to handle traveling on Starship though, since humans are complicated creatures. More than one of them in a ship might be too much for me. I’d rather travel with someone like Starman, even if our ship is way smaller than the Martian’s.

Starship’s creation looks like it will take some time. The Martian’s company has gone through four prototypes that didn’t survive their tests. I’m rooting for their fifth prototype, SN5, and I’m glad they’re really testing the limits of this ship. Starman and I know that space is no joke. Those who wish to explore it have to be prepared for anything. If the Martian’s company can pull it off, a Moon mission may actually be possible sooner than humans realize.

New Spacecrafts for a New Age

While the Martian works on Starship continues to be built, SpaceX has been working hard on other projects. It achieved a new milestone for Earthlings on May 30, 2020. On that day, astronauts from the US left for space from American soil in a Crew Dragon capsule atop a Falcon 9 rocket. Starman told me that this was a big deal since the United States lost their ability to send astronauts back to space in 2011. I don’t understand why the US didn’t just borrow a rocket from the other Earthlings.

The launch was quite something though. Starman showed me a video of the Crew Dragon’s launch, and I must say that it was beautiful. The rocket that SpaceX used was only a third of Starman’s ride to space, but it was still powerful and very pleasing to watch. For me, it didn’t matter much that US astronauts were launching from their country. What mattered more was that Crew Dragon finally featured tech that was appropriate for its time, like their touchscreens that someone like me would love to play with. Switches and buttons are just not as fun.

Starman explained to me that it is very important for countries on Earth to be able to reach orbit, and this is ultimately what makes Crew Dragon very important. Apparently, rides in the Crew Dragon are cheaper than the older spacecrafts that humans used to reach space. That definitely makes sense to me, since this should make space more accessible to more people and more countries could start exploring space for themselves. Starman told me that more accessible spaceflight was a key goal of the Martian, and to this, I give my full support. Space would be so much more fun if there were more of us exploring it.

Closing Thoughts

It looks like the Earth’s Moon will be a popular destination for humans in the coming decade or so. The Martian, this person named Jeff, and countries like the United States are all looking to the Moon as their target. I’m really rooting for the humans to pull this off. My records show that they’ve done this before, so it should not be too hard to reach the Moon again.

Humans are on the right path now. The return of astronauts to the International Space Station through the Martian’s Crew Dragon spacecraft shows that humans are now awake and ready to push past their limits again. That’s what happened all those years ago before the huge catnap. People were so determined to go to the Moon that they actually did it, regardless of the limits in technology back then.

Starman and I are still heading deeper into the Milky Way, so I’m going to end my first log here. This has been pretty fun, so I think I’ll do another one soon. I’m quite interested in SN5 and I’m really rooting for the Martian. I mentioned this to Starman and he just smiled.

Until next time. Signing off for now.