To Boldly Go

[Wayne23]

3/5: For those of you foolish enough to think that computers and robots are perfect, incapable of making errors, you're wrong. During the night one of our robots, out on the hull trying to repair some damage done by our close encounter, caused a small hull breach. Fortunately it was very small, and opened into a storage area where everything was tightly secured, but any hull breach is the ultimate in serious trouble. The highest level of alarms sounded throughout the ship, and everyone had to "suit up" into their environmental suits- "space suits" to the laymen, until the all clear sounded.

There has been a fair amount of damage reported since the close encounter. Enough damage was done that some things are not as tight or as secure as they need to be, and the Captain has ordered a check of every inch of the ship, which will take some time.

3/7: We play Central Michigan, 14-16, 8-10, in the quarter finals. We beat them by 10 at our place. We're better outside but they're better inside so our big guys need to step up.

3/8: 62-59. This one was close all the way. With 22 seconds left Cris Stry banged a three to give us a 6 point lead. They came down and hit one of their own, and with 7 seconds left stole the ball, but their final shot front rimmed. 15, 3, 5 for Stry, 10, 7, 4 for Hank. We took really good care of the ball, 9 TOs.

All of the other favorites lost so the path has been cleared for us.

We play 23-9, 12-6 Akron in the semis. They're the best team left except for us. They won by 18 there, and we won by 16 here. We're favored by only a 1/2 point.

This one will likely come down to the Point Guards, the best players on the floor.

[Wayne23]

3/9: 64-71. Close all the way. The PGs weren't the critical factor, the benches were. We were outplayed there 23, 8, 4 to 8, 5, 4. Nels played a terrific game in the middle, 15 and 19. We rebounded really well, +13, but 22 TOs did us in.

I'm guessing NIT.

Repairs and the check of the ship are completed. We're headed back to our original course and things are back to normal, which is nice.

[Wayne23]

3/12: WOW! We're in the NCAA tourney! #12 seed, play in vs. Winthrop, 25-7.

3/14: 52-77 at Winthrop. Ouch! As bad as we've played all season against a decent but not great team. 23, 3 for Howe, 13, 10 for Rowl. No one else did much.

Not the way we wanted to end the season but I'm happy with what we accomplished this year.

4/3: #2 Kentucky is the champ.

[Wayne23]

4/4: Awards: Soph Center Scot Nels made the Mid-American 1st team. Junior PG Ed Howe and Senior SF Kris Hank made the 2nd team.

4/9: Not going anywhere.

4/23: I ask for a budget increase.

We get $10,000.

22-10 for our inaugural season. Everyone back except one starter. Some good looking recruits. The future looks bright.

The system we're moving toward is a binary star. As we get closer we think two planets and at least two moons could possibly host conditions conducive to life, and more specifically, to our needs. It's still too soon to know for sure but there are some positive signs. We'll get there in early August and every day we're a little closer and able to see and deduce a little more.

[Wayne23]

5/1: Recruit class #112.

6/5: Looking for a transfer guard.

6/12: We get a guard from California. He looks like he should be able to help us.

We grow ever closer to our destination, or what we hope will be our destination. From here the fourth planet looks like a good bet, and a moon circling the fifth planet also looks like a strong possibility. The third planet could work but it will be hot.

6/26: 5 scholarships. We need mostly guards.

[Wayne23]

7/11: Chasing recruits.

We're now close enough to the binary star system to start plotting courses to the various planets and moons we want to look at. Navigation is doing that and we pilots are practicing getting the ship to where we will want it. Feels like progress.

8/6: We reach orbit around the fourth planet orbiting the binary star system. The navigator has set the flight path and I am implementing it...

We have achieved the orbit we wanted. We will now circle the planet multiple times getting readings. After doing that if things look good we'll send a shuttle down with a robotic crew and take a look from the ground.

8/7: Senior PG Ed Howe is #38 on the Norton list. That's a great honor for Ed.

We like what we're seeing on the planet and the shuttle is on its way down. It will orbit the planet several times from a very low altitude and will eventually land unless it sees something that prevents or discourages that.

8/8: No go. The shuttle never landed and won't. The planet has dinosaur type reptiles of all shapes and sizes on every land mass. We'd never be able to establish a home base here.

On to planet three.

8/9: We're orbiting planet three. It has .83 Earth gravity, but it's hot. We're estimating average temps at 28-31 C. Highs can get to 37, and it's rarely below 24. That's too hot to be comfortable.

The Captain has decided to keep this planet on the list but to explore the moons, first the outer most moon of planet 5.

8/11: We're in orbit around the moon. It's a tricky orbit as we need to take into account the gravity of the planet and of it's 11 other moons.

8/12: This planet is on the cool side, but livable. We're estimating average temp of 6-9. Winter time temps of -8 to -4. Summer temps range from 15 to 20. So it's manageable. Growing crops could be a bit challenging but we should be able to do it.

The first few fly by orbits look promising.

8/13: Shuttle in low orbit showing some animal life forms, creatures that look like bears, deer, wolves- all sorts of wildlife but nothing that seems terribly dangerous. The shuttle will land tomorrow.

8/14: The shuttle is down and the robots are exploring.

8/16: Lots of vegetation to go along with the animals. Gravity is .72 Earth. Composition of the air is comparable to Earth and should definitely be breathable. The robots are looking for a wide open space where we can 3D print a building, then send some people down to do some further testing and exploration.

8/17: The robots have found a wide open field near a lake. A second shuttle is bringing down a 3D printer and we'll have the building- basically a 40x40 structure with everything we need to do the testing we need to do.

8/19: The building is up and the human crew is on the way down.

[Wayne23]

8/21: We offer to 3 PGs, an SG, and a PF.

The building is up. Human and virtual scientists are doing the testing that needs to be done before we can have people set foot on the planet without suits.

Lots of animals sniffing around the area but none are getting too close. There seems to be quite a diversity of wildlife here. Many of the animals seem like animals back on Earth but there are some that are unique to the planet and unlike anything on Earth. We'll describe those as we learn more about them.

Wildlife on its own won't stop us from settling here. We'll do our best to not disturb natural habitats while protecting ourselves from animals that may be dangerous.

8/27: Testing is finished and we will now send a crew out onto the planet in regular clothing.

8/28: The crew spent a couple of hours exploring, accompanied by robotic bodyguards. There were no incidents, no issues, no health concerns.

It's Spring here, the perfect time for planting crops. We're going to enclose a very large area with fencing and start planting as soon as possible. The growing season here isn't all that long but we'll be able to grow lots of food. The 3D printers can produce whatever we need but "real food" has a definite appeal, particularly after all the time in space.

9/2: We're building homes and other structures with the intent of settling here. We're actually 3D printing the structures, of course. We'll bring people down as soon as there are places for them to stay. The fencing is in progress, and we'll wait for that to be complete before moving people in.

No doubt there will be incidents with wild animals, but we want to minimize them.

9/6: The fence is completed. The robots are starting to plant crops. Other robots are putting up the buildings we'll be living and working in. There's only so much the 3D printers can do. They're pumping materials out and the robots are turning those materials into buildings.

There's plenty to do for all of the people, too. Some supervision, some- well, lots of science, some exploring, some organizing, some planning...

[Wayne23]

9/11: A few of us were discussing the relative ease of pioneering these days. It's true. With the 3D printers and robots it's a lot easier than in the old days. We'll still face challenges and there will still be work, of course.

9/18: We get a PG, #145. We lose 2 guys.

Going to the Palmetto Shootout vs. DePaul.

We're settling in. About 1/4 of us are now down on the planet, and as more buildings go up more of us come down.

9/25: We get an SG, #116. Lose one.

9/28: During the night something knocked down most of the fencing surrounding our settlement. This wasn't a natural event, not wind, earthquake, or any force of nature.

This was done by something living here on the planet. Whoever or whatever did it also destroyed our crops.

We're going to a Council meeting in about an hour to discuss what it means and what we're going to do about it.

9/29: The Council meeting was long. All sorts of things were discussed. In the end we decided that there has to be an intelligent life form down here. Once we reached that conclusion it led to all sorts of other things- what do we do about it? Do we try to make contact? Do we stay here or leave for another area or indeed another planet or moon...

It's clear we've encroached on someone's territory and they don't like it.

The first step we're going to take is to rebuild the fence and set guards- we do this with the intention of protecting ourselves. We do not intend to harm the natives, but we need a little time.

We're going to explore the other two continental masses on the planet to see if they seem uninhabited. We'll be more thorough in our exploration. Clearly, we didn't do a very good job of investigating this location.

[Wayne23]

10/1: During the night some fencing was destroyed again. It happened at the farthest possible location from our robotic guards.

The Council met and decided that we're going to avoid a confrontation. We don't want to harm the natives and we want to be certain we are safe. Beginning immediately we will return to the ship. We hope that when the natives see that we are leaving they will allow us to leave peacefully.

The exploration of the other two land masses is underway and we're hoping that we can relocate here, rather than looking for another home.

10/2: We get our #1 recruit, a PG, #48 overall. We lose another recruit.

1st day of practice. We're picked to win the conference.

10/8: We think the Southeastern landmass is deserted, and we found a usable area that's big enough and open enough for us.

Our robotic and human explorers were as thorough as they could be and they saw absolutely no signs of advanced life forms on this land mass. We're starting over, fence, buildings, crops... We'll bring people back down as we have housing for them.

10/15: About 1/2 of us are now at the new settlement with more coming down every day. We feel nearly 100% certain that there are no intelligent lifeforms here, at least not anywhere near the level of those that destroyed our crops and knocked down our fences at our first location.

10/20: Everyone is down. We have housing for everyone. The fencing is completely in place, with robotic guards in place. Crops are planted. Scientists are taking samples of everything, and studying all life forms they can get their hands on. With anything above insect class they are sedating, studying, and releasing.

People are loving being out of the cramped conditions aboard ship. Most of us are spending as much time outdoors as we can, within the confines of the fenced in area. Later on we will allow exploration beyond the fences, but not yet. We want to have a good idea of the area, and of what kinds of plant and animal life are here with us first.

The ocean is on the north and west sides of the colony, and our scientists are exploring both the water and the life within it, the latter to a limited extent for the present. Eventually we'll send robots beneath the surface to explore more fully, but one step at a time.

[Wayne23]

11/6: Here's the starting lineup. Senior Ed Howe is back at PG and senior Cris Stry is back at SG.

Senior Cory Star is our #3 guard and also backs up at SF.

Soph Mike Rowl starts at SF, subs at PF.

Junior Scot Nels moves from C to PF but subs at C.

Soph Mike Morr starts at C.

We're very thin inside, and an injury there would force us to go with a three guard set up.

11/8: Things are going smoothly on the ground. People are settling into their jobs and there have been no incidents of any kind.

11/15: Season starts tomorrow.