The story: part 2
Just over 200 days of travel from the Sun, Pegasus reaches the largest
planet of the solar system, Jupiter.
Its danger lies in a menace lurking at its core - a churning mass of
liquid metallic hydrogen that inflates a magnetic bubble around the
planet, producing levels of radiation 500 times the dose that would
kill a human.
To repel these lethal rays, Pegasus generates its own magnetic field.
Mission geologist Zoe is to land on Io, one of Jupiter's moons. As
the most volcanically active world in the solar system, it's a geologist's
heaven.
This scientific bounty does, however, come at a price. Perilously close
to the most lethal Jovian radiation belts, Zoe risks severe exposure
but she's trained hard for this day and nothing is going to stop her
exploring these exotic lava flows.
Her exhilaration at being on the surface quickly turns to frustration
when her spacesuit malfunctions. Even the most cutting-edge technology
and millions of pounds of development still cannot guarantee safety
in these other worlds.
She is forced to cut the mission short. No samples are returned and,
to her despair, half the expedition is a failure.
The ringed world of Saturn is almost a year of interplanetary travel
away. By the time they reach it, medic John is seriously sick and deteriorating
rapidly.
He seems to have been exposed to a lethal level of radiation as Pegasus
passed the Sun.
Amongst a mesmerising trillion shards of ice and rock tumbling in endless
rings around this gas giant, crew member Nina Sulman conducts a spacewalk.
She collects a fragment for testing, hoping it will help establish
the rings' origins and age.
By the time she returns, John has passed away, no longer able to fight
the radiation in his body. His death is a terrible blow to the astronauts.
Torn between returning to Earth or venturing on to Pluto, at the edge
of the solar system, the psychological stress takes it toll and the
crew take the unprecedented step of cutting contact with Mission Control
whilst they make up their minds.
Eventually, the astronauts re-establish communication having decided
to continue on their Plutonian path.
Almost two years elapse before Pegasus draws close to the tiny frozen
world of Pluto, its massive moon hanging close by.
Tom and Yvan make the descent and spend 10 days constructing a telescope
which will remain on the surface after they leave, scouring the Galaxy
for other Earth-like planets.
Heading for home, there is one final mission: to land on a newly observed
comet, Messier, to sample pristine material from the birth of the solar
system in a search for the organic building blocks of life.
Resting inside their lander, the comet suddenly starts breaking up
without warning, shedding material into space and blocking their safe
return to orbit.
Zoe and Nina make a dramatic emergency launch to bring them within
sight of Pegasus, but comet debris has breached its hull, injuring Yvan.
Tom is busy fighting a fire on-board. The safety of Earth suddenly
seems a long way off...
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