Planet Nine Project!

(Write about a character preparing to go into stasis for decades (or centuries).)

Renae sat before her mirror critically studying her own features. Her hair color, like harvest wheat in the sunshine, was natural looking. She wore it long and she enjoyed twisting it around her fingers creating ringlets. She was very aware that men often turned to look, at least briefly, when she entered a room or meeting. She was in the prime of her life. Her age, fitness, career and relationships were right on target. Leaning in to look closely, she understood and was troubled by a flaw in her character, not outwardly visible but deeply ingrained in her psyche.

It was her life’s dream to be first in her class, always first, whether high school or college, leading all others in the National Space Academy, she wanted to be the first woman “everywhere”, Moon, Mars, Jupiter, really any assignment offered that demonstrated her equality to male counterparts. Jets, rockets, satellites or space walks she always begged for consideration. Soon there was no need to apply or ask, and certainly not to beg as her record stood proudly for who and what she was, her accomplishments and so here we are today, on the brink of yet another first.

Coming out of her deep thought, she flipped her hair back over her shoulder, straightened her back and took a deep breath. She has been preparing to take this next leap in the space program, deep deep space and the stasis required to accomplish this. However, what began as a thought has blossomed into a full fledged worry.

~~~~~

The Project is aptly called….Planet Nine Project!

It’s goal is to go out beyond Pluto, the outer edge of our acknowledged solar system and search for space objects suspected to be larger than this dwarf planet of Pluto and heavier and further than Eris. But the Ninth planet is still hypothetical but this mission could change everything known today. Either confirm our suppositions or enhance our speculations or debunk the whole thing.

Sound exciting? Yes very exciting!  

All the way out to and perhaps beyond the Kuiper Belt and the return trip, the required stasis, it would be a very important first. As far out as fifty-five astronomical units from the sun. This stasis, is a state in which something remains the same, and does not change or develop. So she would lose nothing but also be totally out of touch with decades of scientific study. In Renae’s mind it would be a form of stasimorphy or a technology gap or modification by arrested development.

But why worry about something so small and far away? Studying Kuiper Belt objects

(KBOs) like this, help in our understanding of the way the solar system was a long time ago. .

The printed material read like an adventure novel!

"It's an ancient region, very far from the sun, which has been preserved in a deep freeze, It's the equivalent of an archaeological dig into the history and formation of the planets. So, scientifically it's a gold mine, and by going there with a spacecraft and observing KBOs up close, like we'll be doing with Planet Nine, we hope to learn a great deal about how the early formation stages of the planets took place."

It was a tantalizing prospect!

~~~~~

This brings us back to Renae and her thoughts that have grown into worries and now may become a first in her life, hesitation. Something that could derail her life plan, her drive to be best and first at everything.

On one hand, if she accepts this assignment, she will in fact, be one of the first in manned deep space exploration, and certainly the first woman BUT how many other firsts could she achieve if she stays behind and continues her career climb but within the normal boundaries? The elapsed time in stasis, is it a waste that overshadows the end goal?

In the past it was a nine year journey to reach Pluto and even with the newer more efficient rockets seven years was the expected time of the journey. If you add to that, exploration time and return journey, it could be decades before anything like a normal resumption of her life. So one tremendous first with true recognition decades away, or decline the opportunity and always be haunted by the “what if” syndromes.  

She remains seated before her mirror but now she laughs out loud.  

How stupid to even go beyond her career ramifications, but in fact what about? She blinks and stares at her image. I would not age physically but I suppose I would chronologically, my peer group would have added years, would I see younger men now? Or her current men but they would seem much older? Would young men think her old? Would old men think her young? How would she socially sort it all out?

What if I came back and everything I knew and owned was dated? Clothing? Hairstyles? My home decor? My car? Life moving along without me but on return I find myself behind in so many ways. Like arriving in a horse drawn carriage while jet cars honk and speed by? What a thing to consider?

And reality itself? I would know nothing of recent history, civic affairs, advances in medicine, energy, politics!  

How would I cope with this void? How would one compensate for a lost twenty or thirty years? I have no husband or children! Children? What would stasis do to my reproduction ability? Where are statistics to explore this?

The indecision was killing her and yet to decide seemed even more dangerous. To have climbed so high to be defeated by indecision?  

She has always been a deeply spiritual person but not overtly religious so to pray for guidance seemed quite inappropriate and yet some deep part of her begs for inner guidance.

Once again in the mirror she examines her near flawless skin, her honey colored hair and she tries to imagine this body, this mind going forward into each scenario. How will she react? Who will she end up being? Questions never before asked of her cock sure mind! This confident driven woman is at a loss.

Her eyes mist over, a tear slowly slips from under her lashes, for all of her glorious accomplishments, she may not be able to make this decision!  

What will become of her?