“Hey there. This is Max Remington, pilot of the interstellar cruiser, Tranquility… Or, well, I was, anyway. Looks like I’ve had a bit of a space accident and now I’m the proud squatter of an uncharted planet I’ve decided to name Solaris.”
“I always said I wanted a place with a view, but this isn’t exactly what I had in mind. My ship, once a majestic silver eagle soaring through the cosmos, is now little more than a crumpled aluminium can, a grotesque artwork against the alien landscape. Its wreckage is a stark contrast to this bright, sunny world. It’s like I’ve crash-landed onto a sunbather’s dream, sunlight 24/7. If I had my old Hawaiian shirt and a pair of sunglasses, it’d almost be like a vacation.”
“But I can’t afford to relax. The planet, though bright, is silent. It’s serene, but it’s a serenity of the grave. It doesn’t quite feel… right. Still, one thing’s for sure, I won’t be suffering from vitamin D deficiency.”
“And this sun, it’s not your regular old G-type main-sequence star. I’m an astronaut, not an astrophysicist, but the energy it’s pumping out is ridiculous. I’ve dealt with power shortages on ships before, rationing what little juice we had left for life support and essentials. But here, well, I’ve got power all around me. It’s like having access to my own personal commercial 30kW solar system.”
“I’ve been trained to survive in hostile environments, to thrive under pressure, but this, this is different. I’ve got no communication with the base, no immediate rescue coming. It’s just me, my ship, and a planet that’s apparently taken ‘sunshine state’ a little too literally.”
“My immediate priority is to get a power system up and running. There’s no guarantee that a rescue team will find me in time. But the sun here… it’s a goldmine of solar power. Using the ship’s damaged solar arrays, I could potentially mimic a commercial 50kW solar system installation. I mean, the panels are military-grade, but principles remain the same, right? It’s not like I’ve got a whole lot of other options.”
“So, here’s to the prospect of being the first man to tame an alien sun. Max Remington, signing out.”