Peaceful and happy times always seem to pass by in a flash.
Six months later, the Deep Space successfully arrived at planet GB131!
The warp drive gradually powered down, and the massive hull slipped out of the warp bubble. Immediately afterward, the ion engines flared to life. The spacecraft maneuvered to enter a synchronous orbit with GB131, carefully matching the planet’s rotation period.
GB131 itself was smaller than the Moon and had no natural satellites of its own, meaning there was zero tidal friction. The result of this lack of friction was an incredibly fast rotation speed. the planet completed a full day in just about eight hours. According to their telemetry data, the Deep Space established its geosynchronous orbit at an altitude of approximately 8,800 kilometers above the surface, moving at a linear velocity of 2,182 meters per second.
Inside the captain’s bridge, a group of officers and scientists closely monitored the synchronization sequence.
This type of orbital maneuver was child’s play for a ship like the Deep Space, so no one was particularly nervous. On the contrary, the room was buzzing with enthusiastic chatter. Arriving at a new, unexplored planet always sparked a unique sense of curiosity, excitement, and a deep desire for exploration.
For many of the younger scientists who had been born during the journey, this was their first time leaving the Nyx system. They were practically vibrating with excitement.
They had already made some preliminary observations of the planet’s unique features through the ship’s astronomical telescopes. Naturally, these unique traits were going to be a massive boon for the Federation!
The blue glow of the ion engines constantly shifted as they adjusted their output. The spacecraft orbited the planet twice before finally locking into its intended trajectory, successfully maintaining a stationary position relative to the ground below.
Altitude: 8,800 kilometers!
"Sigh, if only the spaceship could stay on a planet when it was designed, it would have greatly accelerated our mining operations," one scientist complained.
"That’s impossible. Materials science simply wasn’t advanced enough back then. No known alloy could support the sheer mass of this spacecraft under planetary gravity," another replied.
"Plus, engineering a ship of this size to withstand atmospheric entry and terrestrial landing would have exponentially increased the construction time."
"I wonder if our current nanomaterials could pull it off..."
Jason cleared his throat loudly, interrupting the group’s heated debate.
"Alright, everyone, the synchronization maneuver has been successfully completed. I want every department to run a full diagnostic on the spacecraft’s operational status. Retrieve and analyze all the telemetry data from this voyage!"
"Report the results to my desk the moment you’re finished."
Jason issued his orders calmly, though a hint of excitement betrayed his usual stoic demeanor. "Now, I officially announce the commencement of our first planetary landing and reconnaissance mission!"
"Captain’s orders: Initiate the first landing reconnaissance mission! "
At his command, the massive hangar doors at the rear of the Deep Space slowly slid open. With a series of sharp whooshes, sixteen scout satellites were launched into the void.
Immediately following them, a swarm of one hundred small reconnaissance shuttles shot out of the hangar, rapidly descending toward the planet below.
As per standard Federation protocol, unmanned drones were sent in first to explore the unknown world. They were tasked with mapping the local topography, collecting geological samples, and running biological sweeps to check for microorganisms. Even for an advanced interstellar civilization, strict bio-hazard and microbial control protocols were absolutely necessary.
"Honestly, this planet is even more hostile than the Moon. It has zero atmosphere, no liquid water, and absolutely no geothermal activity. The stellar radiation from the binary star system is terrifyingly high. It would be nearly impossible for even the most resilient microorganisms to survive down there."
"Yeah, the binary sunlight is way too intense. Not even tardigrades could survive that. And since the planet’s orbit is highly elliptical, the temperature swings are going to be incredibly drastic..."
Despite these observations, the crew meticulously followed their established safety protocols step by step. Even the most paranoid security officers had to admit the procedures were airtight.
All weapon systems on the Deep Space were put on standby, ready to fire at a moment’s notice should any unforeseen threats emerge. The central AI processed a massive influx of data, scanning for any anomalies.
After the one hundred small shuttles touched down safely on the barren surface, their cargo ramps lowered, and ranks of automated rovers rolled out. Each shuttle carried over a hundred units, deploying a total of ten thousand rovers across the landscape.
These robotic units were tasked with conducting a comprehensive surface survey.
Because the planet lacked any real geological activity, the surface was relatively flat and featureless, broken only by thousands of impact craters of varying sizes. The environment looked strikingly similar to the Moon.
However, due to the extreme age of the planet and the violent temperature fluctuations, the topsoil was incredibly loose and powdery. As the rovers drove forward, they left deep tracks and kicked up billowing clouds of dust.
The floodlights mounted on the rovers snapped on, illuminating the desolate ground. They recorded high-definition video feeds along their routes, transmitting mountains of data back to the Deep Space’s computing center.
The central AI worked tirelessly, isolating points of interest and directing specific rovers to move in, deploy their sensors, and extract core samples.
Everyone on the ship was hard at work.
Over the next three days, the ten thousand intelligent rovers surveyed nearly the entire globe before compiling a final report for the captain’s office.
Upon reading the results, every face in the room lit up with a joyous smile.
Jason took a deep breath, reading the summary aloud. "No traces of biological life found! Zero microorganisms! But look at this, it’s an incredibly rare metallic planet! It contains massive deposits of iron, nickel... and precious metals like silver and gold? There’s even a massive concentration of uranium! This is unbelievable... a literal metal planet. I didn’t think terrestrial bodies like this actually existed."
Standing near the front of the room, Austin laughed. "If we had found this thing back in our home solar system, people would have been fighting tooth and nail to start a gold rush..."
"There’s so much gold down there! The lunar base budget is going to get a massive boost!"
The planet had roughly one-eighth the mass of Earth, making it similar in size to the Moon, but its density was a staggering 1.6 times higher. Due to its unique formation conditions, the entire planet was a solid chunk of concentrated metallic ores.
Even better, massive quantities of Helium-3 were concentrated in the ilmenite-rich topsoil, specifically within particles smaller than 50 micrometers.
Because the planet had no magnetic field and experienced extreme temperature shifts between day and night, ordinary helium was naturally filtered out over time. With the right collection equipment, this planet was essentially a massive, natural Helium-3 refinery!
The science division estimated they could harvest several billion tons of Helium-3 from the surface layer alone!
Billions of tons. Even a single billion was a nearly unfathomable amount of fuel for the Federation.
Helium-3 fusion reactors produced tremendous energy; just a few dozen tons a year could power the entirety of humanity’s current energy grid. A billion tons was enough to last them an eternity.
Humanity absolutely could not afford to pass up an opportunity like this.
"The Deep Space is operating at peak efficiency!" an officer reported. "Wear and tear on the primary reactors, warp drive, and ion engines are well within acceptable parameters..."
As the diagnostic reports flooded his screen, Jason reviewed them carefully. Finally, a wave of relief washed over him. The Deep Space hadn’t suffered a single major malfunction, proving that humanity had truly mastered the art of long-haul interstellar travel.
A literal treasure trove was sitting right below them. All they had to do now was set up the mines and start extracting!
A group of scientists, their faces flushed with excitement, gathered around to debate how such a bizarre planet could have formed. For them, unraveling the mysteries of the universe was always the greatest thrill.
One of the senior astronomers spoke up, gesturing to a holographic model. "Have you guys noticed? The composition of this planet perfectly matches that of a planetary core! As we all know, Earth’s inner core was also primarily composed of a solid iron-nickel alloy, with a radius of roughly 3,500 kilometers."
"If you were to somehow strip away Earth’s outer crust and mantle, leaving only the dense core behind, it would look exactly like a scaled-up version of this metallic planet."
"Based on this data, I theorize that this planet is actually the surviving core of a massive collision between two celestial bodies millions of years ago. The impact must not have been totally obliterative, allowing the dense metallic core to survive intact... eventually cooling into the planet we see today."
"So... where did the rest of the planet’s outer shell go?" someone asked.
"It likely coalesced to form a new planet nearby... or perhaps it shattered and formed this local asteroid belt," the young astronomer replied, pointing to a star chart.
The surrounding region did indeed feature a dense field of smaller asteroids, and further out in the system sat a gas giant similar to Neptune, complete with a massive, Saturn-like ring system. The astronomer’s theory made perfect logical sense.
Regardless of its origins, the discovery of this metallic world brought immense joy to the entire crew. It was a massive windfall!
Without hesitation, Jason authorized the immediate construction of several automated mining outposts on the surface. These bases wouldn’t just harvest Helium-3; they would also mine vast quantities of rare resources like uranium, lithium, titanium, zirconium, and silver.
While the Deep Space ran on fusion power, the Federation’s smaller escort vessels and utility ships still relied on conventional nuclear fission, meaning they needed all the uranium they could get. You could never have too much energy. After all, the uranium deposits on Nyx had been nearly tapped out before they left, and their reserves weren’t incredibly deep.
Gold and silver were also crucial for high-end electronics and industrial manufacturing, so the more they could stockpile, the better.