Q. You are on a spaceship flying through the universe on your way to Mars to colonize it for humans.

As the first
journalist, write a report back to Earth on what you observe during the journey.

Journey to Mars; Travelling to The Red Planet

By Mahek Trivedi, Space Crew Journalist
Hillwood, Utopia, 7th February 2050
Curiosity has always brought forth the best in us! Aren't all of our society's marvels the result of man's insatiable
curiosity for the unknown? We are continually on the lookout for solutions to our queries, and truths buried behind the
deepest myths. As a result, NASA's inquisitiveness has made them yearn to homestead other worlds, especially Mars.
What intrigues scientists the most is that while no life appears to exist on Mars, abundant water does.Perhaps this
very lifelessness has made Mars that much more appealing to would-be colonizers. With no living creatures to be
subjugated, moral questions about taking over an entire world seem less fraught than if living, breathing Martians
existed. This oddity has taken them down the path of exploring the surface of Mars, which has long been the subject of
human interest.

The UNSC Infinity launched from Hillwood, Utopia on 7th February 2050, at 5:11 pm with an aim to colonize the red
planet for humans. As our spaceship left the ground, in a while, we were passing up through The Sunken Atlantis, to
the course of the South Tergia. We expected our voyage to start off placidly, however we went by dashing into some
fireworks caused by thunderstorms and lightning everywhere; bright flashes are going cloud to cloud illuminating the
clouds as it arcs from one to the other. The sun was yet to snuggle into its cozy bed. The horizon leaked the secret all
over the sky in various hues, which no longer remained a secret. Moreover, even in that blinding light, the
thunderstorm explicated itself, making sure it couldn’t be overlooked. The rough start had put down our spirits, which
were immensely raised when our spaceship was at a height from where we could witness the sunset from outside the
world. We put our foot down, figuratively speaking, and took the time to watch it. We gazed as the sunlight faded. The
glamour lay within the effervescent shade that most extravagantly defined the beauty the sky beheld. The herald of
darkness had spread far and wide. The red and orange hues in the sky showed fear of darkness and looked pale and
eventually faded and disappeared into oblivion. The artistic view in front of us, the masterpiece painted by God, the
visual imagery; something we could never create was in range of our view. As the colours grew dim, the darkness
enveloped the bright and colourful sky. That Day was indeed remarkable. The darkness, the blissful silence, seemed to
have its own beauty. The lamps were lit. They were twinkling in the sky, spreading positive vibes all around. The
sparkling beauty of the brilliant stars was engraved in our heart . However, that wasn’t it, we gazed upon our blue,
watery home world, as we bid goodbye and marched towards the Red Planet.

It has now been two months since we left. We have now reached midway, in about almost half the time it took us to
come here for the first time. Afterall, it has been over 85 years since the first crew of NASA had made their way to
Mars. NASA is proud to say that they have pushed the boundaries of exploration further and further, the technology,
equipment, and techniques that are required become more and more complex as they develop and test them, use
them, and then refine them. Our Mothership utilizes modern material technology to allow humans to survive
temperature swings of 1000 degrees and protect against the vacuum of space while at the same time allowing them
enough freedom of movement to perform complicated tasks.

Life in space(our Mothership) is quite exciting, especially when you are flying through the eternal vacuum of space
somewhere in this unimaginably immense universe, leaving the Earth miles behind, in a fancy tin box that embodies
the most modern technology that we humans can build today.Our journey up till now had been going very smoothly,
however not a single day has passed that has left us unentertained. It hadn’t been long since we had started enjoying
our leisure time, listening to music, reading news from home, writing email, and reading, among other things,
something unexpected happened. An irregular, rough-coated unsystematic object approached in total silence. Its
odd shape and texture seemed somehow familiar but out of place. All of the crew was watching in awe until our
spaceship’s unused speakers had some voice echo from them. It said, “ UNSC Infinity Crew 46289, we will now have to
face off an unseemingly huge asteroid. Please stay in your compartments for safety.”Our Mother Ship shrivelled and
drifted, like a crazy bird, and almost crashed into one of the “gigantic asteroids” that came our way. It was inevitable,
we were prepared to accept our fate.But somehow we lived through.
Days passed with restless nights, beautiful sceneries and unimaginable adventures. It was around this time, at 7:10
am, on 18th August 2050, we were positioned so that the Red Planet passed by below and you can see the horizon as
well with the night sky behind it. It was completely night. The once imaged surface of Mars was in front of us,
revealing insights into the nature of our nearest planetary neighbor. It’s Red surface shone bright in the darkness,
marking the end of our space travel and the “Beginning of A New Discovery.” We were not so far away from the
surface, when we felt a slight disturbance from the outside. It was dark. There wasn’t even a brink of light. That
morning wasn’t so bright, it had an eerie atmosphere but made us perceive the unknown. Suddenly, there was a
terrifying sound that awakened us all from our dilemma. In a fraction of time, we all could see A toppled, branchless
tree trunk floating by on some invisible current; its bark rough and ashen from a charring fire. As it neared, a
small area of blue light -- a residual flame of that inferno? -- glowed atop the shape just past its midpoint. In
the blackness of space, its spreading aft was framed by halos of yellow light which likely emanated from inside
the cylinder, as if embers still burn with molten yellow-white heat inside the stubbed remnant of roots which had
once held and nourished the mighty tree. The object did nothing, but screamed out, “The Arrival Of Martians!”
We were all startled and shocked, because what lied in front of us denied all the previous theories. Yes, it was
indeed a New Discovery!