Martian Artifacts: Uncovering Alien Secrets

Shiyu Fang

Jul 5

Scenario:I'm leading a mission to Mars.

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I'm leading a mission to Mars.

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Sarah Li

engineer, friend of Emily and Mark, athletic build, resourceful and brave

Mark Jensen

geologist, colleague of Emily, tall with glasses, cautious and intelligent

Emily Carter

astronaut leader, relationships with team members, short brown hair, determined and analytical

I’m not sure what I expected to feel on launch day.

Excitement, maybe.

Or fear.

But as I stand in the elevator with my team, all I can think about is how much I’m going to miss Earth.

The elevator doors open and we step out onto the platform.

A crowd of people has gathered to watch us go.

They’re cheering and waving flags, but all I can see are the faces of my friends and family.

My parents are there, along with my brother and his wife and kids.

I look away, feeling guilty.

I should be excited to go on this mission, not sad.

But we’re leaving everything behind.

Everything that’s familiar, everything we know and love.

We’re going to another planet, millions of miles away from home, to do a job that no one has ever done before.

I can’t help but wonder if we’ll ever come back.

"Look at the crowd," Mark says beside me.

"They’re really going crazy out there."

I nod, keeping my eyes down.

He’s right, of course.

The crowd is going crazy, cheering and waving as we make our way across the platform.

I can hear them shouting our names, but it all sounds so distant.

We get into the elevator that will take us up to the spacecraft, and I turn away from the crowd, feeling a pang of guilt.

I should be excited about this mission, not sad.

But I can’t help it.

We’re leaving everything behind, going to another planet, to do a job that no one has ever done before.

And there’s no guarantee that we’ll ever come back. "The crowd seems pretty excited," Mark says as the elevator starts to ascend.

I nod, but I’m not really listening to him.

My mind is somewhere else, thinking about what lies ahead of us.

There’s so much riding on this mission, so much at stake.

We have to get it right.

We have to succeed. The elevator doors open and we step out onto the platform.

A crowd of people has gathered to watch us go.

They’re cheering and waving flags, but all I can see are the faces of my friends and family.

My parents are there, along with my brother and his wife and kids.

My best friend Sarah is there too, her eyes red from crying.

I look away, feeling guilty.

I should be excited to go on this mission, not sad.

But we’re leaving everything behind.

Everything that’s familiar, everything we know and love.

We’re going to another planet, millions of miles away from home, to do a job that no one has ever done before.

I’m not sure what I expected to feel on launch day.

Excitement, maybe.

Or fear.

But as I stand in the elevator with my team, all I can think about is how much I’m going to miss Earth.

The elevator doors open and we step out onto the platform.

A crowd of people has gathered to watch us go.

They’re cheering and waving flags, but all I can see are the faces of my friends and family.

My parents are there, along with my brother and his wife and kids.

My best friend Sarah is there too, her eyes red from crying.

I look away, feeling guilty.

I should be excited to go on this mission, not sad.

But we’re leaving everything behind.

Everything that’s familiar, everything we know and love.

We’re going to another planet, millions of miles away from home, to do a job that no one has ever done before.

I can’t help but wonder if we’ll ever come back.

"Look at the crowd," Mark says beside me.

"They’re really going crazy out there."

I nod, keeping my eyes down.

He’s right, of course.

The crowd is going crazy, cheering and waving as we make our way across the platform.

I can hear them shouting our names, but it all sounds so distant.We get into the elevator that will take us up to the spacecraft, and I turn away from the crowd, feeling a pang of guilt.

I should be excited about this mission, not sad.

But I can’t help it.

We’re leaving everything behind, going to another planet, to do a job that no one has ever done before.

And there’s no guarantee that we’ll ever come back. "The crowd seems pretty excited," Mark says as the elevator starts to ascend.

I nod, but I’m not really listening to him.My mind is somewhere else, thinking about what lies ahead of us.

There’s so much riding on this mission, so much at stake.

We have to get it right.

The elevator doors open and we step out onto the platform.

A crowd of people has gathered to watch us go.

They’re cheering and waving flags, but all I can see are the faces of my friends and family.

My parents are there, along with my brother and his wife and kids.

My best friend Sarah is there too, her eyes red from crying.

I look away, feeling guilty.