brightest. It's also our best hope of
finding life elsewhere in the solar
system.
The habitation module's wall screen activates.
An animated video of a probe landing on Europa appears.
PILOT (V.O.) (CONT’D)
I'm sure that most of you are aware of
the NASA probe we will be retrieving
today.
The probe drops a canister beneath it.
PILOT (V.O.) (CONT’D)
The Wet Area Sample Procurement, or WASP
Probe, was launched by NASA in 2026, and
successfully landed on Europa two years
later.
The canister melts through the surface ice.
PILOT (V.O.) (CONT’D)
After disengaging from its base and
melting down through sixty miles of ice
and slush, the WASP Probe entered the
Europan sea where it retrieved a sample
of the underground ocean.
The canister collects a sample of the Europan ocean.
PILOT (V.O.) (CONT’D)
The probe then burrowed its way back the
surface where it was launched out of the
moon's gravity well.
The probe rises above Europa.
PILOT (V.O.) (CONT’D)
We will be retrieving it within the hour.
EXT. HIMALIA
The Himalia approaches the probe. Retrieves it.
The Himalia then passes near the moons Io and Ganymede before leaving the system.
INT. MAIN LABORATORY - HIMALIA
FOUR NASA SCIENTISTS are present. NASA patches adorn their lab coats.
The WASP sample is delivered under guard. A data crystal accompanies it.
SCIENTIST #1
This is it, gentlemen.
Scientist #1 removes the housing. Slides out a clear canister.
It is teeming with tiny lifeforms. The scientists gasp.
SCIENTIST #2
Extraterrestrial life in our own solar
system. Incredible. First the signal of
2018 and now this. The universe must be
filled with life.
Scientist #1 places the canister on a scanner.
The scanner detects several thousand organisms.
The readout displays that half of them are dead.
The scientists separate out the dead specimens and quickly freeze them.
They transfer the live ones to a specially designed holding tank.
They run the probe's video from the crystal.
The Europan ocean is very shallow and surprisingly clear.
Several large asteroids rest on the bottom.
Volcanic vents are visible.
A school of large creatures swim by.
Scientist #1 rewinds the video and slows it down.
They watch in awe at the replay.
Scientist #3 retrieves a live specimen from the holding tank.
He runs a preliminary analysis.
SCIENTIST #3
