Project Hail Mary

Abstract

Project Hail Mary presents Ryland Grace, a former molecular biologist and science teacher, who is recruited to study an organism recovered from the planet Venus, following a global dimming event that would cause an ice age on Earth. It is discovered that what is causing this event is the said organism, named “Astrophage”, as it consumes energy from the sun. Ryland is eventually sent to space aboard the spaceship Hail Mary, with a small crew, in what is certainly a suicide mission, as it is intended as one-way trip only. For safety purposes, Ryland and the rest of the crewmembers are to travel under a coma. Later, Ryland wakes up to find that the rest of the crew did not survive the coma, and he does not remember anything about his situation or even his identity. Gradually, he starts to recover his memory and remember his mission, and he travels to the triple star system 40 Eridani, which is also affected by the Astrophage infection. There, Ryland meets an Eridian five-legged alien whom he names “Rocky”, and develops an efficient communication with it. Eventually, Ryland needs to decide between returning to Earth (since his food supply starts running low), or staying in Erid and help the aliens. It is revealed that he stays, fixes the Astrophage problem, and even becomes a teacher for the Eridians, using a digital archive of human knowledge. Whether Ryland eventually returns to Earth or not, is left for the reader to wonder.