text: It all started six years ago. Hercules III was just suppose to take high definition pictures and spectral analysis of Baker-Mendez 3A, a near earth asteroid. What was caught by chance on its camera was far more interesting than any asteroid. It was a bluish-green tinted planet in the distance. The science community erupted in euphoric chatter and jokingly named the planet Vulcan and unfortunately, the name stuck. In an emergency meeting, NASA cancelled the asteroid fly-by and used the precious left fuel to guide Hercules III as close as possible to Vulcan. The only reason Vulcan laid undiscovered until present day was its unusual placement in the solar system. It shared the same orbital radius and velocity as the earth, but always hidden from our telescopes by being on the other side of the sun; 180o out of sync with earth. Just as the apollo astronauts would experience a radio blackout going around the moon, so would Hercules III as it went around the backside of the sun to fly-by Vulcan. All radio communications would be impossible for eight months and no data or imagery would be received until the satellite emerged into radio view of the earth. The satellite confirmed uplink of the new fly-by program and all we could do it wait. It was on its own. Eight months passed and the Hercules emerged into radio view of the earth. It sent its mandatory “Hello, I’m back” signal to earth to coordinate the downlink of imagery and data. Understandably, speculation ran rampant and the anticipation was intense. The data streamed in, but it was very pixelated. The control room turned silent watching the giant screen. The room then filled with gasps as the image finally clarified -- it looked exactly like earth. Oceans, green continents, ice caps, and more. Data confirmed it was 80% the size of earth, covered with 60% water, and contained an oxygen-nitrogen atmosphere. The name Vulcan fell out of favor and “New Earth” despite lack of creativity fell into common use among the population. The earth erupted into a mixture of excitement and fear over New Earth. Religions were in turmoil with many outright claiming the imagery must be a hoax. Despite some resistance, congress approved massive funding to continue researching New Earth and a rover being originally built for Mars was immediately reassigned to go to New Earth. The plan was complex: NASA would send a module containing a rover which would be deployed to New Earth, but a continuing satellite would relay data around the back of the sun back to earth. After rushing completion and launching what would was deemed “Odyssey” the waiting game ensued. Months passed and NASA knew any failure in the series of complex maneuvers and sequences could doom the mission. Unofficially. mission success was thought to be around 25%. Present day: A lonely station at NASA received code 82A from Odyssey -- touchdown successful. The control burst into motion, receiving mundane, but important data confirming successful landing and deployment. Now granted, this all happened eight months ago, but that didn’t matter, it felt like it was happening now. The stress was high and the mission director was noticeably shaking.