Planet M27

In the not too distant future, a radio transmission was detected by NASA that originated on a planet designated as M27. A planet in the goldilocks zone of the star Centauri some twelve light years from Earth. It was a repetitive message that was certainly transmitted by some form of intelligent life. The repetitive message had only recently been detected and could have been transmitted from M27 for years, centuries or eons.

It was decided by NASA and the military, that a spaceship would be built that would carry two pilots on a round trip of twenty five years, although they would only age two years due to a suspended animation system onboard. They were to place the spaceship in orbital paths over M27 to perform reconnaissance of the entire planet with video and transmit the data to Mars, which would arrive eight years before the spaceship arrived.

The mission did not go as planned.