“Men Wanted For Hazardous Journey. Low wages, bitter cold, long hours of complete darkness. Safe return doubtful. Honour and recognition in event of success”

-Ernest Shackleton

Sir Ernest Henry Shackleton, in the last great age of exploration of the Antarctic, went on three missions to the South Pole of the Earth.

Each mission exceeded the last.

The first set a record of Latitude south 82 degrees. The second reached south 88 degrees, less than 200 Km from the pole itself, and included an expedition to the frozen continent’s largest active volcano, Erebus. Another explorer, however, Amundsen reached the pole first.

Shackleton chose a new challenge when the one he pursued was won by another.

The Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition would cross the continent from sea to sea.

The ship Endurance was trapped in and destroyed by the ice.

Survival became the new mission, ‘Endurance’ was still the name of how to reach it.

Shackleton tried again but died of a heart attack in South Georgia, and in debt because of a restlessness that did not translate into business success. His obituaries praised him but he was forgotten as he fell under the shadow of others, like Scott.

The remains of the ship Endurance, and Shackleton’s reputation for leadership in crisis, were rediscovered a century later.

Luna, Shackleton Crater

There is a crater, 3.6 billion years old, on the moon.

A crater almost dead center at the south pole of the moon.

The moon’s axis has passed through its interior for the last 2 billion years.

A pocket world of contrasts.

An ancient impact burrowed in and liquified the crust, and when it cooled it formed a crater 21 Km wide and 4.2 Km deep.

Its rim, bathed in never-ending sunlight, was a golden crown. “Peaks of Eternal” light.

The reason is the moon tilted 5 percent from the plane of the ecliptic, the imaginary plane formed by the Earth’s equator. The Sun’s light strikes at almost a perpendicular angle, near a right angle, to the crater. For most of the moon’s orbit, the crater is in constant sunlight, almost all the time.

Behind its walls, the ground’s drop is 30 degrees from inside the rim to its dark center.

Inside the shadow cast by its walls was a frozen reservoir, made of the remnants of comets. The shadow’s endless darkness was a cold trap, within which early probes sniffed for above average amounts of hydrogen, signs of water ice.

The International Astronomical Union, in 1994, named the crater after Ernest Shackleton, explorer of the Earth’s south pole.

Luna, Aitken Basin, Shackleton Crater, Hyperion

The lock spoke: ALBERTO NECKER, ZEPHYR SPRING, WELCOME TO HYPERION. THE NEXT WALKING TOUR OF GRACE IS BEING PREPARED.

Alberto and Zephyr stopped looking at the view, smiled, and looked at each other.

This was not a simulation.

There, under nestled within the crater which on its exterior received blistering electromagnetic fury turned into an eternal crown of light, was not darkness.

A forest on the moon.

“Let’s go.”

The airlock’s panel lit green, and a door hissed open.

Alberto and Zephyr looked at each other just a moment and walked in. Another panel inside the airlock lit green and music began to play.

The lock: ALBERTO NECKER, ZEPHYR SPRING, WELCOME ABOARD. WE ASK THAT YOU PLEASE TAKE A SEAT AND WEAR A SAFETY HARNESS FOR OUR DEPARTURE. PLEASE WAIT FOR SEATS CONFIGURED FOR YOUR COMFORT.

Two seat frames slid out of a wall and chairs assembled themselves from the frames.

They took their seats, and secured harnesses which closed with clicks and soft tones.

The lock: THANK YOU. PLEASE ENJOY YOUR TOUR OF GRACE. WOULD YOU CARE FOR A STORY ABOUT GRACE FORESTS?

Zephyr, “Yes, Yes please.”

A window in the “airlock” formed with a view of the crater. Golden light gave way to darkness. With moments, they entered a tunnel which led into lit interior. It was as if they were in a tram, an airplane without wings, with a view of a green forest below.

The Lock’s Tour-Story:

“Welcome to the Grace Forest, located with the heart of Shackleton Crater.

The crater was named in the late 20th century after an early 20th century explorer of the Earth’s south pole. A century later, exploration of Luna began in earnest after an aborted series of journeys to the Moon in the mid to late 20th.

Our founder took it upon himself to spearhead both the settlement and development of Shackleton Crater, as part of the founding of the Hyperion Project.

Thanks to various research specialists and development teams, the interior of the crater, once a frozen region in near-eternal darkness for billions of years, became the cradle of a vast terraforming development throughout the interior of Shackleton.

The bottom of the Crater is covered by a mound that is 300 to 400 meters thick, with its peak, 200 meters high, transformed into a focal point and epicenter of Grace Forest.

Solar power installations at the upper exterior of Shackleton’s legendary ‘Eternal Peaks of Light" enabled the initial phases of construction, and supplies light for the forest for most of year, supplemented by nuclear power sources to maintain the semblance of a 24 hour day and night cycle.

Over time, as Hyperion’s infrastructure grew at a quick pace, the raw material of Luna was diverted into the creation of Grace Forest.

Nano and biotech specialists transformed the interior of Shackleton, and over the last few decades, a complex arboreal ecosystem was grown, with ample sunlight thanks to Shackleton’s location at almost near the center of Luna’s south pole.

The Hyperion Project’s ultimate goal is not only to supply enough energy to grow and maintain Shackleton’s current successes for centuries but to fulfill its Founder’s goal, of transforming every barren wilderness on Luna, and beyond, into paradises.

In the words of founder Albert Necker, “We aim to bring life to all that was dead.”

Alberto and Zephyr could not look away as they descended slowly towards the forest, which seemed to be all around them, 360 degrees. Above them was an impossible sky that looked like an Earth Sky that merged with a Space Sky. The treetops below were thick and green and the ground was a lunar landscape covered in green. Impossible.

“Excuse me, I have a question?” Zephyr asked the floating flying ‘airlock’.

The Lock: YES, ZEPHYR SPRING, WHAT IS YOUR QUESTION?

“What is this place named ‘Grace Forest’?”

The Lock’s Tour-Story Mode:

“The Grace Forest was named after Grace Necker. Devoted wife and loving mother, who is survived by husband, Albert L’Orleans Necker, co-founder of the Cooperative and Hyperion, and one son, named Alberto.”

Alberto’s eyes widened for a moment. His mother. He does not remember.

“Why??,” asked Alberto. Why doesn’t he remember?

Zephyr grabbed Alberto’s hand. She doesn’t know why she did, she just does.

The Tram is just above the treetops.

The Lock:

ATTENTION PLEASE. WE ARE ARRIVING TO THE FOREST FLOOR.

PREPARE TO DISEMBARK, TOUR ASSISTANCE WILL GREET YOU.

There was series of soft clunking sounds and hissing.

WE HAVE ARRIVED, PLEASE UNLOCK YOUR HARNESSES AND WAIT FOR THE HATCH TO OPEN. PLEASE ENJOY YOUR VISIT TO GRACE FOREST.

A green light on a panel. The Lock’s hatch hissed open.

They got up from their chairs and walked out.

The crunch of forest growth under their boots. The soft light of a cloudy day.

The smell of living things. Green things. Birdsong. A soft cool light humidity. Air.