Hello, dreamers. I’m in the middle of another busy week, but I always have time to talk about my current work-in-progress.

Years ago, when I first set out to write hard science fiction, I’ll admit I was nervous. Part of me worried I’d get bogged down in scientific minutiae, to the point where I’d second-guess everything and be creatively paralyzed. In fact, I was surprised at how well everything flowed. Now, I dare say I’m an old hat at this. But so far, Aquarius 1 has presented a lot of new challenges. So let’s take a closer look at a few of them:

Aquarius 1

As my regular readers will know, my current WIP involves a manned mission to an exomoon covered in ocean. It sounds like a cool setting for a novel, and I dare say it is. But this isn’t just any novel: it’s hard sci-fi. That means accepted science comes into effect. And that means this moon is very, very different from any world we know of.

When I first sat down to determine the basic parameters of Jann (the moon in question), I looked for analogues in our solar system. Since the planet it orbits (Zahl) is roughly the size of Neptune, I figured a moon roughly the size of Triton (Neptune’s largest moon) would make sense. Obviously, besides liquid water, there’s one big difference between Triton and Jann: a breathable atmosphere. Like all moons, Triton does have an atmosphere, but it’s tenuous at best. As a habitable planet, obviously Jann would have an atmospheric composition similar to ours. But what about its structure?

There are many factors that determine the structure and size of a world’s atmosphere. One that I hadn’t thought of at first is gravity. Our atmosphere is bound to Earth mostly by its gravitational pull; the gasses are lighter than liquid water or rock, so they float over the surface. But they cannot actually escape into space. So, what would happen on a planet (or moon) with significantly weaker gravity?

It’s a question it took me a while to ask. Turns out, the result would be an atmosphere that is larger (in terms of space) but less dense. A moon the size of Jann would have an atmosphere that extends significantly further out from its surface than that of Earth. From the human standpoint, this would result in thinner air on the surface. Humans on the moon would tire easily, and some might require breathing assistance.

This is one of the fun (albeit frustrating) aspects of hard sci-fi: the science ends up being crucial to the story. Simply being smaller and less dense than Earth makes Jann less hospitable to humans. Those on the surface would probably have an experience akin to being in Denver. And that critical detail influenced the story. The same goes for Jann’s vast oceans (which lead to intense, sometimes hemisphere-sized hurricanes), and its status as a tide-locked body orbiting another (the sun rises on Jann once every three days, with one side of the moon receiving almost no sunlight).

And this worldbuilding is crucial. It can mean the difference between an otherwise bland story about exploring Strange New Worlds and a distinct tale of humans struggling through adversity to do something incredible. Lately, I’ve been working to nail down the details of characterization and culture. But thus far, the science is sound. That means I have a solid foundation upon which to build a truly original story. – MK