This article contains spoilers for “Project Hail Mary.”
We love a good crossover — and sometimes those multi-story events happen where we least expect them. That’s the case with a curious connection between the outstanding “Project Hail Mary” and another famous IP: “Star Trek.” Back in 2016, NASA published an article pointing out that Spock’s homeworld, the fictional planet of Vulcan, is located in a very real and close-by star system: 40 Eridani. The system contains three stars, including the massive dwarf star the system is named after.
It’s located just 16.5 light-years away, and when the news was first published, the chief scientist of NASA’s Exoplanet Exploration Program, Karl Stapelfeldt, kept hope of a real Vulcan alive when he said, “Could there be an Earth-like planet in this system? We have no way of knowing that now.” At the time, he explained why they weren’t aware of a planet in the system, saying, “We don’t yet have a way to detect it, but NASA is working on the technology to make it possible.”
The connection to “Project Hail Mary” here is simple. 40 Eridani is the home system of everyone’s favorite mineral-based alien, Rocky. That’s where the “Project Hail Mary” story ends, too — albeit without any Vulcans involved.
Read more: 14 Times Star Trek Broke The Mold
Are Rocky and Spock from the same planet?
Grace in space above the green glow of planet Adrian in Project Hail Mary – Amazon Studios
Crossover potential aside, if Rocky and Spock are from the same star system, another obvious question is: Are they from the same planet? Sadly, probably not, if only due to the logistical aspects involved. At first glance, it seems like the home planet could be one and the same. In its 2016 report, NASA pointed out in relation to Mr. Spock’s world, “Vulcan is perched on the inner edge, lending the world its imagined desert-like quality…”
This seems to jive with the fact that Rocky’s planet is hot due to its proximity to its star. But the devil is in the details. In reality, Rocky’s planet is very close to its sun. Too close for Vulcan lifestyle — or humanoid life in general — to exist. Rocky’s planetary temperature is a balmy 210°C (that’s over 400°F). His home world is also very big, giving it a gravitational pull over twice that of Earth’s. The kicker? Eridanians from Rocky’s planet breathe ammonia, not oxygen, something that’s briefly hinted at in the movie. In the novel, the planet’s unique atmospheric makeup also means it has basically no light at ground level. To top it off, in a cruel twist of fate, after kindling hope of a Vulcan home world, in 2024, NASA devastated Trekkie hopes when it revealed that what many had hoped was the science officer Spock’s home world was nothing more than an astronomical illusion. While Rocky’s planet has yet to be similarly debunked, we know for sure that Vulcan doesn’t exist at this point, making the two friendly aliens only neighbors in fiction.
“Project Hail Mary” is in theaters now.
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Read the original article on SlashFilm.