//REPORT LOG FROM EXPEDITION UNIT SAW-03-404216
FILE: GP-0998/Surface Readings
REPORT TYPE: Flora
CLASS: Yellow-Caution
At first, I thought GP-0984 was some sort of sick joke. Going to the surface, what a cruel thought. Brought this up to my squad and they all said we should head to the surface ourselves, 903712 even claimed that they may have found a tunnel out of here. Some days I swear those three share the same brain cell, they make an Orange look intelligent.
However today, I lost a bet that our Chip's protocols were going to kick in before we saw light. Although I'm not proud that I'm going to have to eat a fistful of dry leaves, it is quite amazing up here.
All of the following data was collected over the span of two Earth weeks. Yes, I specified because this planet is not on the same cycle as Earth. We hope to find more data as this expedition continues, but so far these are our early findings. However, without the proper equipment, I doubt we'll be able to get the full picture. How long is a year here? What is the atmosphere's composition? How big is this planet even? These and quite a few more questions we are unable to answer thoroughly if at all.
Day/Night: To start, as mentioned previously, this planet's celestial cycles are drastically off from Earth's. One Sol here is roughly 72 Earth hours. Either the planet rotates that slowly or it is that massive, we're unsure yet as we don't have the proper tools. Days and Nights can prove to be dangerous, since our circadian rhythm operates on a 24 hour cycle. Without knowing the nuances of this planet's climates, Days have a danger of causing heatstroke while Nights can cause hypothermia if the proper precautions aren't taken.
-00:00 = Start of our count, crack of Dawn.
-00:00 - 06:00 = Dawn continues
-06:00 - 36:00 = primary Day, can be dangerous or at the very least inconvenient for us.
-36:00 - 42:00 = sun begins to set, Dusk period
-42:00 - 72:00 = primary Night, again can be dangerous.
Air: The planet's atmosphere seems similar to Earth's. May strangely be better than Earth's, I feel like I can take a fuller breath. Referencing my Chip, at first I thought it was just a hiccup with the software, but I consistently see my O2 constantly fluctuate between 101% and 105%, up to a spike of 108%, everyone else reports the same. All of my vitals appear normal otherwise, I don't see any malicious Moodles and I actually feel a bit better than normal. Somehow despite being a vast wasteland of grays with one plant here and there, there's a bit more Oxygen on the surface than in the caves.
Water: Microbial and particulate readings are the same on the surface as in the caves, recommend only comsuming the water here after it is thoroughly boiled or if a Filter Straw is on one's person. Interestingly, there are no traces of Lumalgae in the water here, at least in this area.
Soil: Up in higher elevations across several samples, the soil composition looked like it would be compatible for bountiful agriculture, if one wanted to grow only potatoes. Unfortunately, pH levels are too basic for the majority of terran plants, unless they mutate quickly to adapt to the planet's soil or, again, if one's satisfied with growing nothing but potatoes. I swear, they can grow anywhere. Closer to "sea level" isn't any better, the lower the elevation, the sample readings tend to contain more and more sand, so unless one's interested in trying to grow cacti, I don't think terran agriculture could exist here without generations worth of testing and possibly cross breeding. Obviously however, the local flora seems to root just fine, so maybe there's potential there.
Meteorology: Weather patterns seem to be similar to Earth's. There was some light rain here for a few hours. Luckily we were camped out under a rock overhang. It didn't hurt, the raindrops didn't feel heavy, nothing pointed at acid rain or any other malicious occurrences. It was quite pleasant, a couple of us took the opportunity to "shower" ourselves quickly.
Tectonics: Mostly a moot point due to our lack of proper equipment, but it is a point of curiosity. Obviously, eathquakes and tremors happen below the surface, one happened on our way out of the caverns, but what of the surface? So far nothing, not even any evidence of volcanic activity either, but that's not to say it doesn't happen.
Climate: Although I can't say for certain how the climate is throughout the rest of the surface, in the area we are in it's pretty moderate. Temperature readings tend to average around 21°C at Day/10°C at Night. We don't have the tools to get humidity, but regardless it's quite the comfortable temperature.
//END OF REPORT
Master File
Hello again Sawians!
Got another wave of surface headcannoning here! I am in no ways a professional in these kinds of things, so that's partly why I tried to keep stuff basic and vague. :p
Getting close to doing the final teaser, so hopefully the next comic strip is out within a week! :)