The Lone Explorer: Starhopper
Small. Mighty. Unsuspecting. These are all words you would associate with an ant, one of the strongest creatures for their weight and size! But what if I told you that there was a space rover made to give the ant a run for it's money? Introducing the Starhopper. It's WonderWorks' latest space rover, scoping out the planet Auvoria Prime.
Auvoria is said to be a planet that may be suitable for living conditions similar to Earth. However, Alexander Royce released that some terraforming and conditioning to the planet will need to be undergone for humans to live on it permanently. A group of scientists and experts are said to plan to temporarily stay and scope on the planet if the Starhopper releases information that it's safe for astronauts to do so.
The Starhopper is small for a rover, and matter of fact, it's one of the smallest rover models out there. But don't underestimate it's small size. Despite that, there are multiple Starhoppers on the planet, able to capture and retrieve information in groups, or alone. Following the ant hierarchy, one larger, "base" Starhopper, allocated with the role of the Queen, will direct the smaller Workers as see fit for the mention. Despite its humble appearance, the Starhopper is equipped with highly sensitive sensors, environmental samplers, and lightweight excavation tools, allowing it to analyze soil composition, air quality, and radiation levels on the go. It can even adapt its behavior depending on environmental changes, coordinating with its swarm in real time thanks to a low-latency quantum relay developed in-house at WonderWorks. The Queen unit, while larger, is still no bigger than a suitcase, and is distinguishable by its shimmering violet trim. According to sources inside the engineering department, the Queen is also semi-autonomous, capable of rerouting and re-prioritizing tasks for its worker drones depending on signal strength and planetary hazards. At night, Starhoppers enter a low-power mode and engage in "huddle clusters," preserving warmth and data integrity. It's a behavior entirely inspired by social insects—and more than just efficient, it's strangely endearing to witness. “They’re kind of cute,” another engineer said off the record. “Like little alien puppies.” A real ant farm was analyzed and monitored to closely study their behavior in the WonderWorks Research Dome. The colony is on display in the museum, and cared for by staff.
The general public is able to watch broadcasts of the rover's findings. WonderWorks said that the company wants to be transparent about the planet, and claims they will only turn off public broadcasting if it would benefit engineers or the survival of the rover. The following is a statement from Nero Atwood, an engineer and astronaut at WonderWorks. Broadcasting is said to be as available as soon as information from the rover is received.
"I love that little rover ... I love it. We've been working on it for a while now, and I can definitely say, we like to take inspiration from nature," Atwood continued, "I definitely say that the time in development is going to be worth it. We could really find some good stuff, or, ... I just think it's going to be worth it."