Project Hail Mary

Specialized Committee Overview

The Sun is dying, and humanity is running out of time.

After an expedition to the Petrova Line, scientists discover Astrophage, a microscopic organism absorbing enormous amounts of energy from stars across the galaxy. As the Sun weakens, temperature fall, water freezes, and agriculture collapses, corruption among world officials and a lack of international cooperation have only made the crisis worse. Scientists must study Astrophage and find a way to stop it, while delegates decide how to distribute the world's dwindling food, energy, and scientific resources. 

However, Astrophage may also be humanity's greatest opportunity, since its ability to store and transport energy could power a new era of technology, if delegates can agree on whether to destroy, contain, or develop it.

In this specialized committee, delegates will determine how Project Hail Mary moves forward, contending with a spacecraft crippled by Astrophage-related failures and an alien civilization facing the same crisis whose trust cannot be assumed. When a classified experiment fails and Astrophage begins swarming toward Earth's strongest energy sources, the aliens urgently warn humanity to stop, refusing to explain why. Delegates must decide whether to heed the warning, push forward, or delay the mission to learn what is being hidden from them.

Will humanity find a way to save the Sun, or will fear and an alliance it cannot fully trust burn away its last chance at survival?