(This is part of a "Captain Kemp" series I am doing for fun. )
Captain Kemp knows a thing or seven about sapphires on asteroids, and it was buy-me-a-lottery-ticket luck that led us to this gorgeous blue outcrop on asteroid Peggy Sue.
Neither of us are geologists, so we flashed a photo back to the lander for the AI to gnaw on.
It came back within a few seconds, saying, "Congratulations. You have found a rare outcrop of lapis lazuli. So far, it has never been found on an asteroid."
I took a few photos and we marked the site on our map. We explored for a few more hours and headed back to the lander for dinner.
Kemp made us both a batch of rehydrated turkey and dressing and said, "Hey, computer. Tell us about lapis lazuli."
The AI dutifully rattled off various dry facts, including one that sat me straight up.
"...forms near igneous intrusions where limestone or marble has been altered by contact metamorphism or hydrothermal metamorphism."
"Hold it," Kemp said, kneading his bag of dinner. "Hydrothermal means hot water. Could there have been water on the planet that spawned this big rock?"
Before I could offer a conjecture, the AI said, "Very likely. The other geologic imagery you have provided indicates other minerals that are most often formed in the presence of liquid water."
Inspired by the movie "Moon Zero Two", Hammer Films, 1969.
#spaceart #scifiart #scifi #outerspace #deepspace #science #astronomy #future #planet #moon #exoplanet #cosmos #cosmic #asteroid #moonzerotwo #gemstone #sapphire #lapis
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