I remember my fourteenth birthday vividly. It was a week after I first set foot on Gliese-667Cc and watched three suns rising in the sky. The massive one was a red dwarf that slowly covered the landscape with an unearthly crimson glow, while the two fainter orange dwarfs glimmered dimly in the distant horizon. Even at night the faint light of the two distant dim stars lent the sky a dark amber glow, in a phenomenon known as “Eternal Dawn”.

We were part of the first batch of colonists to arrive on the planet, and I had had enough of the three-month long journey on the spaceship that covered the 22 light year distance from Earth to here in our search for a new habitable planet. With a radiation flux at about 90% of what we receive from our Sun on Earth and an atmosphere very similar to earth, we knew there was a possibility of liquid water lurking somewhere on the planet’s icy surface. Even the probability of finding some form of life was high. But all we could see for miles was a thick sheet of ice.  

“Looks like the Earth Similarity Index was bang on target. It is a superionic surface after all,” murmured Maya grimly.

“Well, the experts at the Planetary Habitability Laboratory are experts at inventing doomsday scenarios,” I snapped back, trying to tamp down my panic.

I was irritable and exhausted because of the crazy roller-coaster 40-minute ride we had already endured as our aircraft, Luna, entered the atmosphere of Gliese. The insane rattling, shaking and bouncing had given me a throbbing headache and queasy stomach. I looked out hopefully but, as far as the eye could see, lay a blue frozen ocean interspersed with monumental ice cliffs. As we hurtled closer to the surface, I could see how thick the layer of ice covering the ocean surface was, yet the temperature gauges showed a warm 30°C, which meant Maya was right. We were hurtling towards a superionic ice planet with a planetary atmosphere that was more similar to Earth’s than we had imagined but might not be habitable after all. 

Maya’s parents, Akinyi & Nuru, were the best scientists on this mission and we were lucky enough to have been put in the same cohort as their family. They had already analyzed and categorized the seventeen different possible varieties of crystalline ice formed when a planet’s gravity exerts such crushing pressure that it squeezes water into superionic forms. Dad looked worried, because he knew that superionic materials are complex beasts, both solid and liquid at the same time. Maya’s dad Nuru, smiled back at me confidently. He had taught me about superionic ice in Science class while showing it to me under a microscope. The crystal lattice structures were permeated by free floating atomic nuclei carrying electrical charge. In other words, we were hurtling headlong into the middle of an electrically conductive frozen soup. Somehow, I didn’t feel quite as confident as Uncle Nuru, and tried to smile back feebly. As we hit the final phase of our descent, the planet's magnetic field was starting to exert its gravitational pressure and I could see the instruments on board going wonky. I ran back to my seat and clutched Mom’s hand. She looked up from her iPad and gave me a reassuring hug. 

“Steer to the top of that giant ice cliff” a pale-faced Dad shouted over the deafening rattling to our pilot, Newton. If ever there was a space hippie, Newton was it. He chewed his toothpick nonchalantly before giving a nod and drawling, “It’s a snowball planet. The AI map says there’s land somewhere on the planet’s equator.”

No wonder the temperature was warm enough to make it habitable, yet we couldn't see any land for miles, only a bleak expanse of solid ice. The atmosphere seemed thin and dry too. Suddenly there was a huge groaning sound and our spacecraft jerked forward then started spinning out of control. 

“NEWTON!” yelled Dad, as I clutched Mom’s hand tighter.

“It’s the magnetic field, the superionic ice is exerting too much pressure,” murmured Newton, without breaking a sweat.

“So now what!!” Dad spluttered, enraged by his composure.

“We’re going to crash,” said Newton without a blink. “Brace for impact, folks!”

I hunched myself into the all-too-familiar emergency crouch that we had practiced hundreds of times before. Dad was beside us in seconds. I handed him his helmet and squeezed his hand. He forced a weak smile and glanced into our eyes. “It’s going to be all alright,” he whispered, a faint twitch betraying how little he believed that. 

When we woke up an eerie cold darkness was all around us. I could see Dad slumped over next to me, but his rising chest indicated he was sleeping. Mom, who was talking to Maya and her parents, silently handed me a wet wipe to clean off my sweat. The ship seemed intact, barring the fact that we were running on backup residual power. 

“Did we all pass out?” 

“Yes, we must have all passed out from the impact,” said Mom, “but we’ll be ok once we figure out how to get to a power source.”

I stumbled over to Newton, who was rubbing his head gingerly. The view from the front of the spaceship was mind-boggling. We were perched precariously on the edge of a massive ice cliff, facing what seemed like an endless cobalt blue ocean of ice. The orange sunlight reflecting off the ice was blinding. 

We both heaved a sigh of relief as the instruments on the cockpit control panel flickered back to life. They showed that the planet’s gravity wasn’t too different from Earth’s. The cold atmosphere would make floating with hot hydrogen possible. The ideal altitude for flying would be 9,000m within the atmosphere, so our aircraft would be able to handle flights. But before venturing out, we would definitely need insulation from the low temperatures after sunset. Heat loss rates would be three times higher than on Earth.

The winds were high, but there didn’t seem to be any signs of superstorms. 

“Resources, energy, viability,” murmured Newton, reiterating our primary objectives.

“If it’s a snowball planet, what’s the plan to warm up the atmosphere, Newton?” Maya asked anxiously.

“CO2 is the key. Snowball planets form when CO2 levels in their atmospheres drop too low due to rainfall and erosion. Rain absorbs the CO2, converting it to carbonic acid, which binds with minerals & gets carried down to the seafloor.”

By now we had all assembled around Newton.

“So we would have to dive?”

“Not if we can warm up the planet enough to release its own CO2.” 

“It’s a snowball planet, so our best chance is to get to the Equator,” a faint voice suddenly interjected. Dad had awakened from his temporary blackout and was walking towards us with shaky legs.

“But what will we use for power?” I couldn’t see any easily retrievable viable energy sources. Solar would require too much material. Wind wasn’t dependable on this planet. Nuclear would take years.

“We use our defensive mirrors and lasers!” exclaimed Dad, temporarily slipping into excitement.

Everyone’s eyes lit up. 

“Yes! Why not?” Hope suddenly infused us all with new energy. Our space lasers and mirrors had been designed not just for our planetary defenses, but also for maneuvering remotely. Now, we could put them to real use.

We all looked at Akinyi.  

Akinyi tapped her chin. “The lasers can vaporize portions of the planet’s regolith, and liberate trapped volatiles like O2, N2, CO2 and H2O, so that we could complete atmospheric changes within a week. If we can initiate a 4ºC increase in planet temperature to activate a global warming effect, we can trigger a snow-ball effect.”

“And once it's warm enough, if we can reach the water underneath the ice, we can introduce photosynthesis!” Mom grinned triumphantly, excited at the prospect of finally putting her biologist skills to use. 

“First things first,” said Dad, ever the efficient manager. “How will we get those giant robot lasers into orbit unless we have more power?”

“I might have a solution to that,” I piped up suddenly, clearing my throat. “While we were careening over the ridge, the deep surface thermal imager indicated the presence of a series of Hydrothermal vents nearby. We can capture their steam to generate electricity for our power banks and use the hot water to cut through the ice.” 

Everyone was looking at me in shock. Slowly, the adults’ nonplussed expressions turned to grins and Maya smiled as she gave me an admiring high-five.

“Time to get it done, so strap yourselves in,” said a beaming Newton. Even he was looking much more cheerful.

A loud groaning noise emanated from Luna’s engines as Newton slipped the craft into amphibious mode. Luna dived off the cliff with a whoosh, bouncing hard as we hit the ice below. Soon we were skimming over the subionic ice at breakneck speed, heading directly for the field of hydrothermal vents mapped out by the thermal imager. Before long, our conductivity detectors had sensed hydrothermal plumes - jets of warm, cloudy water erupting above the vent sites in the middle of the ice. We began homing in to where they were most concentrated.

“Time to deploy the submersible drones,” said Dad.

Minutes after the drones had dived down, we all waited with baited breath as they began transmitting the results of their analysis. 

“Active vent identified, stable supply of fluid, redox potential maximal,” beeped the AI.

A whoop of joy filled Luna. We had stumbled onto a jackpot. A treasure field of potential power plants of deep-sea hydrothermal vents that could replenish our fuel-cells and power our thermoelectric systems. As long as we could control any spontaneous electrical leakage, our power source was guaranteed. Mom broke open packets of Samosas and chutney for all of us to celebrate, while Maya played us a beautiful happy tune on her ukelele.

Once we had harnessed the power, it was time to release our fleet of robotic solar power satellites into orbit around Gliese-667Cc’s primary star. We would use the solar photosphere as the lasing medium. First, the robots were adjusted to focus their mirrors so that they could reflect a driving laser around the sun. As the energized particles in the photosphere became excited inside the "racetrack," more photons energized the drive beam. Uncle Nuru manned the sophisticated control system, turning the orbiting mirrors with unreal precision to ensure that the beams had enough clearance to exit the racetrack at just the critical moment. For a few moments there was an uneasy silence, then suddenly the laser blazed across our horizon and the amber atmosphere turned into a warm mustard hue. We had done it!

We had established our solar laser system to reflect and beam focused energy from the planet’s sun. Within a week, the temperature on the planet had increased by 4 degrees and the ice thawed steadily. We watched the ice crust melting into a viscous slush as we cruised across the ocean towards the Equator. 

It was just before sunrise on my fourteenth birthday when Newton woke us all up in a hurry.. He was literally jumping up and down in excitement and pointing to the view outside the windows. I rubbed my eyes while yawning and walked into the cockpit. My eyes widened into huge pools of astonishment as I stared open-mouthed at the unexpected scene in front of me. Extending across miles, as far as our eyes could see, was a rocky landmass, covered with blue-green foliage and vibrant blossoms. As we drifted closer, a sudden whoosh enveloped the atmosphere. A cloud of astonishingly brilliant plumage streaked across the sky, illuminated by the golden light of the rising red dwarf sun.

“Birds!” Mom screamed with joy. Maya was dancing and laughing at the same time, while Dad rubbed his eyes in disbelief. 

There was LIFE on this planet. And by the looks of it our global warming experiment had given it a big boost.

“Happy Birthday!” yelled the entire crew. I felt like I was floating with elation.

“We actually did it,” I whispered in wonder. “We found a new Earth.”

I knew then, I would never forget that day.

Our challenges had just begun. The planet was still such a long way from being a perfect home for humans. We would need to work relentlessly hard to adjust the environment and make the planet a suitable habitat for us to settle in. And we would have to ensure that nothing we did damaged the delicate ecosystem that was going to sustain us. But the light of the eternal dawn glimmered across the horizon, reassuring us with the hope that somehow we would overcome all future challenges. 

We had come so far, and there was no way we were going to give up now. We were the pioneers of a new world, and Gliese-667Cc was now - home.