Laura Miller's astronaut portrait
Dr. Laura Miller was a biologist and astronaut who flew for NASA in the Lazarus missions. The planet she visited was a watery world which was named after her.
History[]
Little is known about Dr. Miller, though Dr. Amelia Brand mentions that Miller began NASA's biology program.[1] Ten years prior to the Endurance mission, Dr. Miller was one of the twelve scientists who travelled through the wormhole near Saturn in search of a new world that humanity could inhabit. In the system with the black hole Gargantua, Miller landed on a planet near the black hole that was covered in a shallow ocean. The planet was located in the same system as the planets found by Dr. Edmunds and Dr. Mann.
Upon initial assessment, Miller found water and organic matter on the planet. Believing the planet suitable for human population, she sent a signal back to NASA indicating its viability. However, she did not anticipate the enormous waves that resulted from gravitational pull of Gargantua, possibly having mistaken them for mountains as the Endurance crew would when they landed on the planet. Miller likely died from the impacting waves within two hours after her arrival, which also destroyed her landing pod.
Due to the severe time dilation caused from the planet's proximity to the black hole, the crew of the Endurance arrived shortly, perhaps mere minutes, after her death, finding the wreckage of her Lazarus pod to be relatively intact and her homing beacon still transmitting. Dr. Brand attempted to recover Miller's data recorder to find out what happened, but was unable due to an incoming wave, which immediately became the obvious explanation for Miller's fate. CASE revealed the data that Doyle received from Dr. Miller was only the initial report, "echoing endlessly."
Brand analyzes Miller's report, deeming her planet to be "sterile" and unable to support life due to a number of factors that the initial assessment done by Miller could not ascertain.
References[]
- ↑ Interstellar
Brand: Laura Miller’s planet is the first. Laura started our biology program.
Notes:[]
Stanley Lloyd Miller (March 7, 1930 – May 20, 2007) was an American chemist who made landmark experiments in the origin of life by demonstrating that a wide range of vital organic compounds can be synthesized by fairly simple chemical processes from inorganic substances. In 1952 he carried out the Miller–Urey experiment, which showed that complex organic molecules could be synthesised from inorganic precursors.
Could the Miller’s name be inspired by the well-known chemist?[]
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