Origins 5

The Chinese mission arrived at the derelict first in hopes of staking a claim to salvage rights. The U.S. Expedition arrived just days later and took up a parallel course 100 kilometers away to observe. Mission Commander Ronald Levingson (Colonel, U.S. Air Force) transmitted his impressions of this amazing vehicle back to a global audience on earth.

"It's probably about the size of an aircraft carrier." He commented, "Light gray with irregular protrusions along the course of the hull. I'm not sure which end is forward but if I had to guess, I'd say it's the back end that is torn off. And not cleanly by any estimation."

"Aside from that it seems to be fairly intact. It resembles a giant sea animal, the hull plating reminds me of a lobster. We've had no indication that it's powered or controlled or that it is responding to our presence. I'm guessing the Chinese 'delegation' would have noticed something by now, anyway. (Mission Specialist Takahiro) Tanaka is getting ready to launch the probes to get a closer look but from this vantage, if the Chinese can't get it slowed, I think we've got a good shot at it ourselves."

Robotic probes launched to study the derelict closer revealed a slowly tumbling, battered hulk more than 300 meters long. One end had been severely damaged and sections of its interior structure were visible. The exposed tangle of conduits and passages resembled the entrails of something once alive. Along its hull were occasional meteor punctures and radiation damage. Clearly, it had been in space a very long time-perhaps even longer than 10,000 years.


The Chinese expedition had prepared a trio of robotic rocket packs to attempt to slow the derelict. Unfortunately, it seemed that they would claim the prize and the U.S. Expedition would have to be content to escort the victors back to earth. However, as the Chinese expedition began their operation, only one of the three thrusters functioned properly. At best the Chinese would only be able to cease the tumbling. Then a second thruster exploded violently forcing the Chinese to retreat to a safe distance. Once they were out of the way, robots from the U.S. expedition initiated a risky move to discard the malfunctioning packs and attach their own.

Victory was brief, however. The robots had succeeded in halting the tumbling and even nearly slowing the derelict but the forces necessary to alter it's orbit placed stress on the fragile hull. A 100 meter section broke away and the Chinese expedition moved rapidly to claim their consolation prize.

Origins 4

With the realization that something extraterrestrial was about to swing by earth came the knowledge that humans were not alone in the universe. But, while some countries debated the merits of announcing our presence, one country was determined to make the most of their maturing space program to make first contact.

The People's Republic of China made no secret about their ambitions to land and colonize the moon. As a result, other space-faring countries raced to stake their own claims. India, Japan and the European Union all diverted resources to join their American and Russian counterparts in space ventures. In addition, there was the perception that the world's most populous country might become a dangerous force given its recent posturing and increasing military strength. Now it appeared that the Chinese government was determined to represent earth and perhaps stake a claim on whatever technologies might be gleaned from the derelict, a prospect that did not sit well with the other countries of the world.

The laws of physics also conspired against human efforts. After the derelict made it's close approach to earth it was headed for a close encounter with the largest planet in the solar system. With it's massive gravity, Jupiter held special reign over the inner solar system. Objects passing within Jupiter's influence could be thrown into the sun or at the inner planets or catapulted from the solar system entirely. When the derelict made it's close pass it would be launched into a longer orbit or perhaps banished from humanity forever.

The opportunity to learn from an alien civilization on our own doorstep meant throwing every resource earth had at retrieving the derelict before it reached Jupiter. Having just returned to the moon, the United States had both the technology and budget to make a leap for the derelict. Additionally, the EU, Japan, and a few private firms had signed on as partners to offset costs and to share in the benefits. Their primary rival, China, would go alone confident in their ability and unwilling to divide the spoils.

In late 2024, after significant effort and engineering, eight humans-five from the US coalition and three from China-were on their way to intercept the derelict. The only questions revolved around who would arrive first and what they would encounter when they got there.

Origins 3

From the dark depths of the solar system something hurtled toward the sun and had caught the attention of a few inhabitants of earth. Graduate student Cassandra Bradley, despite her regular work cataloging outer solar system debris for NASA, had taken an interest in the strange properties of the object. Against the advice of her colleagues she was able to secure some study time using a telescope at the Kitt Peak National Observatory.

Her results were stunning to say the least.

"The results that came through were worth all the trouble to get them. Granted the resolution wasn't great, but the thing didn't look like an asteroid or a comet. Not much in space has perfectly straight edges unless it's artificial. And the size was larger than anything humans had ever launched into space!" Dr. Bradley later commented.


"Orbital simulations couldn't resolve the issue of its speed or how it got into the orbit it had if it were human-made. We had to be looking at something extra-terrestrial and very old. The intriguing thing was that its orbital perihelion brought it just inside earth's orbit. Many of my colleagues argued that this was a dead giveaway that the object was from earth. But the heart of the matter is that its orbit was 10,000 years long and wasn't heading out, it was on its way back!"

As it came closer and more measurements and imagery were possible, even the naysayers in the scientific community came to realize that this might be what humanity was waiting for. By 2024 there was no escaping the truth that a massive spaceship was heading for earth. However, there was no sign that it was powered beyond residual energy fluctuations and an occasional bust of electromagnetic static. It appeared to be some alien civilization's discarded space junk.

When the world learned of the derelict, the widespread panic depicted by popular science fiction never materialized. Indeed, the topic of what to do about the ship became commonplace in schools, bars, people's living rooms, and on the nets. Some expressed the belief that the ship would bring all the beings of earth into a new age of prosperity. Others feared that the object was only the first of an advanced guard sent to enslave or even destroy humanity.

Few could have dreamed that this first contact with an extraterrestrial society would launch one of the greatest space races since humans landed on the moon.

Author's Note 2

I was all ready to make a post two days ago but when I started writing I realized that I needed to make another illustration for the imagery I was getting in my head. The next post should be out in a couple of days and will pick up where the last left off. I've already got one image ready and I thought that would be enough.

Thanks for following and I hope you've been enjoying the story so far. I feel like I'm laying the groundwork for the Universe so there seems to be a considerable amount of back story to go through. Please keep in mind that the primary time period for my stories takes place around the 2070s - 2080s.

Let me know what you think.

Origins 2

In 2017 the expanded spacewatch began making detailed surveys for objects beyond the orbit of Jupiter. In it's first year of operation it managed to locate small asteroids and comets missed by earlier surveys and even a few lost spacecraft. There were, of course, some mysterious objects but perhaps the most unusual, designated 2019JC3, received very little immediate scrutiny. Spectral observations of 2019JC3 suggested high amounts of carbon, titanium, and aluminum on the surface of the object.

It was large, highly reflective, and tumbling through a 10,000 year orbit. No known celestial bodies matched this profile and no human devices should be where this object was. Even more strange was that it moved with the speed of a comet and was headed for the inner solar system.

Then, in the late fall of 2020, astronomers with the Search for Extra Terrestrial Intelligence (SETI) detected a strange faint signal almost lost in the background. Triangulation studies suggested the object was within the solar system and so it was dismissed as yet another piece of human space junk. The story would have ended there were it not for the curiosity of a young graduate student.

In 2022 Cassandra Bradley was conducting a survey of interplanetary spacecraft debris when she came across the 2019JC3 data. When she cross referenced her data with several other archives including SETI, she noticed some unusual properties.

"2019JC3 was putting out a signal....Dead rockets never signal home!" she wrote in her autobiography, "I got a strange feeling about this debris. So many things about it did not add up. It was too far out to be a regular rocket body, it seemed too large to be a lost probe, and the orbit was all wrong. I knew I was going to need to make some direct observations to confirm what this thing really was. The tricky part would be getting some instrument time for what some of my colleagues were calling 'Cassie's Caper'"

The clues were adding up to an amazing conclusion and a dangerous confrontation.

Origins 1

In the year 2024 life on earth changed forever. Until then, the search for extraterrestrial intelligence was an academic exercise conducted by scientists and billionaires. But a string of events led to the most amazing discovery ever made and one which confirmed that we as a species were not alone in the cosmos.

Almost everyone remembers or saw photos of the close flyby of comet Patterson in 2014. So close, in fact that some respected scientists believed it might impact the earth. Fortunately, all we experienced were a few nights of fantastic views and an amazing meteor shower that lasted a week. Astronomers were quick to point out that the comet had surprised all of us. And had it not been for the efforts of a few dedicated amateur astronomers, we would have had no warning of the comet at all.

The scientists and their blazing example in the daytime sky were more than enough to loosen the political gridlock in the United States Capital. Facing an over-budget and behind-schedule space program, most space-friendly initiatives were quietly dealt with. However, in short order the American Congress passed legislation authorizing generous funding for an expanded space watch program to great fanfare. Finding and dealing with space rocks that could end human life as we knew it was good for business.

The stage was now set for one of the greatest discoveries in human history and it would change our course forever.

Now a Word From The Author...

When I was a lot younger I used to be annoyed that humanity seemed to get to the moon and then stopped. I used to lament that we were not living on the moon full-time and vacationing in giant wheel-like space stations.

Then reality set in and the understanding of political will and financial possibility emerged in my mind. Suddenly space seemed so terribly far away and unachievable in my lifetime. Granted, we have plans for a return to the moon and ideas about getting to Mars, perhaps in my lifetime. But nothing will thrill me as much as my imagination of where we could be by now.

I came to the conclusion that a universe of my own creation would be far more interesting. (And a few people I know would say I live in my own world anyhow!) But it is one that seems plausible to me if a few key events took place. First of all, we need a means for humans to travel to the stars. So far no one has devised a means of traversing the vast distances yet so I have found a way around that.

Also, I am truly in love with wreckage and ruins. Remains of past civilizations just make my imagination spin and couple that with a penchant to think of everything in terms of science fiction and there's suddenly a universe of possibilities. Worlds where nature has reclaimed civilization present fascinating imagery in my mind



In my universe there are few, if any, aliens zipping around because the cosmos is a hostile and dangerous place. Yes, "human spirit" not withstanding, it is hard to keep a civilization going with all the possible ways to destroy it. That is not to say that aliens don't exist in this universe. They're just really hard to find. Intelligent ones at any rate. Sure there are habitable planets in this universe but there are also creatures living on them too. But in most cases, where there were civilizations of any great scale, they were usually the architects of their own demise or perhaps unwilling passengers as their planet glided into an uninhabitable state or place in the universe.

Star Trek, this is not.

That said, I also have a fascination with starships and have developed a desire to see what they look like after millennia abandoned in space. Artistically it is almost impossible to separate the creation of an image from a story that evolves as the image emerges. To that end, I have created this blog to spur me to create more space imagery and fantastic worlds. Each will have some place in the universe I described above and, in most cases, emerged as I worked on the image.

I know that sometimes viewers have very different ideas on what an image is about and readers are always welcome to add their "two cents". I welcome the input and look forward to hearing what everyone has to say. I am not going for esoteric. I want the imagery to be understandable and thought-provoking. I also hope that it will spur the imaginations of others.

In the end, I really want this universe to live in a way that is not only in my head.

Welcome to Chris Jouan Illustration's Abandoned Worlds.