Project Hail Mary

Rocky tells Grace that Sol recovered

c. 2048 · Rocky tells Grace that Earth's sun has recovered, confirming the mission succeeded.

Beetles arrive back at Earth

c. 2045 · Earth receives the Beetles and the Taumoeba solution sometime within the best-guess return window.

Grace arrives on Erid

c. 2044 · Grace survives the rescue arc and settles on Erid after Rocky brings him into Eridian society.

Beetles pass the approximate midpoint of their return transit

c. 2038 · In the lower-bound return model, the Beetles reach the rough halfway point of their trip back toward Earth.

Grace reaches Rocky's ship and saves him

c. August 23, 2032 · No description

Grace turns back and rescues Rocky

c. August 16, 2032 · Grace abandons his return to Earth and turns back to save Rocky and Erid.

Beetles launched toward Earth

c. August 15, 2032 · Grace sends the Beetles toward Earth with Taumoeba farms and instructions to save the Sun.

Xenonite breach risk discovered about one month into return

c. August 14, 2032 · Grace realizes the bred Taumoeba can breach xenonite and strand Rocky.

Grace and Rocky depart Tau Ceti with Taumoeba

c. July 14, 2032 · After breeding a workable cure path, Grace and Rocky leave Tau Ceti carrying Taumoeba.

Adrian sample mission and Taumoeba discovery

c. May 15, 2032 · The Adrian expedition yields Taumoeba and reframes the entire Astrophage crisis.

Shared science work and Adrian mission planning

c. May 1, 2032 · Grace and Rocky pool their science, compare crisis data, and plan the Adrian expedition.

Grace and Rocky begin first contact and basic communication

c. April 1, 2032 · Grace and Rocky establish initial contact and begin building a working language and research partnership.

Rocky detects Hail Mary and approaches after observing its engine exhaust

c. March 31, 2032 · Rocky identifies Hail Mary's presence through its exhaust signature and maneuvers Blip-A toward it.

Grace discovers Blip-A

c. March 30, 2032 · Grace detects the Blip-A and realizes another ship is operating in the Tau Ceti system.

Grace finds the hard drives

c. March 25, 2032 · Grace reaches the mission hard drives and regains a deeper view of the Hail Mary plan.

Hail Mary reaches outbound midpoint turnover and begins deceleration

c. September 20, 2025 · Under the working 1.5g brachistochrone model, Hail Mary reaches its halfway point, peaks in velocity, and flips to decelerate toward Tau Ceti.

Hail Mary launches from Earth

c. March 22, 2019 · The Hail Mary begins its one-way mission from Earth to Tau Ceti.

Grace is forced onto Hail Mary

c. March 19, 2019 · Stratt sedates Grace and compels him onto the mission after the trained specialists are lost.

Astrophage discovered via ArcLight

c. July 15, 2018 · Grace identifies Astrophage from the ArcLight sample, turning the dimming crisis into a biological problem.

Petrova line discovered

c. July 15, 2017 · Irina Petrova identifies the infrared line linked to the solar dimming crisis.

Rocky arrives in the Tau Ceti system aboard Blip-A

c. 1986 · Rocky's ship reaches Tau Ceti decades before Grace and begins the Eridian observation phase there.

Rocky launches from Erid aboard Blip-A

c. 1982 · Rocky departs Erid on the Eridian mission to Tau Ceti, beginning the long pre-Grace half of the linked crisis story.