jan 1, 2048 - Winterblossom returns

Description:

Mere weeks before Winterblossom is due to return, contact is unexpectedly lost. Six months pass, then finally a messenger drone arrives with the news that the crew and all hands are well but the main computer had become disoriented and lost its way within the network. After another six months of a mixture of perseverance and good luck, the ship brings her crew home at last.

Following the triumphal return after a flight lasting almost twice as long as originally planned, initial analysis of the mission results suggest that the alien jumpgate network includes hundreds, possibly thousands, of
star systems and that many of these stars contain planets within their biosphere. Of the builders of the gates there is no trace, nor any other intelligent life. The most advanced lifeform the team discovered were protozoa or mosses, provoking the disquieting thought that in all the universe, only Earth, the Blue Planet,
supported more developed life.

The possibilities of terraforming is discussed amongst politicians.