UNS Canteloupe arrived at Ganymede in 2131 for fresh produce restock and He-3 refuel — its first outer-system stop since departing Ceres. The Harvest Press, a Ganymede-based outlet that began as a produce-shipment reporter, conducted its first major news interview with Commander Dr. Lars O’Connor. Host Wang Xinyi conducted the interview in Mandarin; O’Connor, Mars-born, is fluent in English, Mandarin, and Russian.
A Botanist in Command
O’Connor revealed that the Ganymede stop was not on the standard routing — he deliberately detoured to deliver modified crop strains (primarily potatoes, plus others) that he had developed himself. “They need less fertilizer input and yield more than what Ganymede’s farmers are currently working with. Seeds and strains like this do better when the person who bred them can answer questions on-site.”
His doctorate is from Pobeda University, where he worked on rice-like grain strains for modified Martian soil and later on hardier crops for Mars’s harsher desert regions, outside any dome or controlled environment. “I ran out of funding before that second project went anywhere. I’ve been passionate about Martian terraformation since before I had the degree to back it, and I’d still be doing that work today if the money hadn’t stopped.”
The Bargain
O’Connor disclosed that he initially refused the CAI commission outright. The only condition under which he accepted was that the UN would fund and continue his Martian terraformation research indefinitely, regardless of the mission’s outcome. “That was the only thing I asked for. It’s the only reason I said yes.”
On the mission itself: “Honestly, I have no clear idea what it’s for, beyond what’s been said publicly. My interest in this has never been Pluto. Once a settlement and a CAI installation are actually established there — if that’s what ends up happening — I intend to resign my commission and go back to Mars, back to the work I actually care about.”
He closed by telling Ganymede’s farmers to “rotate the fertilizer schedule down gradually, not all at once,” leaving full notes with the agricultural office before departure.