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Ryland Grace
Ryland Grace (b. November 9, 1982) is an American astronaut and astrobiologist who is widely considered to have solved the Petrova problem. An expert on Astrophage, he was drafted into the crew of the Hail Mary, where he made first contact with sapient extraterrestrials he named Eridians.
Grace studied at Oregon State University, where he earned his master's degree and doctorate. In his time as an academic, he was a strong proponent of the idea that water is not an evolutionary prerequisite for life. At the time, this was a dubious hypothesis, and led to major controversy. Due to the pushback, he decided to change his career path. He studied to become a secondary school teacher, and briefly was, before he was brought into the Petrova Taskforce.
He was the first to open the ArcLight probe, and investigated the makeup of Astrophage, and some of its behavioral characteristics. Later, he discovered their biological life cycle.
Because of this, he was the world's foremost expert on Astrophage, and was made to work on Project Hail Mary as a science advisor. His experience working on the project led to his eventual forced drafting when the primary and secondary science specialists slated to be part of the crew died in an explosion.
On the Hail Mary, he discovered Taumoeba with the assistance of Rocky, an Eridian: one of a species of intelligent aliens from the system 40 Eridani Grace had made contact with. As the rest of the crew of the Hail Mary were dead, Rocky's help was "instrumental", according to Grace on a video log.
With the Taumoeba on the Beetles, he sent several gigabytes of information, including video messages detailing his work and discoveries. In one video, there are messages from Rocky, who wishes for friendly relations between Earth and Erid, the Eridians' home planet.
Later documents indicate Grace planned to travel to Erid with Rocky instead of committing suicide. It is not known if this plan succeeded, and Grace's current status is unknown.
Early life and career
Aboard the Hail Mary
Status
Grace indicated he would travel to the 40 Eridani system and take up residence there. It was originally intended for Grace to commit suicide. There was a limited amount of food on the Hail Mary; most projections predict Grace would starve. An alternate theory posits that Grace could eat Taumoeba, but even in this scenario, he would most likely suffer from nutritional deficiencies severe enough to be fatal. As such, it is not currently known if Grace is alive.
Legacy and honors
Main article: Post-Hail Mary society
The arrival of the Beetles in 2052 marked the start of a period of global prosperity. The discovery of Erid steel and xenon alloy in addition to the usage of Astrophage as power led to the New Industrial Revolution. In these years, society has changed rapidly due to widespread knowledge of intelligent aliens.
Grace has been honored in many ways; many buildings and facilities are named after him. There is a city named for him in the French Alps.
Various statues have been erected around the world in his likeness.
Surveys and polls have found that Grace is considered a savior of Earth or an adjacent figure by a majority of people.
See also
Hail Mary - Grace's ship
Eridian
Petrova line
Eva Stratt - the head of the Petrova Taskforce