A Note about the blog posts from the future [CE 2224]: In January of 2021, with Perseverance due to land on Mars the next month, NASA activated their experimental Quantum Transmitter. The transmitter was designed to communicate with Perseverance, without regard to location and at faster than light speeds—near real-time. Unfortunately, they lost the connection after the initialization routine was completed. However, as an unintended consequence, NASA connected with a specific locus in the space-time continuum located on the Moon in 2224. That locus was the storage device of the quantum computer of a popular blog site. It is from that blog site that these blog entries are extracted. I hope you enjoy a peek into our future, and hopefully, I’m not violating some temporal directive. So far, no visit from the time cops.
[Our apologies to our readers, the picture of the rose mentioned by the author degraded during the transfer through the transmission link.]
Guest Author: Antoinette Meilland, Chair of the Agriculture and Horticulture Department, University of Luna, Picard Campus
Posted: Monday, June 14, 2224 (Earth Standard Calendar)
I am delighted to announce the introduction of the first rose variety designed exclusively for cultivation on Luna. In anticipation of our impending independence, the U of L at Picard has developed a unique cultivar of a hybrid tea rose from the collection in the Picard rose gardens.
There was a boisterous discussion around which rose we should start with and which colors we should consider for our new rose. The committee believed we should honor the men and women that first braved space and set foot on the Moon in the latter half of the 20th Century and the early 21st Century. So we selected the Peace Rose.
The original Peace Rose became popular in the 20th Century. Collectors and gardeners alike celebrated the rose for its beautiful cream and crimson coloration. That rose formed the basis for our new variety.
Harkening back to the symbolism of rose colors at the time, we considered the meaning of the blue rose—mystery, the impossible, or the unattainable.
Others suggested black, which can stand for the beginning of new things and significant change, inspiring confidence, signaling the birth of a new era. Black had the added benefit of adding shades of grey, symbolizing our stark but beautiful lunar home.
Respecting our origins on Earth, we choose blue and white for our new rose. Using modern genetic inscription techniques adapted from agriculture, we modified the original Peace Rose genome to generate blue petals on the outside and at the tips, with bright white petals in the center.
In the end, we felt we would honor Earth and the peaceful transition to independence. The blue and white of that lovely planet, perched high overhead, won the day.
So it is my distinct honor to present The Luna Peace Rose.