Transcript
A crewmate and a captain stare down at an alien planet from the window of their ship.
Crewmate: Preliminary scans suggest that the air is full of noxious vapors, Captain.
Captain: Oh, uninhabitable, then?
Crewmate: Well, the analysis indicates that the atmosphere lacks natural shielding from ultraviolet radiation and contains high concentrations of stratospheric chlorine and bromine, and if there’s groundwater it is likely heavily contaminated by chemical agents…
They both look down at the planet.
Crewmate: …but other than that, it’s not much like Earth.
P.S. Our bills are paid by our wonderful patrons. Could you chip in?
Wow, their uniforms have pockets! :O
Pockets! :o
What fresh hell is this?
Next they’ll install seat belts or – gasp! – circuit breakers!
The consequences of human actions on Earth……
Great subversion!
You know, Calvin and Hobbes did something like this once, in one of the ‘Spaceman Spiff’ strips. It was more exaggerated there, though, and it wasn’t the focus of the comic; more like a little gag at the start (it was in a Sunday strip).
(I can post a link to the original comic if anyone’s interested.)
Please do.
You can find it at https://www.gocomics.com/calvinandhobbes/1988/01/31
Thanks! I remember it now.
Thanks for the link!
Or the 50’s movie version:
CAPTAIN: Oh, uninhabitable, then?
CREWMATE: Probably, but it might be breathable. Let’s land there, look around for a while, and then yank the helmets off our spacesuits to find out.