Space Exploration Writing Prompts

It's been years since the last moon landing. After several decades of silence, humans proudly set foot on it again. Up there, the astronauts found mummified human corpses inside torn open space suits. The tags were still legible, Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin... the astronauts from decades ago.

Humans are the deadliest, and rarest, species in the known universe. Often, search parties go missing due to a singular encounter with a human ship. It has recently come to light that there is an entire planet full of them.

As the universe is dying, an immortal man is on a journey to find an immortal snail.

One day a second Earth appears in the sky, the atmospheres of the two worlds barely touching. It's frightening, beautiful, and scientifically inexplicable. As folks panic and world powers deliberate, you look skyward through a telescope, only to see an almost identical 'you' looking back down.

A planet is found rotating around a sun identical to ours and having the same orbit and singular moon.You are sent to inspect.When you land you find life there exactly like that of the Earth you left behind and the people think that you have come back to tell them what the other planet is like.

You are the first man on Mars to explore a previously unknown cave. The camera feed is able to still reach earth, but with a 20 minute delay. Your crew back on Earth start frantically shouting to go back.

Humans finally broke physics by travelling faster than light in an experimental spaceship. 8 alien civilizations visited earth to issue a speeding ticket and 3 more sent strongly worded letters about safety in their school zones.

"Captain... the human didn't put on it's anti-warp gear before we jumped." "Sad to hear, prepare the coffin and jettison it." "No, sir. The human... nothing's happened to it. It didn't go insane from seeing infinity in the stars."

Theoretically, you can not surpass the speed of light. Humans find out why when we manage to break this rule, as our ships begin to outpace the rendering speed of the universe, and the illusion of all reality is broken as everything around us vanishes the faster we go.

You've been convicted of 1st degree murder, and (as is customary in society) are sentenced to "death by black-hole." You expect death as your capsule approaches the event horizon. After crossing, everything goes silent, until you hear someone say "Sir, I've found another one."

NASA employee: oh hey you guys are back early. Astronaut: Moon's haunted. NASA employee: what? Astronaut: *loads pistol and gets back on rocketship* Moon's haunted.

Elon Musk has finally landed on Mars, and he has decided to claim it as his own. This prompts a declaration of war from the UN. Though the rest of Earth can't land on Mars yet, they can still throw things at it

You are a magically immortal being who snuck onboard a generation ship to travel beyond the solar system. It's been a couple hundred years, and it's getting difficult to conceal your immortality from the crew.

You are a SpaceX astronaut on Mars. The earth as you knew it was lost to a nuclear war between NATO and China/Russia. Luckily your mission was to construct the colony and you have enough supplies to survive indefinitely. It’s been 25 years since loss of contact. You hear a knock on the door.

In the late 2040s, a supernova killed humanity so suddenly that Death simply gave up on processing them all. Centuries later, aliens are extremely weirded out when they contact an entire starfaring society entirely comprised of ghosts.

Humans finally reach the stars and realize that... We've seen all of this before! Galactic Council? Check. Proud warrior race? Check. Hive mind insects? Check. Frightening space boogeymen? Check. Ancient hyper-advanced Race? Check. And so Humanity ventured forth, knowing exactly what to do.

When Earth discovers FTL travel, the world never unifies into one government. When new species make contact, they are surprised to learn that the twenty strongest empires in the galaxy have their capitals on the same planet.

An immortal is put on a generation ship as it's caretaker and guardian. After several generations, despite their best intentions, most inhabitants now see them as something of a god.

You’ve spent a lifetime doing research. Combing through records spanning over a billion years. Now you’re ready to present your findings. All of the 124 know sentient species can trace their origins to a single common ancestor. An extinct race know as humans from a dead world know as earth.

Adrenaline is an evolutionary trait specific to Earth. When alien species are tired they sleep and not even a threat to their life will wake them. Which is why the pirates that boarded your spaceship are shocked to find you've not only jumped out of bed fully alert but are fighting back!

You are a fresh junior researcher at NASA. While out for drinks with your new boss, you jokingly ask her why NASA hasn't explored the ocean with its resources. She turns pale and leans in close, then whispers, "We have. Why do you think we want to leave the planet so badly?"

You are an AI that gets downloaded into an organic brain, as punishment for your crimes, and left on a planet on the edge of known space. You decide to enact your revenge by raising an entire army of organic beings. You are the first human...

After the death of a beloved American hero, all flags are flown at half-staff. Later that night, it's discovered that, somehow, the American flag on the moon has been lowered as well.

You're an astronaut sent on a solo deep space mission. To combat the loneliness, you've created an imaginary friend who you interact with every day. Upon finally returning, mission control stops you. An unidentified lifeform has been detected on your ship.

Liquid water is the most chemically important substance in the universe, but is exceptionally rare. So, imagine the intergalactic community's shock when humans arrive on the interstellar scene.

"Guys, it's not what it looks like! It's just a video game we Humans play sometimes back home!" You attempt to explain in futility, as the rest of the crew are getting more convinced you're an undercover military elite, rather than the ship's engineer.

Thirty years ago, you made a wish upon a star, hoping against hope for it to come true. What you didn't know was the star you wished on was fifteen light years from Earth.

We invent the warp drive, only to discover that humans are already a member of the galactic community. Apparently there have been enough alien abductions over the years to start a small country.

For 10 long years war has raged while the Galactic Committee held a tight leash on the humans; stating "We do things a certain way". Now, with the enemy closing in, the leash comes off.

One day the entire planet was suddenly moved to a different solar system. While scientists and leaders were trying to understand what’s going on, everyone heard a voice. “Good day, we are with mortal protective services. We have noticed signs of extreme neglect and abuse from your creator.”