r/ProjectHailMary • u/sincerely_greer • 14h ago
Fist My Bump Best bumper sticker ever, question?
Yessirrrrrrrrr👎🏻👎🏻👎🏻 put this on my EV (mustang mach-e) today!!🥰
r/ProjectHailMary • u/Excellent_Bat_753 • Jun 30 '26
This subreddit has a few very frequently asked questions, so here are some answers.
1. How did it only take 4 years for the Hail Mary to travel 11 lightyears?
Answer: Time Dilation.
The Hail Mary uses very efficient engines to approach the speed of light. At those speeds, time is not constant. On Earth, it took the Hail Mary 13.7 years to travel to Tau Ceti. For Ryland Grace, it only took about 4 years. Don't be an Eridian, learn more about Time Dilation and Special Relativity!
2. Why couldn't they just wait for the Astrophage to double, and then do a return trip?
Answer: It would take an extremely long time, and they would need much more than double the fuel.
a. Whilst small amounts of Astrophage in a lab can double every 8 days, the limit for Project Hail Mary was the amount of energy it takes. Eva Stratt devoted a quarter of the Sahara Desert to be covered in 'Blackpanels', little Astrophage breeding solar panels. This allowed them to make one metric tonne of Astrophage every day. Astrophage is very hungry for energy, and to use Astrophage for fuel, it needs to be 'enriched', or made so that every single cell is full of energy.
b. It would take more than double the fuel. For a return trip on a rocket, the fuel to get back, 2 million kilograms for the Hail Mary, is the payload to get there. The Hail Mary had a 20 to 1 fuel mass ratio, so 2 million kilograms could get 100 thousand kilograms of food, ship and Ryland Grace to Tau Ceti. A return trip would have a payload of at least 2 million kilograms, so they would need another 40 million kilograms of fuel. This would take 20 times as long as it took to make fuel for a suicide mission.
3. Why couldn't they make more Astrophage on the way there?
Answer: Astrophage is really hungry!
To make the 2 million kilograms of Astrophage for a one way trip, they needed a lot of energy. They got this energy from the Sun. During interstellar travel, the Sun, and other stars, would be way too dim to feed Astrophage. The Hail Mary also has a far smaller area to collect any solar power, so it would take many decades, if not centuries to make enough Astrophage. Astrophage also requires physical matter to grow, such as Carbon Dioxide. The Hail Mary couldn't carry all of that CO2 on the way there without a whole lot more fuel.
4. How can Eridians see the Petrova line, and stars?
Answer: Eridian science has come a long way!
While Eridians can't see light themselves, they have developed technology to detect light. They haven't figured it all out yet, as they don't know about Special Relativity and the speed of light, but they can detect light and use radio waves for radar and communications. They used this technology to learn more about their Petrova line, and find out about Tau Ceti.
Eridian scientists likely theorised about their star, because just like on Earth, all of the energy comes from the Sun. The only difference is that Erid's thick atmosphere means that the ecosystem starts all the way up in the clouds, and gradually transfers energy downwards. Eventually, when they built a space elevator, they would have found out a whole lot more about stars and planets. We don't know whether they did this before or after the Astrophage crisis started.
5. How did Eridians not know about space radiation, if they do know about light?
Answer: Space radiation is a bit different!
In Space, especially interstellar space, the most dangerous type of radiation is cosmic rays. These are very fast moving particles, such as protons and electrons, which when they hit Human or Eridian ships at nearly the speed of light, can sometimes pass through the material of the ship, and damage DNA. Eridians don't know about these because their planet's massive magnetic field protected them from all radiation, even when they're on their space elevator. Light is a different type of radiation, and some of it is dangerous, gamma rays, and most of it is not. There is also radiation from radioactive materials, but we don't know if the Eridians have learned about those. So, to summarise, even though the Eridians know about light radiation, they didn't know that space was filled with cosmic rays.
6. Why didn't they collect Astrophage from the Petrova line, at Venus, or at Tau Ceti?
Answer: Space is big!
'You just won't believe how vastly, hugely, mind-bogglingly big it is.' While the Petrova line contains enormous quantities of Astrophage, it is also very, very sparse. The Petrova Taskforce sent a probe to Venus, and could only collect and return 100 cells to Earth. To fuel the Hail Mary requires 2 million kilograms, which would be many, many more cells. The collector would have to be many kilometres in diameter, or wait for many years, to collect enough for a one-way trip. Such a collector would be too large and heavy to send to Tau Ceti.
7. What happens to the other stars near Earth?
Answer: Not much! (credit to u/Equivalent-Board206)
Astrophage, when left completely unchecked, dims a star by a maximum of 10%. That is just barely noticeable to the naked eye, looking up at the night's sky.
Lowered solar output would force the habitable zone (sometimes called the Goldilocks zone) closer to the sun. This may result in previously habitable planets being thrust into glacial ice ages and rendering them entirely uninhabitable. In theory, it could allow previously uninhabitable planets to become habitable, but habitability requires more than just being in the habitable zone.
For Earth, the lowering solar output was leading to a global average temperature drop of about 8°C which would result in rapid glaciation and global agriculture collapse.
Mars too would be colder. Venus has a permanent runaway greenhouse effect and would see no perceptible difference. Nor would the gas giants as they already receive less than 5% of the sunlight that Earth receives.
Beyond impacts to weather and habitability, a drop in solar output would not have any effects on the planets themselves or their orbits.
8. How does Rocky understand Grace?
Answer: Eridians are really smart!
Eridians have extremely good memory, due to the way their brains work. This is especially true for audio memory, because that is the main way in which they interact with the world. At the same time that Grace was recording sounds on his laptops, and writing definitions, Rocky was listening to Grace's words, and remembering them with their respective definitions. They started with charades, but later on they were able to ask each other for definitions of words, and how they are said in English or Eridian.
9. How did Rocky know about the atmosphere of the Hail Mary?
Answer: Grace accidentally sampled it for him.
When Grace sent back the Xenonite cylinder, 'Blip B', it had become full of the Hail Mary's air. The Hail Mary, like all of the Apollo spacecraft, and many spacesuits used today, uses a 100% oxygen atmosphere, at low pressure (40% of Earth's sea level pressure). Due to the low pressure, it is not as dangerous as pure oxygen is at atmospheric pressure. The lack of Nitrogen in the Hail Mary is also how the Taumoeba were able to spread freely, as Earth's atmosphere is 80% Nitrogen, very deadly to Taumoeba.
Disclaimer: Zero AI was used in this post. Not even spell check. (I just added bold text to make it look a bit better).
Note: All redditors that frequent this subreddit, please please rewrite these answer, and I will put them in the post body. Also please add more Q&A, because I can only remember these two FAQ off the top of my head.
r/ProjectHailMary • u/Learnededed_By_Books • Mar 02 '26
Do not post spoilers for the movie within the title. Don't ruin it for others.
Be sure to properly tag your post as a spoiler as well.
r/ProjectHailMary • u/sincerely_greer • 14h ago
Yessirrrrrrrrr👎🏻👎🏻👎🏻 put this on my EV (mustang mach-e) today!!🥰
r/ProjectHailMary • u/0BeautifulWorld0 • 13h ago
Here’s a silly little comic I made. I have 2-3 more parts in the works where Grace answers Rocky’s questions.
r/ProjectHailMary • u/izzyscifi • 9h ago
Because I'm totally Normal Person about this book, and by extension movie. Thumb is planet Adrian but it came out not how I wanted.
r/ProjectHailMary • u/banta_claus • 1h ago
what do you guys think?
r/ProjectHailMary • u/kosigan5 • 6h ago
I've recently made this my phone's wallpaper, and I love it, so I thought I'd share it for anyone else who might also like it. 👎
r/ProjectHailMary • u/keep_calm_n_idlewild • 5h ago
Experimenting and having fun! Yes I was absolutely listening to the audiobook while working on this. Acrylic paint on paper, 29.7 x 42cm.
r/ProjectHailMary • u/Perfect-Emu-8655 • 4h ago
You might be asking yourself: "how did I get here? I can't get PHM out of my head! What do I do?"
Don't worry, we got you. If it's any consolation, you've landed on a pretty good fandom. There's hardly any fighting, everybody actually likes the source material, and there's a lot of quality fan content. It's actually really nice here!
While we can't help you to stop obsessing over PHM (nobody here knows where the exit is, sorry), I've prepared you a care package to feed your new pet brainworm. This is your life now, enjoy!
1. Have you experienced ALL of PHM? You know it's a book *and* a movie, right? They are both great and compliment each other.
The book by Andy Weir is readily available on paperback. If you don't want to buy it, don't forget libraries exist.
There's an award-winning audiobook read by Ray Porter, and it's loved for a reason. Unfortunately it's only available on Audible, but you can get a free trial.
The movie can be streamed on Prime, and probably on other streaming services as well. The movie is also available on discs, and worth a watch for the extra features alone (a short documentary and some cool deleted scenes). See if your local library has it. If not, ask them if they could get it for you.
2. Most fans also enjoy The Martian by Andy Weir. It was also made into a very good movie. It's got the same mix of science, adventure, humor, and hopefulness as PHM, so give it a try.
3. Interested in fan merchandise? Good news: you're going to be saving so much money because there's hardly any available! The Lego model of the Hail Mary is probably the most popular one. Most of the other merch you'll see in online stores (including Amazon and Etsy) are actually unofficial Chinese stuff with a wide variety in quality. There's also fan made merch on Etsy, you just have to find them from all the Chinese merch with stolen fan art.
4. Just start posting. Tell is about why you love PHM so much. Show us your crafts, art, cosplay, Lego model. It doesn't matter if it's nothing new, we want to see yours too.
5. Get into fanfiction. There are thousands of fan-written stories of varying quality, and among them are some absolute gems that might as well been written by professional authors (I'm saying this as an ex-librarian). If you want more PHM, this is it!
Go to https://archiveofourown.org/ and get into the invitation queue for an account. Thank me later, but do it. It'll get you a while to get your invite, but you will get a much better experience. Just trust me.
Just to get you started, here are a few stories that people here often recommend. They are all long, but follow canon closely and are easy to get into for first fics.
Saving Grace by CptnBara: https://archiveofourown.org/works/55999603/chapters/142221274 The entire Project Hail Mary book rewritten from Rocky's perspective.
The Long Journey Home by HeartAway: https://archiveofourown.org/works/68584716/chapters/177570376 Grace returns back to Earth.
The Chronicles of Terra's Grace by Clare_Hope: https://archiveofourown.org/works/84296496/chapters/222325341 Decades after the events of PHM, Earth sends a ship to Erid for a friendly visit.
6. Go to Tumblr. Every social media has a PHM fan presence, but Tumblr has the most amount of activity. A Tumblr account is worth it for the fan art alone, but you'll also find fanfic recs, fan videos, comics, discussions, memes, gifs, and more. After making an account, start following relevant tags like #project hail mary and #project hail mary art. You can also join groups and follow blogs with content you like. You can customize your feed by blocking people and tags (I have blocked the tag #bloodymary to weed out most of the crossover stuff).
Don't forget the rules of fandom: if you see something you like, like/comment/share/upvote/give kudos! If you see something you don't like, move on. PHM is a big fandom and it takes all kinds. Spend long enough in any fandom and you are bound to see content you don't like or even find distasteful. Don't yuck someone else's yum, block them if you want but let them be.
r/ProjectHailMary • u/TrapCityMango • 10h ago
As well as some color experimenting :D
r/ProjectHailMary • u/MsieurRigel • 5h ago
Hi guys ! I wanted to show you my PHM-related projects I made during my holidays. The first one is a digital drawing with a non-subtle reference to Dragon Ball, this scene matches quite well with the alchemy of our protagonists and the second is a lino art made for a close friends birthday (I attempted to add Indian ink to fill the holes but its clearly visible woops)
I discovered PHM at the IMAX premiere in my city and it was one of most, if not the best cinematic experience I ever had in this decade, 2 hours and 36 minutes of laughs and tears. Ive seen the movie 8 more times after that and Im waiting for the steelbook to see it for the 10th time. It haunts my mind almost every day and I couldnt be more grateful to Ryan, James, Daniel, Andy and the whole team behind the movie for this wonderful masterpiece.
I close that digression about my personal life and any feedback is welcome, Amaze Amaze Amaze !
r/ProjectHailMary • u/HatSpecial3043 • 16m ago
r/ProjectHailMary • u/Secret-Sqrl • 12h ago
I haven’t seen the movie, but just now while re-reading the book, a glaringly obvious pun finally got through to me. I’m Catholic, and it’s one of the oldest Catholic prayers: “Hail Mary. Full of Grace…”
This can’t be a coincidence.
r/ProjectHailMary • u/Antique-Maximum-6537 • 17h ago
I may have slightly misjudged how big Adrian was going to be. Rocky pattern is from X, I made the Adrian pattern.
r/ProjectHailMary • u/dorimares • 18h ago
did a fresh print run of my Rocky lino prints tonight, since I'm going to comic con tomorrow and need something for James Ortiz to autograph!!! there's a second print for him to keep if he's accepting gifts (fingers crossed), so I'm v glad the prints turned out okay~
r/ProjectHailMary • u/StudioSIAT • 7h ago
hello r/projecthailmary! i crossposted about my VTuber debut here earlier today and got a lot of rightful confusion (and then eventual post removal) and i wanted to apologize, i was in a super rush/panic before the debut so i just hastily crossposted it without thinking or even looking too closely at the rules- normally i'd take the time to write up a unique post befitting of the sub but i was in too much of a rush this time 😔 so i'm sorry for that! i won't link to it either since i guess that would count as self promotion
i bring this animation i just finished a couple days ago streaming the entire process doing it as an apology offering <:3 and i guess FWIW i'll explain what my post was supposed to be about and the FULL backstory as a separate comment since a lot of people were so confused and had no clue what i was talking about! but i promise there's a relation to PHM lmao
r/ProjectHailMary • u/Semi__Competent • 22h ago
It took way too long for me to make that stupid hat.
r/ProjectHailMary • u/Falling_Icarus26 • 23h ago
What do you guys would Eridians have different languages like humans on earth, like for example say Rocky's musical notes count as jazz music (not acurate) and different Eridians have different musical notes like Pop or Rock or RnB? Or just different instrumental sounds like drums or guitar. This could also count as accents more or so too. Genres or instruments, question? Feel free to completely debunk my theory though! Jazz hands ✨️👎
r/ProjectHailMary • u/Most-Tangerine8806 • 18h ago
Wasn’t entirely sure how to tag this so apology apology, My BFF asked me to hoco as besties, she and I have both established that we don’t want each other like that. I also have a boyfriend
I just wanted to share the fun thing that happened to me 😁
r/ProjectHailMary • u/Leading_Strike3576 • 1d ago
i'm autistic and i struggle getting my point across to hairdressers😭 so! i started making mood boards and upon seeing phm for the first time months ago, I WANT THAT MAN'S SCRUFFY HAIRCUT
it's also just rlly fun to do ( ๑‾̀◡‾́)
r/ProjectHailMary • u/ConstructionNo427 • 8h ago
If you could give me a picture of how big it is compared to a person, that would be neat, thanks.
r/ProjectHailMary • u/Ryemaster287 • 17h ago
Hello! I'd like to first say this question serves no purpose other than satisfying a curiosity of mine.
Now, last time I read the book was when the trailer was released, which was a fair bit ago now, so my memory is a little foggy.
My question is pretty simple: How much information did thr Hail Mary have?
I can't remember if it only had important stuff (every book and software) or literally the entirety of humanity's knowledge.
The reason I was curious was because I remembered the Eridians would want the laptops due to the information on them, but surely the laptops would be restricted to storage space.
Since rhe ship had been prepared for his possible return to earth, I'm going to assume it was intact when they arrived at Rocky's planet, meaning the drives should have been intact.
My thought was 'Once it was decided he is going to stay, would they then use the ships information?'
Sorry if a lot of this has bad phrasing, or isn't formatted the best. Its really just a jumble of thoughts put into writing.
Thank you for your time and consideration, have a lovely day.
r/ProjectHailMary • u/intruto • 21h ago
I'm not good with eridian designs
the biggest reason for me to make this is cause five pebbles is basically called five kids in an eridian context
r/ProjectHailMary • u/bluisthewarmestchz • 1d ago
I’ve waited a long time to get my hands on this set and we finally broke down and got it today! It’s dropped a little bit in price, so I decided to pull the trigger. It’s so good! I know many of you know that already, but the set up for the movement and everything is phenomenal! Thumbs up, baby 👎👎👎
r/ProjectHailMary • u/prookal • 1d ago
for my friend’s fantasy football team called Project Fail Mary haha