Chapter Text
"Computer, prepare for landing on the planet's surface," Data instructed, tapping some buttons on the shuttlecraft's console.
"Preparing for landing process." As the computer adjusted its systems for atmospheric entry, Data's attention turned to the two large crates in the back of the shuttlecraft. It had been a long time since he had last seen the contents of those crates, and he planned to open them once he landed. Everything would be where it was when he last left.
"Preparation complete," the computer chirped, interrupting Data's thoughts.
"Commence automated landing." As he monitored the computer's progress, Data began to think about the automated landing system. He found the history of these systems quite intriguing. They were, in fact, direct descendants of the landing system that powered Perseverance, a 21st-century Mars rover sent there by a United States government organization, NASA. By today's standards, it was very much rudimentary, but using cameras and a model of terrain imagery, it could easily find a suitable location to land and alter its descent path to do so. Once NASA released the model, images, and code to the public in the following decades, other governments and private space companies began to improve on the system. It was soon augmented with machine learning, allowing it to land on any planet, even ones that it had not seen before. Now, more than 350 years later, a similar system was landing this shuttle on the planet.
"Landing complete. Shuttle is now on Terlina III."
Data rose from the chair and opened the hatch on the shuttle. Pulling out his tricorder, he loaded a map of the planet and located the lab on it. It was about a kilometer to the south. He locked the shuttle and began making his way there.