What If They Don’t Have Mouths?

Big news last week. Huge. Epic. (not that Epic) Out of this world. Or at least out of our solar system. Astronomers discovered another solar system with seven planets the size of Earth, three of which could sustain life due to their ability to house liquid water. Not since Pluto was demoted in 2006 to a dwarf planet has astronomy rocked my universe as I know it.

What does this mean for us? The Earth has had a lot going on lately, so being a proponent of project management, I thought I would initiate a project to take people over to these newly discovered planets that orbit TRAPPIST-1, their parental star. I’ve dubbed my project The TRAPPIST Trip.

Let’s look at my PM initiation and planning.

Sponsor – Richard Branson has agreed to sponsor the project. He’s got a lot of experience in this area, not to mention a lot of money. When he started his airline he said, “My interest in life comes from setting myself huge, apparently unachievable challenges and trying to rise above them … from the perspective of wanting to live life to the full, I felt that I had to attempt it.” Check.

Budget – I don’t even know how to start estimating costs. How much does a spaceship cost? Where would you buy one? I’m going to start looking on eBay for a used one to keep costs down. Richard will be pleased.

Stakeholders – If these planets can sustain OUR life, that means they might already HAVE life. That makes their inhabitants key stakeholders. I’ll need to learn more about them, their expectations, and whether they support my project. What if they don’t speak English? What if they don’t SPEAK? What if they don’t have MOUTHS? Hmmm… My Stakeholder Register is already getting strange.

Schedule – Schedules are the most important tool of any PM, but I admit this one is scaring me. TRAPPIST-1 is located about 40 light years away from Earth. According to people way smarter than I am, that’s “about 44 million years away at the average cruising speed of a commercial passenger jet.” I’m not sure how MS Project is going to do with timelines like that. And I’m thinking critical path has a whole different meaning when we’re talking about a trip into outer space.

Scope – Three of these planets could sustain life. But the success of any project relies on a realistic scope. I should probably limit my scope to one of those three. However, most people traveling to the TRAPPIST-1 planet will likely bring family, since it’s such a long journey and let’s be honest, likely one-way. Most people want their family to be close, but not too close. Based on my own family (see My Sister is Weird, and I have another who is even more weird unique), I decided to include two of the planets in my scope. They’ll be close enough. I’ll need to ask those smart people how many light years.

Resources – I’ve narrowed my technical lead down to two people: Tom Hanks or Sully. I go back and forth. I’ll have to do some behavioral interviews with them.

Risks – The list is extensive. Unfortunately, I did a little checking on how long the trip would take, the most unsettling of my risks. We could make it there in 39 years if we could travel at the speed of light.

Apparently we cannot. Yet. The fastest spaceship ever launched was New Horizons. With its sustainable speed, we could make it there in 817,000 years. I have to score both the probability and impact of that risk a 5, requiring me to have a contingency plan since humans don’t live that long. Yet. So my contingency plan is that we need a bigger boat. I’m in talks with Richard right now (Branson, not Dreyfus). And Stephen Hawking. He’s got something cooking that we could use.

Until we get this resolved, back to our other projects at DFCI. Doesn’t this make them seem so much easier?

TRAPPIST-1 System