The Broken World

You arrive at Miranda Base during Uranian spring. The last crew experienced 21 years of winter darkness. You'll experience 21 years of spring/summer light before autumn begins.

The Sideways View

"Uranus is weird," Commander Torres states bluntly.

She points at Uranus in the sky. It's rotating on its side - the north pole is facing the sun, and you can watch it spin like a wheel.

"We're in spring now," Torres explains. "The north pole is starting to tilt toward the sun. By 2028, it'll be summer - full polar sunlight for 42 years. The previous crew lived through 21 years of winter. They arrived in darkness and left in dawn."

The 34-Hour Rhythm

Despite the extreme seasons, local time is almost normal:

Hour 0-17: Morning/afternoon (Uranus rotates once)

Hour 17-34: Evening/night (Uranus rotates again)

"We watch Uranus spin twice per Miranda day," Torres says. "It's hypnotic - this giant blue-green sphere rolling in the sky."

The Frankenstein Terrain

Outside, the landscape is insane. Literally.

To your left: Ancient, cratered terrain (light-colored).

To your right: Young, grooved terrain (dark-colored).

Ahead: A cliff rising 20 kilometers into space.

"Verona Rupes," Torres says, pointing at the cliff. "Tallest cliff face in the solar system. Drop a rock from the top, it takes 12 minutes to fall. Low gravity, you see."

"What happened here?" you ask.

"Best theory? Miranda got smashed to pieces - maybe multiple times - and gravity pulled the pieces back together. But they came back wrong. Mismatched. Like a jigsaw puzzle assembled by someone who lost half the pieces."

The Seasonal Workers

The crew operates on seasonal contracts:

"I signed on for spring/summer," Torres explains. "21 years. I arrived in 2007 when spring equinox began. I'll leave in 2028 when summer solstice starts. The next commander will work summer/autumn - 2028 to 2049."

"21-year contracts?"

"Yes. Some people work two seasons - 42 years. But most do one season and rotate out. The psychological impact of 42 years here is... significant."

Children of Seasons

You meet a child born on Miranda.

"I'm a spring child!" she announces. "I've never seen winter!"

She's 12 years old. She's lived her entire life during spring. She'll be 33 when summer begins. 75 when the next winter starts.

"Winter children are different," Torres says quietly. "The last batch lived 21 years in darkness. Special grow lights. Vitamin D supplements. They aged differently - slower circadian rhythms, different psychology."

"Seasonal identity is real here," she continues. "Spring children vs winter children. It's like being from different planets."

The Long Fall

You take an excursion to Verona Rupes. Standing at the edge, you look down. 20 kilometers straight down.

"Throw something," Torres suggests.

You drop a rock. It falls. And falls. And falls.

You watch for 12 minutes as it tumbles down the cliff face in Miranda's weak gravity. Finally, it hits the bottom - a tiny impact plume.

"Time moves differently here," Torres says. "Fast orbital cycles, slow seasons, and falling happens in extreme slow motion."

Uranus's Strange Clock

That night (hour 20 of the current Miranda day), you watch Uranus.

It's tilted 98° on its side, so you're watching the north pole face-on. It rotates every 17 hours - you've seen it complete one rotation already today, and you'll see another before sunrise.

But the SEASONAL motion is imperceptible. The pole is tilting toward the sun at 0.2° per Earth year. In 21 years, it will be fully illuminated.

Two time scales:

- Fast: 17-hour Uranus rotations (visible)

- Slow: 42-year seasonal tilt (invisible on human timescales)

The Broken History

Dr. Martinez, a geologist, explains Miranda's terrain.

"See those coronae? Oval features? Those are from when Miranda's interior was warm and convecting. But Miranda's too small to stay warm. It should have frozen solid billions of years ago."

"So what happened?"

"Orbital resonance. Maybe Miranda was in resonance with other moons, generating tidal heat. Then it fell out of resonance, froze, and got smashed apart by impacts. The pieces fell back together, creating this mismatched nightmare."

Time on Miranda: warmed by tides, frozen, smashed, reformed. Geological violence compressed into a tiny moon.

Planning for Seasons You'll Never See

Torres shows you the long-term plans.

"See this greenhouse design? We're building it for the summer crew. They'll need it in 16 years. I'll never see it used."

"Here - water storage for autumn. The autumn crew will need it when temperatures drop. That's 42 years away. Most of us won't live that long."

Multi-generational planning is built into Miranda Base. You build for crews you'll never meet, in seasons you'll never experience.

The Time Paradox

As you settle in, you realize: Miranda has the strangest time in the solar system.

Fast local time:

- 34-hour days (almost Earth-normal)

- Uranus rotates twice per day (visible motion)

- Regular circadian rhythms

Incomprehensibly SLOW seasonal time:

- 42 years per season

- Entire careers spent in one season

- Children born, grow up, have kids - all in same season

"It messes with your head," Torres admits. "Days feel normal. But seasons? You lose perspective. Your 'year' is 42 years long. Time stops making sense."

She pauses, looking at the fractured terrain.

"But then you remember: this moon was literally smashed apart and reformed. Time broke Miranda once. Maybe it broke time here, too."