Calypso - Roadmap

CALYPSO

Roadmap

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Both Calypso by Oliver K. Langmead and the movie Interstellar by Christopher Nolan belong to the epic and science fiction genres. It’s possible to notice that both focus on a transformative journey featuring heroic figures, such as Rochelle in Calypso and Cooper in Interstellar. These main characters use space travel as a stage to explore similar topics such as memory, loss, isolation, and the persistence of emotional bonds across time and space. Despite their differences in formal aspects, poetic language versus cinematic depictions, they both address human concerns, such as environmental collapse, isolation, and the separation of family bonds, suggesting that even at the outermost reaches of space, our deepest challenges remain profoundly human. -->Can progress truly save us if it requires us to leave behind what makes us human? Why? Why not?

The New York Times article about Elon Musk and SpaceX’s plans for a Martian colony strongly connects with Oliver K. Langmead’s Calypso, as both explore the challenges of creating human life beyond Earth. In Calypso, the ark becomes divided between visions of a controlled, engineered Eden and a wild, evolving ecosystem. Similarly, Musk’s proposals for sustaining life on Mars through domed habitats, biotechnology, and controlled reproduction highlight the tension between technological ambition and human fragility. Just as Sigmund becomes a mythic leader shaping destiny in Calypso, Musk positions himself as a visionary driving humanity’s multiplanetary future. Both cases reveal that colonisation is not only about rockets and engineering but also about ethics, human essence, and power, reminding us that decisions made today will define how humanity imagines and inhabits its new worlds. Would you be willing to be part of this new civilization? Why? Why not?

Design a creative, interactive activity to reconstruct the plot of this story. Escape Room: Let’s escape from the Calypso before its destruction! Main objectives:

• To reconstruct Calypso’s storyline through different guiding questions
• To avoid Calypso’s destruction
• To connect the events with the different tasks

Activity: Students will play the game “Saving Calypso”, an interactive game that follows the storyline of the book Calypso by Oliver K. Langmead. The story starts by setting the context: You are Rochelle, part of the crew on board, and you have just heard that the Calypsois about to explode! Connect the following events that constitute the story behind this wonderful space ship. The questions are varied, ss will select the correct answer, insert a phrase, write a key word or explaining some parts of the story. Throughout the game, the teacher will ask them what event the task reffers to before they pass onto the following one. Main events:

1. The Calypso is presented as a stellar cathedral created by Arthur Sigmund to transport colonists to a new world.
2. Rochelle leaves the Earth and her family behind to take up her role as an engineer on the Calypso.
3. After being asleep for a very long time, Rochelle wakes up and realizes that the rest of the stasis beds are empty.
4. Rochelle meets Catherine, a bioengineer who has transformed parts of the ship into a living ecosystem.
5. Rochelle and Catherine explore New Terra, a new planet’s moon, and start working together to make it habitable for a new civilization.
6. Catherine’s transformation into a living garden that will be part of the New Terra’s ecosystem occurs.
7. Rochelle and Sigmund face the dilemma of whether they should tell the New Terrans about life on Earth to prevent wars and social disputes or to hide this information from them.
8. Sigmund orchestrates the destruction of both the Calypso and New Terra’s moon, causing apocalyptic devastation. Thousands die, including the ship’s crew and colonists.
9. Rochelle survives the Calypso’s destruction and stays in New Terra until her body becomes part of this ecosystem.

Key: Stage 1: Calypso. Stage 2: The pebble. Stage 3: They never woke up. Stage 4: To ensure the plants could survive and spread without human intervention. Stage 5: Here Lies Paradise. Stage 6: Garden Stage 7: Both are correct. Stage 8: Arthur Sigmund Calypso. Stage 9: Witness

We have selected #EndOfBeginning because, in the last chapter, Rochelle becomes the only survivor of the Calypso’s destruction caused by its creator, Arthur Sigmund. Fortunately, she manages to escape from it, landing on the new planet, but she cannot adapt to its atmosphere and dies, marking the true end of the Calypso’s crew. Her last thought recalls Catherine’s sacrifice, who has transformed herself into the new planet’s ecosystem, giving birth to a new form of life. Both deaths represent the end of their lives, but the beginning of a whole new world, with its own nature and civilization, without previous human knowledge.

Text-to-world connection:

Text-to-media connection:

References:

• Chang, K. (2024, July 11). Elon Musk envisions a city on Mars. His company is already preparing. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2024/07/11/technology/elon-musk-spacex-mars.html.

• Kaminski, I. (2025, 21 de febrero). Ley Yolanda: la lucha por mantener viva la ley argentina de formación ambiental. Dialogue Earth. https://dialogue.earth/es/clima/ley-yolanda-la-lucha-por-mantener-viva-la-ley-argentina-educacion-ambiental/
• Langmead, O. K. (2024). Calypso. Titan Books
• Observatorio Astronómico e Córdoba. (s. f.). ¿Un indicio de vida más allá de la Tierra? El telescopio James Webb detecta posibles compuestos biológicos en un exoplaneta. Observatorio Astronómico de Córdoba UNC. https://oac.unc.edu.ar/noticias-astronomicas/un-indicio-de-vida-mas-alla-de-la-tierra-el-telescopio-james-webb-detecta-posibles-compuestos-biologicos-en-un-exoplaneta/
• Pernigotti, G. (2025, 1 de mayo). Misiones tendrá el primer Biobanco de Biodiversidad de Argentina. Canal Doce Misiones. https://www.canal12misiones.com/ecologia/misiones-biodiversidad
• Warner Bros. Pictures. (2014, May 16). Interstellar [Film trailer]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zSWdZVtXT7E

Hashtags:

#PowerfulMindsDangerousMinds

#BecomeNature

#EndOfBeginning

This task is designed for upper secondary students with an intermediate English proficiency level (ages 16–18) in order to integrate the gender equality aspect within Comprehensive Sexuality Education (CSE) in the English learning classroom. Through the use of two moments in Calypso, students will create a dialogue to give Catherine and Rochelle a voice. Students are encouraged to critically examine the representation of authority and voice in Sigmund’s dominance over Catherine’s destiny (page 97-98), and Sigmund’s disregard for Rochelle’s perspective on telling the colonists the Earth’s history (page 210-214). Working collaboratively, learners identify how gender roles and social expectations influence these two characters. The dialogues are performed as role-plays, providing students with opportunities to practice linguistic functions such as negotiation, respectful disagreement, and opinion sharing. A whole-class discussion after students’ performance will invite them to connect the fictional examples to real-life contexts, including equitable decision-making and the importance of consent. The main objectives are to raise awareness of how unequal gender dynamics undermine autonomy, to promote the development of communicative competence in English and to bring critical reflection and discussion on equality to the classroom. In connection to the expected outcomes, they include both improved language use and a deeper understanding of the role gender equality plays in protecting individual dignity, personal autonomy and moral integrity. Finally, this task demonstrates the potential of Literature as a vehicle for reading comprehension and critical interpretation, fostering meaningful classroom discussions in which learners acquire not only linguistic skills but also the confidence to address issues such as gender equality.

Oliver K. Langmead has shown a deep interest in ecology and how nature is damaged due to human exploitation. Therefore, if he visited Argentina, we would share with him pieces of news related to how astronomy and environmental issues are approached in our country. We have chosen three pieces of news connected to the protection and preservation of natural resources. The first one is about the creation of a biobank in Misiones. The second one explains the difficulties in the application of the Yolanda law, which provides all public officials with mandatory training in environmental and climate change issues. Finally, the third piece of news deals with a recent discovery of biological components on an exoplanet, K2-18 b, located 120 light-years away from the Earth. As Langmead has worked collaboratively in astronomy facilities and has addressed these themes in his previous novels, we are sure he would like to know how Argentina is involved.

Trees’ roots often symbolise a source of connection, support, and stability since they anchor a tree firmly to the ground. This can be a suitable tattoo for Rochelle as it reflects her feelings towards Catherine, her bioengineer friend, who sustains her through difficult times. Rochelle claims that she doesn’t feel strong after Catherine’s metamorphosis, as Rochelle believes that Catherine won’t be there anymore. However, Catherine tells her: “If you ever need me, just look outside, Or fly down and walk among my forests” (p. 120). This comforts Rochelle who, near the end, when she realises she has survived the Calypso, feels Catherine’s presence all around her. This can be seen in the following excerpt: “Comforted by my friend, I catch my breath, At last feeling my heart begin to slow” (p. 234). Since Rochelle already has other tattoos that represent her loved ones (her son Benson, her daughter Ciara, and her husband Jakob), this new design can complement her existing tattoos by highlighting the emotional grounding she finds through her different bonds. We thought that this tattoo should be placed on her foot since it’s closer to the ground, suggesting that she is more connected to Catherine.