Last month, we asked you to give us a list of five items you’d bring along if you were selected to colonize a planet orbiting a Red Dwarf. Congrats to Teddi Depller! She wins a copy of The Ross 248 Project, signed by the editors.

Here are the five things I would take if I were selected as a colonist on a mission to colonize a red dwarf's planet:

1. Powerful sunscreen because habitable stars in red dwarf systems are likely to be closer to their sun than we are to ours and I'm a freckled, light-skinned human.
2. My favorite wool fleece sweater that I took when I visited Harbin, China, in 2002 for the Chinese New Year and Ice Festival (located near Siberia, Russia). The dramatic temperature difference of a potentially tidally locked planet's habitable "stellar eyeball" and the nightside means wearing layers!
3. Sunglasses tinted to make things look more earth-like. There's nothing like a blue sky and green grass. I've played enough No Man's Sky (a FPS space exploration game) to know how wearisome the colors of non-terran planetscapes can become. It really affects my mood, and my fellow colonists are counting on my naturally optimistic attitude to encourage them when the colonist blues hit.
4. A digital copy of the Stargate TV shows (SG-1 and Atlantis—but not Stargate Universe; nobody needs that kind of negativity, especially not colonists far from home). The 312 episodes have enough length, variety, and humor to loop endlessly. (Sorry, Firefly, fourteen phenomenal episodes just won't be enough entertainment for the rest of my life.)
5. My pillow. Even though Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy says a towel is a traveler's most essential item, I always take my pillow when I travel. Getting a good night's rest makes it easier to tackle even the toughest day as a colonist.

Thanks for giving me a welcome break from the work grind today as I imagined packing my bags and taking off for the stars.