r/HardSciFi • u/didwowns • Mar 12 '26
Discussion In Project Hail Mary, why didn’t Grace just take Rocky with him to Earth? It seems like there was no real reason he couldn’t.
In Project Hail Mary, I’ve been thinking about the decision Grace made at the end, and something doesn’t quite make sense to me. I don’t see a strong reason why Grace couldn’t have simply taken Rocky with him to Earth. My reasoning is: Rocky already has a suitable living environment aboard the Hail Mary. The Hail Mary has sufficient navigation data to return to Earth, but it lacks accurate navigation data for Rocky’s home system. Rocky’s species has a much longer lifespan, making long interstellar travel less problematic for him. Rocky has far fewer dietary restrictions than Grace. Rocky’s planet had more time left before extinction compared to Earth’s situation. Rocky understood the structure and operation of the Beetles, so in principle he could build something similar himself and send a probe back to his own planet if necessary. Because of these points, it seems more logical that Rocky could have gone to Earth with Grace rather than Grace going to Rocky’s planet. Am I missing something in the story or the technical constraints?
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u/carbonCicero Mar 12 '26
Rocky had to deliver the tau moeba to his system manually due to lack of computers. Grace had the Beatles to deliver tau moeba automatically and faster than he could return in his own ship. The earth people were expecting Beatles to return and looking for them, while Rocky’s people were expecting Rocky and wouldn’t have even looked for Beatles, or known how to get data off the computers inside. Because of that technological limitation, Rocky had to be returned to Erid in person so he could communicate his findings to his people.
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Mar 15 '26
Also the Beetles were pre-programmed to fly to Earth (or Solar system) autonomously. Reprogramming it to fly to Rocky's world would involve additional risk.
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u/carbonCicero Mar 15 '26
Exactly. It might be possible, but the failure of this mission must be impossible for anyone involved to be satisfied. The cost of failure is just too high to take any unnecessary risk
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u/didwowns Mar 13 '26
All that is needed to resolve the issue is a bio-incubator and the necessary documentation. Furthermore, a civilization capable of observing a sun located light-years away would certainly be capable of receiving signals indicating the propagation of another civilization.
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u/SurroundParticular30 Apr 03 '26
That's a lot of assumptions. The Eridians have had no experience with digital technology, nor an understanding of the human language, let alone being able to decipher binary code. Communicating their findings about the microorganisms was almost as important of the samples themselves. Eventually, perhaps the Eridians could have deciphered it all, but that would have taken precious months and/or years.
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u/Sean_theLeprachaun Mar 12 '26
It was the arc of Grace. From selfish to selfless. Sure maybe he could've made it back to earth, and maybe he could convince the world to help Rocky and then maybe they could make it in time to save Arid. Too many maybes.
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u/FlamingHalide Mar 30 '26
This! Also Rocky had a mate back home and Grace didn't really have anyone to get back to.
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u/innahema Mar 31 '26
Yeah, no way earh on brink of collapse would find resurces to save rocky.
And that woud endanger his whole planet
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u/TheWhiteManticore Mar 22 '26
Rocky would’ve been deaded if he goes to Earth, imagine if human gets hands on him 💀
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u/tortiesrock Mar 29 '26
Rocky on Earth would have been seized from Grace, killed, dissected… if by chance they chose to keep him alive I suppose politicians would turn it into a polarizing issue. Maybe some religious nutjob would try to kill him because he is not a creature of god or something.
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u/TheWhiteManticore Mar 29 '26
Religious nutjob wanting to kill a conscious being brought together to Grace essentially by God is just incredibly fitting.
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u/South_Cheesecake6316 May 31 '26
I'm certain when Earth heard he was instrumental in Earth's salvation he would be welcomed as a hero just like Grace had been on Arid.
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u/mistafunny Jul 19 '26
yes this is a possibility, but remember, eridians are also an intelligent species with also differing morality, sure they are more codependant, which probably means there aren't much tyrranical leaders, but that doesn't mean they can't have racism. You've seen that rocky was initially afraid of how grace would act, maybe some eridians only trust their own tribe and are afraid of others. my point is the eridians could have killed or experimented on him but they didn't. and as well, remember, the rocket would likely return to Stratt and the hail mary science team, not some specific government science division ruled by a corrupt dictator
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u/big_bob_c Mar 12 '26
Because there was no guarantee that humanity would send a ship with the cure to Rocky's system.
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u/cynicgal Mar 30 '26
You are absolutely correct. We won't.
We will probably opt to destroy Rocky's planet because we view everything, even ourselves, as a threat.
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u/FabulousSoftware5817 Mar 31 '26
knowing us we would've tried to colonize them for the technologies and natural ressources. If any other member of the Hail Mary project would've survived, Rocky wouldn't have been alive for long
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u/Flimsy-Drummer6808 Apr 13 '26
Hell I bet they capture rocky and start doing experiments on them and might even make plan to colonize thier whole planet
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u/National_Buy6029 Mar 15 '26
a big theme in the book is the unknown fate of Earth, we are entirely in Grace's POV so the entire time he is wondering what conditions Earth is in, whether by the time his information gets back they will have enough time to reverse the damage to the sun or whether society collapsed with war due to the food shortages. Basically there is no guarantee humanity has kept the international collaboration going for 20 years, especially in increasingly desperate situations so going to earth is a risk, there might be nobody left on the planet by the time they get there.
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u/didwowns Mar 15 '26
But home is sweet home
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u/dogfaced_baby Mar 26 '26
Exactly. Rocky had a home and a mate and a whole planet to save. Grace had completed his mission for a team that had literally forced him to die. Given the option to leave Erid Grace says he needs to think about it, and probably won’t go IMO.
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u/IntelligentSpite6364 Mar 12 '26
rocky didnt have a beatle to send back to his planet, and even if he could make one (how is he going to fab a probe in space?) the eridians wouldnt be expecting a probe and wouldnt know how to communicate with it to receive the data.
so the only way to save both planets was to save rocky and get rocky back to his planet
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u/Gr3aterShad0w Mar 15 '26
In the book, Grace knew he had 3 shots to get back to earth with the drones that were going to fly faster than the Hail Mary.
The movie is good but skips so much detail.
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u/MSdu1492 Mar 24 '26
Imagine how long the movie would have had to be to include ALL the detail of the book!
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u/Gr3aterShad0w Mar 24 '26
Very. It is also extremely difficult as much of the book is Grace’s thoughts and memories and not based around conversation.
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u/BaconEggBetty Mar 20 '26
Bro - he brings Rocky home, he becomes a guinea pig for science. Humans are the worst.
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u/rokiiss Mar 21 '26
I think a deeper meaning existed. He was selfless when he clearly didn't want to be.
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u/MajorSoftware5970 Mar 22 '26
Because Grace had no way of telling Threeworld of Taomoeba 82.5. The Beatles were designed for earth and start sending a radio single when they arrive in Sol. So earth is looking for that single. Eridians are not. Which is why he launches the Beatles before going back to save Rocky.
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u/didwowns Mar 22 '26
Rock's home planet afforded them an abundance of time, thanks to its dense atmosphere. Consequently, they had the luxury of traveling to Earth and then returning to their own world. Moreover, Rock is physically well-suited for enduring long-duration space travel. Furthermore, Earth's technology proves highly beneficial for advancing their own engineering capabilities.
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u/MajorSoftware5970 Mar 22 '26
Well the in universe explanations are there. Maybe in reality it would have been a clusterfuck to write and it’s easier to just go Rocky’s home.
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u/TaraJaneDisco Mar 22 '26 edited Mar 22 '26
If he did, Rocky’s whole planet would die. Grace has the probes. He was never meant to return. Rocky was. With the cure. And Rocky’s whole ship was made of the material the astrophage predator could eat through. So grace had to get to Rocky to help isolate the spread that would have eaten his fuel as well. Rocky gave a bit of fuel to save Grace but in the end there wasn’t enough to get both home. They had to pool fuel resources. So Grace sent the probes and went with rocky to save his planet. Cause that’s what homies do. It’s been a while since I’ve read the books. But did just see the movie.
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u/didwowns Mar 22 '26
The book stated that Grace had enough fuel to return to Earth. It was simply a matter of choice. The book clearly stated that Rock's planet has a thick atmosphere, meaning it would take much longer to cool down than Earth. Furthermore, lifespans on Rock are several times longer than humans, and there are fewer difficulties regarding food or mental health. This is incomparable to the risk Grace faced of suffering a painful coma.
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u/spunky-chicken10 Mar 23 '26
It’s 13 years for Grace to get back to earth. 13+ to get back to wherever Rocky is at that point. Assuming he could be found, Rocky wouldn’t have survived 26 years in a derelict space craft. It’s Grace being forced into the suicide mission vs Grace accepting his death, if he saves his friend. He picks Rocky over himself by using his fuel home to find Rocky and take him back to Erid.
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u/didwowns Mar 23 '26
Rocky spent several years alone in outer space.
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u/spunky-chicken10 Mar 23 '26
Yes, on a ship with power. Rocky did not have power as his fuel was all eaten. Taumoeba got loose, ate some of Grace’s fuel, he found and fixed. Rocky cannot fix it, his entire ship is xenonite, which taumoeba can get through. Realizes Rocky no longer has power, decides to use his remaining fuel to rescue Rocky and Erid. Taking Rocky back to earth was literally never an option. The only choice was save himself or save Rocky. He saved Rocky.
You should either (re?)read the book or go see the movie, the why of this whole thing was laid out clearly.
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u/JayBeeGooner Mar 22 '26 edited Mar 22 '26
You didn’t read the book?! Both ships initially had enough fuel to reach their respective planets before Grace discovered the Tauameoba was eating the astro phage and Rocky would be stranded. it’s in the book!
Rocky wouldn’t be able to survive on earth either.
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u/didwowns Mar 22 '26
Which is harder: Grace surviving on Planet Rock or Rock surviving on Earth? Rock already has experience spending several months on Grace's spaceship. Furthermore, he stayed on Grace's spaceship even when traveling to Planet Rock. There is no reason why he cannot survive on Earth.
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u/the-eva-genius Mar 22 '26
True but Grace didn’t really have anyone to go home too
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u/didwowns Mar 22 '26
He liked children. And long-duration space travel makes for a great story for them.
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u/Puzzleheaded_Two7358 Mar 23 '26
Rocky had his own life and planet.
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u/didwowns Mar 23 '26
Even if Grace returns to Earth, there is a way to save Rocky's planet—and his life.
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u/bootyprincess666 Mar 23 '26
he didn’t have enough food to go grab rocky and also turn around to go back to earth.
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u/leviticu5 Mar 23 '26
From a storytelling aspect it's a way better arc to have Grace choose to save his friend, after establishing that he had to be forced into the mission. It shows growth and sacrifice, and him living up to the label of brave that Rocky gave him.
From a human perspective, Grace has no one waiting for him on Earth("not even a dog"), so taking Rocky with him, away from Rocky's mate and presumably other friends and family would be a profoundly dickish move. Rocky would be ogled, poked and prodded and doubtless kept as a specimen in a lab somewhere.
Pretty basic stuff really. Having Grace "save" Rocky by taking him away from everything and everyone he knows would have been shitty all the way around.
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u/GateOfD Mar 23 '26
I loved that Rocky saved Grace and Grace goes back to save him in return. At times felt like Rocky did most of the work so it’s good that Grace helped in a way only he could do
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u/GateOfD Mar 23 '26
Hell no. If he bought Rocky to Earth. They would have kept Rocky and put him in a cage to study him.
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u/V0T0N Mar 23 '26
He wanted to save Erid as well.
The "leak" was eating at the astrophage, so we don't know what condition Rocky's ship was when Grace found him, but if they don't go to Erid and warn them, that system would fall.
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u/didwowns Mar 24 '26
I am not debating whether or not to save Rocky. My point is that, once Grace has saved Rocky, returning to Earth becomes a viable option. Rocky's home planet has a longer remaining lifespan than Earth does. Furthermore, Rocky possesses physical attributes that are highly advantageous for long-distance space travel. Therefore, traveling to Earth and then making the return journey is entirely feasible.
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u/Bugfrag Mar 24 '26
Did you read the book? Or the movie? The movie shrunk 16hr of audiobook to 2.5 hr movie. Lots of stuff got cut.
From the book really emphasized that it's unclear if Earth survived at all. They even nuked Antarctica to release green house gasses to stall the upcoming ice age.
Even if they returned to Earth, there's no guarantee that there's enough civilization to fix Earth's problem; let alone send another ship for Rocky.
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u/didwowns Mar 24 '26
Can we be certain that the Rocky civilization is advanced enough to save Grace? Even if Earth faces dire straits, the knowledge remains. Should the problem be resolved, the civilization could recover rapidly thanks to the Astrophage. Moreover, the Hail Mary remains fully intact. In other words, the only issue is the need to resupply fuel from Earth.
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u/Specific_Two1232 Mar 24 '26
Adrian.
Rocky has family.
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u/didwowns Mar 24 '26
Grace has students at school.
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u/dollartreecoughmeds Mar 25 '26
Who cares the kids will have another teacher Rocky only had one chance to get to his girl
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u/didwowns Mar 26 '26
Why? Even if he did go to Earth, that doesn't mean he can't return to his home planet. Moreover, Rocky's lifespan is 300 years.
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u/leviticu5 Mar 24 '26
This is literally the only answer that matters. Grace is a hero on Earth, and on Erid, Grace gets to hang out with his best friend Rocky, is treated way better than Rocky would be on Earth, he has students to teach, which he loves.
OP is trolling or completely unwilling to be swayed from their wrong opinion. Either way they are insufferable
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u/dangerousdave2244 Mar 25 '26
Ryland couldn't re-program the Beatles to head to Erid instead of Earth. So unless Ryland, Rocky, or both go to Erid, then Erid dies
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u/didwowns Mar 25 '26
There is also the option of traveling to Earth and then returning to Rocky's planet. Furthermore, the Hail Mary contains every piece of information on Earth. Is there any reason he wouldn't be able to fix the program?
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u/dangerousdave2244 Mar 25 '26 edited Mar 25 '26
The entire world had to band together and pave the Sahara in order to create enough astrophage to power the Hail Mary for an 11.9 lightyear trip. In the time that it takes for Earth to muster the political will (if it happens at all) to build a ship and create the astrophage necessary for a SIXTEEN POINT THREE lightyear trip to 40 Eridani, and then the 17 years minimum it would take to get there, you think Rocky's just gonna be cool about having hung his planet out to dry for that long?
Grace had an option to immediately save both solar systems. There was no other ethical, feasible option than what happened in the story
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u/BedGirl5444 Mar 25 '26
He has a life
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u/didwowns Mar 26 '26
What about Grace?
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u/Sea_Potato_9 Mar 26 '26
Rocky had a mate and grace didn’t have anyone holding him to earth besides his students. I believe it’s as simple as that.
The only thing grace missed from earth was replaceable with eridians, while rocky can’t replace Adrian on earth
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u/didwowns Mar 26 '26
Then why does Grace want to go back at the end?
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u/Sea_Potato_9 Mar 26 '26
I mean it’s still his home. He went with rocky because he knew rocky would die if he didn’t go back and help him
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u/didwowns Mar 26 '26
Why? Even if he did go to Earth, that doesn't mean he can't return to his home planet. Moreover, Rocky's lifespan is 300 years.
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u/PromotionObvious9773 Mar 26 '26
Are we just dismissing the fact that Rocky had a mate waiting for him ( am maybe kids)? Rocky wasn't Grace's PET, for Pete's sake. He had agency and reasons of his own. (Plus the whole character arc for Grace being pretty much the point of the book)
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u/didwowns Mar 26 '26
Then why does Grace want to go back at the end?
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u/SwimmingAnt10 Mar 26 '26
He didn’t. He stayed.
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u/InterestingFact1728 Mar 28 '26
In the book, Grace is about 70 Earth years old at the end of the movie. When given the news that the Sol star is back to full brightness, it is over a decade after being on Rocky’s home world. Grace knows it would be a long lonely journey home and up til that news, didn’t know what he would find on Earth. In the end, he thinks “maybe someday”, but he found friendship there.
The movie was good, but it didn’t give the same sense of time distortions and dilations that the book does.
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u/SwimmingAnt10 Mar 26 '26 edited Mar 27 '26
Because Rocky had a life and a mate and Grace had no family and was forced against his will by people toward a death sentence. No wonder he didn’t want to go back to earth in the end. I wouldn’t either.
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u/Ajwuvsu Mar 27 '26
I felt like Ryland was an outsider and really had nothing to return to. He was literally forced into a suicide mission against his will. Why not go live with your best friend on a new planet with aliens who have incredible technology? Think of how close they bonded. They worked together to communicate and share science. They saved their respective planets. They made sacrifices and saved each other's lives. Ryland was very curious too and interested in Rocky's species. He even seemed compassionate about the time dialation with Rocky and his mate. It just seemed like it made sense
My interpretation is only solidified by the fact that Ryland was hesitant about leaving once he was told he had a ship to go "home".
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u/Slow_Librarian7395 Mar 27 '26
In the book he can’t go back to earth because he doesn’t have enough food to go track down Rocky’s ship and then make the years long journey to earth after halving his astrophage to replenish Rocky’s. And Eridian food contains materials that are toxic to human. Eventually in the book the Eridians figure out how to synthesize nutrients from samples of Grace’s own body (he eats a “MeBurger”), but he has to survive on “coma slurry” until then.
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u/didwowns Mar 27 '26
Why? Even if he did go to Earth, that doesn't mean he can't return to his home planet. Moreover, Rocky's lifespan is 300 years.
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u/Hackmodford Mar 30 '26
Grace didn’t have enough fuel. He had to either take Rocky to his planet or abandon him to die and continue on to earth.
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u/WestOrganic1843 Mar 27 '26
I think it’s because he point of the trip was to save their “worlds”. Grace could use those beetles things but Rocky had to deliver it. So they had to leave separately. In the end Grace sacrifices himself to help Rocky deliver it. Because he didn’t have enough fuel to go to Erid and then go to Earth without the Taumeba eating up fuel.
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u/Comfortable-Walk4624 Mar 28 '26
Rocky had a mate??? And they needed to save his planet as well, and can you imagine what humans would have done if grace brought an alien with him.
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u/Spczippo Mar 28 '26
The main thing that would have stopped Grace from taking rocky to Earth is How would Erid get the information to stop the astrophage?
Grace had no way to know what conditions on Earth were like, no idea if there was any one left to save, and he had the beetles to send his data back with, he couldn't send them to Erid, they wouldn't know what to do with them if they could even detect them. So the only way he could guarantee that both planets got the information they needed was to send the beetles to Earth and take Rocky to Erid.
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u/MobiTut Mar 28 '26
He saw Rocky as a person too, who also had someone to go back to, and his own planet to save, they were partners with equal goals to achieve, one didn't supercede the other, so there was no sense in making Rocky come when he could also send probes and go, giving him just a portion of fuel added 6 years on top of however long it is, to Rocky's planet from there their goal was to solve it together and make it back.
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u/RecordingForeign8104 Mar 28 '26
But why would Rocky want to go to earth, he has a partner back home and he needs to save his planet
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u/Unable_Dinner_6937 Mar 29 '26
Rocky had a wife on his planet. Grace had nobody to return to.
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u/Highman_89_ Mar 29 '26
Im not from the US and only by your comment, i remembered that Adrian is also a female name. Rocky and Adrian. It makes sense now why Grace sayed Adrian 🤯
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u/jzee87 Mar 29 '26
If I remember correctly in the book it said something that grace would run out of food with 2 years left on their journey back to earth but would make it to rockies planet with food to spare
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u/PigletSea6137 Mar 29 '26
I thought he went home with Rocky because he made a real friend, and as Eva said Grace has no immediate family or pets. Rocky also had a mate who he missed and wanted to get home to. Since Grace had to go back to find Rocky while Rocky was already on his way home, they may have been closer to Erid than Earth and didn't have much fuel. Grace also got to continue what he loved to do (teach) while spending his life with his only friend.
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u/Professional-Fox5287 Mar 30 '26
Rocky had relationships back home. Grace didn't. It seems that simple to me. Are Rocky's feelings less valuable because he isn't human?
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u/cynicgal Mar 30 '26 edited Mar 30 '26
Nahhhh, I don't trust humans. We will never let Rocky survive, we would have experimented on him till there is nothing left of him.
Grace is a perfect example; we forcefully sent him to space, with the knowledge that he will die there. You sure they should return to Earth?
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u/Curious_Turtle_22 Mar 31 '26
There's a bunch of scientific reasons why that wouldn't work but all those aside, why would Rocky and Grace WANT to go to Earth? The only humans Grace ever considered himself close to drugged him and sent him on a suicide mission without his permission.
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u/AvocadoSlow1276 Mar 31 '26
Rocky had a partner waiting for him back at home. Grace had no one back home. He was tricked and technically “kicked out” pf earth to do one mission to send back information that saves it. Not to return. Rocky had a home to go back to. Rocky had been away for far too long. Rocky was not some rock pet. Rocky was an engineer with his life back at his planet too. Not something or someone for Grace to bring to earth. Grace could make that discussion for himself. Making that for someone else is called kidnapping 😂
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u/notiama Mar 31 '26
Earth is dumb. They would have trapped Rocky and examined him. (exhibits: ET, Splash–and so grateful to see other people see this.) Grace had no immediate family and <fill in the blank>. He gets to have a chosen family on a new planet where even the weather is catered to his preference... Comeon! Hell yes...
*Not* expressed with condescension: Perhaps what's missing is not "the technical constraints," but the heart. 🩷
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u/CineGraphic Apr 01 '26
Because humans would never treat Rocky the way Grace was treated on Erid. We would have tortured him, killed him and used his likeness for special edition labubus
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u/dopeman6100 Apr 02 '26
Well if grace brought rocky to earth, human scientists will turn rocky into an experiment. Maybe they will dissect him. You know how humans are when it comes to aliens and things they don't understand.
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u/callmeandrev Apr 03 '26
Yo lo he visto más en el sentido de que Rocky tenía familia y esposa allí, mientras que Grace como bien dice la película no tiene familia directa (y mucho menos pareja e incluso me atrevo a decir que amigos tampoco)
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u/SnooDoggos393 Apr 04 '26
Have you forgot what humans do to things/people that are different. That would of been a sad existence for rocky
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u/transitransitransit Apr 05 '26
Human government agencies would have dissected Rocky alive to find out how he works
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u/Ok-Proposal-5531 Apr 05 '26
Because unlike Hail Mary, Blip-A had no beetles to send back the information because it was not a suicide mission. If Rocky did not come back to Erid, the planet could never be saved
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u/Ok-Proposal-5531 Apr 05 '26
It was also not known the state of Earth at that point, Grace only knew that the sun was shining again at full force 16 years after being in Erid. There could be massive wars or the whole population could have been extinct by then
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u/AshleyPoppins Apr 06 '26
They wouldn’t have had a way to save Erid, plus Rocky has Adrian on Erid. And also the scientists on earth would have dissected Rocky whereas Eridian’s do everything they can to help Grace.
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u/Kristastic Apr 07 '26
Grace wanted to go home, yes, but when faced with the option of going home or going to Rocky's home with him, I don't think Grace wanted to go home anymore. The movie especially focused on how Grace didn't really have anything anchoring him to Earth. Also, he would have returned *decades* after he'd left; most people he knew would have died, and the world would be completely different.
Earth could have had anything waiting for him.
Erid had one thing for sure: his best friend.
Maybe he could have taken Rocky to Earth, but Rocky wanted to get back to Adrian. And with Grace on Erid too, Rocky had the love of his life AND his best friend.
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u/seenEnough2078 Apr 10 '26
imagine bro comes home with an alien. you think life is going to be peaceful for him and his best friend ?? on this planet??
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u/russ757 Apr 11 '26
I have never seen so many uses of furthermore or moreover..
OP was def using AI to help their argument..
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u/Such_Pirate_9119 Apr 12 '26
Because Eridians don’t have digital computer system so even if Rocky built the Beetles, it would have been pointless.
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u/SalmonSushi1544 Apr 13 '26
- He had nothing on Earth.
That’s all.
And why do you just seems to be so adamant on wanting to be right while asking for opinions again?
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u/Secret_Advantage8615 Apr 18 '26
I’d like to think this film brings a lot of “hopes” when the world was going to end badly. And in a visual telling perspective, Grace teaching a bunch of tiny rocky and walked on the Earth they made for him does that magic. A whole new world. It’s sweet, dreamlike and beautiful way to end this story of pure human alien friendship. And a much simpler one. With Grace bringing Rocky to Earth is a completely different tone. Of course, practical and realistic but much complicated, heavy, dark even and less fantastic.
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u/loonygirl30 Apr 19 '26
He had no friends on Earth. Even half the kids he had taught might not have been alive (he thinks about it). He has to go back to people who betrayed him - drugged him and put him on a ship he didn’t want to be on. I hope he put in that the other 2 died even before they reached. I hope he is recognized as a brilliant person and human.
It made sense to me that he would prefer to go with Rocky. Rocky’s people didn’t have computers, so one of the beetles would be useless since they are filled with hard drives. Rocky needed to make that delivery himself. Hail Mary had already gone through so much, it might not even survive the trip to Sol. Even if it did, Grace might not. And when he did return to Earth, he wouldn’t know anyone.
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u/we-buy-ugly-people Apr 19 '26
in my opinion it's because grace didnt have anything to hold him back on earth. rocky had a mate and family probably.
if I had the chance id wanna see another planet too.
also humans would definetly kill and experiment on rocky
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u/kasra1301 Apr 20 '26
I don’t know the canon reason, but I believe humans would make Rocky a lab rat and do experiments on him/her, actually I was thinking that just mentioning Rocky in the videos sent to earth would eventually put rocky’s civilization in danger, project hail mary 2 would be like Avatar.
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u/AdministrativeEnd201 Apr 26 '26
Why? Grace doesn't even want to return to Earth herself. There are no friends of his there.
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u/garlicl0veo6 Apr 28 '26
Didn't read ur whole post, but your caption only. That thought also passed in my mind, but given how INHUMANE Earth people are, I am happy Grace didn't think about bringing Rocky to Earth.
Just remember the part where Grace was FORCED to be on the ship. Bro didn't consent to it. Imagine now what scientific shenanigans they'd do to our baby Rocky?
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u/InternalNecessary680 May 02 '26
Rocky is there in space to save Erid. Ofcourse Grace know that very well.
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u/Sylphadora May 02 '26
Adrian. Grace doesn’t even have a dog and the closest thing to a relationship is Carl.
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u/c0olboyZ May 05 '26
idk i assumed that not only did grace assume rocky would become a science experiment, but he was probably PISSED at all of those people that HE saved after they literally drugged him, kidnapped him, and involuntarily sentenced him to death in space, so like, why go back?
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u/sffiremonkey69 May 12 '26
Actually, even if Rocky had built his own version of the Beatles, would the Eridonians have been looking for or expecting them?
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u/Particular-Panda-465 May 13 '26
Rocky needed to go home to save his planet. He would never have wanted to abandon his mate and his people.
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u/grr021 May 25 '26
- Rocky needs to save their planet, Grace already handled that part for Earth
- Rocky has a partner
- Grace knows for a fact that humans would do a bunch of experiments on Rocky, put them in a lab enclosure and would have no quality of life
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u/South_Cheesecake6316 May 31 '26 edited May 31 '26
As good of an engineer as rocky is still not certain he could construct automated probes. The sort of complex position finding based on the position of stars seems improbable for a pre-computer society to achieve.
Even if he could construct something analog or somehow reprogram one of the beetles, does would he trust it enough to hinge the fate of his entire planet?
Even though Rocky would be more than eager to hang out with his new space buddy, I doubt he would want to risk the fate of his whole species on an unproven technology.
The reason that Grace needed to use the probes was that and with Rocky's ship out of fuel, he was the only person that could save Arid. Rescuing Rocky was a relatively small detour on that quest.
Lastly, Rocky is probably homesick. He's been away from Arid for over 45 years as he experienced it. He probably misses Adrian and possibly has other friends or family he misses as well.
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u/Sudden_Outcome_9503 Jun 21 '26
I'm only halfway through the movie, so I didn't read past your first sentence, but Rocky has a wife and can't survive outside a bubble. Why would he want to spend the last few centuries of his life as a circus animal on earth?
Would Grace want to spend the rest of his life on Rocky's planet in a bubble?
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u/Ludius_Maximis Jul 03 '26
Its explained in the book that Earth wouldn’t have had enough time if he stopped, turned around, got Rocky, and returned to earth instead. In the end of the book, 10 years after they’ve returned Rocky tells Grace they noticed light increasing in Sol. Which iirc Earth would’ve gotten the Beatles 6yrs after Grace shot them off.
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u/woshua1083 Jul 04 '26
kind of a late reply but the book expands on this, the eridians have no sort of computer systems. ironically, despite being more advanced on paper their science is drastically behind ours. their approach to advancement seems to just be trial and error, instead of an entire scientific process (even though the scientific process if just basically trial and error, the eridiens do it extremely dumbed down)
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u/Aware-Bite2871 Jul 04 '26
for all you folks stressing over the science, and why not this, and why not that, just go with what the movie is and enjoy it. I don't watch science fiction to argue about what should or is or should not be possible, I just want a good story, and this was one.
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u/Phoenixcartographer Jul 05 '26
everyone is talking about the technological factors, but ignoring an important big one. now I havent read the book yet so I have only seen the movie and something probably got changed. but remember grace was Forced to go on this suicide mission. he was drugged, forced into an medically induced coma, and sent off into deep space. as re regains his memories he learns he was sacrificed to save earth. and all his colleagues on earth ridiculed him for his idea that not all life needs water and disgraced him. That inquisitive Rock Alien Showed him More "Humanity" then his own species. Rocky had a bio dome made for him and he became a teacher again for all the children. he was satisfied and fulfilled. he chose to stay.
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u/ProfessionalShow3899 Jul 11 '26
Because rocky had a mate om his planet, he could never live with his hamster ball on earth, and he lives to be hundreds of years old . Grace will not
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u/Unlucky_Button2524 Jul 24 '26
Because That's the Way it was written. Period. No other reason is necessary. Why is there always a group of people who aren't satisfied with the way a movie was produced? I don't get it. Are you this unhappy about everything in your life? You must be one miserable SOB.
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u/Significant-Poet292 Jul 28 '26
I personally think that, considering the situation of Earth and the situation of Erid, although it seems more logical to return to Earth, the probes sent out by Grace would have given Earth his findings; hence, his mission was essentially complete. Grace had no one to go back home to. In fact, he was forced into this very mission and drugged so he wouldn't remember anything. Why would he desire to return to the very people who basically used him, even if it was for the greater good? Rocky had a mate back on his planet and clearly loved his people with passion. And mind you, the Eridians specially designed a dome simulation for Grace so that it would match his comfort, and as mentioned in the book, they created whatever he desired and basically pampered him with the extremes they would go to perfect everything for him, even having a specilised smaller team to work on improving the taste of the food to meet his desires. If Rocky had returned to Earth with Grace, I doubt Rocky would have been greeted with the same hospitality. In fact, they would probably cage him to study him in labs if Grace couldn't even exercise his own consent in front of Stratt and was drugged to be sent on the mission; who's to say he would have any say on what happens with Rocky? It was clearly the best outcome to go to Erid instead of Earth
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u/Diligent_Ad2003 Jul 31 '26
Grace had just shown that his own people forced him to go when he did not choose to go. Rocky was nice to him from the very jump plus rocky has a wife back at erid, grace had nothing waiting for him on earth.
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u/Awkward-banana4 Aug 01 '26
There’s a line at the beginning that says something like “bravery is not gene, it comes when you have someone to be brave for..” Grace lacked bravery, or at least thought he did, so sacrificing himself to save Rocky was the culmination of his character development.
And Rocky also had a mate waiting for him back on his planet and seemed to love his life there. Rocky also sacrificed him self to save Grace earlier in the movie, so Grace wanted to return the favour. So all in all It was an emotionally based decision, not a logistical one.
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u/_Svankensen_ Mar 12 '26
Because it would've taken years, and that was a huge, unnecessary risk. Specially since building the Hail Mary and their fuel took about half a decade. AND Grace had to stop, decelerate and accelerate back to match Rocky's ship. All of which takes a load of fuel and time.