Steffi Ehrlich

Steffi Ehrlich, a German astronaut born in 2021, was a member of Bowie Base One.

She studied physics at RWTH Aachen University, eventually gaining a doctorate in solid state physics (2046), before taking two post-doctorate positions at Argonne National Laboratory (in Chicago) and the University of California. In 2048, she was selected to join the German astronaut team in the European Space Agency. She was part of the crew for the tenth German moon mission. In 2051, she became married and had two children Ulrika and Lisette; shortly after her second child was born, she was selected for the Mars mission. While she initially refused due to family life, she changed her mind after an unspecified event that devastated many parts of Germany. (The obituary article is cut off at this point, only stating that she said "I don't want to live here any longer", seemingly a reference to Earth itself. The lack of reference to children thereafter would suggest the event in Germany involved the loss of her offspring.)

In 2059, The Flood invaded the base, planning to take over the population of Earth. She was separated from the rest of the group by falling water and she became trapped. She was infected with The Flood after the water was able to get through into the room she had sealed herself in. The infected physical form of Steffi was killed in the nuclear explosion set off by Adelaide Brooke. (DW: The Waters of Mars)