In the late 21st century, dust storms and global warming threaten humanity's survival. Earth became a virtual wasteland, with only some select areas where crops can grow in a worldwide collapsed economy that almost vanished away thanks to a worldwide Second Dust Bowl.

After the disappearance of the astronauts of the failed Hermes Mission that had the mission to search for habitable planets in the Trappist-1 planetary system, the United Nations initiated the Genesis Program, a one-crewed mission in which the record of humanity plus 1000 human embryos were sent into the geostationary orbit, expected to return in 50,000 years to Earth.