Saint Elisa

Elisabeth Rose Murfin, also called Saint Elisa of the Prosperity and often referred to by spacers as Bloody Elisa, was copilot of a transport ship called the Prosperity chartered to move materials and people between newly-colonized and Earth. She sacrificed herself to save her ship and its passengers when the ship nearly broke apart during a return voyage, her body lost in space. Elisa's actions were highly publicized and made her a folk saint among both civilian and military pilots, often known as the "Patron Saint of Vacuum", her legend surviving through the 26th Century and beyond.

Biography
Born April 11th, 2074, Elisa was fascinated by space travel in the days before cryo-pods and artificial gravity, and post-secondary school joined the crew of a commercial freighter running between Earth and Mars, learning from the more experience spacers. She proved an adept learner, and was considered a full member of the crew even before the end of the return journey months later. While she remained with the company for several years, Elisa continued to want the freedom of her own ship. Although the freighter's captain was reluctant to lose her, in 2096 he recommended a friend who was an independent pilot taking contracts from colonies in the Jovian Moons, and Elisa was soon joined the Prosperity as their copilot.

On March 14th, 2100, the Prosperity accepted a contract from the governor of to take a delegation to Earth to lobby in more support for the colony. Several weeks in, an oversight by the refueling and repair crew of Io's docks caused one of the engines to catch fire, threatening to make the whole ship explode. Elisa was first to the problem, and quickly realized that even if the fire subsided, the damage it had caused would strain the ship too much and snap it in half. Without time for a better plan, Elisa came up with a solution for both problems: by venting the engine room, the strain to the ship would balance out, and the fires would die out without oxygen. However, it meant sacrificing herself to save the Prosperity. Her last words were recorded over the ship's COM before she blew open the hull, the explosive decompression pulling her into airless space.

With so much of its fuel wasted, the Prosperity sent out an SOS and was assisted by a vessel, though the body of Elisa Murfin was never found. The story was reported by major news corporations, and people were soon calling her a saint. It became common for spacers setting out on voyages to pray for her to whichever deities they believed in, and popular depictions of explosive decompression soon gave rise to calling her "Bloody Eliza" as an oath. Her status as a folk hero/saint has led her to be compared to Casey Jones, an American folk hero famous for similar actions.