Read Online The Orthogonal Galaxy by Michael L. Lewis - Free Book Online
Authors: Michael L. Lewis
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their helmets,
Garrison looked out of the window to see Ayman driving the scooter
back in the direction of the control room. Within a minute he had
joined them.
“ NASA has asked us to send
them the faulty headset so that they can assess the problem,” Ayman
informed Garrison as he swapped the faulty set out of his helmet
for the good one.
Ayman returned to the
center of the room on the scooter and set the faulty set down.
After returning, he handed Garrison a pair of dark goggles.
Noticing that Dmitri had already put a pair of goggles on himself,
he followed the lead of his colleagues.
“ I show you the SAR
controls,” Dmitri gestured at the main control panel. “First, we
decompose the headset. Because it is such small object, this will
only take few seconds.”
The first button that
Dmitri pushed extinguished the lights from the main room. Then, he
dimmed the white lights from the control room, leaving a faint glow
of red lighting that shined directly onto the control
panel.
“ Now, we replenish
environment with correct chemical vapor level,” Dmitri depressed
another button, which initiated a whistling sound that persisted
for a couple of minutes.
“ Environment sensors in
room inform computer how to correct vapor levels. Once correct
levels are reached, this light here will turn on.”
When the team of
astronauts saw the square green light with the words “Environment
Stable” on it, decomposition could begin. Dmitri slowly turning a
knob clockwise, and while doing so, Garrison could see a green glow
develop in the main room. He could see a slight haze from the
chemicals which had recently been injected as well. In a flash, he
saw a steady stream of lasers scanning the room from the windows
along the walls. Green, red, and white lasers splashed throughout
the room for about six seconds, and then a sudden darkness and
quiet enveloped the whole of the SAR pad.
Pushing one last button,
the lights were turned on in full and the three astronauts removed
their goggles. Garrison looked out into the room and noticed that
the headset which sat on the floor was now gone. Decomposed into a
fine dust which he could not see due to the distance, the headset
became nothing more than a stream of 0s and 1s rushing up to one of
the four satellites orbiting Mars. Within fifteen minutes, the data
would arrive on Earth, allowing technicians there to replicate and
study the headset to determine the source of failure and improve
the design in the future.
“ And that’s all there is
to it, Garrison.” Ayman said grabbing O’Ryan on the shoulder. “One
of the most technologically complicated inventions of the
millennium boiled down to the push of a few buttons.
While Ayman and Dmitri
were the first to place their helmets on their heads, Garrison’s
head continued to shake his head in awe of the scene he had just
witnessed.
…
The team of astronauts
left the SAR pad and continued on their tour, first stopping at the
well house on the Southern end of the crater. Before studying the
underground world of Mars, NASA knew that the SAR pad could be used
for delivering water to the astronauts. A 55-gallon barrel of ice
could easily be decomposed and sent once to the camp. That formula
could then be saved into the computer, allowing the astronauts to
create as many barrels as were needed. However, after sufficient
investigation, areologists were quick to conclude that there likely
were large reservoirs of water underneath the surface. After
drilling in several locations on the crater, a reservoir had indeed
been found several thousand feet below the crater floor. While
there was no cycle of precipitation to replenish the reservoir,
experts had calculated that the reservoir that had been tapped into
should last for a few decades of use in the camp.
The road from the well
passed along a couple of smaller craters, evidence of impact since
the main crater had been established. O’Ryan was tempted to ask
whether his colleagues
Garrison looked out of the window to see Ayman driving the scooter
back in the direction of the control room. Within a minute he had
joined them.
“ NASA has asked us to send
them the faulty headset so that they can assess the problem,” Ayman
informed Garrison as he swapped the faulty set out of his helmet
for the good one.
Ayman returned to the
center of the room on the scooter and set the faulty set down.
After returning, he handed Garrison a pair of dark goggles.
Noticing that Dmitri had already put a pair of goggles on himself,
he followed the lead of his colleagues.
“ I show you the SAR
controls,” Dmitri gestured at the main control panel. “First, we
decompose the headset. Because it is such small object, this will
only take few seconds.”
The first button that
Dmitri pushed extinguished the lights from the main room. Then, he
dimmed the white lights from the control room, leaving a faint glow
of red lighting that shined directly onto the control
panel.
“ Now, we replenish
environment with correct chemical vapor level,” Dmitri depressed
another button, which initiated a whistling sound that persisted
for a couple of minutes.
“ Environment sensors in
room inform computer how to correct vapor levels. Once correct
levels are reached, this light here will turn on.”
When the team of
astronauts saw the square green light with the words “Environment
Stable” on it, decomposition could begin. Dmitri slowly turning a
knob clockwise, and while doing so, Garrison could see a green glow
develop in the main room. He could see a slight haze from the
chemicals which had recently been injected as well. In a flash, he
saw a steady stream of lasers scanning the room from the windows
along the walls. Green, red, and white lasers splashed throughout
the room for about six seconds, and then a sudden darkness and
quiet enveloped the whole of the SAR pad.
Pushing one last button,
the lights were turned on in full and the three astronauts removed
their goggles. Garrison looked out into the room and noticed that
the headset which sat on the floor was now gone. Decomposed into a
fine dust which he could not see due to the distance, the headset
became nothing more than a stream of 0s and 1s rushing up to one of
the four satellites orbiting Mars. Within fifteen minutes, the data
would arrive on Earth, allowing technicians there to replicate and
study the headset to determine the source of failure and improve
the design in the future.
“ And that’s all there is
to it, Garrison.” Ayman said grabbing O’Ryan on the shoulder. “One
of the most technologically complicated inventions of the
millennium boiled down to the push of a few buttons.
While Ayman and Dmitri
were the first to place their helmets on their heads, Garrison’s
head continued to shake his head in awe of the scene he had just
witnessed.
…
The team of astronauts
left the SAR pad and continued on their tour, first stopping at the
well house on the Southern end of the crater. Before studying the
underground world of Mars, NASA knew that the SAR pad could be used
for delivering water to the astronauts. A 55-gallon barrel of ice
could easily be decomposed and sent once to the camp. That formula
could then be saved into the computer, allowing the astronauts to
create as many barrels as were needed. However, after sufficient
investigation, areologists were quick to conclude that there likely
were large reservoirs of water underneath the surface. After
drilling in several locations on the crater, a reservoir had indeed
been found several thousand feet below the crater floor. While
there was no cycle of precipitation to replenish the reservoir,
experts had calculated that the reservoir that had been tapped into
should last for a few decades of use in the camp.
The road from the well
passed along a couple of smaller craters, evidence of impact since
the main crater had been established. O’Ryan was tempted to ask
whether his colleagues
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