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Authors: Michael L. Lewis
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worried about meteor impacts. An impact was
the one thing that Garrison feared the most during his time on
Mars. Remembering the lesson that his trainers had engrained in him
memory, he shook his head and said to himself, “Stop it, O’Ryan!
You’re much more likely to be killed by lightning on earth, than to
be killed by a meteor impact on Mars.”
On the west side of the
crater, Ayman pointed out the communication towers to Garrison as
the team stopped briefly in front of an array of ten large
satellite receivers and various radio transmitters all pointed in
different directions. After Ayman enumerated the uses and functions
of each tower, the team drove on, passing by two large fuel tanks
used to store the propellant needed by departing shuttles. Here,
the road parallels the two-mile long airstrip. Garrison could see a
Mars Shuttle down the runway just outside of the hangar. He knew
that this was Ayman’s aircraft, and that soon, the crew on Mars
would consist of just himself and the Russian.
Now at the north end of
the crater, Ayman parked the vehicle at an electric sub-station on
the other side of the crater. The station tied into a vast field of
solar panels that filled in the entire crater north of the
airstrip. Because of the distance from the sun, solar electricity
was less efficient than it was on Earth, and that meant that the
power needs of the camp would require a two square mile area of
solar panels collecting as much sunlight as possible. Ayman led
Garrison on a tour of the sub-station and the solar field. As they
returned back towards the vehicle, the sun was getting lower on the
horizon.
“ Well, gentlemen,”
announced Ayman. “I will be leaving you here. I need to get that
thing off the ground before the Sun sets.”
“ Thanks for the tour,
Ayman.” Garrison was appreciative of the hospitality but also felt
tentative of his departure. While Dmitri was certainly a capable
host, talk had been intermittent, since he deferred much of the
orientation to his American companion.
“ You’re welcome, O’Ryan.
And good luck with your mission here.” Ayman saluted Garrison,
since handshakes were not feasible in the spacesuits. He turned and
saluted Dmitri as well. “Mr. Boronov, it has been a pleasure
serving here with you for the last two years. I’ll look forward to
seeing you at our joint press conference and debriefing in a couple
of months.”
Dmitri bowed and saluted.
“It has been much pleasure of mine to work with you here on
Mars.”
With the farewell
complete, Ayman turned on his heels and walked towards the shuttle.
Garrison and Dmitri watched as their fellow astronaut climbed the
ladder into the cockpit and heard over the common channel that
Mission Control had cleared him for takeoff as soon as he was
ready. Garrison could see the burn of the engine just before the
sound reached his ear. And then, in a flash, the shuttle was down
the runway, in the air, and soon out of sight.
…
“ Looks like he’s gone,”
Garrison turned to his companion. “What do we do now?”
“ Well, friend,” Dmitri
began. “We have instructions to repair valve gauge on fuel tank
number one. When we fueled the Nevada shuttle, we noticed a
malfunction on gauge. NASA gave instruction for fixing
it.”
“ Ok, then,” accepted
Garrison. “Let’s go do it.”
“ Boronov to Mission
Control. The Nevada has successfully taken off and we are heading
to fuel tank number one for pressure gauge malfunction assessment
and repair.”
After this brief
announcement, the pair walked back to the MTV where Dmitri took
over the controls. As he began to back away from the solar field,
he stopped abruptly. “Oh. I forget to grab toolbox. We will need to
go back to bunker for tools.”
Arriving back at the
workshop garage, the two astronauts exited the MTV and stopped
abruptly on either side. Turning quickly to his colleague, Garrison
exclaimed, “What was that?! I just felt something odd.”
Dmitri turned
the one thing that Garrison feared the most during his time on
Mars. Remembering the lesson that his trainers had engrained in him
memory, he shook his head and said to himself, “Stop it, O’Ryan!
You’re much more likely to be killed by lightning on earth, than to
be killed by a meteor impact on Mars.”
On the west side of the
crater, Ayman pointed out the communication towers to Garrison as
the team stopped briefly in front of an array of ten large
satellite receivers and various radio transmitters all pointed in
different directions. After Ayman enumerated the uses and functions
of each tower, the team drove on, passing by two large fuel tanks
used to store the propellant needed by departing shuttles. Here,
the road parallels the two-mile long airstrip. Garrison could see a
Mars Shuttle down the runway just outside of the hangar. He knew
that this was Ayman’s aircraft, and that soon, the crew on Mars
would consist of just himself and the Russian.
Now at the north end of
the crater, Ayman parked the vehicle at an electric sub-station on
the other side of the crater. The station tied into a vast field of
solar panels that filled in the entire crater north of the
airstrip. Because of the distance from the sun, solar electricity
was less efficient than it was on Earth, and that meant that the
power needs of the camp would require a two square mile area of
solar panels collecting as much sunlight as possible. Ayman led
Garrison on a tour of the sub-station and the solar field. As they
returned back towards the vehicle, the sun was getting lower on the
horizon.
“ Well, gentlemen,”
announced Ayman. “I will be leaving you here. I need to get that
thing off the ground before the Sun sets.”
“ Thanks for the tour,
Ayman.” Garrison was appreciative of the hospitality but also felt
tentative of his departure. While Dmitri was certainly a capable
host, talk had been intermittent, since he deferred much of the
orientation to his American companion.
“ You’re welcome, O’Ryan.
And good luck with your mission here.” Ayman saluted Garrison,
since handshakes were not feasible in the spacesuits. He turned and
saluted Dmitri as well. “Mr. Boronov, it has been a pleasure
serving here with you for the last two years. I’ll look forward to
seeing you at our joint press conference and debriefing in a couple
of months.”
Dmitri bowed and saluted.
“It has been much pleasure of mine to work with you here on
Mars.”
With the farewell
complete, Ayman turned on his heels and walked towards the shuttle.
Garrison and Dmitri watched as their fellow astronaut climbed the
ladder into the cockpit and heard over the common channel that
Mission Control had cleared him for takeoff as soon as he was
ready. Garrison could see the burn of the engine just before the
sound reached his ear. And then, in a flash, the shuttle was down
the runway, in the air, and soon out of sight.
…
“ Looks like he’s gone,”
Garrison turned to his companion. “What do we do now?”
“ Well, friend,” Dmitri
began. “We have instructions to repair valve gauge on fuel tank
number one. When we fueled the Nevada shuttle, we noticed a
malfunction on gauge. NASA gave instruction for fixing
it.”
“ Ok, then,” accepted
Garrison. “Let’s go do it.”
“ Boronov to Mission
Control. The Nevada has successfully taken off and we are heading
to fuel tank number one for pressure gauge malfunction assessment
and repair.”
After this brief
announcement, the pair walked back to the MTV where Dmitri took
over the controls. As he began to back away from the solar field,
he stopped abruptly. “Oh. I forget to grab toolbox. We will need to
go back to bunker for tools.”
Arriving back at the
workshop garage, the two astronauts exited the MTV and stopped
abruptly on either side. Turning quickly to his colleague, Garrison
exclaimed, “What was that?! I just felt something odd.”
Dmitri turned
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