“Why so many?”
“Because, sir, to pull this mission off, we’re launching nearly 1.9 million pounds of payload, including the five boosters necessary to get it all to Mars. Now, the Jupiter rocket can lift an awful lot, but we were limited in terms of how many we could build by the number of SSMEs available – Space Shuttle Main Engines. There were sixteen left over from the shuttle era, and we’ve used all sixteen of them. After that, all that’s available is conventional heavy lifters: Atlas V, Delta IV, Falcon Heavy, and etcetera. Getting nearly a thousand tons of material into Low Earth Orbit is neither easy nor cheap. It’s not as though we have an elevator. Our transit ship actually required three launches. The first was our space habitat – living quarters and provisions – that launched last November and has been in orbit since then. Our EDS is launching this morning, and we, along with our CSM, Command/Service Module, are launching tomorrow. That’s the way it is because that’s the way it has to be. Limits of technology.”
“I see. I didn’t know.”
“Oh, and that doesn’t include the other three launches that weren’t ours: the two MAVs from NASA, the greenhouse from the Europeans, and the joint Sino-Japanese launch of the track loader/backhoe, which should prove useful, if it works.”
“If it works?”
“Yes. On paper it looks like a good idea, but we have concerns about reliability. It may require an awful lot of work just to keep it running on Mars, and that level of maintenance effort is not built into our flight plan.”
“What’s the problem?”
“It has a lot of hydraulics. That could be a problem in Mars’ environment. The builders don’t think so, but we’re not so sure.”
“I’m sorry, Captain, one last question. Why Ares Juliett?”
“Did you serve in the military, sir?”
“No I didn’t, a fact that I frequently regret.”
“Ah. The phonetic alphabet goes Alfa, Bravo, Charlie, Delta, Echo, Foxtrot, Golf, India, Juliett, Kilo, etcetera. ‘J’ or Juliett is the tenth letter of the alphabet, and this is our tenth launch. Tomorrow’s launch is Ares Kilo.”
“Thank you for your time, Captain. I sincerely appreciate it.”
“You’re welcome, sir.”
KSC PAO, “T minus four minutes and counting. Ares Juliett is Go for launch.”
Jeff turned to Gabe and rolled his eyes.
She smiled.
“How are you doing?”
“I’m nervous.”
“Yeah.”
They stood silently for a minute staring across Banana Creek at the launch pad, three and a quarter miles away.
KSC PAO, “T minus three minutes and counting. Ares Juliett is Go for launch. SSME gimbal checks are complete, the main engines are now in their start position, and the Ground Launch Sequencer is initiating external fuel tank liquid oxygen pressurization.”
Jeff felt a hand on his shoulder and glanced left to see Abby peeking around Gabe at him. “How are you doing, boss?”
He smiled nervously. “Okay, I think.”
She nodded. “We’ve come a long way.”
“Yeah.” Jeff glanced past her at Susan who stood, leaning against the railing, staring east toward pad 39A. “What are you looking at? That’s not this morning’s launch.”
Susan sighed. “I know. But it’s not this morning’s launch that kept me awake all night.”
He stared at her for a moment, then looked at Gabe.
She bit her lip, then whispered, “Me too.”
KSC PAO, “T minus two minutes and counting. Go for launch.”
Jeff glanced at his watch. “Looks like we’ll be right on time.”
Gabe nodded.
He looked east. “Nice day.”
“If you start talking about the weather I’m going to smack you.”
“Okay, sorry. Was there something else you’d like to talk about?”
She slowly shook her head.
Jeff gave her a concerned glance but said nothing. It suddenly occurred to him that watching this launch might not have been such a good idea. For the next minute and a half Jeff felt like he was fighting sleep apnea, constantly having to remind himself to breathe.
KSC PAO, “T minus 31 seconds, Go for auto sequence start.”
Gabe grabbed his hand and squeezed, hard.
Except for the KSC PAO’s voice over the loudspeaker, the room was dead silent.
KSC PAO, “T minus 15 seconds, we are Go for launch.”
Jeff stared intensely across the creek and the brush and swamps of Merritt Island, and held his breath, again.
KSC PAO, “T minus 10 seconds, 9, 8, 7, main engine ignition…”
An enormous plume of steam billowed southward from the base of the launch pad as the Jupiter-241’s four main engines ignited and instantly vaporized tens of thousands of gallons of sound suppression water.
“How long till the sound arrives?”
Gabe whispered, “15 seconds.”
KSC PAO, “… 2, 1, SRB ignition and we have liftoff of Ares Juliett at 11:29:49 Eastern Daylight Time.”
A cloud of smoke belched northward from the pad, exhaust from the SRBs reflecting from the flame trench.
Jeff saw it coming and heard Gabe gasp as the sound pressure wave rippled across Banana Creek. When it struck, he winced.
Six seconds later, the sound level was punctuated with the addition of the roar from the SRBs. The building shook. Gabe covered her ears with her hands, her jaw dropping.
Jeff stood in awe, frozen in place, as the roar quickly approached its peak of 115 decibels and the Jupiter cleared the tower. “Good god!” Shortly after clearing the tower, the Jupiter began to roll, pitch and yaw, heading for its equatorial Low Earth Orbit. In a minute, all that Jeff could see was the contrail. He glanced at Gabe. “Wow.”
She slowly removed her hands from her ears, tightly closed her eyes and whispered, “I wish it had blown up.”
Jeff raised an eyebrow. He knew she was scared, but only then did he realize just how scared. He didn’t even wait for SRB separation, he just leaned around Gabe, glancing at Abby and Susan. “Let’s get back to the O&C.”
They nodded.
Jeff quickly thanked the crowd and made excuses about a busy day ahead, that weren’t really excuses, and ushered his team toward the waiting van.
As they climbed in, Molly said, “Did you want to stop by the Firing Rooms again.”
Jeff shook his head. “Later. Just get us back to the O&C, please.”
During the 15-minute drive back down to the KSC Industrial Area, not a word was said.
As they exited the van, Jeff said, “Would y’all come with me?” He led them upstairs and into the O&C astronaut lounge. “Have a seat.” They all took seats around a small table. Jeff sighed and tapped his fingernails on the table. “I think it’s time we had a little chat.” He glanced at each of the women in turn. None of them met his eyes. He was pretty sure they knew what he was thinking. “Abby, yesterday at the beach house you said it’s not too late, that we could still forget the whole thing and go lay on beach in Bermuda.”
She nodded.
“Gabe, twenty minutes ago you said you wished this morning’s launch had blown up. Didn’t sound to me like you were joking.”
She stared at the table, wringing her hands, and shook her head.
“Sue, you haven’t said anything, but your silence these past few days has been pretty loud.”
She glanced at him and shrugged.
Jeff smiled and nodded. “Yeah, kind of thought so. We’re in the T minus 11-hour hold, and the countdown is due to resume in about four and a half hours. If we’re going to scrub this launch – and the mission – now would probably be a good time to do it.”
They all glanced at him.
He shrugged. “If all of you are having misgivings, well, you’re not alone. Yeah, I’ve also been having second thoughts, and a lot of them. Gabe, I’m scared too.” He shook his head. “I can’t imagine anyone not being
. I’m scared of launching, I’m scared of seven months in space, I’m scared of a year and a half on Mars, if we even make it down from orbit alive, and another seven months in space, and I’m scared of reentering Earth’s atmosphere and splashing down in the ocean in a capsule that was designed and built by a bunch of guys that died of old age years ago. However, in spite of being scared out of my wits, I still want to go.” He rested his elbows on the table, his chin on his hands and shook his head. “But I can’t do this alone, and don’t want to. Any of you still want to go with me? Or do I call the NASA Administrator and tell him to bring out the backup crew he’s been quietly preparing in case something happens to us.” He glanced around, waiting for a response.
After a few moments, Gabe slowly raised her hand.
“Gabriel, do you have something to say?”
She looked up at him and winced. “Yes. I do wish it had blown up.” She shook her head. “But it didn’t.” She dropped her gaze and stared at the table. “Do you remember what I told you in your office after we determined where Pathfinder landed?”
Jeff smiled and nodded. “Yes, I remember.”
“Nothing’s changed, except that what I told you is even more true today. Wherever you go, I want to go with you. Even if it’s Mars.”
He reached across the table and grasped her hands. She looked up. He gazed into her eyes. “That’s good. Because wherever I go, I want you to come with me.”
She smiled, nodded, and stopped wringing her hands.
He glanced at Abby and Susan, who then glanced at each other.
Susan stared at the table for a while then looked at Jeff. “I don’t have Gabe’s memory, so I don’t recall exactly what I was thinking four years ago. But it was probably something like, ‘This is too fantastic to ever actually happen, but it sounds interesting, and he’s offering me an awful lot of money’.”
Jeff smiled at her.
She shook her head. “But here we are. I’m not afraid of dying, that happens to all of us. When our time is up, that’s it. But I do have some notions of a full life I’d like to live. However, if I stop now, I don’t know what life would be left for me.” She smiled at Jeff. “Yes, I’ll go with you. Not because it is the path I choose, but because it’s the only path I can go down… and live with myself.”
Jeff reached across the table, smiled, and grasped her hand. “Thank you.” Then he turned to Abby. “You were the first to sign on. You said you wanted to go less than an hour after we met. I’m a little surprised that you’d have cold feet now.”
Abby glared at him. “Cold feet? You’ve got it all wrong. I don’t have cold feet. God, there’s nothing more I want than to go.”
He raised his eyebrows and stared at her. “Then what’s the problem?”
“The problem is, I’m never going to get to lay on that beach with you.” She nodded at Gabe. “I can’t compete with her, and I’ll just be in the way. You don’t need me; you can fly that hunk of junk without me. It’s been great fun, but this isn’t going to work.” She pushed back from the table and stood.
“Sit down,” said Gabe.
Abby gave her a surprised glance. “Huh?”
Gabe glared at her. “I said, sit – down!”
Abby sat.
Gabe took a deep breath and sighed aloud. “I have my own dream of how this fairy tale should play out. But that doesn’t mean my dream will come true. In two and a half years in space and on another planet a lot can happen.” She shook her head. “Abby, in case you haven’t noticed, I’m not stupid. And, I wear these…” she jiggled her glasses, “…but I’m not blind.” She pointed at Jeff. “I know you love him…” she glanced at Susan, “…and you do too.” She paused, took another deep breath and turned back to Abby. “You don’t know how this story will end, and neither do I. Who knows? Maybe I’ll fall in a crater and become just another piece of man-made junk littering the planet. So, carpe diem. Put your footprints on Mars, and worry about tomorrow… tomorrow. Besides, let’s face it, we’re probably all going to die up there. I’d prefer that we didn’t, but it is a real possibility. Do you want to be remembered as the one that chickened out at the last minute, and didn’t go? Do you want to be the one watching TV when we’re all posthumously awarded the Congressional Space Medal of Honor? Do you want to be the one that doesn’t get a school named after you? The one that everybody just whispers about? The footnote? You’d still be alive but, badass fighter jock, is that what you really want?”
Abby glared at her. “And I always thought you were a certifiable nut-case.”
Gabe grinned.
Abby turned to Jeff. “Why couldn’t you have just gone with two couples?”
“You know why.”
She nodded.
“And Gabe’s right, it ain’t over till the fat lady sings.”
Abby rubbed her forehead and sighed. “Yeah, alright. Shit, I guess all three of us are going with you.”
Jeff rolled his eyes. “Lord have mercy.” Then he looked at each of them. “Alright then, shall we get on with it?”
CHAPTER 16
Tuesday, March 22, 2016 (T minus 5 hours, 27 minutes)
Jeff rolled over in bed and glanced at the countdown clock on the wall. 03:07:24, and counting. He looked at his watch, 0609. Not much point in trying to get to sleep now, there’d be a knock on the door in 10 or 15 minutes, shortly after the T minus 3-hour hold was initiated. As he lay there in the dark, watching the clock tick down, he realized what he really wanted to do at the moment was go down the hall to Gabe’s room, hang out the Do Not Disturb sign, and jump into bed with her. If he were to die this morning, regret at not doing that would probably be his final thought.
All the planning, work, training, and… expense, and here he was; five and a half hours from launch. Jeff thought he should be excited, but he wasn’t. In fact, he was scared shitless. What was I thinking? Abby was right; it still wasn’t too late. On the other hand, Heidi’s Jupiters had performed flawlessly… so far. The Sundancer and provisions, and the EDS, were in orbit and waiting for them, and there was no reason to expect this launch wouldn’t go just as well as the others. Still, he had to admit they’d been lucky, very lucky. Thirteen launches connected with the mission. Not including Atlas V and Jupiter variants, seven different launch vehicles from three countries, and including boosters, over 900 tons of payload. All successful. Nobody else on Earth had a record like that. Very lucky. But then, there was always that flip of the coin. It can come up heads thirteen times in a row, but the odds of tails on the fourteenth toss are still 50:50.
If they made it to orbit, maybe they should just spend a few days admiring the view, then report some problem, de-orbit and come home. It would still be a hell of an accomplishment… closer to footprints on Mars than anyone else had got, or even tried to get. He rubbed his face. But like Sue said, could he live with that?
03:00:00 and the countdown clock stopped. It’s time. Crap.
Jeff switched on the bedside lamp, got up and pulled on a bathrobe. He wanted a cigarette. God, how he wanted a cigarette! There was a knock at the door. Ugh, they sure don’t waste any time. He crossed to the door and opened it.
“Good morning, Captain,” said Molly. “You’re already up.”
“Yeah, didn’t sleep much.”
She smiled softly. “That’s typical.”
“I suppose so.”
“We’re holding at T minus 3 hours and the Test Director has given the Go for flight crew wakeup.”
Jeff nodded. “Molly, don’t you ever sleep?”
She grinned and shook her head. “Not when there’s a launch. Breakfast is ready in the dining room. Following that, we’ll head over to the briefing room, give you your weather briefing, and then proceed to suit-up. And we’ll be departing for the launch pad in about two hours.”
“Okay, thanks.”
Jeff showered, shaved, brushed his teeth, pulled on a flight suit and headed for the dining room. He wasn’t hungry, but a cup of coffee sound
ed good. A couple shots of bourbon sounded better, but he hadn’t seen a bar in the O&C building. Damn. In the dining room he found a chef at the breakfast buffet and Abby sitting alone at the table with a cup of coffee. “Good morning.”
She glanced up. “Morning, boss.”
He walked over to the buffet and poured a cup for himself.
“Would you care for breakfast, sir?” said the chef.
Jeff shook his head. “Thanks, but I don’t think so.”
The chef smiled softly, and gave him an understanding nod.
Jeff figured that he’d done this before. He strolled to the table and sat opposite Abby. “How’d you sleep?”
“I didn’t.”
“Yeah, well, that makes two of us.”
She nodded.
“You’re not eating?”
Abby shook her head. “Not hungry.”
Jeff stared at her, puzzled. “You? Not hungry? That’s a first.”
“No. I dunno, it just feels a little too much like a condemned man’s last meal.”
Jeff chuckled. “Yeah, I know what you mean.”
The door opened and Gabe and Susan entered. Morning greetings were exchanged, they poured cups of coffee, and joined Jeff and Abby at the table.
He glanced back and forth between them. “Doesn’t look like you two slept much.”
They both shook their heads.
“Okay, that makes it unanimous.” He looked at Gabe. “Want some breakfast?”
She gave him a sickly frown. “No. I only like seeing my food once. If I eat something, a minute after SECO I’ll be seeing it again. No thank you.”
Abby cringed and groaned. “God, that’s gross. Make sure you’ve got a barf bag.”
Gabe rolled her eyes. “I have a whole stack of them.”
Jeff smiled and glanced at Susan. “How about you?”
“No thank you. The only thing I want this morning is a handful of sedatives.”
Abby smirked and pointed at her. “Now there’s an idea. Maybe we could climb into the Command Module, take a couple pills, and just sleep through the whole damn thing.”
Jeff chuckled. “Yeah, right. As soon as NASA’s Flight Surgeon saw we were all asleep, they’d recycle to the T minus 20-minute hold and wait for us to wake up.”
Margaritifer Basin (Margaritifer Trilogy Book 1) Page 57
