Man's Hope
Page 28
The National Space Institute/L5 society had inquired about chartering Man's Hope, but Frank had had to refuse. He sent them to talk to Anton about Kliper/Parom. All three Burans were very busy. They were now launching on a one-month turnaround. Public pressure had forced Frank to remove the reactor aboard Man's Hope, but it wasn't really needed in near-earth space anyway, with undiluted solar power and constantly developing progress on ion engines.
Weatherly Station was coming along nicely. Tunneling into the asteroid not only provided ores that could be processed into metals and minerals, but it also created living space inside. The Man's Hope end now boasted a crew of over fifty, and some of the most advanced computer systems Earth could produce. Frank was still being careful, though. None of them had been made in America.
The other end, owned by Space International, was humming. As quickly as tunnels could be dug, the materials extracted were sent to a solar driven, laser-powered smelter, where it was reduced to its constituent metals and minerals, and separated. Since all the processing was taking place in the vacuum of space, the metals and minerals they were producing were purer than any produced outside of laboratories on Earth. The tunnels left by the miners, of course, were immediately converted to living, office, and shop spaces, as well as laboratories. There were several hundred people aboard Weatherly Station now, and the Burans were hauling cargo and people both ways.
The inquiries by the National Space Institute/L5 Society had not been in vain. They were partners now, working on the production of Solar Power Satellites, to the spirited howling of Earth's power utilities. Frank had purchased several square miles of desert land in the southwest United States, and the National Space Institute was busily installing microwave receivers and transmitters on it. At Weatherly, solar cells were cheap and easy to produce, given the purity of the minerals available and the surrounding vacuum. A subsidiary of SpaceInt was constructing a solar array covering more than an acre in area. Together with a large microwave transmitter, it would make up a satellite to be placed in a geostationary orbit above Frank's desert land. The satellite would collect solar energy and convert it to microwaves, which it would beam down to the National Space Institute microwave receivers. If it worked as they hoped, cheap, abundant energy would soon be a reality. First, of course, they would have to fight the "environmentalists" who were already filing lawsuits to prevent SpaceInt and National Space institute from "destroying the delicate desert environment." Apparently, they considered even coal-fired and nuclear power plants preferable to Frank's microwaves. Alternate sites were being scouted in North Africa, as the U.S. continued its retreat from technological progress.
Frank looked out of the thick glass panel that was his only guilty pleasure. That window had to be thick, to stand the pressure differential between Weatherly Station and the vacuum outside. It also had to be glass, and thick glass is heavy. It had cost him over a hundred thousand dollars to buy that window and ship it to Weatherly.
He turned back as David Tarrant knocked and drifted into his office. Frank admired his easy familiarity with microgravity. "Hi, Frank," he said.
"Hi, David. What can I do for you?"
"I was just wondering how soon I can plan on going to Mars."
Frank frowned. "Mars? Why Mars?"
David shrugged. "Isn't that the natural next step? Another planet?"
Frank shook his head. "That's the media's idea of the natural first step, not mine. Actually, I've been thinking about the next step. The Space Institute people want to bring back another asteroid, to put at L-5. They even know which one they want, 243 Ida."
David frowned. "That's a big sucker!"
Frank nodded. "Yes it is, much bigger than Eros. But that's a good thing, if you want to dig out a space colony. They want to charter SpaceInt I. But all three Burans are going constantly. I hope they hold out until Anton gets Kliper/Parom flying."
"Isn't Kliper/Parom scheduled to fly next month?"
Frank tried to push himself to his feet, and found himself drifting several feet above his desk. He cursed as David laughed aloud and grabbed his foot, pulling him back down until his shoes grabbed the velcro of the carpet.
"Damn it," he said, "You'd think I'd have learned to handle microgravity by now. Anyway, about Kliper: Yeah, Anton says it'll fly next month for real. He's sent me the measurements so we can make the cargo sections. That way they won't have to be made on Earth and launched."
David nodded. "Good idea. He's planning to use Paul's 'space train' idea?"
Frank had begun pacing, the "rip, rip" sound of the velcro reassuring to him. "Yeah," he said. "The Parom part will be the drive section, with a medium-sized rocket and several ion engines. The idea is that they will launch the Parom into orbit, followed by the Kliper. Kliper will hook up with Parom, and come here. We'll add as many cargo sections as we need, and send it back. They'll send the cargo sections down. Parom, and maybe even Kliper, will stay in orbit. They'll pick up cargo sections the Russians have launched, and carry them back."
"That sounds like a space truck, not a space train."
Frank grinned. "I know. But if we make a couple of extra-long cargo sections, there's no reason we can't make a ship twice or three times as big as a Buran, add a fuel tank section, and send it out to the belt. Actually, we can make it as big as we want. Anton's design will give it a rocket kick start, and then ion engines for constant boost."
David was getting excited. "Hey, you're right! Put airlock doors on each section, and you could pressurize as much of it as you need. You could launch a ship a thousand feet long!"
Frank nodded, his grin even wider. "That's what I've been telling the Space Institute people. And Anton says that if it's not passing through atmosphere, there's no reason a space ship needs to be tubular in shape. We could make the cargo sections any length or shape we want. Well, we could as long as we maintained the center of mass."
David rose, more carefully than Frank had. "Frank, that sounds cool! Hell, you could put a big ball in the middle, and make a real space ship!" he calmed suddenly. "But that's for the Space Institute/L5 people. What kind of goodies do you have for me?"
Frank shook his head. "Nothing that spectacular, I'm afraid. I think our next step should be a moon colony."
David frowned. "What for? I mean, there's nothing there we need."
"Sure there is. A stepping-stone to space. Remember, the original idea was to colonize space. Well, the Space Institute people are doing it their way. A moon colony is my way."
He waved a hand. "You know L-1 isn't stable. Eventually, we're going to need to move Weatherly Station. That's where I part company with the Space Institute people. L-4 or L-5 will be as far from Earth as the moon is. So, why not colonize what's already there?"
"There's no water on the moon," David protested.
Frank shrugged. "So we catch another comet. Crash a comet into the moon wherever we choose and build a base under it. Put a big tent over the comet, and it won't vaporize away. The colonists will have oxy and water for years.
"No matter what we do, David, we're always going to be faced with the necessity of lifting everything through the Earth's gravitational field until we can get a real, self-sufficient colony going. And unless we have a real, self-sufficient colony, man still faces extinction. Besides," he added irritably, "at least the moon has real gravity!"
David shook his head, grinning. "You wouldn't believe how hard it was for us to deal with Earth's gravity again."
"Yes, I would," Frank replied. "I was there, remember? Seeing you guys get exhausted after a few minutes. Watching you have to work out for hours every day to try to rebuild your muscles. I'm not looking forward to going back to Earth myself." He grinned again. "I'd rather go to the moon, with its 1/6 gravity!"
"Okay," David said with a smile, "You've sold me. When do I start?"
"You don't," Frank replied. "You've had your fun. It's Mark Jenson's turn. You're going to learn what it means to be a millionaire businessman. You'll
be in charge of the program."
David's smile disappeared. "You're grounding me? You bastard, that's how this whole thing started!"
Frank shook his head. "Look around you. Do you look like you're grounded? You won't be riding the Roman candle, but you're going to be in space for a long time."
David was silent for a moment. Finally, he sighed. "All right, you bastard. Tell me about it."
The two men hovered over Frank's desk, planning the future of mankind.
The End
About the Author . . .
I was born and raised in St. Louis, Missouri, where I achieved nothing notable. I joined the Navy, and for the next twenty years was largely successful in tricking the Navy into thinking that I wasn't really a lazy slob. During this time, I met and married a wonderful woman. We had a beautiful daughter together. My wife passed away in 2008, and I had the incredible luck to meet another amazing woman. We married in December 2010. After retiring from the Navy, I attended the University of Arkansas. I received a BSBA in Human Resources Management, to my utter surprise (and that of some of my professors!).
I seem to be attracted to low-paying government jobs, and upon graduation, I became employed by the State of Arkansas as an Employment Interviewer and Employment Services Supervisor. There, I completed another 20-year career. Since then my life has been devoted to writing and convincing my new wife she didn't really marry a lazy bum.
I retired in March of 2011, and we retired to the Philippines. Yep, I actually Ran Off To An Exotic South Seas Island With A Beautiful Native Girl! How many people actually get to live a cliché?
***
If you enjoyed this book, be sure to discover these other fine e-book titles by William Zellmann at Amazon.com
Death Ship Quest – http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0053UO7H4
The Emperor's Conspiracy – http://www.amazon.com/dp/B005E8L5QG
The Privateer – http://www.amazon.com/dp/B007K6SVX0
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