Virus-72 Hours to Live

by Ray Jay Perreault

  The secondary ring under construction would have connecting ports every 200 feet around the perimeter, which allowed movement from one ring to the other. The second ring was key for a fully functioning station, but also for crew member convenience. In the current configuration, there was only one path around the circumference of the station. When the second ring was complete, it would provide alternate routes. It seemed like a small thing to a terrestrial person. When a crew member moved in the same direction as the rotation or down-rotation, their angular velocity was higher and they felt a little more G force and moved slower. When they moved opposite to the rotation or up-rotation, their angular velocity decreased so they felt less than 1 G and could move faster and even jump. When two crewmembers, moving in opposite directions collided, the lack of a second ring was an assumed part of the apology.

  There were six spokes or center access tunnels (CAT), across the giant ring, which crossed at a cylindrical structure in the middle. Between each of the CAT, were a dozen graphite wires, which evened out the forces and helped to hold everything together. On either end of the center structure, were the docking ports. On one end of the structure, was the incoming docking station A and on the other end was the outgoing docking station B. The center of the structure contained the laboratories for the processes which needed zero-G environments. Even though a point within the center structure was at zero G, the structure was still rotating. The parts of the lab, which needed zero G, were free to rotate within the structure at the same rate as Oasis but in the opposite direction. Those sections were on rollers with electric motors that maintained their weightless environment on frictionless air bearing.

  The CATS or spokes crossed from one point in the station to another, but few people used them. It was disorienting to go from the near-Earth gravity of the spinning ring through the zero gravity point then back to gravity; often crewmembers 'chucked-their-cookies' in the passage due to Coriolis Effect. It messed up their inner ear and wasn't very pleasant. It wasn't unusual for someone to get sick and have a mess to clean up.

  With one ring, traffic was going in both directions around the ring and people didn't like it. It wasn't natural to bump into people going in the other direction. The aisles were narrow to maximize the lab and living space so passing each other wasn't convenient. A second ring would provide paths for people moving up rotation and the other ring for people moving down-rotation, sort of an assumed flow path. Seemed dumb, but everyone thought it would be better.

  Of course, the added ring doubled the laboratory, manufacturing, living and most important recreation space. Those were important and added to the feeling of home, but the thought of having two rings just seemed to even things out and everyone hoped it would make the station work better.

  The station was only about half-staffed and once the outer ring was complete, the full staffing would reach 75 astronauts. There were four lifeboats equally spaced around the perimeter. They could carry eight occupants and be launched in 3 minutes. When the station was complete, it would have 10 lifeboats with five on each ring. At one time, the lifeboats were going to be larger and at the center rotation point, which would make docking and launching easier. However, the crewmembers needed the lifeboats close, having them in the center was too far away. The center docks at the rotation point were used for large vehicles from Earth and supply vessels to Mars and the moon.

  The station's primary purpose was research and manufacturing. Over the years, they found many processes and materials were ideally suited to be manufactured in space. The research onboard Oasis was to find new methods for space manufacture and to maximize the benefits of the existing processes.

  Starting in 2045, the International Space Consortium, which was an international corporation made up by the participating governments paid for and ran the station, The personnel were provided by participating nations and companies around the world. The projects were funded either by the corporation of on an individual basis. The station's primary purpose was industrial development. However, because of its strategic and global importance, many nations wanted to ensure their participation and awareness of what was being done on the station.

  The Helium-3, which came from the moon and paid for everything, was received from the moon in gaseous form and was stored on Oasis waiting transport to Earth. After the conflicts of earlier decades regarding the H-3, it worked out well for all nations to participate in the collection of H-3 and to witness its movement through the station to the final processing centers on Earth.

  It wasn't that any of the participating governments didn't trust the others, but H-3 was so important and expensive everyone was happier if they played a part in the process.

  >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

  The morning on the space station Oasis progressed normally. Before lunch, Tom saw his wife as he entered the station control room. "Honey, the last of the supplies have been loaded and secured in RD33A, the mobile units are closing up the storage bays and the crew is in Port B."

  The Oasis control center was the heart of the space station. The center was the central space comm center for the consortium and it was staffed 24 hours a day, it monitored the onboard activities, and space station status. Communications between Earth and the station wasn't limited to going through the center, but it kept it under control. Certain people on Earth could communicate with anyone on the station and likewise those on the station that needed to speak with Earth could contact whom they needed directly. The designers decided early on that allowing everyone to talk to everyone wasn't conducive to getting the job done. If Joan was to be responsible for station operation, then she needed to be part of the key messages, so having them all come through the control center was the best plan.

  "Great, let's go and send them off," Joan said as she stood and left the control center. Before they entered the corridor it, was always a good idea to look both ways in the hall before charging into the corridor. Many of the crewmembers would get up a good head of steam moving through the single hallway. If they were moving up rotation and you jumped in front of one, it could get real personal; real quick. The corridor was clear and they turned down rotation to the next center access tunnel. When they reached Charlie tunnel they stepped on the elevator made for one, and pleasantly held on to each other as the elevator ascended to the center. It was always a fun little ride for them and an opportunity for a little one-on-one time. The elevator rose and the gravity reduced as they approached the center of rotation. When the elevator reached the middle, they were weightless. Reluctantly they launched themselves out of the elevator and grabbed straps, which allowed them to move hand over hand to docking port B. The walls in both docking ports, were covered with tie down straps, so equipment moving in and out of the attached vehicles could be tethered to the walls.

  The Oasis center section was a large cylinder 50 feet in diameter where each of the CATS connected. The laboratories were in the middle and the docking ports were on the ends. The six CATS from the first ring connected by docking port A and the six CATS from the second ring will connect by port B. It was a pain having to move the entire length of the center cylinder from the current Charlie-CATS to port B, but they were stuck with it until the second ring was complete. Even for hardened astronauts moving through the Zero G was fun and unusually they did somersaults or other fun maneuvers as they moved around and through the process manufacturing areas.

  The rotation of the station forced the inbound craft to match the rotational velocity before docking. When a ship departed from the station, its rotational velocity was the same as the station and the onboard computer would slowly alter its rotation to match their orbit as they moved away from the station.

  When they entered Beta docking station, the four-person crew for RD33A was in their pressure suits and ready to move into the vehicle. They were stationary with respect to the port so they appeared to be slowly rotating to Joan and Tom, who were moving through the weightless environment.

  "Hey guys you ready to laun
ch off to your new home?" Joan asked as Tom and she adjusted their orientation so they were all heads up with the crew.

  Depending on which center access tunnel you came out of, you had to rotate to align with anyone else in the docking port. It was one of those funny things with people, you couldn't stand head to foot and talk. Once they aligned with the departing crew, they could stay stationary to each other. Oasis would rotate around them and the portal into RD33A would rotate. It was a little disconcerting when one of the technicians was attached to Oasis preparing for the launch and they would rotate around the stationary crewmembers while they talked.

  "Yup, we're ready. We've been prepping for this mission for a long time and now we're hot to get going. I wish I had gotten a little more sleep last night though," said John Silver, who was the new environmental engineer for the Mars colony and the mission commander.

  "Do you feel ok?" asked Joan.

  "No problem just pre-launch nerves."

  "Well, you've got the first watch, so you'll have time to recover before you have to wake up Mary for your sleep period."

  "If you wake me up and you complain about sniffles, I'll just go back to sleep," said Mary Silver, who was John's wife and the Mining Engineer for the Mars colony.

  "Don't worry I'll save some tissue for you," he said with a false sniffle and a grin.

  "You're not saying anything Phil?" Joan mentioned as she looked at the one person who was smiling but staying out of the banter between the couple.

  "When a married couple is fighting over issues, I think it's best to remain neutral," replied Phillip Washington who was the new structural engineer for the Red Dirt colony.

  Phil's wife Joyce, the new Mars soils engineer, elbowed him and said, "Ya when we fight it's over more important things; like the entertainment control."

  Any crew heading off for a mission to Mars had to be close and have good personal relationships; it was a trip, which would likely be for the remainder of their lives. Generally, those that elected the one-way trip to Mars were at a point in their lives where they could make such a large commitment. Some were young and adventurous, but most of them had reached a point in their lives where they could see where they were going and could make the decision without any regrets. With the VSIMR engine, a return trip could be made to Earth but it was so expensive the corporation encouraged a long-term commitment. They expected anyone going to Mars to be willing to 'stick it out' and not expect a return trip.

  "Ok guys, I know this is a big step which you've been preparing for, for a long time. I can't say much except I hope things go well on the trip and your time on Mars. I'd love to go there someday, but I'm not willing to make it my last assignment yet. I guess I'll let you go and I hope you get along well enough for six weeks together," said Joan.

  "I wish you would call it something else then our last assignment," John said with a smile.

  "You know what I meant, perhaps not the last but at least the longest one," Joan added with a smile.

  "We better get along. We have 40 days together in a small metal tube," John said. "After we get there, we'll be in bigger metal tubes for the rest of our lives."

  "Ok, enough bragging, time to button up," Joan pointed out. "We don't want you to be late getting to Red Dirt."

  "If any of you have a snoring problem I've got extra earplugs," said Tom with a smile.

  "You have earplugs...; you better give them to me. I'm sure one of these guys snores," chimed in Mary.

  "Ok, you guys, go ahead and strap in and we'll start going through the final checklists," Joan said as she gave each of them a goodbye hug and Tom shook their hands. In turn, each of the launch crew in the control center shook their hands and patted them on their backs. Aside from each other, it would be the last human contact they would have for 40 days before they reached their destination.

  In the early days of supporting the Mars colony, the trip to the red planet was a tortuous 3-5 months trip, depending on the position of the planets. Since 2042, the VSIMR rocket engine was used and its acceleration allowed much higher speeds and the trip had been shortened to a mere 40 days. The one drawback, of course, was the nuclear reactor, needed to power the rocket. In addition to the risks of the reactor power plant, was, of course, the cost. The corporation was willing to spend the money to get them there and get them productive, but they weren't as eager to spend the money bringing them home.

  Of course, the trip could be longer, up to 70 or 80 days, depending on the position of the planets, but 40 days was so much better. It was possible to return from Mars in a crisis, but the cost was huge.

  The crew needed to be in therapeutic hypothermia for the duration of the trip. By lowering the body temperature by 6 degrees, and with an induced sleep, astronauts could sleep up to 21 days. On a typical trip, the crew would break the sleep/work cycles up so each of them would have a one-week work cycle along with a 3-week sleep cycle.

  After the vehicle crew had closed the hatch, it took about half an hour to go through each of the systems and prep for separation. The Oasis mission computer or OMC controlled the separation. RD33A the vessel's onboard computer took over after it was separated from the station. The separation was monitored through the critical phase by the crew in the docking port, the Oasis controller in the central control and the crew onboard the ship. One of Tom's pilots would be in a space tug at a safe distance to provide aid if something happened. They would remain on call until the departing vessel was greater than 100 meters from Oasis.

  "RD33A you're clear to separate from Oasis. Docking port Beta you're cleared to release them after RD33A acknowledges the command," the station director in the control center said.

  "Roger Oasis," said John Silver.

  "Acknowledged," announced the RD33A flight computer.

  Joan and Tom watched as RD33A slowly moved away from the station docking port. It wasn't violent just a gentle movement. Once the separation occurred the station director said, "I show the separation was clean and you're now cleared to maneuver, the onboard computer is cleared to execute the remainder of the separation procedure."

  "Roger I show a clean separation also and we're clear to allow RD33A to maneuver," said John.

  "Acknowledged," said the RD33A onboard computer.

  Once RD33A was more than 3 meters away the onboard computer, began firing the rotation thrusters and the ship slowed its rotation. From those looking out of the docking port, the ship appeared to start rotating. The same rotation appeared to those inside the vessel although it was decelerating to zero rotation. RD33A would maneuver the supply ship until it was more than 15 meters. At that point, the thrusters stabilized it and its rotation was fixed with respect to their orbital path

  RD33A's separation occurred with the launch trajectory along the orbit path, which gave the separating craft a couple of feet/sec additional velocity when compared with Oasis. Due to the slight difference in speed, it would be easier for them to move faster and forward to a slightly higher orbit. When they reached their acceleration orbit, they could fire their rockets and continue accelerating until they were able to reach escape velocity for their trip to the red planet. The onboard computer would follow specific departure criteria until the vessel was 100 meters from Oasis. Once cleared the computer could follow its onboard flight program.

  After the vessel was on its way, Joan was quiet as her and Tom made their way back to the ring through the CAT. Tom sensed something was on her mind and asked, "Honey...you seem quiet. Is there something we can talk about?"

  When there was a personal issue, Joan talked easy with her husband and they shared all of their thoughts together. However, when the issue had to do with a decision, which affected others, she rarely opened up. She felt those decisions were hers to make and good or bad they were hers to own and her responsibility. She never wanted to share the blame if she made a bad decision. Tom was her husband, her partner. She was responsible for him and all of the other crewmembers, so those decisions which affected many p
eople, she made by herself.

  Joan's pace slowed once she reached the ring. Then she turned and looked at Tom. "I've been thinking."

  Tom stopped and pointed out with a smile, "Every time you say that, it costs me something. What is it?"

  "As we said goodbye to the Red Dirt crew I was thinking about how difficult those assignments are if a couple wants children.”

  As soon as she said it, Tom knew they were approaching one of those 'life changing' discussions. He slowly took a deep breath and waited for what she was going to say next.

  "I understand why people going to Mars are usually at a point in their lives where they've already made the decision about having children. Some of them have children, they're grown and they can make a lifetime commitment going to Mars. The younger ones that go make a major sacrifice, and I understand why. Mars is not place for children, maybe sometime in the future, but not now. The moon is almost reasonable. A couple can go there for a 6-month assignment and even though it's 6 months from your children, you can still have a life on Earth you can come back to."

  "And this discussion is going where?" Tom asked gently.

  "I was just thinking about career, babies, life together, space travel, remote assignments; you know all of the usual stuff," then she smiled and walked away leaving Tom absolutely speechless.

  Thursday 7/6/51

  Date – 2051.50972 (8:08 AM)

  Termen walked into the laboratory with his cup of coffee and greeted SIMPOC, “Good morning SIMPOC.”

  “Good morning, Termen.”

  “Did you find anything interesting last night?”