Orbital Maneuvers

by R Davison

  Ivan looked from left to right and back again comparing the views of the death clouds. Finally, in a quiet voice, he said, “Look at the height of the cloud over Florida. It is hard to tell for sure, but it appears to be higher than we are. The one over Texas is not much lower. If that is true, it is not good for us, or the crew of the Soyuz.”

  The Shuttle was just passing north of the line defined by the two impact sites when the silence on the flight deck was suddenly shattered with a loud BANG! The right cockpit window was struck by a tiny piece of debris that had been launched into orbit by the impact. It turned the window opaque, as if someone had just closed a curtain. A collection of glass fragments and reinforcing plastic laminates still held the window intact. It caused everyone to jump. They could hear thumps coming from other places on the shuttle as tiles were being shattered by more bits of debris. Every one held their breath anticipating a collision with something big enough to rip the shuttle apart.

  “Ivan, you’d better do a systems check. Make sure we didn’t lose anything important just now!” Susan yelled a bit louder than she meant to, as she turned to the computer display to look for any status flags. “Jerry and Paul, do a visual down below and out in the payload bay. I don’t want anymore surprises today. Ivan you’d better let Commander Orlov know what they are flying into. They’re still behind us.”

  “I am on it Susan. It looks like we were lucky this time. Everything is up and running, no additional pressure leaks, no systems down. I hope that the Soyuz crew is as lucky.”

  “They may miss the worst of it with their current course,” Susan replied. “But, who knows what else is floating up here now that we are going to have to watch out for.” She watched the computer screen intently as it plotted out their path and the path of the Soyuz capsule. “Ivan, can you get an update on the position of Soyuz? If we can do some fine tuning now we may save ourselves time and fuel down the road.”

  “I just talked to Commander Orlov and he gave me their updated heading and speed. I’ll enter them into the computer.” Ivan spoke as he entered the data into the computer for Susan to use. “They reported that everything was normal for them and they are not anticipating any problems at our rendezvous. You think that you are going to have more problems with Jerry?”

  “I sure hope not,” she replied. “I really don’t know what has come over him. His behavior is so out of character for him. I would never have expected him to turn that way.”

  “Some people handle stress better than others and they may not react as you would expect them to, based on normal, or simulated, circumstances. I know from experience that the first time I was in a real dogfight the fear and anxiety I felt were nothing like I felt in my training. It was also nothing like I thought I would feel. One does not know what one will do in a situation until he is faced with that situation. All the training in the world will not make a difference if you do not remain calm and detached from the emotions that are naturally demanded from you by the reality at hand.”

  “I know what you’re saying,” Susan said. “I know Jerry did well with the testing that we went through preparing for the flight. I can’t think too much about what has happened down there myself or I would probably crack also.”

  “Maybe what Jerry needs is something to occupy his time. Something to give him a purpose to be here.”

  “I wonder if he feels responsible for Jill,” Susan asked, looking up from the computer screen to Ivan as the thought suddenly occurred to her.

  “What do you mean?”

  “Well, Jill was out there because he was unable to release SCIEXSAT,” Susan explained.

  “That was not Jerry’s fault. He did all he could do to release the satellite.”

  “I know that it was not Jerry’s fault, but he may still blame himself for it. Deep down he may feel that if all went well with that part of the mission, then she would have been inside, still alive. Guilt plays its cards in mysterious ways.”

  “Susan, I think he is scared and wants very much to be home.”

  “I would very much like to be home too, but the reality is, we can’t go back home in the shuttle and we cannot stay here. Jerry has to come to those terms. He can either be an asset or he can be a hindrance to our survival. It is totally up to him.”

  “Susan, just be careful and do not push him too far. I do not trust a man who has twice vocalized his dissatisfaction with your command. I do not think he should be given a third chance.”

  “What are you saying? Do you think Jerry would resort to physical violence to get back to Earth?”

  “All I am saying is that desperate men take desperate actions when they feel that there is no alternative. Just stay alert, okay?”

  “I will keep my eyes open, don’t worry.” Susan returned to the computer to finish the last of the calculations for the rendezvous. She reviewed the data and the results from the calculations and informed Ivan that they had to make a small course correction to meet with Soyuz.

  Paul and Jerry were finishing their survey of the shuttle, which was conducted mostly in silence. They exchanged words only when they had to, and even then there was a minimum of dialog. The argument between Jerry and Susan kept running over and over in Paul’s head. He kept mulling over Jerry’s words, not because he agreed with him, but because he did not understand Jerry’s sudden change in behavior. Frustration and curiosity finally got the best of him and he seized the moment to start a conversation as they checked out the payload bay from the viewport in the airlock.

  “Jerry, take a look at the rudder. Does that look worse than it did before?” he asked as he pulled away from the viewport to allow Jerry to see.

  “Yeah, it looks like it took another big hit on the right side. Great! Just another nail in the coffin!”

  “What do you mean,” Paul asked peering out the viewport again.

  “Nothing. Never mind.”

  “No! It is something! What the hell is with you? You’re acting like a mad man! You’re not the person that I worked and trained with for the last five years. What’s going on?” Paul demanded.

  “Being stuck up here in this floating tin can when we should be back on Earth—that’s the matter! Running around this planet playing tag with the Russians—that’s what’s the matter! We should have gone back when we had the chance, and not stayed up here any longer than we had to!”

  “There was no way we could land after we got hit. Look at the damage for yourself,” Paul shouted as he pointed to the porthole. “You know as well as I that we can’t get back without the bay doors closing completely.”

  “We could’ve tried to fix the doors. We didn’t even try! Our fearless commander didn’t think of that, did she?”

  “Jerry, we don’t have the tools to even begin to try to fix the damage to the door and side wall—get real! Susan is doing her best to give us a chance to survive, all of us, including the Russians. You’re not helping by acting like a scared puppy and flying off the handle every chance you get!”

  “Look, Paul, follow her blindly and we will all die! She doesn’t know what to do next and she won’t listen to anybody, except maybe Ivan.”

  “Jerry, if we don’t work together as a team we have no chance to survive. Everyone has to pull his own weight or we may miss something crucial to our survival. No one could have been prepared for what we just went through, let alone what happened on Earth. Sure, they always said that it could happen anytime but the odds were against it. I guess the odds weren’t in our favor this time.”

  “You speak so lightly of it. I have people down there—”

  “We all have people down there, Jerry! Don’t think you’re the only one who is suffering with that! I have my whole family in Texas and God only knows if they are dead or alive, safe or suffering! So don’t tell me about having people down there!”

  Paul backed out of the airlock and turned his back to Jerry while he tried to compose himself. Thoughts were running through his head that he had blocked up to this point.
What happened to his wife and children? Did they know what was happening or was it over in an instant? To even consider the thoughts of surviving the devastation on the fringe of the impact brought more tears to his eyes and wrenching pain to his heart. He forced himself to think about the immediate concerns of survival of the crew and the rescue of the MIR cosmonauts. No one could afford the luxury of self-pity. Maybe if they were lucky they would have time for that later, but not now.

  “Paul,” Jerry said after a moment in a softer voice, “I am sorry. I know you have family there too…I meant to say…it doesn’t matter…everyone down there is doomed. I feel that I need to be there, too…I don’t want to die in space.”

  Paul turned and looked Jerry, “If you don’t want to die in space then you damn well better start putting an effort into helping us all get to the space station. That’s our only chance now. If we run out of air before we get there then this will truly be your coffin, and ours as well, for the next hundred years!”

  “So, we get to the space station, then what, we sit there and wait?” Jerry asked acidly. “No one is going to mount a rescue mission.”

  Paul shook his head. He had had his fill of Jerry, his attitude, and was no longer going to be diplomatic. “You are so worried about saving your ass that you can’t even see the solution to your problem! The CRV, you idiot! Did you forget why the hell we’re up here in the first place?” At this point Paul had enough and needed a few moments alone. He left Jerry and made his way to the personal hygiene compartment.

  VII

  Alexander and Nicholas on board the Soyuz were about thirty minutes behind Endeavour when they encountered the remnants of the debris plume. Having been forewarned, they made sure that their pressure suits were sealed and anything loose in the capsule was secured. Beyond this they could only hope that they would not hit anything as big as a pea or all their efforts to escape MIR would have been for naught. The tension drifted like a thick fog in the tiny compartment of the capsule, as each man contemplated what the next few minutes might bring. Both hoped for the best, but anticipated the worst.

  It all happened in a flash, literally, and was accompanied with a loud burst of noise, like static on a radio, only louder and with a metallic ringing. The Soyuz plowed through a region of fine-grained sand and rock that had been pulverized by the impact and thrown high into orbit. This had the effect of sandblasting the outside of the ship, stripping away all the paint and any other loose material that was on the surface. The solar arrays that provided current to recharge the batteries on board fractured and were rendered useless by the dust cloud. The abrasive cloud also frosted the viewports, robbing the cosmonauts of their view outside the capsule. Losing their external view was not going to be their worst problem. Mixed among the fine powder of rock and sand were bigger chunks of rubble. A larger piece of the debris had the proper trajectory and timing to collide with the only working antenna left on Soyuz, severing the cosmonaut’s only link to Endeavour.

  The little ship continued on its path while the cosmonauts checked the systems to see what damage they had sustained. “We must have lost our solar arrays, we are no longer charging the batteries,” Nicholas reported.

  “That does not surprise me considering what we just went through. With any luck we should be on Endeavour long before our batteries run down,” Alexander replied. “Do we show any other indications of damage?”

  “No, not at this time.” Nicholas said, as he flipped the switch to activate the radio to inform Endeavour that they had cleared the debris cloud but was greeted with static when he listened for a response. He tried the alternate channel only to be met with the same result. Looking at Alexander he said, “I think we have a problem here.”

  “We may not have been as lucky as we thought, coming through the dust cloud. Run a check on the radios to make sure that they are transmitting.”

  “I already did that. I have a feeling that we lost our antenna along with the solar panels. I am surprised that we didn’t take a direct hit, or at least have the cabin’s integrity compromised. We were very fortunate.”

  “I am not so sure if that is true. If we do not meet with Endeavour, we will become another satellite for Mother Earth.”

  “Not what I want to do for the rest of my life,” Nicholas responded. “Are we still on the course that Endeavour is expecting us to be on?”

  “As best as I can tell, we are still on course. It will be difficult to coordinate a rendezvous without our radio link.” The Commander stared out the opaque window as if he could actually see something while he let his mind drift from the conversation. He knew that they had very little chance of finding Endeavour without their radios. They could not even use ground support, if it were available, without their radios. He was considering the alternatives as he gazed at the instrument panel in front of him, seeing everything but registering nothing until his eyes passed over the controls for the docking radar system. Staring at the panel, his eyes widened as an idea jelled. It should work, he thought to himself, if the radar system still functioned after the encounter with the dust cloud, and Endeavour is able to detect the radar signal. “Nicholas, we may be able to use our docking radar system as a beacon to signal Endeavour.” Nicholas gave his commander a quizzical look and shook his head. Alexander gave a sigh and continued, “Endeavour knew that we would be hitting the debris cloud, they forewarned us. They may be alert, suspecting that we sustained damage, and hopefully, they will pick up our radar transmissions.”

  “How will we communicate with them if they do see the radar signal?” Captain Zuyev asked.

  “We must modulate the signal to send the information. Morse Code. You remember that?”

  “Ahh, yes! Now I follow you,” Nicholas smiled as the plan finally coalesced in his head. “We must transmit the radar beam with maximum power, frequency spread and the widest sweep.”

  “Correct. If it is still working. Make it as noisy as you can.”

  “Well, we can try it now and see if there is anything ahead of us to give us a return signal. That will give us an indication that the system is working,” Nicholas said, as he started to set up the radar system.

  A few minutes later he announced, “Everything is set. I am going to transmit now.” Both of the cosmonauts stared intently at the small radar screen on the instrument panel. The pale green bar moved smoothly across the display, but there was no sign of a return signal. “That does not mean it is not working, just that there is nothing out there,” he said, seeking some reassurance in his own words.

  “Try it again,” the Commander ordered. Again they watched the display, hoping for a bright dot to appear indicating that the system was working. The Captain punched the transmit button a third time. To their surprise and joy they saw the blip on the screen that they were looking for. Again, thumbs-up and smiles as the Captain hit the button again to confirm what they just saw. The blip reappeared as the bar swept over the screen again, but not exactly in the same position, indicating that the object was moving relative to their ship.

  The Commander stared at the screen for a few moments and his smile faded. He said in a quiet voice, “Nicholas, transmit again.” Nicholas looked at Alexander questioningly. He did not like the tone of the Commander’s voice, but hit the button for the fifth time. They both watched as the bar swept over the screen. This time though, the bar seemed to just crawl across the screen, not moving near fast enough for the two impatient cosmonauts. Finally the blip appeared, but now it was closer to the bottom of the screen than before, and like the last four times it was right on the centerline with the Soyuz.

  “Quick!” Alexander shouted as he grabbed the thruster steering controls. “Set the radar up for continuous mode and scan azimuth, plus, minus five degrees of our heading!” The object that so obligingly told them that their equipment was working was actually on a direct collision course with Soyuz. Nicholas frantically readjusted the controls on the docking radar to set it as ordered. With the last adjustments completed,
the screen now continuously displayed an image of what was in front of their ship within a volume of space as defined by a ten-degree conical section. They could see the object getting closer and not deviating from its original course. It was heading directly toward them!

  Commander Alexander Orlov quickly reviewed his choices. He had no more propellant for the main engine and had minimal propellant for the maneuvering thrusters. The object may just miss them but if it didn’t, they would be dead. If he moved the ship to dodge the object, they would be off course with their rendezvous with Endeavour, and might not have enough fuel to put Soyuz back on course. They had no visual of the object and no way to tell how big it is. All they could tell was it was getting closer, very rapidly. Alexander studied the screen intently hoping to see the object slip off the centerline, all the while calculating the timing to nudge Soyuz out of its path.

  “Commander? What are you waiting for,” Captain Zuyev asked desperately, as the blip traced a line that drew closer and closer to the capsule.

  “The right moment,” came the Commander’s distracted answer.

  “Twenty seconds to impact!” Captain Zuyev shouted as he fine tuned the radar readout.

  The Commander did not take his eyes off the screen, still hoping for the best. At ten seconds before impact, he engaged full port thrusters, which pushed the men sideways in their seats straining against their harnesses as the ship reacted to the force. This, in effect, pushed the ship into a slightly higher orbit. After a few seconds, the Commander applied the opposite thrust to cancel any more motion out of his desired flight path, he hoped he had moved the capsule far enough.