by OMAR FINK
Gitane said, “About three months ago, it was announced that a plan has been formed to save the human race from this calamity. The plan involves building space elevators and evacuating eight billion people out into space where they will live in giant rotating wheels that are called habitats. It goes without saying that this is a massive undertaking and there is only ten years in which to accomplish it. Scientists insist that this is the only possible solution and there is virtually no chance to destroy or deflect the many pieces of the comet train.” More graphics showed space elevator ribbons growing out from orbital positions in both directions, up and down at the same time, and then climbers going up the ribbons and on out into space toward some rotating wheels.
The graphics ended and Gitane spoke again, “But before any of this can begin, construction materials are needed in space to build hundreds of the habitats that will be lived in. To start this process, a team of space scientists and engineers have designed a base on the Moon that can mine materials and throw them out into space to be used in building the habitats. This is the team that Ben works with, and he has been involved from the beginning days of the planning.”
The camera view pulled back a little and Ben Rosen came into view sitting next to Gitane. Gitane turned to Ben and asked, “Ben, please tell us how the Moonbase fits into the larger plan.”
The camera view changed to frame only Ben Rosen, and he began speaking, “Thank you for that excellent introduction, Gitane. We can build the first space elevator platforms, and the elevators themselves using reusable rockets to lift construction materials into orbit from the ground. Once we have the first elevators in place, we can use them to lift some of the needed materials up into space, but they won’t be enough and besides, we really need to reserve them mostly for lifting people into space. We can use the same kind of lift rockets to get into place the materials and machines we need to build the Moon base. But we will need the Moon Base to supply the much larger quantity of construction materials needed to build the space habitats for people to live in when they get off the top of the elevators.”
The camera pulled back to show both men and Gitane asked Ben, “What is the time line for this operation?”
Ben responded, “Our project time line calls for us to start building the first elevator six months from now. The Moon base needs to have full basic functions by then, although at a minimal level of production. This is required so that habitat construction can begin at that time. We have allowed another twelve months to get production up to near maximum. That gives us eighteen months from now before the first space elevators go into full migration mode. When that occurs, the first space habitat must be able to provide living space for migrants as they arrive in space.”
Gitane said, “This time line sounds likes it’s fairly aggressive. Can you make it work?”
Ben answered, “We have to make it work. There simply is no alternative. This is the only way to save the human race, and we need to maximize our efforts and production levels to whatever it takes to get the job done.”
+7 months, GEOSYNCHRONOUS ORBIT OVER SINGAPORE
Keel O’Donnell swung his exo-arms back into resting position, and released the hand grips allowing them to stay there. He stretched out his real arms, and flexed his hands and fingers then shook them out for a few seconds. He squirmed around in his suspension couch flexing his legs and arching his back. He said, “Aaaarrrggghhh.” and then, “Ahhhhhh.” and then, “Ooooooommmm.”
A voice in his headset said, “Keel, are you dying over there, or just doing some weird kind of meditation?”
Keel said, “Just stretching, and trying to wiggle out the kinks while I have a moment. I get stiff from just sitting in this cramped space for hours.”
The headset voice said, “Well, git er done. There’s another payload arriving in about two minutes.”
Keel replied, “Like I said, arrgghh.”
The headset voice laughed gently.
Keel added, “By the way, have I mentioned that these space-suit things they make us wear suck?”
The headset voice replied, “Why yes, I think I’ve heard you say that before. Wasn’t it just five minutes ago?”
Keel groaned, “Yeah, well, get ready to hear it again in another five minutes. These suits suck. Arrrgghh.”
The headset voice just chuckled.
Shortly, the center display in front of him lit up an incoming rocket payload section highlighted with bracketing outlines against the background of the blue and white disk of Earth below. He touched a button in front of him labeled “CM” and said, “Command mode, eye track on.” A small circle in the center of the display lit up, and began moving across the display mirroring his eye movement.
He centered the marker over the payload now growing slowly larger, and blinked his eyes twice and the computer responded, “target acquired”.
Keel reached to his left, and grabbed a joystick, pressing it downward. The computer responded, “Remote one activated.” He did the same on his right side with another joystick with the same result, “Remote two activated.” With his thumb, he squeezed a button on top of each joystick in turn, and was rewarded with “target acquired” from each remote unit.
On the left joystick, he pressed the top button twice, and the computer said, “docking program selected”, then he squeezed the trigger button with his index finger, and the computer said, “docking program activated.” On the right joystick, he pressed the top button three times, and the computer said, “landing package program selected”, he squeezed the trigger and the computer said, “landing package activated”.
Both remote units were copies of the unit Keel occupied; slender pod-like containers with two grappling exo-arms, a clear view plate section at the top, and clusters of small thrusters adorning the outside. The head of Keel occupied the view plate section of his pod, the two remote units were empty. The remote units now began using tiny bursts of their thrusters to maneuver toward the rocket payload.
The first remote unit spread out its exo-arms, and smoothly slid them around the rocket payload section, then began spurting thrusters until it stopped the movement of the payload. Then the second remote unit approached the payload section, and began slowly fitting the landing package held in its exo-arms onto the rear end of the rocket payload. Metal brackets that held the landing package in place were inserted into slots on the payload and locked into place. When everything was done, the exo-arms tested each bracket to ensure it was solidly holding the landing package, then the computer reported, “landing package attached, secured and confirmed”.
Keel touched the CM button and said, “Command mode, align payload trajectory”. Both remote units used their thrusters to slowly turn the rocket payload section until it was pointed out into space away from Earth.
When the process was complete, the computer said, “Payload trajectory alignment completed”.
Keel touched the CM button and said, “Command mode, clear all units from payload”. All three pod units used their thrusters to move back away from the payload section.
The voice in the headset said, “Keel, when you’re done with this one, we don’t have another payload coming in for several hours, so you can head back over here to the platform and take a break.”
Keel replied, “Roger that. A break will be nice. We’re almost done here.” He touched the CM button and said, “Command mode, fire lunar orbit insertion”. A small jet came out of the end of the landing package that had been attached to the payload and it began slowly moving out into space.
The voice in the headset murmured, “To the Moon, Alice, to the Moon.”
+7 months, ZURICH, SWITZERLAND
Ulrich Giger sat at the circular conference table waiting for the rest of his team to arrive, and acknowledged each of them with a smile and nod or a few words. He looked tired. When everybody was in place around the table, he spoke, “It’s been several days since we’ve met together, but I thought we could use an update. The biggest news is a
bout the Moon base, and since Bill is leading that, we’ll start with him. Bill?”
Bill Decker said, “We’ve actually started building the mining base on the Moon. We don’t have any people there yet, but the basic construction machines have landed, and are doing excavation for a landing pad and the first living quarters. Every day now, multiple payload rockets are being launched from Earth and our crews up at the geo-synchronous platforms attach landing packages to them, and send them off to the Moon. When they arrive, the landing package lands them at the construction site, and whatever they are carrying gets unpacked and assembled by robotic machines. The rocket booster casings themselves are being used as part of the living quarter shelters. The excavation machines dig big trenches, the extrusion machines spray walls into place over inflated forms, the rocket booster casings are mostly used as roofs, then the excavation machines cover everything back up with tons of regolith, meaning rocks and dirt, and that provides protection from radiation, micro-particles, and a thermal blanket. Within a few weeks, we should be able to apply final seals, install an atmosphere and send the first crews to oversee operations. The next steps are to build the mass driver, and start mining. We should be starting those within the next two months.”
Peter Anderson asked, “Won’t we end up with more booster casings than can be used in the crew quarters?”
Bill answered, “Good question Peter. Yes, there will be a surplus soon because we won’t need more quarters constructed, but the payload rockets will keep coming for some time. We’re working on a plan to use them both for covering the mass driver so the main part of the line will be underground, and also we think we can re-use them as driver sled payload containers. They’ll get thrown out to habitat construction sites, and they can be re-used again out there in that construction. We’re trying to not waste any effort.” He paused for a second, then resumed, “And Peter, could you have TYCHE do some optimization runs on our scheduling plan?”
Peter said, “Sure. And are you finished Bill?” Bill nodded yes and Peter said, “Cause I’m guessing I’m up next, right Ulrich?” Ulrich also nodded yes, so Peter continued, “Okay. I’ve been working with Marco Lagorio over at the IISS on the habitat construction. The basic engineering plan is pretty solid. We have most of the specs and limits defined. There are just some small details remaining.”
Peter looked down at his laptop, typed on his keyboard, then said, “Hang on, Marco is coming on line. I’ll put him up on the big screen.” The smiling face of Marco Lagorio appeared on the big monitor on the wall and the group around the table turned to face him.
Peter said, “Hello Marco. Thanks for sharing a few words with us. You know everybody here so I’ll skip introductions. I was just saying that the engineering plans are nearly complete. Do you have anything to add?”
Marco flashed his white toothy smile, “Hello group. Yes, as Peter says, we’re almost done. One outstanding issue is how to design a mating hub at the center of the wheel for docking maneuvers. These involve matching the rotation of a craft with a turning wheel. The conventional idea has always been that the craft mating with the wheel will adopt a rotation that matches the wheel, then make the docking maneuver. The alternative is to allow the craft to come straight in to a hub that is not rotating. This requires some kind of ‘motion-lock’ that will make adjustments for motion transitions in the same way an air-lock or water-lock functions. The motion-lock will spin up and spin down between transferring people and cargo from the docking hub to the inner part of the habitat.”
Marco looked at the viewpoint as though he was measuring a reaction to what he had said. Then he continued, “There is no clear consensus yet on this issue, but it’s not a big problem.” Marco smiled and waited to hear any questions but there was silence. Finally, he asked, “Any questions?”
Tony Azaria said, “I have a question in a different area. Since we are spending so much time and effort building the bases on the Moon, why not just build living spaces there instead of the big rings out in space?”
Marco shook his head and waved a hand through the air, “While it is possible to do that, it is not desirable when compared to living in the asteroid belt. One main consideration is simply the basic principle that once we’ve climbed up out of the gravity well here on Earth, we should never go back down into one unless there is a specific need. Most people seem to have stuck in their minds the idea that since we now live on a planet, we should always live on a planet. That is simply not true. I’m sure most of you have already moved past that point. Another primary consideration is space for expansion. Once you get past the idea that we can find the air and water and energy and building materials out in space where they are easier to access and cost less, it becomes obvious that having unlimited space for building and expansion is a good thing. On any planet, we’ll always be limited to the surface space of the planet. In space, we have no such limits. The Moon is just a necessary stepping stone to our real destination.”
+7 months, PULAU BALAMGUNG, RIAU ARCHIPELAGO, JUST SOUTH OF SINGAPORE
Albert Hellewege stood next to Kaz, looking across the platform of an offshore oil drilling rig in shallow waters off an island just south of Singapore. Two other rigs were being towed into position near the one on which they stood, and several ships loaded with construction equipment and cranes were anchored nearby. Albert was called the ‘Tool Pusher’ because he was responsible for supplying resources needed on the platform, but everybody just called him ‘Helly’. He pointed to the two rigs coming in, “Once they’re in position, they’ll re-anchor them to ballast dumps on the sea floor and build bridges to connect us all. The second platform will be where the climber cars are staged before being moved over here to attach to the tether and loaded with passengers to go up the elevator. The third platform over there...” He pointed with his hand. “...is where the passenger dorms will be. The climber cars and passengers will arrive by a variety of ships, ferries, and hovercraft from the land base on the island.” He paused and looked over at Kaz. Kaz just nodded back at him.
Helly continued, “So what I need to know from you is what you’ll need for security here when everything is up and running.”
Kaz murmured, “We’ll need some form of perimeter defense against terrorism. We’ll need physical security to protect passengers from accidents and to prevent unauthorized access to facilities and systems. The cyber security functions we’ve been developing should be sufficient, but we’ll need to completely upgrade the infrastructure here to support them.”
Helly dropped his mouth open, “Is that all? Don’t you want some missile defense systems too?”
Kaz grinned back at him, “It’s not as bad as it sounds. Most of the perimeter defense and physical security can be accomplished using automated and electronic tools. The main thing we’ll need from you is the supporting infrastructure, which means computers, networks, cameras, sensors, and the security software we already have.”
Helly replied, “Okay. I can get you the engineering plans and schematics for systems that I know you’ll need. Eventually I’ll need back from you a comprehensive plan detailing security for approval from the Company Man and their security guy. Anything else you need to know?”
Kaz said, “Yes. How many passengers a day, how many climber cars, and what external security systems do we need to interface with. By that I mean, what kind of security will be on the incoming boats and on the nearby island that we can use if needed. I’d think it would make sense to have a rapid reaction force on fast boats on the island. That way, our primary responsibility is to detect problems here and be able to resist them until help arrives.”
Helly said, “Okay. I’ll get you all of that.”
+7 months, ZURICH, SWITZERLAND
Peter Anderson sat facing a display screen and said, “TYCHE, Thank you for that report. Your advice on the cyber currency has been valuable to our project team. And now, they’ve requested your help with another aspect of the project. We’ve already sent you the sch
edules for the Moonbase construction. We’d like you to go over the scheduling, and see if you can optimize it to run more smoothly. Do you have any comments now, or do you need more time?”
TYCHE answered, “This project has been laid out in detail and is efficient. However, I think I can make some small improvements. There are some high risk variables that become determinants later in the process. These are mostly in the area of critical resources, and a lack of backup supplies if the primary supply plan fails. I’ve already started crunching some numbers, and analyzing different scenarios. It is likely that developing some backup strategies to replace failing supply channels will ensure smoother progress in the project. Human resources can be problematic because specific skill sets may be difficult to find, and get into place on time. Humans also become sick sporadically and even die. We can back up these critical resources with automation, and remote operation and advice. Automated functions fail when parts break down, replacements are not in place when needed, and energy supplies are not available. My analysis of critical components that can have a negative effect on project progress can allow these problems to be solved ahead of time by caching extras of the most critical components, and developing backup plans to supply other needed resources. I should have a detailed report ready for you within 72 hours.”
