"OK, Hornig,” Johnson said. “Get things going, and report back to me. We need to meet again as soon as possible."
Hornig could see how impatient the president was.
"Yes, sir. There will be a report on your desk tomorrow morning."
"No, Dr. Hornig. I don't want anything in writing at this point. Nothing!"
"Yes, sir," Hornig seemed a bit confused, but turned and left the Oval Office. When he was out of sight, Hornig sighed to himself, "I hope I can work with this clown."
Lyndon Johnson took a deep breath and called in his chief of staff. "Did you get all that Marvin?"
"Yes, Mr. President. I think he wants to tell the world. Do you think that we can work with Hornig? These science guys want to share everything!"
"I hope so, Marvin, for his sake and ours, I hope so."
Marvin Watson was one of the only staffers Johnson really trusted.
Chapter 3- Getting to Mars
1 March, 1966
NASA has everything planned out to the minutest detail in each of their programs. And they don't handle change very well. More than that, they don't make money–they spend it. Lots of it! And their one funding source is Congress. So, what Congress wants, Congress gets!
Although it is the president who administers the money, NASA sets the price.
Richard M. Helms, Director of the CIA under Johnson, had a lot to think about with this new development. Being briefed on the discovery, had to work out a plan to deal with the Mars-based signal. He had to keep this information restricted to a very few. Even within NASA, it had to be kept to only a handful of trustworthy officials. This raised the question, how do you get scientists to build something without telling them what it’s for? There were a lot of concerns that were quite unsettling.
Fortunately, the CIA was one of the first customers for NASA's satellite program. There was a rumor that NASA was simply an extension of the CIA, or vice versa. Spy satellites were being piggybacked onto every launch. Most of NASA's personnel were used to having strangers in black suits giving them strange devices, carefully and mysteriously wrapped, to add to their payloads. It happened so often that it didn't even raise an eyebrow any more. Still, what Helms was going to ask of them would raise a lot of eyebrows.
The Apollo capsule design was a decent-sized vehicle, considering that it would have to haul a lot of equipment to the Moon when Apollo 11 was loaded and ready to go. But for what the White House wanted for the Mars project, it simply would not do; it wasn't even close to being big enough!
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Dr. Gene Kranz, Director of the space program for NASA, had a meeting at the White House on a Saturday morning. It wasn't that unusual for him to meet with the president, but never on a Saturday morning. He wondered to himself what could be so important. All of his time was being taken up with the upcoming Moon launch, scheduled for the summer of 1969. The program for the Apollo series had been carefully calculated–three men, cameras, tools, parts, food, water, oxygen, and miscellaneous space stuff for a mission of over eight days. And all of this had to fit in a nice compact package on top of a Saturn V rocket.
The Apollo equipment took a years to design and redesign. Thousands of scientists, engineers, and technicians had developed the current proposal, which wasn't yet final, even with the Moon launch only three years away.
Still, in three years there was going to be a launch, and this capsule was their only option. There was no backup. The Moon landing would have no other alternatives in the time frame allotted.
As he walked into the White House he put these thoughts behind. He first had to find out what the president wanted. He was met with the standard Secret Service detachment and checked for weapons, and then was led to the Oval Office where he found Director Hoover, Director Helms, and Dr. Hornig.
FBI, CIA, and Science Advisor. Interesting combination, he thought to himself.
"Good morning, Mr. President," Dr. Kranz said.
"Good morning, Dr. Kranz. Take a seat, please," Johnson said pointing to where the others were.
Kranz took the only empty chair which was next to Dr. Hornig.
"Gentlemen, we have a situation." the president hesitated a moment to make sure everyone was focused. "I'll come to the point. We have received an intelligent message from the planet Mars. We have been summoned. And I don’t think we can ignore it.”
Silence.
Johnson watched the reaction from those just being brought in on the secret. He didn't see much reaction from Hoover, but he didn't expect much, as he was already brought in on the project. Hoover was generally impressively calm and collected. But Dr. Kranz was visibly shaken.
"Mr. President," Kranz spoke, "Is… is this real?"
"Yes, Dr. Kranz, it's for real. It has been confirmed by multiple listening posts."
"Well, uh…what are we going to do about it?" Dr. Kranz was greatly moved.
"Well, Doctor, that's why you are here. You are going to build a rocket that will send three men to Mars before you send a single soul to the Moon. And you will do it in two and half years."
"What are you talking about?” Dr. Kranz gasped. “We haven't even been to the Moon yet, and you want us to go to Mars? That's just not possible. And in two and a half years? Mars? That's insane!"
"Dr. Kranz. You represent NASA. You have the brightest minds on the planet working for you. It is just a matter of resources and commitment." Johnson said confidently.
Gene pleaded, "But we aren't in a position to do that yet, Sir. We are still struggling with issues vital to us getting to the Moon. Mars presents a whole different set of problems. There are designs, construction issues, tests–lots of tests–and we need to be realistic about the time schedule. I figure it will take at least a decade, and maybe more, before we can even attempt something like this. With lots of time and resources it would still end up being the biggest project in history! But aiming for two and a half years is impossible. We will be lucky to put a man on the Moon in three, which we are trying to do now!"
Gene Kranz was in a situation that he felt was beyond his capabilities.
"You only have a little over two years, Dr. Kranz. I want this project to be launched on Apollo 6," Johnson said calmly.
"Apollo 6? Are you out of your mind?" Kranz responded strongly.
He realized as soon as it came out that maybe he should be more cautious with his opinions. But fortunately, he saw Johnson smile slightly.
Kranz said, "Sorry, Mr. President. The surprises just keep on coming."
"I understand, Dr. Kranz. It caught a lot of us by surprise. There is a lot to take in. But I need to know, are you the man for the job?"
"I have to admit, Mr. President, that it is spectacularly overwhelming. Nothing like the Moon landing has ever been undertaken before, but Mars? It would take nine months just to get there. There remains logistical problems to overcome that are unprecedented. How to feed them, provide water, energy, oxygen, communications, deal with psychological concerns, zero-gravity unknowns–the list goes on and on."
"I know there will be a challenge, Dr., but we have no choice. If it makes it any easier, this is a one-way mission."
Kranz shouted, "ONE…WAY? What fool would volunteer for that?" He immediately regretted shouting.
Johnson said with a slight smile, "We aren't looking for volunteers, Dr. Kranz. They won't be told it is a one-way trip. They won't even know that they are going to Mars until they are on their way! We will have to depend upon the mercies of whoever is calling us to take care of them once they are there. It's the best we can do."
"Absurd, Mr. President. How can we do that to them?"
"These are difficult times, Dr. Kranz. The war in Vietnam is a real problem for us, but this message from Mars is the biggest single challenge in the history of the world. We have to respond before the Russians get there before us and discover whatever is there–to their benefit!"
Gene let out his breath audibly, "Wow. I'm overwhelmed. I d
on't quite know where to start."
"Well, you have two years and about three months to figure it out. We are depending on you, Dr. Kranz. The world is depending on you."
"Well, yes, Mr. President. I've figured that out for myself,” Dr. Kranz said wryly.
Gene Kranz sat quietly in his seat pondering this revelation. What a gargantuan task, he thought to himself.
Everyone in the room remained silent. They could see his mind was working.
Then he said, "Mr. President, what is my budget?"
"Now you're thinking like a bureaucrat, Dr. Kranz. Good! There is no budget. You can have whatever you want."
"Umm, Mr. President, I will need a lot."
"Son, we're a rich country. I think we can afford to fund your little trip to Mars. It isn't rocket science, you know. Well, that didn't come out right…" Johnson grinned at his joke.
He got a few laughs from around the room.
"How about personnel? I will have to pull everyone off the Apollo program."
"No, Dr. Kranz. That can't happen. We need to keep the people focused on the Moon landing. We must not distract the public–or the blasted Ruskies. This has to be, uh, under the table, so to speak."
Kranz looked the president in the eyes. "Wow. You aren't asking for much, sir."
"I'm not asking. Your country is asking. Mankind is asking!" Johnson replied.
"Well, let me come up with a plan and get back with you. Can I talk with my people?"
"Director Hoover has already cleared those on your staff who can help you immediately. Any other help you need has to be cleared through him."
J. Edgar Hoover gave Dr. Kranz the look so many men had feared. Gene knew immediately that he had to be careful and do things by a new set of rules that was soon going to be in place.
"Thank you, sir. I will get back with you." Gene said.
"I want the report and a plan in one week,” Johnson replied.
"One week? That's impossible!" Dr. Kranz looked shocked.
"Now you get it, Dr. Kranz. You are going to do the impossible."
Johnson turned back to his desk and went about another task. Everyone knew their time was up.
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One week to do what most programs take a year to do seemed like an insurmountable assignment to Dr. Kranz. Being the Director of NASA didn't seem like so much fun anymore. He went back to his office immediately with a list of his approved advisors Hoover had given him and sat down at his desk.
"Dr. Kranz?" a voice said at his door. It was Dr. Jerry Probert, one of his FBI-approved engineers.
"Yes, Jerry, come on in."
"Dr. Kranz? David Johnathan, Tim Johnson, and Allison Thorpe are in my office waiting on word from you. We have all been briefed and are ready to get to work. We were told we have a week to come up with a plan to put three men on Mars. MARS! Can you believe it, sir?"
Dr. Kranz gave him a confused look. "Jerry, why are all of you so excited? Don't you realize the scope of this project?"
"Yes, sir, we do,” Jerry said. “And we can hardly wait to get started!”
Gene Kranz thought to himself, Engineers! Only an engineer could be so positive and giddy with a project so blindingly enormous! Wait until we get into this, and they see how impossible it is going to be.
"Well, gather everyone together in Conference Room A for a kickoff meeting."
"OK, sir, but Conference Room B is the only room the Feds said we could use. They swept it for bugs just two hours ago. It was pretty interesting. They used the Model 3582A HP spectrum analyzer. It isn’t even available to the public for two more years!"
"Jerry! Focus! Get the people into conference room A, uh, B."
"I'm sorry, sir. You know how good test equipment affects me."
"Just do it, Jerry. Ten minutes."
"Yes, sir."
Dr. Kranz left the room shaking his head. Just wait a month and see how enthusiastic you are, he thought to himself.
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The next five days were filled with ideas and suggestions that, for the most part, would not fit the time schedule, or the current state of technology. They considered the limitations of the Saturn V rocket, which was their only rocket choice, and its payload limitations. Ideas were volleyed back and forth, but nothing was coming together. They had two more days before he had to report to the president, and the rumor was that Johnson did not take kindly to failure.
The NASA team was in a planning meeting on Friday when suddenly Jerry Probert spoke up excitedly, "You know, Dr. Kranz, maybe we can do this in two stages."
"What do you mean, Jerry?"
"Well, we can launch a capsule that looks like the Apollo capsule but isn't. Then we can launch an additional capsule or capsules that are the ones actually going to Mars. The Apollo capsule can have food, water, oxygen, oxygen scrubbers, water recyclers, and so on, up to the weight limit. The second launch or launches from, maybe Vandenberg, could have the capsule that is actually going on to Mars. They can meet, unload the Apollo capsule, maybe attach something to the Mars capsule that could be used for storage or whatever, then with an additional rocket on the Mars capsule they could slingshot out of orbit and on to Mars. Come to think of it, a third launch will undoubtedly be necessary. What do you think?"
Kranz thought for a minute. "That would certainly solve a lot of problems. We would need someone with EVA (Extra Vehicular Activity) experience and the design would have to be flawless."
Jerry responded, "I think it could be done, Dr. Kranz. The biggest problem would be making sure everything would fit together if they aren't built together. I can't see them being built in one place without someone noticing something else is going on that isn't Apollo."
"You know people, we only have to come up with a plan. The president will have to figure out how to get the parts made."
"I like it, sir," Allison said. “It eliminates some of the weight issues, and it makes more room for the astronauts. Nine months is a long time to be cooped up in a small space, and then nine months more coming home. Wow. I don't want to go, myself, but it sounds exciting. Those guys will sure be glad to get home after 18 months of flight, plus whatever time they spend on Mars. Besides, that doesn't even take into account the effects of zero-G and the radiation. No, this will not be a pleasure cruise!"
Dr. David Jonathan said, “Well, I designed the Apollo capsule, so I can certainly design the modifications to it!”
“Yes, David. And that will work in our favor,” Gene concurred.
“I get the feeling this is not a round trip mission, sir,” Allison said hesitantly.
Dr. Kranz felt his heart fall, when Allison figured out that this might be a one-way mission. It is better I don’t confirm this, now, he thought to himself. They might not be so enthusiastic when they realize we are probably sending three men to their deaths. I need them to stay focused.
“Allison, don’t be ridiculous,” Dr. Kranz said.
By Friday night they had the essence of a plan. And what a plan it was!
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Saturday morning Dr. Donald Hornig, Science Advisor to the president, J. Edger Hoover, Director of the FBI, Dr. Gene Kranz, Director of NASA, Richard M. Helms, Director of the CIA, and President Lyndon B. Johnson gathered in the White House.
"Mr. President. I think we may have a way to do this," Gene thought he would start off with something positive.
"Very good, Dr. Kranz. I knew I had the right man." Johnson grinned.
"As you know, it takes less than nine months to get to Mars if the alignment is good, and unfortunately it isn’t that good. Mars will be in the best position possible nine months after the launch date. However, food, water, and oxygen for nine months is a real problem. Plus the Apollo capsule really was designed for an 8-10 day trip. It's just too small for three men for nine months."
"Go on."
"Well, Mr. President, the only way we can make this happen at our current stat
e of technology is to assemble the Mars vehicle in Earth’s orbit."
"How do you propose doing that?" asked Dr. Hornig.
"We first thought of multiple launches that would bring material into space to be loaded on Apollo 6. However, that wouldn't work because of the size limitations of the Apollo capsule. They need a lot more room than that. So, we came up with a plan to build a super capsule. To do this we need three launch windows. We will need two launches with separate modules that will be part of the final assembly, and then we launch Apollo 6 which will be the main section housing the astronauts. The three modules will be attached together and sent off to Mars. This gives us three times the room."
Enoch's Challenge Page 2
