by Russell Fine
“Yeah, I guess we’ve both secured our place in history,” Terry agreed.
When the engineers returned, the ship went back to the original landing site. They all got off the ship and went to the habitat which, they discovered, had now been named the Ganymede Hilton. Two days later, Terry and the other people who were leaving said their emotional goodbyes to the people who were staying. When they left, they never expected to return. Terry had planned on resigning when he got back to Earth.
Before the Ganymede Express took off, Terry and Mark watched as Ross and Ben launched the Albert Simpson for its return to Earth. The launch was perfect and Terry congratulated them both on a job well done. Contained in the cargo hold of the Albert Simpson was seventy cubic meters of silver ore, which took up only a small fraction of the space. It was not enough to make even a small dent in the Earth’s silver shortage, but it was important for the people to know that the Ganymede mission was a success.
Once the Albert Simpson was gone, the Ganymede Express took off too and began the six-month journey back to Earth.
The trip back to Earth was long, boring, and completely without incident. Terry and Mark discussed their future and Terry told Mark he was planning on retiring after they returned to Earth because he was tired of being gone so often and wanted to find a nice girl, get married, and provide his mother with grandchildren. Mark was about ten years younger than Terry and he liked what he was doing. He planned on continuing the space travel for a long time.
While the Albert Simpson was on its return trip to Earth, the NASA engineers continued tweaking the miniature sub-light engine. They decided it was time for a real test of the engine. They found one of the early Mars mission ships that was scheduled to be scrapped parked near the space station and spent almost two months retrofitting it with the new engine and control systems. After a few successful static tests, it was ready. They decided to test it the same way the Albert Simpson was tested. They moved the ship to a fifty-thousand-mile orbit above the Earth and accelerated the ship at 1.25 g’s. After thirty-six hours the ship was traveling at one thousand miles per second or three million six hundred thousand miles per hour. They left the ship in orbit for five days before slowing it down and then bringing it back to the space station. The engine and control systems were removed and the ship was scrapped.
Two months after the Ganymede Express started its return trip, Terry received a message telling him the Albert Simpson had returned to Ganymede and landed successfully. It was something Terry and Mark had been concerned about and they were happy to get this news.
When the Ganymede Express arrived at the space station, Terry was surprised to find his boss waiting for him. “Hello Barbara, I wasn’t expecting you to meet me here. I thought we’d meet after I got back on Earth, but it’s nice to see you. Is there a problem?” Terry asked.
“No, there’s no problem. But there has been a development and I wanted to discuss it with you and Mark. I didn’t want to wait. Please come with me.”
Terry and Mark looked at each other with a confused look and followed Barbara to the conference room a few hundred feet down the hall. When they were comfortably seated Barbara said, “I know you guys just got back from a fifteen-month mission, and I’m sure you want some time off. You’ve certainly earned it, but I’m hoping I could talk you into one more mission. This one will be much shorter, probably not more than two months.”
Before Barbara could continue, Terry said, “I was planning on telling you that I want to retire when we had our meeting.”
Barbara said, “I actually thought about that, but before you make up your mind I wanted to tell you about a new engine our engineers have developed. They made some substantial modifications to the sub-light engine and created a much smaller version which can be used to power ships the size of the Ganymede Express. The engine is designed to accelerate at no more than 1.5 g’s and reach a maximum speed of one thousand miles per second. The ship could make the trip to Ganymede in two weeks. We’re going to retrofit the Ganymede Express and send it back to Ganymede. We want you two to head up the mission.”
“Why the big rush?” Terry enquired.
“Because the silver mine in Argentina is almost out of silver and we have to get more people to Ganymede as quickly as possible. The public is not aware of the problem, so we want to make sure the solution’s in place before there’s a shortage of silver again. You two are the most experienced people we have and this mission has to be perfect. So, can I count on you for one last mission?” Barbara asked pleadingly.
“Yeah, I guess so,” Terry responded unenthusiastically. Then he asked, “How long will it take for the retrofit?”
“About two months and it’ll start immediately. You can have six weeks off, but I need you here to go over the new control systems before we launch. Okay?”
Mark and Terry both said, “Yes,” at the same time.
Terry and Mark took the next shuttle back to Earth. After they landed, they said goodbye and agreed to meet again in six weeks for the flight back to the space station. Terry went home to Tennessee to see his mother and sister for the first time in almost a year and a half.
***
Emily met Terry at the Knoxville airport and drove him to their mother’s house. They hadn’t really talked for almost two years. He told her he was going to make one shorter trip to test some new equipment and then he was going to retire. Emily asked about the details of the trip but it was classified so he couldn’t discuss it. Terry told her that upon his retirement he wanted to get married and have a family. She told him she knew several eligible young women and when the time came she would be happy to help him find somebody. He thanked her but he was sure it was something he could do on his own. They talked about their mother’s health and several other less important things. By the time they arrived at their mother’s house, there was nothing left to talk about.
The three of them spent a pleasant afternoon talking, and at dinner time they went to a local restaurant and had a very good dinner. When they got back to the house, Susan said, “I have something I want to talk to both of you about. Since we’re not together very often this seems to be an ideal opportunity.”
Terry and Emily looked at their mother and Emily asked, “Mom, is something wrong?”
“No, everything is fine. I miss your father very much of course, but aside from that, I’m okay if that’s what you’re concerned about. When your father and I started receiving royalty checks from Kingman, we suddenly found ourselves with more money than we knew what to do with. This was before we set up the foundation. Your father was sure the price of silver would increase substantially over the years, and he was right. He started buying one-hundred-ounce silver bars when silver was still under forty dollars per ounce. He stopped buying them after he’d accumulated five hundred bars. Each of those bars is now worth over eight hundred fifty thousand dollars and I’m giving each of you two hundred and fifty of them. I certainly don’t need the money, and when my time comes my income will be diverted to the foundation, so this is your inheritance.”
Terry was stunned. “Thank you, I appreciate the gesture. But I really don’t need the money.”
“It’s yours to do with as you please, but don’t be too hasty in saying you don’t need it. You never know what’s going to happen in the future.”
“Thanks, Mom. I might sell it and give the money to the foundation, but I’ll think about it for a while,” Emily said.
“Okay, as I said you can do anything you want with it. So, Terry, you’ll be retired soon, and that makes me very happy. Have you given any thought about where you’re going to live?”
“I thought I’d stay here for a while and then decide. I’ve always liked this area, so I’m sure I’ll find my own place nearby. Besides, Emily has promised to help me find a wife. I can’t pass up an offer like that!”
Susan smiled at that comment, and Emily gave him a dirty look.
THE QUICK TRIP TO GANYMEDE
; February 2078 to May 2078
By mid-February 2078, the new engine had been installed on the Ganymede Express. It was now the fastest passenger spaceship ever built. The static tests were perfect, as was the Earth orbit test. Terry and Mark both returned to the space station to begin their training by the third week of February, and after two weeks they were ready for their first test flight. They were going to duplicate the Earth orbit test. That was scheduled for March 1.
Terry and Mark were a little nervous. Until now the fastest anybody had ever traveled was one hundred thousand miles per hour. They were going to be moving at three million six hundred thousand miles per hour. At that speed, there was no room for error. They left the space station and moved into the same fifty-thousand- mile orbit that had been used before. While moving the ship into orbit, they kept the speed at a modest thirty thousand miles per hour. Once the ship was in orbit, Terry increased the acceleration to 1.25 g’s. Terry and Mark were pushed back against their seats. It was a little uncomfortable, but after half an hour they had adapted to it. They both thought it was more comfortable than being weightless. This rate of acceleration would continue for another thirty hours. Then the engine would cut out and they would be weightless and uncomfortable again. The ship, Terry, and Mark all performed flawlessly. After five days they began the thirty-hour deceleration process. When the ship slowed to thirty thousand miles per hour they halted the deceleration, moved out of orbit, and returned to the space station.
While the Ganymede Express was being tested, the passengers who were going to Ganymede were told about the new engine, and that the trip would take less than two weeks, they were thrilled. A few of them had been to Mars, but most were space flight novices. None of them were concerned about the thirty hours at 1.25 g’s. During their preflight training at NASA, each of them had been subjected to 4 g’s for a few seconds, and 2 g’s for ten minutes, so the acceleration wasn’t considered a problem. They were all brought up to the space station a week before departure for training and additional medical testing.
The Ganymede Express left for its flight on March 12. For the first half hour, the acceleration was kept to .2 g’s. Terry announced that everyone should be seated because in five minutes the acceleration would increase to 1.25 g’s. After fifteen minutes at full acceleration, Terry announced that people could leave their seats but they should use some caution when moving around the ship because of the increased gravity. Thirty hours later Terry again asked everybody to be seated because he was shutting off the engines and they would be weightless for three days. At that time the deceleration process would begin.
Right on schedule, they began slowing down the ship, and by the time it was two million miles from Ganymede the ship had slowed to one hundred thousand miles per hour. Terry informed the passengers that they would be landing on Ganymede in twenty hours.
Just as they were about to enter into orbit around Ganymede, there was a control system failure in the engine propulsion module. Terry noticed it immediately and switched to a backup system, but they missed the orbital entry point and flew past Ganymede. It took three hours to maneuver the ship back into the correct position, and on the third orbital pass they slowed the ship down and dropped toward the landing site. Mark asked if he could handle the landing and Terry agreed. Mark landed the ship perfectly, and all of the passengers came into the control room and thanked Terry and Mark for a wonderful trip.
As the passengers got off the ship, they were welcomed by the people stationed on Ganymede who were all very happy to see some new faces after nine months. They all went to the Ganymede Hilton where they were directed to their rooms and given a big dinner.
Terry spent some time with Ross, discussing what he had learned about the lifeforms on Ganymede. What he was told concerned him a bit. It seemed any lifeform based on Earth’s type of DNA would die if exposed to Ganymede cells. There had been a plan to use the water they found on Ganymede for drinking and cooking, but that plan was put on hold until they were absolutely certain there was no danger. In the meantime, every trip made by the Albert Simpson included ten thousand gallons of fresh water. The ship was making monthly trips now, but the people on Ganymede would not survive very long if there was a problem with the ship. NASA had started construction on another ship, but it wouldn’t be ready for a year.
Terry and Mark spent five days on Ganymede. This time, when Terry said goodbye to the people he had worked with for nine months, he told them his return to Earth was his last space flight. Mark would be making regular flights to Ganymede, although the schedule was not set yet.
One of the new people on the flight was a doctor who was going to replace Ross. There were also twenty people who would be working as miners extracting the silver ore. The plan was that with the additional people, they would be able to work continuously in eight-hour shifts and would be able to extract six hundred cubic meters of silver ore every week. That meant the hold on the Albert Simpson would be nearly full every time it returned to Earth.
With the exception of Ross, everyone else was staying on Ganymede so when the ship went back to Earth there were only three people aboard. The return trip went smoothly, and the Ganymede Express arrived at the space station twelve days later. When Terry got off the ship he sent a brief message to his boss, Barbara: “I’m done. I enjoyed working with you for these past several years. If you need me I’ll be at my mother’s house. Thanks for everything. Goodbye.”
Mark stayed on the space station to be briefed on his next assignment. Terry and Mark said goodbye and Terry took the next shuttle back to Earth.
***
Terry returned to Tennessee, and at a Christmas party being given by the foundation, he met Roberta Cook. She was a few years younger than him; her husband had been killed in an accident two year earlier. Roberta had an eight-year-old son named Brandon. Terry and Roberta dated for a few months and then decided to get married. Terry had grown very fond of Brandon, and Brandon loved the idea of his mother being married to a famous space pilot.
The wedding was held at Susan’s house. There were a lot of famous people in attendance, including President Robert Townsend. Terry was happy to see Barbara and Mark at the wedding. He spent an hour or two talking with them about old times before he and Roberta left for their honeymoon. Barbara and Mark would remain his best friends for many years.
Shortly after the marriage, Terry adopted Brandon. As he grew up, Brandon and Terry became very close. Perhaps it was because of their relationship that Brandon eventually became the top engineer at NASA.
PART THREE
INTERSTELLAR TRAVEL
2078 TO 2120
When the sub-light engine was put into the Ganymede Express, a new era of exploration followed. The silver shortage was resolved. With that problem gone, it was a matter of pure scientific curiosity to study the other planets and moons in our solar system. By 2085, some additional improvements were made in the sub-light engine that allowed it to reach a velocity of 5% of light speed, or about ninety-three hundred miles per second. It took fourteen days to reach that velocity, but the ships didn’t need to travel that fast. Even the distant dwarf planet Pluto could now be reached in less than two weeks.
Missions were sent to every planet, with the exception of those planets that had extremely hostile environments. They were Mercury, Venus, and Jupiter. Also, every moon with a diameter of more than five hundred miles was studied extensively. Samples were taken so that if Earth ever ran short of any raw material they would know where in the solar system to find it.
Many of the people on Earth were certain of the presence of alien beings because they believed aliens had taken the Ganymede probe, while others were unsure. However most felt that now that we could easily travel anywhere in our solar system, we should begin to examine how we could travel to the other solar systems regardless of the possible presence of aliens.
What a lot of people didn’t realize was that interstellar travel was impossible with the current technology. The
distances were many times greater than the distances required to travel to parts of our solar system. The fastest ships could only travel at sixty percent of light speed, and people would be unable to withstand the acceleration required to get to that speed in a reasonable length of time. Even if a way was found to allow people to survive the acceleration, it would take fifteen years to reach the nearest star system with planets. Not many people would sign up for that.
In February 2100 a meeting was held that included all of the world’s brightest and most respected physicists and engineers to discuss ways of building a ship that could travel to the stars. There were many problems to solve, but they were sure it could be done because they believed the beings who took the Ganymede probe had done it.
The first problem was that interstellar travel required velocities exceeding the speed of light in order to minimize the travel time, and it was impossible to do that. As an object was accelerated to the speed of light its mass increased and approached infinity, and it would take an infinite amount of power to accelerate an infinite mass. Obviously, that was not possible. Additionally, if you could travel at the speed of light there’s also a problem of time dilation. That means time movesmore slowly for the people who are traveling at the speed of light than for the people back home on Earth. For example, if a person traveled at the speed of light for five years to reach our closest neighbor and then spent five years returning to Earth, that person would have aged ten years, but on Earth, eighty years would have passed.
The only possible solution to the problem was to take a different approach. To quote an old science fiction book, Dune, they had to learn how to fold space. That would enable somebody to travel without moving. It was thought if a wormhole could be created between two locations, an object placed into the wormhole would be instantly transported to the other end. But that was only a theory, so the esteemed scientists at the meeting decided to try to prove it.