“Mission Control, are you tracking him?” Aleksandr asked. The news was on in a small window to the right of the others. It mostly showed the same view they could see through the telescope, with inset headline tickers and talking heads trying analyze the stark and almost unbelievable turn of events.
“He’s at 300 kilometers altitude, doing 5.1 kilometers a second,” Christopher announced, as he monitored the other ship’s track.
“Atmospheric heating will start soon,” Martin said. “Mars' atmosphere may be thinner than ours, but it's way distended.”
“What region of Mars is it?” Emile asked.
“Ascraeus Mons,” Martin replied. Then his eyes widened. “There’s a huge, badass volcano there! I wonder if that’s where they’ll send him? The caldera’s about three kilometers deep!”
“200 kilometers altitude, 5.4 kilometers a second,” Christopher announced.
The ship was only visible to them as a tiny sliver now but, right on cue, it turned into a long, bright streak of fire. “I hope he makes it,” Kinuko said, imagining the intense heat on the skin of the spacecraft.
Tung-chi watched as Mars drew ever closer. The round planet, as seen from the IME's altitude, had given way to an expanse that was rushing up towards him very quickly. The atmosphere was clearly visible now over the curved horizon. The reddish-brown landscape was pockmarked here and there by a few large craters, hundreds of kilometers away. Right at the horizon, he could see a wide area of channels, each of which had to be hundreds of kilometers long. To the right of this area there was one particularly long, deep scar in the landscape. He couldn’t tell its dimensions, but it was vast by any measure. He was reminded of just how alien a planet this was – and he would be sitting on it in a matter of minutes! Then the deceleration started.
Two G, three G, four G – it just kept building. Tung-chi was struggling to breathe. Pressed down in his seat, as though he had a gorilla sitting on his shoulders, he tried to arch his back instead of slumping forward so that he had some semblance of correct posture to be carrying such a load. Nothing could be seen outside now but an orange glow. Then there was an even greater physical shock, as a drogue parachute opened. This shock was almost intolerable; close to the limits of human endurance, before tapering off to around five G. He mentally cursed the CNSA for choosing an entry and descent profile more suited to machines than humans. He wasn’t sure why they wanted to half-kill their spaceman on the way down.
The punishing deceleration didn’t let up. Tung-chi was pushed down into his seat, with what felt like unendurable pressure. His field of vision began to narrow. He knew from his training that this was a precursor to blacking out, and was thankful that the ship was automatic and didn’t need his input. He clenched his leg and arm muscles – something that he had been taught to do to counteract high G forces, though he had no idea he would have to use it on this mission. This pushed some of the blood back up into his upper body and brain. His vision began to widen again.
The deceleration forces gradually began to reduce, from intolerable to awful, to merely severe. He knew he must have traveled through the upper atmosphere now, into the middle layers. No more plasma glow could be seen outside. Then there was another complete shock – he went from immense pressure to complete weightlessness! This would have shot him out of his seat, had it not been for the restraint. The ship must have released the drogue. He knew what would come next, though – a punishing jolt as the main parachutes deployed. And it did. He had kept his head pushed back in preparation for this, and it was fortunate that he did, or the weight of his head and helmet would have broken his neck. The fierce deceleration began anew.
He caught a glimpse of an orange-red sky above him. There was a moment of complete ecstasy, and the terror was forgotten, as he realized he was the first human being ever to see this sky from below! Over the next two minutes, the deceleration force gradually eased until he could breathe again. He supposed he was down to one and a half gravities. Then, another jolt occurred as the main parachutes were jettisoned. More weightlessness. He heard a clunk from below, and hoped it was something that was supposed to happen. Then the deceleration began again, along with a roar and vibration throughout the cabin. A rocket engine was slowing him down now. He guessed he must only be a few kilometers above the surface. The rate of deceleration was almost pleasant now, compared to what it had been. He looked out of the porthole, and was shocked to see a stark rock wall cut into the terrain. He was about to land in an enormous crater! The ground came up closer, and more slowly. Boulders and small craters were visible now. Less than one kilometer to go.
Tung-chi's heart was in his mouth. He couldn't see directly below him – not even close. He hoped to God that the spacecraft was monitoring the surface for inclines and boulders, and had algorithms to avoid them and find a level landing spot. This was the kind of thing Neil Armstrong would have given his right arm for, many decades previously. He heard a whirring, and then a clunk, which he supposed was the deployment of landing legs. The ship did seem to be drifting sideways somewhat, but it was doing an excellent job, overall, of staying balanced atop a column of fire. It was descending slowly now. Dust could be seen whirling outside, and it was now obscuring the view. Five more seconds and... touchdown! There was a bump. The engine stopped, and the whirlwind of dust subsided.
There was complete silence. This was a surreal moment – his mind couldn't quite take in what had just happened. Was he really the first human on the surface of Mars? He just sat there, quietly, his mind racing, and his body decompressing from the stresses it had just been through. His neck and spine hurt. His breathing and heart rate slowly returned to normal, and he realized his forehead was covered in sweat.
64
“I just heard their access to MarsNet was reinstated in the name of safety,” Aleksandr said, “so they can keep in touch with him.” The news spoke of universal condemnations of China by the rest of the world, for pursuing its own agenda and putting the lives of the IME crew at risk. The IDSA itself was relatively mute on the subject, saying only that “appropriate steps had been taken to ensure the safety of the remaining personnel on the International Mars Explorer.” Higher-ups from NASA and ESA were on periodically, analyzing the pictures of the spacecraft and debating what its mission might be (as though that were any doubt), and whether its architecture was sufficient to pull off a safe landing and ascent.
“We lost sight of him,” Martin said. The “Chopper” was no longer visible through the telescope. “Even the radar's having a hard time following him now that we're so far away. I expect the first we'll hear about how the landing went is from the news.”
“Screw that,” Christopher said. “From this plot, Mars Orbital Reconnisance 4 is only 500 kilometers from the landing site, so its radar will be watching him. MOR 2 will be the next one over in thirty minutes or so – just about enough time for Earth to task its long-range camera to zoom in on the landing site with its telephoto lens.”
“Yeah,” Emile said. “although to get a long-range camera zoom on that tight of an area, you have to know exactly where to look, and nobody does yet. Can we patch into the satellites’ telemetry?”
“Should be able to,” said Christopher. “It's just a packet network. I'm amazed Mission Control didn't put us through, actually, so we can monitor what’s going on. Computer, open the communications interface.” A medium-sized window appeared, with very complex controls in it. He pressed many buttons in quick succession, to establish communications links from the observation satellites to the Explorer. Sure enough, MOR 4's radar had been tracking Tung-chi's descent through the atmosphere.
“Got him,” Christopher said, “and there’s even a direct translation coming through from the radar data to MPS coordinates, including altitude. You know what? I'm going to task the sats to observe him. We can get MarsNet relays, even when we don't have a line of sight, so we can keep watching even when we’re on the other side of the planet. Alex, let Mission Control know we
're on it so they don't try and send commands at the same time. Computer, project landing point from radar data.” A red X appeared on a photograph of that region of Mars.
“Crap, now for the complicated part. I know these things use the Simplified Observer Command Language, but it's still mostly Greek to me. I'll have to look up how to do it.” He researched the commands. “Selecting the instruments is pretty easy, as it turns out, as is tasking to observe and record. The tricky part is pointing it. The entire sat is going to have to rotate slowly, to keep it pointed at the landing site during its closest pass. The rate of rotation isn't constant, either. It changes as the inverse sine of the distance to the thing being observed. It's got to be computed in real time, in a routine that runs locally on its computer. Math geniuses, I need your help.”
Kinuko floated over. “I can help.”
“Great. Get me some equations together, and I'll translate into SOCL and figure out how to read the variables we need.” They worked together, and had a rough program ready in twenty minutes. During that time, a cheer went up from the others, who were watching the remote radar data. Apparently Tung-chi had made it down. “Sending the commands... now,” Christopher said, as he pushed the upload button. “Computer, display MOR 4's camera feed in a five-by-three window.” The occupants of the hub were now completely encircled with windows showing one thing or another. Sure enough, the satellite's camera view panned across to an area that was bisected by a vast cliff.
“Still too far away,” Martin said. “Looks like it'll go almost directly over the landing site, though. It also looks like the type of terrain I expected to see.” The camera view, focused rigidly on one spot, changed slowly as the satellite’s orbit brought it closer.
“There!” Emile shouted.
“I see it, too!” Alessia said.
Right at the center of the image, a tiny but discernible object stood upright on the desert-like landscape. It was at odds with its surroundings, and cast a long shadow in the morning sun.
“Oh my God, they did it!” Christopher exclaimed. “By the way, Alex, make sure MC's getting this.”
“Already did.”
“Holy crap: it's only the second ever successful Chinese landing on Mars, and they got a human down!” Martin said.
“Chris, you are an engineer par excellence,” Aleksandr said.
“First part of mission over,” Nikita said. “They beat everyone else there. First human on Mars. Got to give them that, at least.”
“We can’t actually talk to him until our orbit takes us back over there, since suit comms aren’t sent over MarsNet,” Aleksandr said.
“I’m sure we’ll see the grand announcement by the People’s Republic before then,” Martin said. “Won’t be too long now.”
“This is ENN, live from New York. China has just announced that it has successfully sent the first human being to the surface of Mars. This follows hours of drama, in which the taikonaut Kan Tung-chi, who hitched a ride on the International Mars Explorer, left that ship and boarded a Chinese ship that was placed into the same orbit.
“Some kind of rescue attempt followed, in which he then tried to leave the Chinese ship, and return to the Explorer. That was unsuccessful. Chinese state media made this announcement just moments ago –”
The People’s Republic of China has landed a Chinese citizen, Kan Tung-chi, on the surface of Mars,” a CNSA spokesman told a rapt audience in Beijing. Inset pictures showed an interior view of the ship, with Tung-chi still suited and strapped in, and outside views of the surface.
“This ushers in a new age of exploration, for the benefit of all humanity. The samples brought back will provide priceless information about Mars, which could not have been obtained in any other manner. We salute all our dedicated mission experts and technicians who made this happen…”
“So, there we have it,” Christopher said. “I guess this puts the ‘Mars’ in International Mars Explorer.” The others barely managed a smile, their faces tired, and their minds filled with mixed and conflicting emotions.
“Well, until China tells us when to expect him back, our focus is still on the primary mission objectives,” Aleksandr said. “And right now, my priority is on the well-being of the crew. So, I suggest we all go back to bed and get some rest. We can regroup in the morning.”
“My door is always open,” Alessia said, before they could get through the hatch and back to their cabins. “If you want to discuss any of today’s events, or anything else, feel free, even if you have to wake me up.”
They nodded their acknowledgement and thanks. Many of them did have trouble falling asleep again.
* * *
@KR_IME: THIS JUST IN: A CAN OF SPAM WAS SPOTTED ON MARS. THE LABEL IS IN CHINESE.
65
T-plus 99 days
Tung-chi looked out of the right porthole. He had not landed in the giant crater, but next to it. A hundred meters or so from his ship, the landscape ended abruptly as a cliff fell away. Far beyond, the crater floor could be seen, rising to the lip of the opposite wall. It was hard to tell the scale. Unbeknownst to him, the far side was actually forty-three kilometers away! Looking out of the left porthole, the landscape sloped away more gently. He knew there were some supersized volcanoes on Mars called the Tharsis Montes, and wondered if this was one of them.
He had been on the surface of Mars for scarcely ten minutes when the cabin display came to life. It was a message from President Jian, that had doubtless been uploaded before he landed to be played if he landed safely.
“Greetings, taikonaut Kan Tung-chi. All China, and the world, salutes you today as the first human being on another planet. Your dedication to your country and the Party will be richly rewarded upon your return to Earth. Explore as much as you can in the time you have on Mars. Matters of scheduling your return to the International Mars Explorer will be handled by CNSA. Once again, you have done your country proud. Farewell.”
Next came another video message:
“Greetings, Tung-chi. This is Wen Hai, Flight Director at the CNSA. I will be overseeing your exploration on the surface of Mars.
“The first thing to know is, you have approximately twenty-four hours on the surface. Your flight back to rendezvous with the International Mars Explorer will be completely automatic. You will be notified well in advance of liftoff.
“In the compartment under your seat there are airtight containers that will keep the rock samples pristine. In the compartment to the lower left there are: a shovel, a rock hammer, a camera, a tripod, and a Chinese flag. Your activities outside will be recorded from cameras on board. As soon as you set foot on the surface, pick up a rock and put it in your spacesuit pocket. Then: photograph your footprint, plant the flag, set up the camera, and photograph yourself next to the flag with the ship in the background.
“After that, go ahead and collect as many different types of rock and soil samples as you can find. Photograph them in place before you collect them. Store them in the compartment under your seat.
“Now for matters of personal well-being: there are nutrition bars and bottled water in the compartment at the top right. You will, of course, have to take your helmet off to eat, so there are now buttons to pressurize and depressurize the cabin on your display. Please do not pressurize more than twice, as this will severely deplete the onboard oxygen supply.
“Finally, on your departure from Mars, an alarm will sound two hours beforehand and a countdown timer will appear. Please keep your suit oxygen and electrical system plugged in at all times when on board, to keep the levels high. Good luck, brave explorer.”
Tung-chi sighed as the message ended, and the display changed to show some rudimentary push-button controls. He didn’t feel much like a brave explorer; more like an emotionally wrung-out one that had just been through a meat grinder. He knew he had signed up for a mission of great magnitude by coming to Mars in the first place, but to be the first human being on another planet? That was something else entirely. There would
only be one in all of history, and he was it. Well, he thought, he had better get on with it, tired though he was. He would take a break later.
The cabin was still depressurized from his escape attempt in orbit. Per his instructions, he gathered the needed items from the left-hand locker and tried to open the hatch. He could not, as it was locked by a safety mechanism. There was a red light on above the handle. Then he felt rather silly, as he remembered that there was now atmospheric pressure outside but not inside! A button on the display said 'Equalize Pressure.' He pressed it. He could feel it through his suit as the Martian atmosphere rushed in. Eventually, the red light turned green. He opened the hatch.
The barren desert-like landscape lay before him, five meters below. A ladder had deployed. He wondered about whether it would be seemly to have the iconic pictures of him setting the first human foot on another planet showing him awkwardly carrying the bundle of gear he was supposed to bring outside with him. He opted to toss everything that wasn't fragile out of the hatch before he climbed down. Out went the flag, the sample containers, and all other items except the camera. They fell much more slowly than they would have on Earth.
Tung-chi then descended the ladder, and made the historic first boot print in the Martian dust. “Greetings to all my fellow humans from Mars,” were the first words uttered on that planet. He had opted for the least controversial or political phrase he could think of. If his overlords had given him a phrase to say, he would probably have ignored them at this point anyway.
The boot print was photographed per the instructions, and the nearest small rock collected. He felt very light and nimble on his feet – Mars' gravity being less than half that of Earth. He decided that his masters could wait for their photographs and took off at a slow run across the landscape, making sure to stay well clear of the precipitous cliff nearly. He skipped and jumped like a caged animal suddenly freed. He discovered he could jump nearly two meters in the air, and yet stop far more easily than the lunar astronauts had been able to since his weight was much closer to his mass here. He thought about doing flips and cartwheels, but knew it was too dangerous – if his suit sprung a leak, it would be game over.
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