She stared off into the room, looking pensive, biting her lip.
“Hmmm, not convinced?”
She shrugged. “It just seems kind of strange, particularly since you all live together.”
“I see. Okay, let’s try this. Do you know anyone smarter than Gabe?”
She shook her head.
“Do you know of any pilots better than Abby?”
“No.”
“Uh huh. How about this? Are there any men in that room downstairs that are better at this than you?”
She smiled softly and glanced up at him. “I see your point. I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have asked that. You offer me the chance of lifetime and I offend you.”
Jeff shook his head. “You didn’t offend me. Like I said, it’s a fair question. And now that we have that out of the way, what do you say?”
“May I not offend you again?”
“Yeah, sure.”
“How much does it pay?”
“Oh, I dunno. I’m sure we’ll come to an equitable figure. I will tell you this: five years from now when we get back from Mars, you’ll be a multimillionaire, you can write a book, go on the lecture circuit at $50,000 an hour and probably get any job on the planet you want… or just retire and live on a beach in Bermuda.”
“Wow.” She sighed audibly. “I have a boyfriend.”
“That, I cannot help you with. We live and work here. We are a team and a family, and we have but one singular purpose: we are going to Mars. Well, and coming back, preferably alive. We don’t have wives, husbands, boyfriends, dogs, cats, hamsters or stamp collections. Well, actually, we do have two dogs, but they’re more like employees; they keep uninvited visitors off the property… and then sleep on Gabe’s bed. In any case, what we have is the mission. Period. We do get away now and then, but not very often. This is a seven by twenty-four job, and it will wear you to a frazzle. But, when we’re done, you’ll be able to say you were an integral part of something that no one else has done, and may never do again.”
She swallowed hard. “Has anyone ever turned you down?”
“No. And do me a favor and don’t be the first, you might start an ugly trend.”
Heidi stared at Jeff’s desk for a minute than looked up at him. “Okay, you just bought yourself an engineer. Can you give me a week to tie up loose ends?”
“You’ve got it. Here’s my card, call me when you’re ready and I’ll send Abby out to pick you up.”
“Huh?”
“The job has a few perks; we have our own jet.”
Heidi’s eyes twinkled. “Okay, that’ll work.”
Jeff stood, walked around the desk and held out his hand to Heidi. “Welcome aboard.”
She stood and shook his hand. “Thank you. Thank you very much. I hope I can live up to your expectations.”
Jeff smiled. “You will. Come on, let’s rejoin the party. We can cross the ‘t’s and dot the ‘i’s later.”
As they walked downstairs, Heidi asked, “Should I keep this under my hat for now?”
“I don’t care, up to you. I don’t like secrets unless the information can hurt somebody. You decide. But I’m not going to make a grand announcement just now, if that’s what you’re asking.”
Heidi nodded.
Downstairs at the celebration party Jeff found another glass of champagne then schmoozed his way across the room tracking down Gabe. He found her standing alone by the fireplace in the great room. “Hey, trying to stay warm?”
“Yeah, it’s a little cold in here.”
“Yeah it is. I’ll turn up the heat. Say,” Jeff grinned, “you were actually hung in effigy at MIT?”
Gabe hung her head and groaned. “Oh god, where did you hear about that?”
“Heidi.”
“Yeah, that’s the story. I didn’t see it, but I guess there were plenty in the physics department who did.”
Jeff laughed.
Gabe frowned. “What’s so funny?”
“Well, when you think about it, it’s really quite flattering. Puts you in the same league with Galileo and Copernicus – persecuted for being too smart. Pretty elite company.”
Gabe stared at the floor for a minute. “I’d never thought of it that way.”
“Gabe, you have a gift that most of us can’t even comprehend. Be thankful for it, not ashamed.”
She smiled. “Thanks.”
“Anyway, I just bought you some help.”
“Huh? What are you talking about?”
“I hired Heidi.”
“You did? Why?”
“I’m going to take the Jupiter development off your desk and give it to her.”
“Oh, thank god! You’re a very good man. I think I love you.”
Jeff smiled. “Hmmm, I’ll make a note of that.”
“She can do it, too. It’s right up her alley.”
Tuesday, January 7, 2014 (T minus 805 days)
Jeff motioned around the conference table, introducing his team and their guests. “And on this side, we have Elgin Chase, from Johnson Space Center, formerly of NASA’s Constellation Lunar Landing Project Office; Dwayne Cranston of Northrop Grumman; and Steve Talbert from JPL. Okay, everyone have a seat. You guys have a good flight?”
“Yeah, great,” said Elgin, smiling. “Nice plane. Thanks for the ride.”
Dwayne nodded. “Yeah, thanks, sweet. We could have flown commercial, you didn’t have to send the limo for us.”
Jeff smiled. “Oh, no problem. That’s why we have it.”
“Hello, Steve. Nice to see you,” said Gabe, reaching across the table to shake his hand.
“Hi Gabe, good to see you again, too.”
“You two know each other?” said Jeff.
“Yes, Steve was my boss when I interned at JPL.”
Jeff raised an eyebrow. “Really.”
Gabe gave him a contrite grin and shrugged.
“Okay then, let’s talk about MAVs. Elgin, what’s NASA got in mind?”
“Well, it’s a challenge. But after pondering nearly every conceivable option, the best bet seems to be a modified Apollo Lunar Module. The big problem, as you’re well aware, is not getting it off the planet, but landing it on the planet, preferably in one piece. And of course the other big problem is on Dwayne’s end, in that Grumman only has two years to get these built.”
Dwayne shook his head. “And that is a tall order.”
“We understand,” said Jeff, nodding. “Tall orders and short lead times are about all we know.”
“Well, that said,” Elgin continued, “what we have in mind is to start with a factory stock LM. The major changes will be scrapping the descent stage except for the legs, swapping the RS-18 main engine for an XCOR XR-5M15 so that you can manufacture the fuel, and tripling the size of the APS fuel and oxidizer tanks. But at launch we’ll only fuel it with enough to land. That should give us a manageable mass, probably no more than 6,000 pounds, and something that Grumman can actually construct in the time allotted. And as a side benefit, it shouldn’t cost a whole lot.”
Gabe frowned. “Without the descent stage, how do you plan on landing it?”
“More or less, the same way you plan on landing all your stuff. We’ll use an MSL descent stage...”
She interrupted. “It’s too heavy.”
“We’ll use an MSL descent stage in combination with the main engine.”
Steve frowned at her.
Gabe ignored him. “Can the 5M15 be throttled down that much?”
“Yeah.”
“Huh. I didn’t know that.”
Abby stared at her, wide-eyed. “Somebody make a note, we found something she didn’t…”
“Shut up.” Gabe glared at her, then turned back to Elgin. “What about the RCS? You plan to convert that to CH4/LOX as well?”
“No. It’ll be easier and safer if we stay with a hypergolic fuel. I don’t think you want to have to worry about igniters on sixteen RCS thrusters. Yeah, fuel for the RCS adds about 650 pounds to the landin
g mass, but to us it seems a small price for simplicity and reliability.”
Gabe nodded. “I agree. Um, I’d originally suggested that we save some weight by going un-pressurized, particularly since we’ll have to suit up just to get into it. Any thoughts on that?”
“Yeah, we talked about it, but we don’t think it’ll save that much mass, and the engineering changes would likely be more effort than they’re worth. It’ll be easier and faster if we just stay with what we know works. As we see it, you can launch at Mars atmospheric pressure, then once you’re in space – and after all, the LM was designed to operate only in a vacuum – purge the cabin and pressurize with O2 remaining in your oxidizer tanks. That’d make transferring to your return ship a lot easier.”
Gabe gave Heidi a questioning glance.
She nodded.
“Yeah, okay. What about atmospheric entry?”
“Again, your idea. We’ll pack them both into a bent biconic lifting body, along with a third load of parts you’ll need to get them off the ground again. The lifting body will home in on your location, at mach two we blow the bolts, pop chutes, follow the MSL profile, and everything settles to the surface, in theory. But I’ll tell you, that’s the scary part. Anything goes wrong with that lifting body during entry, and you’re not coming back.”
Jeff smiled. “Elgin, we stopped keeping a list of things that could go wrong a long time ago. In any case, if they don’t make it, we don’t land. They’ve got to be there, intact, and on the ground before we arrive in orbit. If they aren’t, we light fires, do a powered swing-by, and come straight home. Spending the rest of eternity entombed on that rock is not in our flight plan.”
“Gotcha.”
“Elgin, how are you going to launch it?” said Heidi.
“Well, with all your launches in that window, that is a bit of a sticky wicket. You’ve got Kennedy, the Cape, SpaceX and UAL pretty much up against the wall already. So what we’re thinking is launching the payload on a Falcon 9 from Kwajalein, and then sending up a Centaur or DHCUS from the Cape, mating the two in LEO and sending them on their way.”
“A Falcon 9?”
“Yeah, it’ll be close to capacity, but it should fit.”
“Dwayne,” said Jeff, “what’s Grumman’s take on this?”
“Well, aside from the fact we think you’re all certifiable, we’re onboard. We’ve already started work on the design modifications in conjunction with both JSC and JPL – Steve has some preliminary drawings – and two years is more than enough time for construction, though there won’t be any flight tests.”
“Can we see the drawings?” said Gabe.
Jeff held up his hand. “Later. Dwayne, you had plenty of flight tests back in the sixties. Just put that good old Grumman know-how to work, and we’ll see you on the flip side.”
Dwayne smiled and shook his head. “You’re braver folks than me.”
“Bravery’s got nothing to do with it. You guys just get them down on the surface; we’ll take care of the rest. If it can be built, Gabe and I can build it. And if it can be flown, Abby can fly it. Steve, JPL have any concerns with landing that much mass?”
“The computer simulations look good. Of course, it’ll require some significant modifications to the MSL descent stage, but nothing overwhelming.”
“Such as?” said Gabe.
“Well, for starters we’re gonna have to beef-up the support structure and tether, and remove the sky crane. It would never handle the mass, even for a split second, and designing one that could, would necessitate a complete redesign of the entire stage. And there’s no time for that. So we’ll just go without and rely on main engine throttling for a soft landing. We’re also going to look at reorienting the descent engines, with an eye toward providing more lateral control, owing to the greater mass, and less vertical thrust since we’ll have the main engine to handle that job. We’ll also need to take a look at the radar altimeter orientation since this’ll be kicking up a lot of dust.”
Jeff nodded. “Understood. Will JPL be packing and delivering the spare parts box, or is that something we need to do?”
“No, we’ll take care of that. Well, in conjunction with Grumman.”
“Jeff,” said Dwayne, “once we’ve got a mockup, we’d like you and your team – whoever’s gonna be doing the work – to come on out and we’ll go through a complete build. Write the manual, and make sure we’re all on the same page.”
“Yeah, sure. What about flight training?”
“The original LM simulator is on display at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum in Washington. It won’t handle exactly the same, but it should be pretty close, assuming we can get it to work… and the folks at the Smithsonian don’t have an apoplexy.”
Jeff nodded. “Abby, job opportunity.”
She cringed. “Oh, fine. Our sim is a fifty-year-old museum piece?”
Dwayne smiled. “It’ll have to do, there’s not enough time to build another one.”
“Okay,” said Jeff, “get her working. If the Smithsonian gives you any heartburn, let me know and I’ll see if I can get the White House to intercede.”
“Alright, we’ll get right on it.”
“Elgin, what are you looking at in terms of useful load?”
“The bare minimum, whatever you guys weigh plus your suits. Offhand, I’d say right about 1,250 pounds, tops.”
“Add another 250 pounds, and space for two two-foot by two-foot by three-foot crates.”
“Huh? What’s that?”
“Contingency. Just in case the rocks don’t get off the ground, and some other odds and ends. They’ll be sealed and sanitized.”
“Okay.”
“We gonna fly this thing standing up, like Apollo?”
“Yep. Sorry, no other way, particularly with four of you. Remember, it was designed for a crew of two, so you’re gonna be real cozy. But we’ll try and come up with a thrust profile that won’t squash you like bugs.”
They all laughed.
“That’s mighty kind of you,” said Jeff. He leaned on his elbow and rubbed his chin, thinking for a moment. “I’d like to ask the three of you a bit of an off-topic question, if I may? Chrissie keeps pretty good track of the news on us, but we all know that the media doesn’t carry the whole story. What do you folks in the industry think about all this? I mean, besides the fact that y’all think we’re raving lunatics.”
Elgin shrugged. “Well, for my part, I’m really excited. Sure, I wish NASA was doing this, but it’s not and it won’t, so I’m just happy to have any part in it. Throughout NASA there are a wide range of opinions. Most folks are pretty damn excited about it. There is some resentment, but for the most part that’s not your fault.”
“What do you mean, ‘for the most part’?”
“Well, there are some, particularly within the astronaut corps, that are a little annoyed that you didn’t come to us for a crew.”
“Elgin, you know full well what would have happened if I had.”
“Yeah, sure. You wouldn’t get off the ground for twenty years. The safety checks alone would take a decade. But, you know how it is, there are a lot of other people just as crazy as you, and they want to go.”
Jeff nodded. “Yeah. Steve, what about JPL?”
“Oh hell, we’re thrilled to death. Like Elgin, we wish we had a much larger role, but, jeez, what’s to say? We’re going to Mars. I mean, damn! Still, there is an awful lot of concern. You fail and public sentiment will likely see it as a failure of the entire space program, including us.”
“What’s your big concern?”
Steve pursed his lips. “I hope you’ll forgive my bluntness, but like Elgin said… the crew. You’ve got no experience.”
Susan glared at him. “Things are going to break on this mission, that’s inevitable. But it won’t be us. Just get your part right. We’ll be fine.”
Abby and Gabe glanced at her and smiled.
Jeff nodded. “There you have it. Dwayne? Grumm
an happy to be back in the business?”
“Oh, yeah. We’d sure rather be building the Altair, but since you’re the only game in town, we’ll take it. It’s been forty-five years, but we’re finally going somewhere again. Jeez, what more can we ask for? Hell, we’re probably going to have octogenarians that worked on the LM show up at the door wanting to torque a single bolt on these things just so they can say they were part of it.”
Jeff laughed. “Well, you let ‘em. They deserve it. And make sure that everyone who works on it gets to sign their name on it somewhere.”
“Yeah, okay. And I don’t think most people believe you’re crazy, your plan’s sound. Not elaborate, but sound. Though you may be crazy when you get back after living in those cramped quarters for two and a half years.”
Abby grinned. “If we don’t come back, it’s liable to be because we all strangled each other.”
“No, I think most folks are with you. It’s a hell of a thing. Go with God. And come back.”
Jeff nodded and smiled. “Thanks. That’s the plan.”
“Oh, by the way, somebody at Grumman started a pool recently on what your first words will be when you step onto the surface. An awful lot of folks will be listening to the radio when that happens, cause there’ll be a lot of money in that pool.”
Jeff chuckled. “Yeah. You might want to put some money on, ‘Uh, we’re here.’”
While Gabe, Abby, Sue, Heidi, and Chrissie poured over the preliminary MAV schematics with Elgin and Dwayne, Steve pulled Jeff aside. “Look, Jeff, it’s your mission and I’m just a minor player, but… well, I know Gabe. I’m sure she’s doing a fine job for you but, are you certain she’s got the right temperament for this?”
Jeff smiled. “Steve, she worked for you on the MSL and you fired her because she drove you nuts.”
Steve gave him a look of surprise.
“Yeah, I know all about it. I also know all about Gabe, probably a lot more than you do. You thought she was an emotionally unstable nitpicking nag. For my part, I think she elevates ‘attention to detail’ to a whole new level, which is exactly what I need. She also may be the brightest bulb on the entire human tree. She’s the smartest person in the room, the building, and perhaps the entire planet, and there is no one on Earth I would rather have sitting beside me in that command module when we lift off, and you can quote me on that.”
Margaritifer Basin (Margaritifer Trilogy Book 1) Page 42