Guo Ming leaned back in his chair. “What are you saying?”
“It's the Taiyang Shen's booster, Sir. Our engineers have run the numbers, and it has enough fuel for a Mars injection orbit. It could get there in 419 days.”
“Are you kidding?”
“Have you ever known me to 'kid,' Sir?”
Guo Ming stood and pinched his chin. Pacing, he said “We can really send a probe to Mars?”
“It's hardly notable, Sir,” Zhu Tao said. “We've sent several in the past.”
“Yes, I know, but we could really send the Taiyang Shen?”
“No, Sir,” said Zhu Tao. “It's far too heavy. The massive heat shielding makes it the heaviest unmanned probe we've ever built. That's why the booster had to be so powerful. But a lighter payload could be sent all the way to Mars.”
“How much mass could we send?” Guo Ming asked.
“941 kilograms, Sir.”
“Hmm,” Guo Ming said, “I bet NASA could work with that limitation. Why haven't they approached us?”
“Because they don't know.” Zhu Tao said. “All our booster technology is classified information. The Ministry of State Security even spreads disinformation about our capabilities. This is for obvious reasons.”
“So they don't know we can help them,” Guo Ming said, “If we decide not to help, no one will know we could have.”
“Correct, Sir.”
“For the sake of argument, let's say we decided to help. What then?”
“Time would be the enemy, Sir,” Zhu Tao answered. “Based on travel duration and the supplies their astronaut has remaining, any such probe would have to be launched within a month. Even then he would starve a little.”
“That's right around when we planned to launch Taiyang Shen.”
“Yes, Sir. But it took them two months to build Iris, and it was so rushed it failed.”
“That's their problem,” Guo Ming said. “Our end would be providing the booster. We'd launch from Jiuquan; we can't ship an 800-ton rocket to Florida.”
“Any agreement would hinge on the Americans reimbursing us for the booster,” Zhu Tao said, “and the State Council would likely want political favors from the US Government.”
“Reimbursement would be pointless,” Guo Ming said. “This was an expensive project, and the State Council grumbled about it all along. If they had a bulk payout for it's value, they'd just keep it. We'd never get to build another one.”
He clasped his hands behind his back. “And the American people may be sentimental, but their government is not. The US State Department won't trade anything major for one man's life.”
“So it's hopeless?” asked Zhu Tao.
“Not hopeless,” Guo Ming corrected. “Just hard. If this becomes a negotiation by diplomats, it will never resolve. We need to keep this among scientists. Space agency to space agency. I'll get a translator and call NASA's Director. We'll work out an agreement, then present it to our governments as a fait accompli.”
“But what can they do for us?” Zhu Tao asked. “We'd be giving up a booster and effectively canceling Taiyang Shen.”
Guo Ming smiled. “They'll give us something we can't get without them.”
“And that is?”
“They'll put a Chinese astronaut on Mars.”
Zhu Tao stood. “Of course,” he smiled. “The Ares 5 crew hasn't even been selected yet. We'll insist on a crewman. One we get to pick and train. NASA and the US State Department would surely accept that. But will our State Council?”
Guo Ming smiled wryly. “Publicly rescue the Americans? Put a Chinese astronaut on Mars? Have the world see China as equal to the US in space? The State Council would sell their own mothers for that.”
Teddy listened to the phone at his ear. The voice on the other end finished what it had to say, then fell silent as it awaited an answer.
He stared at nothing in particular as he processed what he'd just heard.
After a few seconds, he replied “Yes.”
Johanssen:
Your poster outsold the rest of ours combined. You're a hot chick who went to Mars. You're on dorm-room walls all over the world.
Looking like that, why are you such a nerd? And you are, you know. A serious nerd. I had to do some computer shit to get Pathfinder talking to the rover and oh my God. And I had NASA telling me what to do every step of the way.
You should try to be more cool. Wear dark glasses and a leather jacket. Carry a switchblade. Aspire to a level of coolness known only as... “Botanist Cool.”
Did you know Commander Lewis had a chat with us men? If anyone hit on you, we'd be off the mission. I guess after a lifetime of commanding sailors she's got an unfairly jaded view.
Anyway. Try not to think about all those guys wanking to your poster.
“Ok, here we are again,” said Bruce to the assembled heads of JPL. “You've all heard about the Taiyang Shen, so you know our friends in China have given us one more chance. But this time, it's going to be harder.
“Taiyang Shen will be ready to launch in 28 days. If it launches on time, our payload will get to Mars on Sol 624, six weeks after Watney's expected to run out of food. NASA's already working on ways to stretch his supply.
“We made history when we finished Iris in sixty three days. Now we have to do it in twenty eight.”
He looked across the table to the incredulous faces.
“Folks,” he said, “This is going to be the most 'ghetto' spacecraft ever built. There's only one way to finish that fast: No landing system.”
“Sorry, what?” Jack Trevor stammered.
Bruce nodded. “You heard me. No landing system. We'll need guidance for in-flight course adjustments. But once it gets to Mars, it's going to crash.”
“That's crazy!” Jack said. “It'll be going an insane velocity when it hits!”
“Yep,” Bruce said. “With ideal atmospheric drag, it'll impact at 300 meters per second.”
“What good will a pulverized probe do Watney?” Jack asked.
“As long as the food doesn't burn up on the way in, Watney can eat it.” Bruce commented.
Turning to the whiteboard, he began drawing a basic organizational chart. “I want two teams,” He began.
“Team One will make the outer shell, guidance system, and thrusters. All we need is for it to get to Mars. I want the safest possible system. Aerosol propellant would be best. High-gain radio so we can talk to it, and standard satellite navigational software.
“Team Two will deal with the payload. They need to find a way to contain the food during impact. If protein bars hit sand at 300m/s, they'll make protein-scented sand. We need them edible after impact.
“We can weigh 941kg. At least 300 of that needs to be food. Get crackin'.”
“Uh, Dr. Kapoor?” Rich said, peeking his head in to Venkat's office. “Do you have a minute?”
Venkat gestured him in. “You are...?”
“Rich, Rich Purnell,” he said, shuffling in to the office, his arms wrapped around a sheaf disorganized papers. “From astrodynamics.”
“Nice to meet you,” Venkat said. “What can I do for you, Rich?”
“I came up with something a while ago. Spent a lot of time on it.” He dumped the papers on Venkat's desk. “Lemme find the summary...”
Venkat stared forlornly at his once clean desk, now strewn with scores of printouts.
“Here we go!” Rich said triumphantly, grabbing a paper. Then, his expression saddened. “No, this isn't it.”
“Rich,” Venkat said. “Maybe you should just tell me what this is about?”
Rich looked at the mess of papers and sighed. “But I had such a cool summary...”
“A summary for what?”
“How to save Watney.”
“That's already in progress,” Venkat said. “It's a last-ditch effort, but-”
“The Taiyang Shen?” Rich snorted. “That won't work. You can't make a Mars probe in a month.”
“We're sure as hell going to try,” Venkat said, a note of annoyance in his voice.
“Oh sorry, am I being difficult?” Rich asked. “I'm not good with people. Sometimes I'm difficult. I wish people would just tell me. Anyway, the Taiyang Shen is critical. In fact, my idea won't work without it. But a Mars probe? Pfft. C'mon.”
“All right,” Venkat said. “What's your idea?”
Rich snatched a paper from the desk. “Here it is!” He handed it to Venkat with a child-like smile.
Venkat took the summary and skimmed it. The more he read, the wider his eyes got. “Are you sure about this?”
“Absolutely!” Rich beamed.
“Have you told anyone else?”
“Who would I tell?”
“I don't know, Venkat said. “Friends?”
“I don't have any of those.”
“Ok, keep it under your hat.” Venkat said.
“I don't wear a hat.”
“It's just an expression.”
“Really?” Rich said. “It's a stupid expression.”
“Rich, you're being difficult.”
“Ah. Thanks.”
Vogel:
Being your backup has backfired.
I guess NASA figured botany and chemistry are similar because they both end in “Y”. One way or another, I ended up being your back-up chemist.
Remember when they made you spend a day explaining your experiments to me? It was in the middle of intense mission prep. You may have forgotten.
You started my training by buying me a beer. For breakfast. Germans are awesome.
Anyway, now that I have time to kill, NASA gave me a pile of work. And all your chemistry crap is on the list. So now I have to do boring-ass experiments with test tubes and soil and pH levels and Zzzzzzzzzz....
My life is now a desperate struggle for survival... with occasional titration.
Frankly, I suspect you're a super villain. You're a chemist, you have a German accent, you had a base on Mars... what more can there be?
“What the fuck is 'Project Elrond'?” Annie asked.
“I had to make something up,” Venkat said.
“So you came up with 'Elrond'?” Annie pressed.
“Because it's a secret meeting?” Mitch guessed. “The email said I couldn't even tell my assistant.”
“I'll explain everything once Teddy arrives.” Venkat said.
“Why does 'Elrond' mean 'secret meeting'?” Annie asked.
“Are we going to make a momentous decision?” Bruge Ng asked.
“Exactly,” Venkat said.
“How did you know that?” Annie asked, getting annoyed.
“Elrond,” Bruce said. “The Council of Elrond. From Lord of the Rings. It's the meeting where they decide to destroy The One Ring.”
“Jesus,” Annie said. “None of you got laid in high school, did you?”
“Good morning,” Teddy said as he walked in. Seating himself, he rested his hands on the table. “Anyone know what this meeting's about?” He asked.
“Wait,” Mitch said, “Teddy doesn't even know?”
Venkat took a deep breath. “One of our astrodynamicists, Rich Purnell, has found a way to get Hermes back to Mars. The course he came up with would give Hermes a Mars flyby on Sol 549.”
Silence.
“You shittin' us?” Annie demanded.
“Sol 549? How's that even possible?” Asked Bruce. “Even Iris wouldn't have landed till Sol 588.”
“Iris was a point-thrust craft,” Venkat said. “Hermes has a constant-thrust ion engine. It's always accelerating. Also, Hermes has a lot of velocity right now. On their current Earth-intercept course, they have to decelerate for the next month just to slow down to Earth's speed.”
Mitch rubbed the back of his head. “Wow... 549. That's 35 sols before Watney runs out of food. That would solve everything.”
Teddy leaned forward. “Run us through it, Venkat. What would it entail?”
“Well,” Venkat began, “If they did this 'Rich Purnell Maneuver,' they'd start accelerating right away, to preserve their velocity and gain even more. They wouldn't intercept Earth at all, but would come close enough to use a gravity assist to adjust course. Around that time, they'd pick up a re-supply probe with provisions for the extended trip.
“After that, they'd be on an accelerating orbit toward Mars, arriving on Sol 549. Like I said, it's a Mary flyby. This isn't anything like a normal Ares mission. They'll be going too fast to fall in to orbit. The rest of the maneuver takes them back to Earth. They'd be home 211 days after the flyby.”
“What good is a flyby?” Bruce asked. “They don't have any way to get Watney off the surface.”
“Yeah...” Venkat said. “Now for the unpleasant part: Watney would have to get to the Ares-4 MAV.”
“Schiaparelli Crater!?” Mitch gaped. “That's 3,200km away!”
“3,235km to be exact,” Venkat said. “It's not out of the question. He drove to Pathfinder's landing site and back. That's over 1,500km.”
“That was over flat, desert terrain,” Bruce chimed in. “But the trip to Schiaparelli-”
“Suffice it to say,” Venkat interrupted, “It would be very difficult and dangerous. But we have a lot of clever scientists to help him trick out the rover. Also there would be MAV modifications.”
“What's wrong with the MAV?” Mitch asked.
“It's designed to get to low Mars orbit,” Venkat explained. “But Hermes would be on a flyby, so the MAV would have to escape Mars gravity entirely to intercept.”
“How?” Mitch asked.
“It'd have to lose weight... a lot of weight. I can get rooms full of people working on these problems if we decide to do this.”
“Earlier,” Teddy said, “You mentioned a supply probe for Hermes. We have that capability?”
“Yes, with the Taiyang Shen,” Venkat said. “We'd shoot for a near-Earth rendezvous. It's a lot easier than getting a probe to Mars, that's for sure.”
“I see,” Teddy said. “So we have two options on the table: Send Watney enough food to last until Ares 4, or send Hermes back to get him right now. Both plans require the Taiyang Shen, so we can only do one.”
“Yes,” Venkat said. “We'll have to pick one.”
They all took a moment to consider.
“What about the Hermes crew?” Annie asked, breaking the silence. “Would they have a problem with adding...” She did some quick math in her head “533 days to their mission?”
“They wouldn't hesitate,” Mitch said. “Not for a second. That's why Venkat called this meeting.” He cast a disapproving glare at Venkat. “He wants us to decide instead.”
“That's right,” Venkat said.
“It should be Commander Lewis' call,” Mitch said sternly.
“Pointless to even ask her,” Venkat said. “We need to make this decision; it's a matter of life and death.”
“She's the Mission Commander,” Mitch said. “Life and death decisions are her damn job.”
“Easy, Mitch,” Teddy said.
“Bullshit,” Mitch said. “You guys have done end-runs around the crew every time something goes wrong. You didn't tell them Watney was still alive, now you're not telling them there's a rescue option.”
“We already have a rescue option,” Teddy said. “We're just discussing another one.”
“The crash-lander?” Mitch said. “Does anyone think that'll work? Anyone?”
“All right, Mitch,” Teddy said. “You've expressed your opinion, and we've heard it. Let's move on.” He turned to Venkat. “Can Hermes function for 533 days beyond the scheduled mission end?”
“It should,” Venkat said. “The crew may have to fix things here and there, but they're well trained. Remember, Hermes was made to do all 5 Ares missions. It's only halfway through its designed lifespan.”
“It's the most expensive thing ever built,” Teddy said. “We can't make another one. If something went wrong, the crew would die, and the Ares Program with them.”
“Losing the crew would be a disaster,” Venkat said. “But we wouldn't lose Hermes. We can remotely operate it. So long as the reactor and ion engines continued to work, we could bring it back.”
“Space travel is dangerous,” Mitch said. “We can't make this a discussion about what's safest.”
“I disagree,” Teddy said. “This is absolutely a discussion about what's safest. And about how many lives are at stake. Both plans are risky, but resupplying Watney only risks one life while the Rich Purnell Maneuver risks six.”
“Consider degree of risk, Teddy,” Venkat said. “Mitch is right. The crash-lander is high-risk. It could miss Mars, it could re-enter wrong and burn up, it could crash too hard and destroy the food... we estimate 30% chance of success.”
“A near-Earth rendezvous with Hermes is more doable?” Teddy asked.
“Much more doable,” Venkat confirmed. “With sub-second transmission delays, we can control the probe directly from Earth rather than rely on automated systems. When the time comes to dock, Major Martinez can pilot it remotely from Hermes with no transmission delay at all. And Hermes has a human crew, able to overcome any hiccups that may happen. And we don't have to do a reentry; the supplies don't have to survive a 300m/s impact.”
“So,” Bruce offered, “We can have a high chance of killing one person, or a low chance of killing 6 people. Jeez. How do we even make this decision?”
“We talk about it, then Teddy makes the decision,” Venkat said. “Not sure what else we can do.”
“We could let Lewis-” Mitch began.