*
‘Launch minus 4 hours 30 minutes and counting.’
The read-out on the giant clock at Kennedy Space Centre indicated to the flight crew that it was time to suit up and head out to launch pad 39A, where the newly commissioned shuttle, Olympia, was being prepared for blast-off. In the cargo bay was an experimental space capsule called Persius, designed to be launched from space. It had been constructed to serve as a maintenance vehicle, to remain in orbit at the International Space Station, where its two-man crew would carry out essential repairs on damaged satellites, thus eliminating the vast expense of leaving Earth’s atmosphere. The crew would live and work on the I.S.S. until one of the thousands of satellites that orbit the earth, required maintenance. If they required parts to fix the problem, these parts could be sent up to them in the regular, unmanned, supply rocket. With extra fuel tanks strapped to either side, it could travel to the moon, land and return to the space station. But the target for its maiden flight was not the moon, but the new asteroid that had mysteriously appeared in the night sky.
The normal five-man crew of the shuttle was boosted by the two astronauts who had been training to fly the capsule. Its first flight had been scheduled for the following January, but in view of recent events, they had brought it forward. Commander James Calham and his crew were helped into their suits and taken to the waiting van that would transport them to the launch pad.
“This is the stuff that I joined up for,” said Captain William ‘Flameout’ O’Connell.
He’d acquired the nick name ‘Flameout’ because of the unusually large number of times that he’d lost both engines whilst flying fighter jets. On every occasion, he’d stayed with the aircraft and managed to relight the engines and save the plane. In many ways he was the best fighter pilot that had ever lived, but he had a flair for finding trouble, whether in the cockpit, or in a bar. On one occasion, he broke formation and flew down the Grand Canyon at Mach 2. Witnesses had seen the sonic cone before they heard the roar of the F18. Ordinarily he would have been grounded for such a breach, but somehow he managed to retain his wings and live to fly another day. He was older and theoretically wiser than he had been in his early years. He’d calmed down significantly in the last few years because he had his sights set on space and there was no room for cowboys in the space programme. His dream came true when he was commissioned to test fly Persius and now, he was going into space sooner than expected.
“What do you reckon we’ll find up there?”
“A big rock,” answered his co-pilot Captain Bugsey “Pitcher” Buckhannon, in his deep, monotone voice. He had been named for his ability to down a whole pitcher of ale in five seconds. But that was years ago as a young man, he was a completely different person now; single minded and unable to suffer fools. He was not renowned for his conversational prowess and Flameout was really not looking forward to being stuck in a five metre by two metre capsule with him for several days.
When the shuttle reached its orbit, the capsule would be released from the cargo bay and with the use of thrusters would move to a safe distance from the shuttle and fire its own boosters. It would make a single orbit of the earth using the slingshot to increase its speed and be fired out towards the Moonaki, as it had been named by the crew. On approaching the body, they would fire retro rockets, slow to a speed matching that of the rock and land on the surface. They would then take samples and, using what was left of their fuel, blast off and return to the waiting shuttle.
The duration of the mission was expected to be five days.
‘Lift off minus 10... 9... 8... 7... 6... 5... 4... 3... 2...1... We have main engine ignition...We have lift off...Olympia has cleared the tower.’
The crew of the shuttle gripped the armrests as the shuttle accelerated away from Earth. Flameout couldn’t believe the level of noise and vibration. How the hell can this bird remain in one piece? he thought, as did everyone on their first hair-raising ride out of the atmosphere. No amount of simulator training could prepare them for the actual experience. This was the first NASA launch that had warranted full television coverage for many years. The attention span of the general public being similar to that of a cod, meant that each successive shuttle launch received exponentially fewer viewers than the last. But this shuttle was very different in design. It was fifty percent larger than Atlantis and Discovery, and therefore sported considerably larger engines. The shuttle itself had only the merest hint of wing surface along the length of the fuselage. This was to reduce drag on launch. The wings would be unfolded from within the underside of the craft for re-entry.
The ground shook for miles around as the solid rocket boosters and the shuttle’s own rockets laboured to haul the two thousand five hundred tons of vehicle and fuel away from the launch pad. Nine minutes later, the shuttle was in orbit and the crew were busying themselves with preparations to launch the capsule.