Stellarium (Origins): A Space-Time Adventure to the Ends of our Universe (13 page)

Three days before the press conference,
a calm, winter afternoon at the Johnson Space Center turned into chaos. Jones
searched for the people who had played a key role in the Stellarium Space
Program. Some of them, already retired, were back at the center. NASA’s
Administration and the President of the United States had yet to be informed.
Meanwhile, Smith had managed to section off part of his control room to be used
for the rescue mission.

They were presented with
countless challenges. First of all, there was no immediately available team to
deal with the mission. The setup of the Stellarium program, as well as all of
the people associated with it, had been relocated long ago.

Secondly, there was no available
control room. There was also no established route for the mission. The ship was
simply a point in space, and they weren’t even sure of its exact location. They
didn’t have records of exactly what the Orion-II had been through, and there
was no way to check the state of the ship’s structure. They also didn’t know
exactly how much the ship weighed at that moment, nor did they have its
technical specifications, such as the thrust power, fuel consumption, or energy
consumption on board. Everything had been archived. The people who had filed
the data and might know where to look for it were no longer there, either.

Thirdly, the news would have to
be processed by NASA’s Administration, the President, and, finally, society.
They needed to put a communication strategy in place. They would also have to
find funds to support the unexpected rescue mission.

And, speaking of the rescue, this
was the most delicate point. There was no SLS (Space Launch System) available
to be sent into space, especially not on an unmapped route to a place so far
away, almost three times the distance between the Earth and the moon. For
decades, NASA had outsourced trips to the ISS to private companies. Both the
Boeing and the SpaceX were under contract, but their rockets were not designed
to go beyond the Low-Earth Orbit.

And fourthly, even after coming
up with solutions to all these problems, they still didn’t have a readily
available Orion capsule to place on a rocket and send into space for the crew
to come home in. It would take them at least three months to assemble a launch
vehicle with an Orion capsule.

All of these problems ran through
Dr. Jones’ head as he made a series of phone calls. His first priority at the
moment was to get a team together. In fact, he was so focused on this task that
he forgot to tell Elizabeth.

Then, while he was on the phone
with one of the members of the old team, his phone started to ring.

“Jones, what’s going on?” a loud
voice asked.

“Elizabeth, I’m so glad you
called. It’s total chaos here. I’ve been trying for the past two hours to put
together a team so we can at least understand the situation. We just got word a
few hours ago; I’m sorry I didn’t call you, but it was still very early,” he
clarified.

“Okay. Tell me exactly what
happened. All I’ve heard so far are rumors. And if the rumors got to me, that
means a lot more people at NASA know what’s going on. We have to work with the
communications team to figure out how to deal with this,” the head of the
agency said.

“Yes, of course. Liz, it’s all
happening so fast. There’s no protocol, no procedure, no process in place for a
situation like this. We aren’t prepared to deal with a crew that’s having
problems in space, but which hasn’t been there for the past 15 years. I already
have four people from the old Stellarium Program here at the space center. I
was able to recruit seven more from the Mars program, as well as three ISS
controllers. Smith is helping me organize the agency so we can come up with a
rescue mission,” Jones informed her.

“Tell me how many people you need
and from which areas. I’ve already cancelled my appointments this morning. I’m
on my way to the space center right now, and we’re going to figure this out
together. Will, my Chief of Staff, will be at your disposal... and he has my
permission to allocate whatever resources you need.”

“Thank you, Liz.”

“Now, I need you to tell me
exactly what’s going on, as well as what you plan on doing over the next few
hours. I have to call the President,” she said.

Jones spent the next few minutes
explaining everything that had happened up until that point. Meanwhile, the
astronauts aboard the Orion-II sent their system readings to Houston. They were
told that NASA was organizing the resources they would need to start planning a
rescue mission, which is why it would be a few more hours before they would be
informed of what to do. For now, all they could do was wait.

“Smith, is everyone here?” Jones
asked.

“Everyone is in room seven, Dr.
Jones. They’re waiting for you. By the way, Elizabeth is in the building. Have
you seen her?”

“Yes, I was just with her.
Thanks. I know we’ve had our differences in the past, but you’re an excellent
professional, and, today, you’ve shown yourself to be a good friend, as well,”
said Jones.

“Thanks, Jones. We’re going to
solve this problem together and bring the crew back home. I have to head back
to ISS control now, but I’ll have a few of my guys stay in touch and keep
observing the Orion-II, as we discussed.”

“Smith, can I ask you for one
more favor?”

“Sure, what is it?”

“This piece of paper has the ID
numbers for our three astronauts: Russell, Allison and Frank. I need you to
look up their relatives. This information is still confidential—they won’t be
able to discuss anything with the press—but we need to inform them that the
astronauts are alive... and we also need to let the astronauts know how their families
are doing.”

“Okay, Jones, I’ll do that. I’ll
let you know as soon as I’m done.”

In addition to all the technical,
logistical, psychological and operational issues that the current situation
presented, Jones was also responsible for talking to the astronauts about their
families. Although no one had asked him anything yet, he knew that, as soon as
they had a rescue plan in place, the astronauts would start asking questions.

What really worried the old
director wasn’t finding the crew’s relatives and letting them know that the
astronauts were alive. He knew that this would be followed by extreme
perplexity, which is why he had delegated the task to an experienced person
such as Smith. He was, however, concerned about how the astronauts would react
once they heard about their families. Jones still didn’t know what had happened
with them, but he was certain that, after 15 years of thinking the crew was
dead, anything could have happened. And he definitely didn’t want to have an
emotionally unstable crew in space.

“Good morning, everyone,” Jones
said, quickly walking into the room where his new team was gathered.

With his coffee, computer, and
several notes in hand, he began objectively:

“I want to thank you all for
being here. We are in an unforeseen emergency situation. We have NASA’s
resources at our disposal for a fairly straightforward task: to bring three
astronauts back home.”

Jones explained the Stellarium
program, as well as everything he knew about the Orion-II spaceship. He gave
the team an overview of the ship’s location, the status of its systems, and its
fuel level.

“Even though they have only been
traveling for 22 days, it had been 15 years us. All of the tools, materials,
equipment, and documents from the Stellarium Space Program have been archived.
They have enough life support systems on the Orion-II for 18 more days. That’s
how much time we have. We have to rescue them before then. And before someone
asks, no, they can’t simply accelerate toward Earth and re-enter. They lost one
of their parachutes and we don’t know if the other two are functional.”

Everyone took a close look at an
image of the Orion-II projected on the dashboard, next to a picture of the
astronauts. Jones put on his glasses and glanced at his notes.

“That’s the plan,” he said,
cleaning off the board and writing down the activities they would need to carry
out. “We need to gather all the documentation on the Stellarium program and the
Orion-II. We have to calculate the best route and the amount of fuel they’ll
need to get to the ISS. At the same time, we need to prepare an SLS and an
Orion-II to rescue them from the station. We also need to put them in touch
with their families, prepare a press release, and download all of the data
captured by the ship during the mission.”

After delegating assignments,
Jones turned back to the communications analyst standing by the door:

“Amy, I talked with Elizabeth
this morning and gave her an overview of the situation. Come with me to the
cafeteria and I’ll fill you in on the details. She should have talked to the
President by now. In a few days, NASA will have to announce the return of the
Stellarium-12 crew, and I think you’re going to need to put together that press
release.”

Everyone began to work. Jones
would check on their progress every two hours. Plus, when he wasn’t speaking
with the astronauts or with Elizabeth, he would personally monitor the
calculations of possible routes that the crew could take to get to the ISS.

A few hours later, Jones walked
into the command center and told Smith that it was time to talk to the
astronauts.

“Orion-II, this is Houston, Jones
and Smith from control. Do you copy?”

“Loud and clear, Houston. We're
listening.”

“Everyone here is working hard to
bring you all home. We’ve already starting downloading the data that you
captured during the mission, since the ship that you’re in right now won’t
return to Earth. Since it’s a lot of data and the transmission is slow, mainly
due to exposure to solar radiation, which has increased over the past several
years, we think it will take us about a week to download everything. We’re also
starting to assemble a rocket and ship for the rescue. The next resupply
mission to the Space Station (ISS) is in three months. Our plan is to reduce
that number to two months, during which time you’ll wait for us there.”

“And how are we going to get to
the Space Station? We don’t seem to have enough fuel,” Russell said.

“We’re working on it. Our team
has already run a few simulations. We haven’t found a viable trajectory yet,
but we just started working. We’ll find a solution soon enough,” Jones
responded.

“Understood. And how has the
world reacted to finding out that we came back 15 years later?” the commander
asked.

“We haven’t announced anything
yet. We’ll only do that once we have a plan in place. I think we’ll make a
formal announcement in a few days,” he responded.

“Understood, Houston,” Russell
said.

In that moment, everyone fell
silent. Jones didn’t have anything else to say about the mission or other
operational issues.

“Houston... what about our
families?” Frank asked.

“I thought you might ask that,”
Jones responded. “They all reacted very well. We contacted them about an hour
ago. We shared the news with them with the help of psychologists—although, in
the end, they really weren’t necessary. Some of your family members truly
believed that you all were still alive, which is just exceptional. You could
almost feel their joy over the phone. I’m going to let you know how they’re
doing, but we’re also working on having you all communicate with them
directly.”

The crew smiled. Allison seemed
somewhat concerned, whereas Frank couldn’t hide his enthusiasm. Russell, on the
other hand, didn’t show much emotion. He remained stern and objective.

“Russell, your parents are living
in Colorado, on the same ranch. They are healthy and doing well, despite their
age. Your dad was very excited to hear that you are alive. Your mom, on the
other hand, is still suffering from the same condition as before. For her, you
never died; in fact, you never even left, so your dad chose not to say
anything. But he already told her that you’d be going to visit them soon.”

Russell let a sincere look of
happiness slip out. Despite his strong, subdued character, typical of a great
commander, the human being behind that responsibility was on the verge of
collapsing. Not because he would be able to see his parents again, but because
he would not be able to share the greatest challenge of his life with his
mother. She had lived with Alzheimer’s for years, which had kept her from
sharing in her son’s achievements.

“Frank?” Jones called out.

“Yes, I’m here. Go ahead.”

“After thinking that you had been
dead for 15 years, your wife thought it would be best to go back to New York to
live closer to her parents. Your children are doing well, and the good news is
that they’ll be here tomorrow to talk to you!” the director informed him.

“That’s great! How wonderful! I’m
so happy to know that my little ones are doing well, and that I’ll be able to
speak with them soon,” he exclaimed.

“But, Frank, they’re not so
little anymore,” Jones interrupted. “Your oldest daughter is almost 20 years
old. Your youngest son is almost 18. Both followed in their parents’ footsteps.
Your daughter is studying engineering at MIT. And your son was just accepted at
MIT, as well. He’s going to be moving to Boston in a few months.”