The Man Who Sold Mars (7 page)

Hemmingson was becoming confused.  “Speak
English.  Deuterium?  Helium three?”

So George did.  “Deuterium is Heavy
hydrogen, the nucleus of deuterium called a deuteron, contains one proton and
one neutron—“

I added.  “Where as the far more common
hydrogen nucleus consist of only a proton and no neutrons.”

Selena added.  “Helium 3 is a light,
non-radioactive isotope of helium with two protons and one neutron.”

Apparently, we weren’t speaking English
enough for Hemmingson.  So he said, “And that would mean?”

Tatyana knowing him all too well
explained it in terms that he would comprehend without difficulty.  “It’s a
ménage versus a twosome.”

“Oh!   You get more energy out of Helium
3 than the other thing.  Now you’re speaking Hemmingson.  I got it.”

We roared uproariously.

Inquisitive Hemmingson continued.  “I’m
disappointed.  I thought we’d be extending our dependence on carbon based fuels
to the stars.  Mars is pretty cold.  It could use a little greenhouse effect. 
So how does Prometheus use Helium three to make it to infinity and beyond?”

I explained.  “The ship’s power plant is
essentially a deuterium-tritium fusion reactor.”

Gardner confirmed, “Powered by Helium
three.”

And, Tatyana continued.  “Exactly, we do
it in a rather innovative way.  The deuterium is suspended in a solution seeded
with neutrons and ignited through high pitched sounds.”

I added.  “The high-frequency sounds
cause cavities and bubbles in the liquid a process known as acoustic cavitation
and those cavities then implode, producing high temperatures and light in a
phenomenon called sonoluminescence.”

Tot, Tatyana, further explained, “In a
conventional fusion reaction, the high heat necessary for fusion reactions to
occur is about 40 million degrees Kelvin.

Kevin voiced a thought on everyone’s
mind.  “That is hot!”

She continued.  “And then some.  The
problem then becomes two fold.  Obtaining the heat necessary to induce the
reaction, which we’ve eliminated through sound, and containing the heat
released due to the reaction.”

I explained.  “No known material
container can withstand 40 million degrees Kelvin.”

And she provided the answer.  “The
solution is to keep the hot plasma from making contact with the walls of its
container by continually moving it in circular or helical paths by means of the
magnetic force on charged particles.”

Selena asked an important question. 
“Where are you getting Helium 3 from?    It’s extremely rare.  Only about 150
kilograms of it have been produced since . . . 1955 and that’s from
decommissioned nuclear warheads.”

I smiled.  “Where there’s a will, there’s
a way.”

And so did George, “And where there’s
money, there’s lots of ways.”

# # #

I was not pleased my question was not
answered.  I started to pursue the matter to its end and then suddenly afraid
of the possible answers stopped to weigh my options.

Tatyana decided it was time to move us
on.  “We will swing by the ships engineering plant, presently.”

Studying our compartment while thinking,
I decided to pursue the question later and commented on our ship.  “She really
is a marvel.”

# # #

I agreed with Selena.  It was exciting
being so close to my childhood dream.  It made me feel closer to my parents and
reminded me of how much I missed them.  The moment was suddenly becoming bitter
sweet.

Tatyana also agreed with Selena and
amplified our mission.  “She is.  And a work horse.  In addition to exploring
Mars proper, while there, we will remotely explore her two moons Phobos and
Deimos and the neighboring asteroid belt via remote telemetry and satellites
deployed from Prometheus.  We’ll even deploy a few satellites destined for the
edge of our solar system and beyond.”

Walking and talking we surveyed the
entire ship — bridge, engineering, crew quarters, cargo, docking bays, . . .

Tot filled us in on more about the prototype. 
“This Prometheus is 100% functional.  If she were in orbit above Earth all we’d
have to do is point and go.”

George took the MTV in with much on his
mind, “Impressive.”

Tot continued, “We’ve contracted with the
five partners in the International Space Station the United States, Russia,
Japan, Canada and the 19 European countries represented by the European Space
Agency, ESA — Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France,
Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, The Netherlands, Norway, Portugal,
Romania, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom to assemble her at a
space dock operated by the International Space Station.

Because time is of the essence, while we
built the Prometheus on the ground they built the space dry dock and a second
working version of the Prometheus completely underwater.”

I explained that, “It simulates the
conditions of space.  From a submerged version of the joint Space station, work
crews labored at a submerged space dock assembling another functioning,
submerged Prometheus.  The lessons learned will be applied when we build the
one in Earth’s orbit destined for Mars—“

Selena added, “And back.”

I agreed, “And back.  Most definitely.  It
may not seem as if it was the cheapest way of doing it.  But time is of the
essence and time is money.  Doing it this way probably saved us two or more
years.  It also provided us with a lot of knowledge we hadn’t anticipated. 
With regard to each construction crew building a Prometheus, at times they
encountered the same difficulties at time each encountered a unique difficulty,
not necessarily tied to the environment.  We had a design team solve the
problem and when necessary figure out why the other team did not experience the
problem and move us on to completion.  So, this approach gave us an additional
form of speed we hadn’t expected because some of the difficulties encountered
had we built one after the other would have slowed us down even further adding
additional time sequentially rather than contemporaneously to extending the
launch date.  And, when those corrected plans necessitated modification to
equipment needed for the work in the space dock, it was handled immediately
also generating additional time savings.

George still much on his mind asked,
“Training?”

Tot filled us in, “ESA.  Long ago, we
contracted with ESA to build a YSR facility and conduct training near its
complex in Frascati, Italy.  The crew candidates are making great progress.

Kevin quite pleased, “We’re definitely
keeping a global face on this.”

Selena asked, “What about Asia?”

George still analyzing said, “We have
facilities there too.  And, everything’s on track.”

I concurred, “Yes—“

Tot voiced a concern, “Stephen, I wish
you would reconsider the training methodology.”

“No.  We can not use mission duration
training.”

Hemmingson requested a translation. 
“Speak English.”

So Tot did while advancing her argument. 
“It’s a safe proven system.  You take the crew and all personnel and go through
the mission second by second before it goes live.”

Kevin did not see the wisdom in that.  “Conduct
an entire three year static mission before we launch?”

Nor George, “No.”

Gardner supported Tot.  “There are
advantages.  Safety.  Higher probability of completing the mission.”

I defended my point.  “On a short
mission, yes.”

And so did George, “On a three year
mission—“

And so did Selena, “You would harm the
crew.  You will isolate them for three plus years and then turn around and do
it to them again on the actual mission.  No.  We have no data on what this will
do to the human psyche.  Psychologically, we may be doing the one thing
necessary to guarantee failure.”

I continued.  “We have to think outside
the box.  What happens when we shoot for Proxy Centauri, seven years there and
back?  We have to develop reliable systems that work or can be repaired.  That
kind of time is a luxury we lost when we decided to step outside our own
planetary system.”

Selena shook her head no.  “Lost it? 
We’ve thrown it away.”

I was adamant and unyielding, “All our
training is methodology based.  We teach, procedures, ways of thinking, problem
solving so that the crews have the mental tools they need to execute their
missions, solve any problem and return.  Granted some aspects of the journey
can be mission duration or modular mission duration program.  But an entire
mission to mars second by second.  No.  No.  No.”

Hemmingson pounded the gavel, “Point
settled and I’m hungry.  Any strip joints around here.”

Selena laughed.  
Don’t you think of
anything else?
“Strip joints?!”

Gardner asked him, “Hungry or Horny?”

“Is there a difference?  Anyway.  Any strip
joints around here?”

Tot grinned with mischief, “Strip
joints?  I don’t know.  But, we have plenty of space food in the galley.”

“That orange mush?  Only if you’re
tossing in some lap dances.  Tati.  Selena.  I have rubles.”

Tot laughed, “Dream—“

“On.”, were their definitive words on the
matter.

The two broke out into laughs and we
joined them.

Lap dances and a meal . . . Hemmingson
got his wish.  Well half of .it, but knowing Mike he’d get the other half
someway, somewhere.  When I and my friends who were helping me make my dream
real adjoined from the Prometheus we convened at a table in an International
Russian sports pub filled with men and women enjoying television broadcasts of
World Cup soccer coverage in a multitude of languages from around the world.

Tot asked Mike, “Happy?”

“Half way.  But the night’s still
young.”  He patted his lap.

“Not that young.”

We laughed

And as we enjoyed the humor of the
moment, the American — Brazilian World Cup soccer match was interrupted by a
CNN news flash.

“This Just in.  News of what many are
reporting as a gigantic starship orbiting the moon.  We’re here with Doctor
Langston of the Caltech observatory.

The entire bar came to a deadly silence
as people watched corresponding broadcast in a vast number of languages with a
multitude of experts from all over the world with video of the phenomenon
playing in place of the games.

Doctor Langston spoke, “Though many are,
we are not labeling the phenomenon as a spaceship at this point, rather some
type of as yet undiscovered anomaly.  As you observe this image of the moon,
you can see something intrude off its periphery blocking the suns light to the
surface.  If it is a vehicle, it’s in a geosynchronous orbit with the moon,
which occasionally crosses the border of the lunar landscape dividing the dark
side from the side facing us.”

The anchor asked, “Don’t you have the
ability to tell if it’s a ship?”

“The tools we have are based on our
understanding of the universe and our technology.  This anomaly is essentially
transparent to both and prudence would dictate we consider it an anomaly until
we can define it.

“Thank you doctor.  Next we go to
business correspondent Ralph Diego.”

“The U.S. markets have not yet opened. 
But, we expect they will react much as the European and Asian markets have with
horrendous crashes in all areas.

I pulled out my cell and hit my speed
dialer.  On the other end, a phone rang while I walked to a secluded, relatively
quieter place, in the back of the bar and the business correspondent continued.

“The crashes are expected; given the only
history we have with technologically advanced beings interacting with less
developed is our own.  With the legacy of the Indians of the Americas, the
indigenous people of Africa, Australia, New Zealand and a plethora of others as
precursors to what may be . . . the markets are responding accordingly. 
Certainly, we expect that Young Stellar Resources will be hit hard tomorrow.  If
not as a result of normal market forces, but out of retribution.  Many believe
extra terrestrial life studying us, realizing we were coming for them have
instead come for us.”

A photo of me appeared on the TV.

And, the news anchor announced me, “We
actually have Stephen Yong on the line.  Thank you, Stephen.  What are your
thoughts on the event?”

My picture remained on the air, while my
voice played in the background.

“This event was inevitable.  However,
space is our future whether there are others there before us or not.  I will
continue to work towards a Mars landing.”

Recognizing me from the photo, people
alternated watching the television and me and the anchor continued with the
interview, “What about the value of your stock?