Beyond Ares: A sequel to Baxter's Voyage.

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Chapter 25

Baikonur Cosmodrome,Kazakhstan

July 17, 1996



Natalie York sat in the cramped compartment of the Zond Spacecraft with her three crewmates. The Zond was slightly larger than the Soyuz, but still not as large as the Block V Apollo. They were squeezed into their seats. Sergei and Loren sat in the middle, so they could reach the command console above them if needed. It was so high, they needed a stick to poke buttons or flip switches. Charlie and her sat on opposite sides of them, next to the windows of the craft, both of which were covered by a launch shroud.

Far below them, on top of the conical rocket, the 30 engines of the N-1 prepared to ignite. There was no countdown. Just an announcement of “30 seconds” in Russian.

She thought back on the strange pre-launch traditions the Russians had. Apparently, Yuri Gagarin had to relieve himself before his flight. Since no toilet was available on the pad, he relieved himself on the tire of the van that brought him to the pad. Since his mission succeeded, all of the remaining crews did the same thing. Natalie cheated a bit, and poured some water from a bottle on the tire, making her own mark as best she could.

They also planted a tree sapling in a garden, as every crew had before them. Lucky that it was summer and the ground was not frozen. The night before the launch, they watched a 1970s Russian “western” called The White Sun of the Desert. They also added their signatures to a wall in the museum at the space center. When their launch vehicle was rolled to the pad, they were not allowed to watch, but it was blessed by a priest. These rituals may seam strange to outsiders, but the Russians had a pretty good record and they were not about to change anything.

344 feet below them , the 30 pumps of the NK-15 engines began to rumble as fuel and oxidizer began to flow through them. The 30 engines ignighted and the entire rocket began to rumble and shake. Nothing happened for a few seconds as the engines built up to full power, and they burned off enough fuel so they could begin to lift the rocket.

There was no gimbals for any of the engines of this machine. A very sophisticated computer could control the thrust of the various engines in the outer ring, and thus, control the direction of the flight. It has taken the former Soviets several disastrous tries to get the N-1 right. However, it had flown 27 times since its first success in 1974 without incident.

135 seconds later the second stage ignited and the first fell away. The N-1 did not drop a stage and then ignite another like NASA's Saturn rockets. A truss surrounded the interstage connection and the second stage fired while still connected. The second stage, or Block B as it was known, used eight variants of the NK-15 engine. This stage fired for two minutes, taking them just short of orbit. And when it completed its flight, the third stage, known as the Block V with its four NK-21 engines fired for 370 seconds, placing them in orbit.

They were still attached to the Block G stage which was the Earth departure stage and Block D stage which would provide mid-course corrections.

They stayed in Earth orbit for one revolution. Sergei Krikalev and Loren Shriver communicated with flight control in Moscow while Natalie and Charlie Bolden checked subsystems and made calls to Houston. When both control centers had agreed that the Zond spacecraft was ready to go, the Block G stage engine fired and set them on their trajectory to the Moon.


After a two hours, they were given permission to get out of their couches and remove their Sokol launch suits. Natalie and Charlie moved into the upper module of the Zond and packed away their suits first. They began unstowing equipment needed for the journey to the Moon. Natalie unpacked her cameras and took photos of the Earth from higher orbit. Charlie prepared lunch for the crew, which was basically foil packed bags. Zond did not have a kitchen. They would be roughing it for the next few days.



Mission Elapsed Time

49 hours, 20 minutes



The Zond spacecraft was making its final approach to the White Space Station. The crew took photos of the station. White Station looked very similar to a smaller Skylab. Solar arrays protruded from both sides of the main module. At the multi-port docking module, several spacecraft were docked. A module built by ESA, a new Apollo Ferry and their lander, Columbia. To Natalie, it looked like a MEM that was still under construction. Gold trusses replaced most of the heat shield and components of the original vehicle. Fuel tanks stuck out from behind the trusses, with six landing legs sticking out. A conical crew module was on top of the lander and was docked to the station.

They would board the station and prepare for the landing on July 22. Before then, there was the customary interviews. TV and radio stations from around the world interviewed the crew. While the landing crew was American and Russian, Japan and Canada both had astronauts as part of the orbiting White Station four person crew. Natalie had a special moment when her old friend, Adam Bleeker came into mission control to talk to her. He had left NASA the previous year and was an elementary school teacher in Houston, Texas. He loved his job and the kids loved him. He was also engaged to be married. Ralph Gershon was again training for a future mission. He would follow Natalie at some future date to the moon.
 
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Chapter 26

July 22, 1996

Lunar Orbit





After donning their spacesuits, Natalie York, Loren Shriver, Charlie Bolden and Sergei Krikalev climbed into the crew cabin and closed the hatch. The two American astronauts that were flying the lander floated into their positions and strapped in. The straps were just basically tethers that would hold them to the floor during the descent and landing. Natalie and Sergei took up their positions as support to the commander and pilot. They would monitor systems and keep track of the progress in the flight plan and checklists.

Capcom in Houston was fellow astronaut Bruce McCandless. Bruce had recently returned from a Skylab mission where he made history by testing a MMU designed to fly astronauts in space on EVAs. The photo of him alone in space made history.

“Columbia, Houston here, you are go for separation.” Bruce called up.

“Copy Houston, go for separation.” Commander Shriver replied.

Commander Shriver undocked the spacecraft and backed away from the orbiting space station.

“Columbia, Houston, we are standing by.” McCandless called up.

Natalie saw Loren smile to himself as he said “Houston, Columbia has wings!”

Natalie smiled as well, the call back was reference to what Neil Armstrong said when Eagle floated free of its own Columbia for the first time.

“Roger.” came the reply.

“OK Houston and White, we are just gonna back off here a bit and flex those wings.” Shriver called down. He fired the lander's thrusters and backed away from the station. Soon, they were drifting further way, but still in the same orbit. Both Houston and the crew checked the lander's systems before they were ready to land.

It took about 20 minutes before they were ready to proceed.

“Columbia, this is Houston, you are go for powered descent!”

“Copy Houston, go for descent!” Commander Shriver called back.

He glanced at his timer and said “Seven minutes to ignition.”

“Copy Columbia, seven minutes” Bruce McCandless called back.

For the next few minutes, the crew checked and rechecked systems and prepared for the burn that would lower their orbit and eventually place them on the surface of the Moon. Everything was unusually perfect.

“One minute” came the call from the ground.

“Copy” they replied.

It was weird to Natalie to be strapped down to the floor and not feel any weight as she stood vertically. That soon changed when the engine fired.

The thrust vector was directed through their bodies and gave them all the sensation of gravity. Down was suddenly down in the cockpit again.



For the next several minutes, the burn continued, and then it was over for a few minutes. A quick check of the computer and tracking showed they were on course. But they had to wait for confirmation from the ground...or the Earth as it happened.

Columbia, this is Houston, all your data looks good.” Bruce McCandless called up. “You are go....for landing!”

“Roger Houston, we are go for landing.”

Back on Earth, it was again one of those moments in history that people always remembered. The attempt on President Kennedy’s life, Apollo 11, Ares on Mars and if you were old enough, Pearl Harbor. But this was shared around the world live. It was humans returning to the surface of the Moon, but this time, it seamed to include everyone. Many nations were involved. Astronauts from several nations were in training to follow. Men and women for many cultures would soon walk on the dusty surface, putting down roots for the future of all of humanity. Never before had the peoples of the Earth been more united than when they were preparing to leave their home behind.

This time, the surface of the landing site had been better mapped than in the Apollo days. They knew what to expect. In fact, a lander with fuel for their return awaited them at the landing site.

“500 feet.” Charlie Bolden called out to his commander.

He did not reply, instead concentrating on flying his ship.

Houston also stayed silent, only making a call in an emergency.

“400 feet, down at 4” Bolden said,

“Horizontal is on track”

“300 feet, down two and a half”

He continued to call out descent speed and altitude as the approached the surface.

“There is our shadow.” He called. They were low enough now to see there own shadow on the surface in front of them. They were landing with their backs to the sun.

“There is the gas...”Shriver said as he saw where he intended to land.

“Okay, 75 feet.” Charlie said.

Natalie looked out her window and soon saw dust being blown up by the engines of the lander.

“40 feet, picking up dust.” Bolden continued.

“20 feet”

“10 feet.” he said as he watched the console.

“5 feet”

“Engine off” Loren Shriver said as he switched off the descent engine and they dropped the last few feet.

Natalie felt the shock in he legs and bent her knees as they touched down.

The crew looked at each other and smiled as they began to throw various switches to shut down systems need for flight.

Loren Shriver turned to her and said “OK Natalie, go ahead and make the call.”

“Houston, Marius Base here, Columbia has landed” she said.

“Roger, Columbia” Bruce McCandless called up. “What a great show and you are go for surface operations.”



Two hours later, Natalie York slowly made her way down the ladder. Unlike when she walked on Mars, the moon was silent. She could not hear the wind blowing against the hull of the lander, or her EVA suit. She had both feet on the bottom rung of the ladder now.

As the lead scientist on the mission she was to be the first out. Her boots were about to be covered in the soil of a third planet.

“OK, Houston, I am at the bottom of the ladder.” she said.

She glanced over at the camera on the robot arm sticking out the side of the lander. She knew people were watching her around the world.

“Roger, Natalie.” came the reply.

“I am jumping down to the foot pad.” and she let herself fall to the gold covered pad that stood on the dusty gray surface of the moon.

“And stepping off” she continued.

She took a sigh and lifted her right foot, and set it down in the soft dust.

“Another small step for this woman. And a bold stride into the future, for all of Planet Earth.”

She looked up at the window in Columbia. She could see her crew mates smiling down at her.

July 22, 1996. For the first time since Apollo 14, we were back on the moon. And this time, we would never leave.






Epilogue


July 2030

Brownsville, Texas



Natalie York thumbed through the pages on her slate, looking at the timeline that Space Enterprises had provided for viewers of today's launch. She smiled when she she saw the mentions of her four flights, Mars, Skylab and twice to the Moon. When she finally resigned from NASA in 2001, she never dreamed she would fly again. She had taken a teaching position in the geology department at the University of Illinois in Champaign, Illinois and met her husband there. He was another professor in the geology department, and just impressed her because he had no idea who she was. Their only adopted son, Ben stood beside her, looking at the distant rocket through his phone. The binocular app zoomed in and let him see the giant vehicle close up.

She again looked down at her device, and flipped through more events.

In 1998, just a few years after she landed on the Moon, Chaffee Base began construction. With multiple flights from Russia and the United States, construction lasted until June 2011. She remembered how difficult the task of building the base on the moon had been, and still mourned the loss of a crew when a Saturn VC had exploded on February 3, 2003, killing all on board. Construction slowed while the disaster was investigated, but it picked back up two years later. NASA began flying a new, upgraded Saturn VD with liquid boosters replacing the solids in 2006. She flew again, as a civilian geologist in 2009, at the time, the oldest person to ever fly to the moon. Now older people lived there.

Then this new company, Space Enterprises, came about, and soon more commercial space companies came into the existence. It became obvious that these companies could do things cheaper than NASA could. They took over supply missions to the space stations and lunar bases. Eventually, they began to ferry crews to them as well in 2019.

SpaceE had bigger dreams, and its founder wanted more. His dream of making humanity a multi-planet species was also Natalie's dream. She met the internet entrepreneur and the two worked together to help secure a future in space, and on Mars. The elder lady of spaceflight and the young hotshot from South Africa together with NASA and every space agency on the planet, even China.

She glanced over at the countdown clock as it crept down to zero. She could see the giant rocket in the distance, and vapor vented from its side. The crowd began to count down as the clock reached zero, and flames appeared silently from the base of the rocket. It slowly began to rise as the first stage cleared the pad and the erector fell back. The rocket rose and began to arc over and then the sound began to rise. A low rumble began to increase into a loud roar. Soon the Artemis rocket was out of sight, but the show wasn't over yet. The first stage was totally reusable. High over head, a bright flame appeared as the stage preformed its re-entry burn. Then it disappeared. A few seconds later, a contrail appeared in the sky, heading down. It looked to be going way too fast. Then the landing burn commenced, and the rocket rapidly slowed. It didn't look real as it almost to a came to a halt and landed on the same pad it left from. The crowds cheered and Natalie had tears in her eyes, and then-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM!!! A triple sonic boom heralded its return.

The future had arrived. Humans had built even more sophisticated machines and were now leaving the place of their birth for whatever the future held. To go home among the planets and stars.
 
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And that is the end...well, maybe. I may go back and add some more chapters, mainly on Ralph Gershon's flights and Phil Stone. But I have taken Natalie's story to where I wanted, getting to a third planet. While several people believe this timeline would have retreated to Earth orbit after Ares, I wanted something more hopeful, so I took it back to the Moon. That is the universe I would want to live in. Thanks to those on NASASpaceflight who helped with the research. And thanks to Stephen Baxter for creating this universe! I hope everyone who read it enjoyed it!
 

Epilogue


July 2030

Brownsville, Texas



Natalie York thumbed through the pages on her slate, looking at the timeline that Space Enterprises had provided for viewers of today's launch. She smiled when she she saw the mentions of her four flights, Mars, Skylab and twice to the Moon. When she finally resigned from NASA in 2001, she never dreamed she would fly again. She had taken a teaching position in the geology department at the University of Illinois in Champaign, Illinois and met her husband there. He was another professor in the geology department, and just impressed her because he had no idea who she was. Their only son, Ben stood beside her, looking at the distant rocket through his phone. The binocular app zoomed in and let him see the giant vehicle close up.





Great timeline, my only nitpick it that she would be probably on her late 50's early 60's when her son ben was born. She was on her 20's in 1972-75.
 

Epilogue


July 2030

Brownsville, Texas



Natalie York thumbed through the pages on her slate, looking at the timeline that Space Enterprises had provided for viewers of today's launch. She smiled when she she saw the mentions of her four flights, Mars, Skylab and twice to the Moon. When she finally resigned from NASA in 2001, she never dreamed she would fly again. She had taken a teaching position in the geology department at the University of Illinois in Champaign, Illinois and met her husband there. He was another professor in the geology department, and just impressed her because he had no idea who she was. Their only son, Ben stood beside her, looking at the distant rocket through his phone. The binocular app zoomed in and let him see the giant vehicle close up.





Great timeline, my only nitpick it that she would be probably on her late 50's early 60's when her son ben was born. She was on her 20's in 1972-75.
You are right, and I had planned to say he was adopted, because Natalie could not have children in a chapter I deleted. She could not have children because of her exposure to radiation during her many flights. I forgot to put in that he was adopted. And I just fixed it!
 
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Chapter 26

<snip>

July 22, 1996

“I am jumping down to the foot pad.” and she let herself fall to the gold covered pad that stood on the dusty gray surface of the moon.

“And stepping off” she continued.

She took a sigh and lifted her right foot, and set it down in the soft dust.

“Another small step for this woman. And a bold stride into the future, for all of Planet Earth.”

She looked up at the window in Columbia. She could see her crew mates smiling down at her.

July 22, 1996. For the first time since Apollo 14, we were back on the moon. And this time, we would never leave.

Chicago, Illinois

"Mark can't sleep."

*SIGH* "So put him in front of the TV."

The little boy, not even two years old, watched with a peculiar intensity as Natalie York stepped off the pad and onto the surface of the moon. He was rapt, with an intensity that seemed more worthy of an older child. He blinked, eyes following her as she said, “Another small step for this woman. And a bold stride into the future, for all of Planet Earth.”

Then he said his first coherent word. "Mars."

Mark Watney had found his path.


Mark Richard Watney was born October 12, 1994 in Chicago, Illinois. He earned a Ph.D. in Plant Biology and Conservation, served two years in the Peace Corps, joined the NASA Astronaut Corps, and was selected for a mission to Mars.

The Martian Wikia
 
Chicago, Illinois

"Mark can't sleep."

*SIGH* "So put him in front of the TV."

The little boy, not even two years old, watched with a peculiar intensity as Natalie York stepped off the pad and onto the surface of the moon. He was rapt, with an intensity that seemed more worthy of an older child. He blinked, eyes following her as she said, “Another small step for this woman. And a bold stride into the future, for all of Planet Earth.”

Then he said his first coherent word. "Mars."

Mark Watney had found his path.


Mark Richard Watney was born October 12, 1994 in Chicago, Illinois. He earned a Ph.D. in Plant Biology and Conservation, served two years in the Peace Corps, joined the NASA Astronaut Corps, and was selected for a mission to Mars.

The Martian Wikia

I love it!!
 
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