Orbital Maneuvers (7 page)

Susan keyed the intercom, “Paul, have you found out anymore?”

“Yes.  I was able to link up with a friend in Hawaii.  He was not sure what has happened, but the word he has is something catastrophic has happened in the southern U.S.  Also, the U.S. in on full red alert!  He said, a lot of the chatter is that there was a terrorist attack with a nuclear bomb.  He also added that Russia is also on full red alert.  It doesn’t sound good at all.”

“Thanks Paul, keep at it.” Susan returned to the computer and stared at the blank screen for a few moments waiting for something to happen.  She searched her memory for the last image she had of the asteroid as it passed out of her line of sight.  She closed her eyes and forced herself to recall the horrible scene.  Slowly, the terrifying image of the asteroid and how it started to break apart formed in her mind.

In the background she could see the coast of northern Florida and beyond that lay the gulf coast.  She could see the cities she memorized as a child in school: Jacksonville, Florida; Mobile, Alabama; New Orleans, Louisiana; and Houston, Texas, all in a line.  The trajectory of the asteroid followed that line perfectly.  Susan shuddered with the thought of all the people who were never going to know what had hit them, and those who would struggle to survive in the aftermath. 
How ironic
, she thought, as she pondered the notion that the U.S. and Russia would prepare to launch nuclear weapons with the devastation that had already been dealt to the Earth.

The new graphic popped up on the screen and snapped Susan out of her self-imposed torment.  She quickly scanned the new numbers and the new plot, hoping that what she found would minimize the burden on MIR, and Endeavour.  The numbers revealed a solution that demanded that MIR increase its altitude by at least twenty miles.  If they could not do that, then it would take Endeavour several orbits to catch them, and with the rate they were losing oxygen, they would not make it.  It was not only fuel, but also oxygen that was now in short supply.  She looked over the numbers again to make sure that what she saw was reality and finally decided that it was the only way. 

“Ivan, let MIR know that they need to boost their orbit by twenty miles,
minimum
.  We don’t have enough air or fuel to do it any other way.  We need to get their coordinates as soon as they’ve reached altitude.”

“I did get enough across to find out that they have the ability to boost the station’s orbit from the attached Soyuz capsule, but they do not have very high hopes of keeping the thing stable and together.  I will see if they can get twenty more miles out of it.”

“Thanks, Ivan,” Susan said.  “Jerry, how are you coming with chasing that leak down?” Susan asked, as she checked the status of the oxygen reserves on the computer screen.

“I can’t find it.  I don’t know, it may be behind one of the equipment bays.  It’s going to take some time to check that out,” Jerry replied in an annoyed tone.

“Time is something we have little of, so let’s not waste it.  Jerry, get Paul to help you and try to check out the equipment bays.  It’s probably worth checking out the bays on the port side of the shuttle first because that is where most of the damage occurred.”

There was a long tense pause, which was finally broken by Paul, “Roger, Susan, I got that.  We’ll get right on it.”

“Susan,” Ivan interrupted, “MIR is going to try to get as much altitude as they can.  They also have extra oxygen generators on board that they will try to salvage.  They will contact us before they start the burn in about five minutes.”

Susan returned to the computer and entered a few more commands that would enable the computer to plot the space station’s path over the earth for the next five days.  She watched the screen intently as the numbers were calculated and the plots were placed on the screen. Susan swore as she realized that the space station would cross the areas of devastation within six hours of their rendezvous.  If they missed their window to meet the station, it would not be there in one piece on their second opportunity to rendezvous—even if they had enough fuel and air for another try.  They also had to boost the station’s orbit as soon as possible. 

V

The cosmonauts rushed about the station trying to salvage anything they thought might be useful and would fit in the Soyuz capsule.  The condition of MIR was precarious at best.  The cloud of debris that MIR passed through had shredded the solar panels that powered the station and it was now running on batteries.  Everything nonessential had been shut off.  There was very little light, and with the clutter that has accumulated over the years, the cosmonauts struggled to move about the station.  Hoses and cables that once were essential for normal operation were now a hindrance, entangling the men as they hurried about their tasks.  Struggling to free themselves just caused more objects to be knocked loose and float about the cabin.  This was all complicated by the fact that the cosmonauts were working in their bulky space suits because the main crew compartment had been penetrated, and its atmosphere vented into the coldness of space.

MIR passed through the edge of the debris field as it was forming, and the bulk of the material consisted of particles the size of grains of sand or smaller.  Its next orbit would tell a different story, as the larger and heavier pieces were now in orbit and any damage they caused would be catastrophic.  MIR, in all its glory, would become nothing more than additional pieces of rubble that would orbit the Earth for the next few years.

The batteries were quickly running out as the cosmonauts made their way back into the Soyuz capsule.  They did not have much time to execute their burn before the computers shut down leaving MIR’s automatic guidance system nonfunctional.  It would be extremely difficult, if not impossible, to guide the station manually from the capsule. 

Back in the capsule again, this time with their treasures safely stowed, the cosmonauts closed and secured the hatch.  MIR’s commander engaged the thrusters to back Soyuz away from the station, but nothing happened.  He repeated the procedure but with the same results. 

“The docking mechanism must be jammed!” Commander Alexander Orlov shouted as he tried the thrusters a third time.  The station held onto the little capsule.  Captain Nicholas Zuyev reached up and tried the manual release for the mechanism but to no avail; the station would not let go.

Contemplating their situation briefly, Alexander realized that they did not have the time to troubleshoot this problem now.  Turning to Nicholas, he said, “Well, if we can not go backward, then we must go forward!” He had no time to calculate how long the burn should be but knew that there was no going back, and they had no other alternatives, so a maximum duration burn it would be. 

He fired the thrusters to change the attitude of the station, the station’s inclination to the horizon, pointing it above the thin blue line of the atmosphere.  Before Nicholas could respond, the Commander fired the capsule’s main engine.  The sudden jolt from the engine firing caused one of MIR’s damaged solar panels to snap off and smash into the next panel in line, shattering both panels.  The cosmonauts flinched as a shower of bright, shiny silver and metallic blue shards of glass, silicon and aluminum floated past their windows, breaking into even smaller pieces as they hit the capsule’s fuselage.  Fortunately the pieces were not big enough, or moving fast enough to cause any real damage, and the crew returned their attention to keeping the entire structure on course.

MIR continued to gain speed and with it, altitude, but not enough of either because it had climbed only fifteen miles and its fuel reserves were almost depleted.

“We are not going to make it at this rate,” Nicholas said pointing to the fuel status indicator.  “If we could only jettison the station, or even a piece of it, we wouldn’t have as much mass to move.”

“The loss of the solar panels was in our favor.  It is too bad we did not lose more,” Alexander said as he threw the cutoff switch to the main engine.

“What are you doing?  We still have fuel left!”

“I want to try to separate Soyuz from MIR again while we still have fuel left,” Alexander said.  “We will not get high enough carrying the station along with us, and there is no use to move it any further if we do not have to.”

“You think that the docking mechanism may be working after the stress of the engine firing?” Nicholas asked.

“Exactly!  Wish us luck!”

Alexander pulled the thruster control stick back slightly to fire a short burst on the retro-thrusters.  The capsule lurched as it pulled against the massive station and the docking latch held tight.  Alexander looked at Nicholas, who stared back in frustration and fear. 

Alexander smiled and said, “Hang on.” Before the Nicholas could respond to the warning, the Commander hit the thrusters with full power, first backward and then forward like rocking a car that was stuck in the snow.  Nicholas didn’t know whether to laugh or scream as he was slammed between his seat and safety harness, suddenly feeling like he was on a bucking bronco, much like the ones he enjoyed watching when he visited the United States.  He did not get much time to think about it as the Commander suddenly fired the rotation thrusters left and then right in quick succession followed by another series of forward and backward bursts.  Suddenly the vibrations and rocking stopped as the capsule quietly floated away from the station, slowly rotating as it went.  The cosmonauts were treated with a view of MIR quickly receding from their ship.  They turned to each other, smiled, and gave each other a thumbs-up sign.  Alexander stabilized the capsule, checked that their orientation was correct and lit the main engine again.  Nicholas let out a cheer and gave a salute as the Soyuz capsule blasted past the slowly spinning MIR, rapidly leaving it behind.  Unencumbered by the station, the Soyuz capsule rapidly gained speed and altitude. 

After two minutes of continuous firing, their fuel was exhausted and the capsule was filled with silence.  Alexander smiled as he pointed toward the display indicating their altitude, which was slowly increasing.  The readout just barely rolled over two hundred and eighty nine kilometers: they had just climbed twenty-one more miles above their original altitude.  Nicholas radioed their new altitude and heading to Endeavour.

VI

Susan breathed a sigh of relief when she finally heard the static-laden message from the MIR crew come over the failing comm system.  She took their coordinates and velocity and entered the data into the computer to determine a rendezvous point.  It took the computer a few minutes to calculate and display the results.  Soyuz would pass beneath Endeavour on its next orbit and they could drop down to make the rendezvous in about twenty-five minutes.  This would give them almost ninety minutes of reserve oxygen, provided that they could transfer the cosmonauts quickly and the leak did not get worse.

“Ivan, I don’t think we can afford the time to try anything fancy when we rendezvous with Soyuz.  The cosmonauts are going to have to space walk to us so you’d better fill them in on the procedure.  Also, we don’t have much reserve O2, so it’s got to go smoothly.”

“Yes, I am working out the details now.  I will let you know if there are any problems.  They managed to get a spare oxygen generator into the capsule, so that should buy us some time.”

“Good.  Paul, Jerry, what’s doing with that leak?” Susan asked as she turned back to her computer screen to plot out the next part of their race to the space station. 

“We’ve ripped out one of the equipment bays and can’t find anything.” Paul responded in a very tired voice. “We thought we had it narrowed down, but we found nothing there.”

“Damn,” Susan swore as she stared out of the cockpit window.  Gazing out into space, she thought back to the collision with the asteroid and tried to focus on where it appeared to hit the shuttle. 

She could see the tiles shatter on the top of the shuttle just before the arm and Jill were hit.  Susan leaned her head back in the cockpit seat to look at the viewports on the ceiling of the flight deck behind her that were used when the shuttle docks with another vehicle.  “Paul, I think I’ve located the leak.  I think it may be in, or near the left viewport on the flight deck.  The asteroid shattered a bunch of tiles on the top of the shuttle, and it could have stressed the outer skin or broken the seal around the viewport.”

“We’ll be right up and check it out,” Paul answered.

Susan felt certain of the location of the leak, but knew that they still might not be able to get to it.  She reprimanded herself for not thinking about the impact before; they had lost precious oxygen on a wild goose chase. 

Turning her attention back to the computer, she began to enter the data to set up the rendezvous with the space station.  It was going to be tricky, because they had a very narrow window to pick up the cosmonauts and push on to the space station.  According to the calculations, they would have only a twenty-minute window to execute the rendezvous and transfer the MIR cosmonauts to Endeavour.  This was going to be extremely tight, and everything would have to go right from this point on to make this work.  If they could pull off the timing with Soyuz, they had a good chance of meeting up with the station.  But if they didn’t, they would become six more casualties added to the tens of millions the asteroid had already claimed.

“Ivan, I’ve got the coordinates for the rendezvous point with the cosmonauts.  We should be getting ready for our burn in about five minutes.”

“Okay.  I talked to Captain Zuyev and briefed him on the procedure.  It should not be a problem picking them up and heading on to the space station within our time window.”

“Yes, but do you remember a guy named Murphy and his infamous law?” Susan asked in a bitter voice.

“Never heard of him.  Was he Russian?” Ivan asked with a smile and a wink.

Looking out the cockpit window, Susan’s smile faded as she saw the clean curvature of Earth’s horizon suddenly develop an ugly blackish-gray bulge.  “My God!” she gasped as the shuttle quickly approached the third impact zone.

Ivan looked up from his console at Susan to see her staring out of the window, her face ashen.  He followed her gaze out the window and gasped at the sight before them. 

“Paul! Jerry!  You should get up here—quickly!” Susan yelled over the intercom.

The debris field formed an immense blister on the normally smooth, clear atmosphere.  It was the cap to an enormous black cloud of ash, earth, and other nameless bits of matter that once was part of Texas.  They could see the cloud expanding in all directions with an elongation running east to west, stretching further east from the prevailing winds. The cloud was off to the left of the shuttle’s nose, and it seemed as though the entire state was covered by this cloud of death.

Jerry and Paul rushed up to the flight deck and both froze at the sight that was before them.  The magnitude of the destruction was greater than they had imagined.

“Oh God!  Those poor people on the ground,” Paul muttered in a hushed voice.  His face was ashen.

After a few moments Jerry snapped, “Jesus Christ…what a mess!  We should have landed when we had the chance, before all this dust spread!”

Susan shot Jerry a piercing look hoping to silence him, but to no avail.

“We should get down now before this gets worse,” he shouted.  “We can divert to Edwards Air Force Base or Spain or Africa—if we don’t wait too long!”

Susan released her seat belt, slowly rose up from her seat and turned toward Jerry.  The tension on the flight deck was thick and heavy.  “Jerry,” she said in a hushed, strained voice.  “Do you have something to say?  Or do you just not understand our situation?” Susan’s fists were clenched, her knuckles white.

“I have something to say all right!” Jerry shouted, seizing Susan’s offer. “I think we should land this ship now!  Not chase after some damned cosmonauts.  I think that you do not know what you are doing, let alone what is best for all of us here!  Furthermore, I think that we should all be consulted on any future decisions that may affect us and it’s not for you to decide what is best for us!  That’s what I have to say!  Does anybody agree with me?” Jerry looked around the room for some support, fully expecting that Ivan would not, but hoping at least Paul would back him up.  “Paul, what do you think?  Don’t you agree?”

“Are you quite finished?” Susan asked again in the same icy, strained voice. “First of all, this ship is not going to make it back to Earth in one piece.  If you had paid any attention to what happened in the last few hours and took a good look at the shuttle bay, you would see for yourself that the bay door is damaged.  It will not close properly to allow a safe reentry.  Furthermore, I do not think that it is repairable with what tools we have here, or with the time we have.  Unless you want to return to Earth in a fireball and add to the billions of tons of dust already in the atmosphere, I suggest to
you
, that our best bet is to stay in orbit and try to get to the space station.

“Secondly, I will consult with whomever I feel has the appropriate expertise to address the current problem.  I am under no obligation to make this a democracy and hold a vote every time a decision needs to be made.  If I want your advice I will ask you for it.  And until I do, I expect nothing more than your total cooperation in whatever is demanded of you.  Do not forget that I am the mission commander and I am responsible for you, Ivan, Paul, this shuttle and anyone else we manage to get on board!  Do I make myself perfectly clear?” At this point Jerry was slowly backing away from Susan.  Without looking at her, he muttered an acknowledgement to her demands.

There was nothing but silence on the shuttle’s flight deck.  No one spoke.  No one moved.  The tension that was heavy before Jerry and Susan’s argument was now unbearable.  With the horrific view outside the viewport and the electrified atmosphere on the flight deck, the entire scene was too surreal to them.  Their blue oasis in space, that would have provided them warmth and shelter from the harshness of space, had now been poisoned, contaminated, made unusable.  Each one knew what those ominous clouds would eventually bring to the Earth.  Each one contemplated what the future had in store for them, their friends, and their loved ones on the surface. 

The reality of what Susan had described to them of the collision and the impact with Earth suddenly came into clear focus.  It would have been so much easier if the asteroid did not just graze the shuttle, but had obliterated it in its mad rush to meet the Earth.  They would never have known what hit them.  It would have been over in an instant.  Jill was the luckiest one of the crew.  She would not have to worry about loved ones on the planet, or fret about being in orbit and having no way to get back with their damaged shuttle.  She would not have to worry about running out of oxygen before they could get to the safe haven of the space station.

As they passed by the debris cloud on their northeast trajectory, they could begin to make out another blister forming to the right of their flight path.  This cloud was sitting over Florida and was bigger because the asteroid fragment, Alpha, had struck at a steeper angle; therefore, it had more energy to dissipate in a smaller area.  Beyond that, they could begin to make out another distortion in the atmosphere further east off the coast of Florida.  This cloud also appeared bigger than the Texas impact because it had more time to develop, and the impact in the ocean vaporized billions of tons of seawater along with the pulverized Earth.  The two clouds seemed to be merging into one, as the winds smeared the dust and debris from one to the other like an angry stroke from a painter’s brush. 

Ivan looked from left to right and back again comparing the views of the death clouds.  Finally, in a quiet voice, he said, “Look at the height of the cloud over Florida.  It is hard to tell for sure, but it appears to be higher than we are.  The one over Texas is not much lower.  If that is true, it is not good for us, or the crew of the Soyuz.”

The Shuttle was just passing north of the line defined by the two impact sites when the silence on the flight deck was suddenly shattered with a loud BANG!  The right cockpit window was struck by a tiny piece of debris that had been launched into orbit by the impact.  It turned the window opaque, as if someone had just closed a curtain.  A collection of glass fragments and reinforcing plastic laminates still held the window intact.  It caused everyone to jump.  They could hear thumps coming from other places on the shuttle as tiles were being shattered by more bits of debris.  Every one held their breath anticipating a collision with something big enough to rip the shuttle apart. 

“Ivan, you’d better do a systems check.  Make sure we didn’t lose anything important just now!” Susan yelled a bit louder than she meant to, as she turned to the computer display to look for any status flags.  “Jerry and Paul, do a visual down below and out in the payload bay.  I don’t want anymore surprises today.  Ivan you’d better let Commander Orlov know what they are flying into.  They’re still behind us.”

“I am on it Susan.  It looks like we were lucky this time.  Everything is up and running, no additional pressure leaks, no systems down.  I hope that the Soyuz crew is as lucky.”

“They may miss the worst of it with their current course,” Susan replied.  “But, who knows what else is floating up here now that we are going to have to watch out for.” She watched the computer screen intently as it plotted out their path and the path of the Soyuz capsule. “Ivan, can you get an update on the position of Soyuz?  If we can do some fine tuning now we may save ourselves time and fuel down the road.”

“I just talked to Commander Orlov and he gave me their updated heading and speed.  I’ll enter them into the computer.” Ivan spoke as he entered the data into the computer for Susan to use.  “They reported that everything was normal for them and they are not anticipating any problems at our rendezvous.  You think that you are going to have more problems with Jerry?”

“I sure hope not,” she replied.  “I really don’t know what has come over him.  His behavior is so out of character for him.  I would never have expected him to turn that way.”

“Some people handle stress better than others and they may not react as you would expect them to, based on normal, or simulated, circumstances.  I know from experience that the first time I was in a real dogfight the fear and anxiety I felt were nothing like I felt in my training.  It was also nothing like I thought I would feel.  One does not know what one will do in a situation until he is faced with that situation.  All the training in the world will not make a difference if you do not remain calm and detached from the emotions that are naturally demanded from you by the reality at hand.”

“I know what you’re saying,” Susan said.  “I know Jerry did well with the testing that we went through preparing for the flight.  I can’t think too much about what has happened down there myself or I would probably crack also.”

“Maybe what Jerry needs is something to occupy his time.  Something to give him a purpose to be here.”

“I wonder if he feels responsible for Jill,” Susan asked, looking up from the computer screen to Ivan as the thought suddenly occurred to her.

“What do you mean?”

“Well, Jill was out there because he was unable to release SCIEXSAT,” Susan explained.

“That was not Jerry’s fault.  He did all he could do to release the satellite.”

“I know that it was not Jerry’s fault, but he may still blame himself for it.  Deep down he may feel that if all went well with that part of the mission, then she would have been inside, still alive.  Guilt plays its cards in mysterious ways.”

“Susan, I think he is scared and wants very much to be home.”

“I would very much like to be home too, but the reality is, we can’t go back home in the shuttle and we cannot stay here.  Jerry has to come to those terms.  He can either be an asset or he can be a hindrance to our survival.  It is totally up to him.”