Pilgrimage (The New World) (18 page)

One night while the four of them sat on the beach together little Rachel sat in her daddy’s lap and stared at his necklace. She pointed at the emblem and asked what the little markings on it meant, but Ross couldn’t provide her with a good answer. All he could do was shrug his shoulders and tell his youngest daughter that he, or his Grandpa Hank, had kept the emblem for almost ninety years, but neither one of them could ever figure out what the strange markings on it meant.

Rachel continued her inquisitive path of questions by asking her daddy if he knew how many stars there were in the sky, so Ross put her down and turned himself around to face Patty and the girls. He scooped up a handful of sand and began to tell a story that had them all wide eyed with anticipation. He said to them that his handful of sand was like all the stars they could see in the sky at that moment, and then asked them all to look around at how much sand there was on the beach. When they finished and looked back at him in unison, he asked Rachel if she remembered the beach they all went to visit in Florida, and she nodded with a big smile. Then he told her that there were more stars than all the grains of sand on all the beaches around the world. Ross then had Rachel choose any one grain of sand from his hand that she wanted, and said that was like our sun that she saw during the daytime.

He concluded by saying that all the stars were not as close together as the sand in his hand, and she gasped in amazement at what her father had just said. Her older sister Aurora then looked at Ross and said, “That was way too many stars to ever count!”, and Ross nodded in agreement as he stared deep into her eyes.

ROSS HAD THOROUGHLY
enjoyed his thirty days of leave with his family, but it was time to get back to work. Jessica and Elizabeth had both joined the family for Christmas day, and the girls enjoyed seeing their aunt and grandma during a more festive event. Patty was glad to have everything seemingly back to normal, and felt good about the amount of rest that Ross had been able to get over the past few weeks. He had been reluctant to discuss the Moon mission, or Dennis, with her at great length, but she figured he just needed a little time to sort things out. Patty knew her husband well enough to know that he would eventually open up and talk to her about the accident, but didn’t want to push him on the matter.

As Ross drove through the front gate at the Johnson Space Center, the guard asked if he could shake his hand. Ross agreed to do so while taking it as a complement, but hoped it wasn’t a sign of things to come. Some would undoubtedly want to congratulate him for successfully landing on the Moon, while others would offer their hand in condolence for Dennis, but either way he could be in for a long day. He knew his co-workers meant well, but Ross didn’t really want to shake hands with everyone that he ran into on his first day back at the office. There was after all a tremendous amount of work to be done by everyone, as the next scheduled space shuttle launch was now only a few weeks away.

He reported to the senior administrators just minutes after entering the building, and was informed of what was expected of him over the next several weeks. Ross would be tending to any questions the seven member crew of the upcoming orbital mission might have about launch and re-entry, while also taking part in the strategy associated with the follow-up missions to the Moon. His superiors had also determined that Ross should be one of the dignitaries in the crowd at Cape Canaveral for the upcoming launch, and he would therefore be spending a few days at the facility in Florida. Ross was still a well sought after figure in the eyes of the media, and NASA wanted to continue riding the wave of his popularity.

Once the crew of that launch was safely on its way, Ross would attend a press conference to discuss the importance of the current mission in the grand scheme of NASA’s plans. After that he would return to Houston, and his work load would be centered on plans for the upcoming missions to the Moon and the subsequent construction of a long term habitat.

NASA had scheduled a launch date for a follow-up lunar mission aboard the Discovery in a few months, and Ross knew the short turnaround would keep the technicians and engineers responsible for getting her ready in time hard pressed. While specifics of the payload in the cargo bay had yet to be finalized, one important aspect of the mission had been predetermined. The plan was to have the Discovery land on or near the same spot that Ross had set her down, because that was where all the cargo and the rover vehicle was located. The two astronauts would then add their cargo to what had been intentionally left behind from the first mission, and power up the rover. At that point they would then locate and retrieve each of the three other rover vehicles that had been left on the surface by the final three Apollo missions. Each one of the old rovers would need to be fitted with a new power source that had been significantly improved since the time of their previous use several years before, and that would be a time consuming job. Due to the great distance that would need to be covered in order to complete the task, NASA had determined that the astronauts would be doing well if they could retrieve one rover per day.

Once all the rover vehicles had been collected, work could begin on a foundation for what would become a livable habitat for future astronauts. As Ross’ knowledge of the lunar surface now exceeded that of anyone else ever associated with NASA, his input would be important in determining exactly how and where to begin the construction.

No further exploration of the far side would be scheduled for the second or third modern day missions to the Moon, because establishing the habitat was the top priority. The third mission of the Discovery, at a yet to be determined date, would carry a crew of seven whose only intended function was to use the rovers to assist in completing the structure from the mass of cargo that would be at their disposal.

A LARGE CROWD
of well-wishers braved the colder than normal temperatures associated with a space shuttle launch on a clear January morning at Cape Canaveral, and Ross was among them. Many of the spectators were cloaked in jackets, hats, scarfs, gloves, and whatever they could find to beat back the cold just so they could witness another launch of one of America’s space shuttle fleet. After so many successes the act of a launch had almost become routine in many people’s view, but it was still a fascinating spectacle to admire. In the midst of a thunderous roar signifying the engines springing to life, the space shuttle Challenger began to slowly move away from the launch platform.

With all eyes of the crowd pointed skyward while tracking the path of the rocket and the attached vehicle, Ross flashed back to the exhilaration of his three separate launches. They had all been very special moments in his life, but this was the same shuttle that had taken him as a rear seat payload specialist on his first ride into space. For that reason alone this specific shuttle, the Challenger, probably meant more to him than either the Atlantis, that he had piloted, or Discovery, when he had both commanded and piloted the mission. Ross didn’t know yet if he would ever get a chance at a fourth ride on the most technologically advanced machine ever constructed by humans, but he sure wanted to.

Ross couldn’t help but feel some level of envy towards the seven astronauts on the current mission as he watched the shuttle climb into the sky, and then it happened. Ross knew from the pattern of the trailing cloud of smoke that something wasn’t quite right, but there was nothing that could be done. An instant later that unnatural pattern became even more pronounced as the main rocket and shuttle exploded into a huge fireball. For several seconds there was a collective mass of confusion within the spectating crowd, as no one knew exactly what was happening.

The explosion had occurred less than two minutes after liftoff, and trails of white smoke against the bright blue sky led away from the main circular cloud in three directions. Each of the twin rocket boosters flew randomly without any guidance, while the third source of smoke continued on the original flight path established before the explosion. That particular trail was created by what remained of the spacecraft as it lost its remaining momentum.

Within seconds the realization of the tragic event began to take hold within the thoughts of the crowd, and the screams of disbelief soon followed. Ross looked around to see that most of the spectators continued to gaze skyward, while some would ask a person standing next to them what had just happened before looking up once again. By then pieces of debris began to fall away from the distant white explosion cloud which made it resemble a fireworks burst on the 4
^th
of July, but this was in no way a celebration of any kind.

Ross then heard some nearby people asking no one in particular if the astronauts could still be alive, but their question was greeted with silence. It soon became apparent that it was unlikely, but nobody wanted to verbalize the thought. Many of the huge camera arrays were still pointed skyward, and that could help NASA with the follow-up investigation, but some of the handheld cameras used by the news crews began to probe the crowd for suitable shots of grief. One such film clip would be that of family members who had just witnessed the death of a loved one, and how anybody could actually film that moment was beyond the comprehension of Ross.

The understandable level of confusion within the crowd continued in the following moments, but the NASA and law enforcement personnel acted quickly to reestablish a sense of order. They needed to clear the area of spectators as quickly as possible, but also needed to maintain a safe environment while doing so. Dignitaries such as family members of the astronauts and Ross were escorted to a safe haven away from the ghoulish members of the media, while others were directed towards awaiting vehicles. The members of the media however, were respectfully asked to stay in place until contacted by a NASA representative. Every frame of film footage that had been shot during the launch and short flight could be useful in helping to determine the cause of the catastrophe, so NASA wanted to take a look at all of it. As Ross took one last glance skyward at the explosive cloud that had just killed seven brave astronauts, he was struck with the harsh reality that he could have met with the same fate on any one of his three previous launches.