Back To The Moon Part 12

Stetson didn't hesitate. With boots still firmly wedged, he used both hands to grasp and twist the stuck array. Trying to move it first clockwise and then counterclockwise, Stetson jimmied the stubborn piece of hardware. He didn't believe he was getting anywhere, and then, abruptly, he felt a jolt and the whole gimbal began to move. Looking up at the array fan, he could see that it was starting to move under its own power. Moving his hands back from the boom and the gimbal so as to not interfere with its motion, Stetson watched as the array rotated and began again to track the sun.

"Bill, you did it. The board says the array is working, and I think I can see it moving in your helmet camera. Does it look okay to you?" Chow sounded ecstatic.

"Tony, it's moving. I'm coming back in." With those words, Stetson began his climb back toward the hatch.

After Stetson reentered the Orion, he repressurized the cabin, and then he and Chow removed their s.p.a.cesuits. Even though the thermometer showed that the temperature of the cabin was where it should be, Stetson felt cold. He always felt cold after an EVA, and he attributed it to the psychology of having been floating in the endless frigid void of s.p.a.ce. He knew he would warm up; it was just a matter of time. Of course, there was also a checklist to be completed after an EVA-it took them close to thirty minutes to complete it.

"Tony, we need to see what we can off-load from Altair. Have you got the latest list from mission control?" Stetson was referring to the fact that the range safety experts would not allow them to remove any items from the Altair or the Orion while the vehicle was on the pad in the days before launch. Having engineers mucking around with the cargo, messing up the ma.s.s distribution and balancing, not to mention being around during the final checkout, was just too much for the safety guys. Instead, the engineers in Texas and Alabama had come up with a list of items that could be thrown overboard to reduce the ma.s.s of the Altair's ascent stage so as to allow all six people to get off the surface of the Moon.

Chow, looking at the list as it scrolled across his personal view screen, replied, "Bill, they met the target with about ten kilograms of margin. We can get most of this off the Altair once we land. There's not much we can do until then. We don't want to mess with much of it until then-we don't want some of this to get loose until we're under gravity."

"I knew they'd come up with a plan. I'll look it over myself in a few minutes."

With that, Stetson and Chow were able to sit back and, for a few hours at least, enjoy their ride.

Chapter 23.

The four-person crew of the Chinese ship Harmony Harmony huddled together in the near-complete darkness of their ship's crew cabin. The only light penetrating the blackness came from the LEDs on the instrument panel, showing which of the pitifully few systems were still powered on. Since the crash, the taikonauts had powered down virtually everything except the thermal-control system and, sometimes, the radio, in order to conserve power. The situation had been scary and uncomfortable, but not critical when the sun was in the sky, but now that the fourteen-day night had begun, every milliwatt of power translated directly into a few minutes of life. Power was heat, and in the unbelievably cold lunar night, heat was in short supply. huddled together in the near-complete darkness of their ship's crew cabin. The only light penetrating the blackness came from the LEDs on the instrument panel, showing which of the pitifully few systems were still powered on. Since the crash, the taikonauts had powered down virtually everything except the thermal-control system and, sometimes, the radio, in order to conserve power. The situation had been scary and uncomfortable, but not critical when the sun was in the sky, but now that the fourteen-day night had begun, every milliwatt of power translated directly into a few minutes of life. Power was heat, and in the unbelievably cold lunar night, heat was in short supply.

Harmony's captain, Hui Tian, surveyed the status of her crew by turning her head to look at each directly. s.p.a.cesuit helmets didn't allow for any peripheral vision, and in order to see something, she had to look at it directly.

To her immediate right was the ship's physician, Dr. Xu Guan. The relatively tall and gray-haired Xu had weathered the crash fairly well and was fully engaged in keeping everyone functioning. Though his dry sense of humor was greatly appreciated during the flight out, it didn't do much to boost morale after the crash. But that didn't stop him from trying. No matter what the situation, Xu seemed to have some pithy comment at the ready. When they last spoke privately, Xu admitted that as a youth he had wanted to be a comedian but his father had disapproved. No doubt his patients back on Earth appreciated his humor more than the crew of the Harmony Harmony-at least at the present moment. Xu had propped himself against the wall with Harmony Harmony's pilot, Ming Feng, leaning against him.

Ming had not weathered the crash well at all. In fact, he was failing both physically and mentally at a rapid rate. During their chaotic descent to the surface, when all the alarms had begun to sound, Ming had frozen and Hui had had to take control of the ship from him. If not for her rapid action, they might have all died upon impact-making a fairly sizable crater in the process. Upon impact, Ming was thrown into the control panel and, according to Dr. Xu, had fractured some ribs and perhaps suffered some internal injuries. He was now feverish and semicoherent. That might be fortunate-under the circ.u.mstances, That might be fortunate-under the circ.u.mstances, Hui thought to herself. Hui thought to herself.

To her left, rummaging again through the remains of one of the ship's computer consoles, was the Harmony Harmony's engineer and political officer, Zhi Feng. He was not a big man, but his agile frame allowed him to gain access to parts of Harmony Harmony that would have been impossible for anyone else. He was also the youngest member of the crew. Hui guessed his age to be not more than thirty-five years. Zhi was at times a gift-he had used his engineering training and creativity to scavenge the parts required to keep the air and power functioning for far longer than she had thought possible. At other times, he was a curse-being the ship's political officer, he always made everyone feel like they were under a microscope and that any action of which he didn't approve would be used against them or their families upon the return home. If they returned home. Zhi had gone ballistic when Hui had used the radio to contact the American ship they'd been listening to as it approached the Moon. If it were not for the support she received from Dr. Xu, she suspected he would have smashed the radio rather than let her use it. They depended upon Zhi to keep them alive, but they were also very afraid of him. that would have been impossible for anyone else. He was also the youngest member of the crew. Hui guessed his age to be not more than thirty-five years. Zhi was at times a gift-he had used his engineering training and creativity to scavenge the parts required to keep the air and power functioning for far longer than she had thought possible. At other times, he was a curse-being the ship's political officer, he always made everyone feel like they were under a microscope and that any action of which he didn't approve would be used against them or their families upon the return home. If they returned home. Zhi had gone ballistic when Hui had used the radio to contact the American ship they'd been listening to as it approached the Moon. If it were not for the support she received from Dr. Xu, she suspected he would have smashed the radio rather than let her use it. They depended upon Zhi to keep them alive, but they were also very afraid of him.

Hui shivered in her s.p.a.cesuit. The power in her suit was still at maximum; Zhi had been able to keep their individual suit batteries fully charged as he drained yet another fuel cell from within Harmony Harmony's lander. To conserve power, however, the temperature in all their suits had been turned down to sixty degrees Fahrenheit, and even though every member of the crew prided themselves as being made of "the right stuff," they were all cold. Despite their status, and despite the actions taken by the now nearly useless pilot, she was proud of her crew. They were surviving and would likely last at least another day or so. Intellectually, she knew their situation was hopeless, but her nature didn't allow her to feel that in her gut. There was always hope. And it was her job as leader to instill that hope in her crew. So far it was working.

"I think," Hui said with a long pause, "I think I am going to turn on the radio again. Perhaps the American ship was able to alter course and is now in orbit or something. Please power it on, Zhi." She knew there was virtually no chance that any ship traveling to the Moon would be able to change course and rescue them, but she had to do something.

Hearing the conversation, Dr. Xu straightened up and placed the pilot's head against the bulkhead divider to keep him from falling completely over. Hui noticed and realized that the physician was positioning himself to provide the support she needed should this turn into a fight.

Zhi noticed the doctor's movements as well. He looked at Captain Hui with an expression of near-complete disregard-not anger or hatred-and said, "We will turn it on. But only for a few minutes. We do not have much power remaining, and I will not have my efforts at conserving it wasted in a foolish gesture."

Hui nodded her head, causing a strand of hair to fall annoyingly across her forehead to the middle of the field of view of her left eye. In a s.p.a.cesuit, she could not simply brush it aside, and even moving her head to dislodge the hair was a major ordeal. She therefore ignored it.

"Hopefully, it will be more than a foolish gesture," she said cautiously to the political officer. "But only time will tell. Very good. Thank you."

Hui then walked over to the console and flipped the switch that would turn on the ship's low-power radio. It was designed to provide communication with taikonauts walking on the lunar surface and not more than a few hundred meters away from the lander. Fortunately, their weak signal had been heard by the Dreamscape Dreamscape as it pa.s.sed nearby. as it pa.s.sed nearby.

To her surprise, and to the surprise of everyone in the room, the radio immediately came to life with a voice of a man speaking in Chinese. "Crew of the Harmony Harmony. Do not give up hope. Help is on the way. If you can hear this message, please reply." The message was followed by twenty seconds of silence, and it was then repeated.

"Unbelievable!" Zhi gasped. "How is that possible? We're near the limb, but for us to get a signal at this location would require enormous power!"

"Believe it or not, Zhi!" replied Hui, much more practical in her nature. "It does not matter how! Help is on the way! We must let them know we are alive." She moved the microphone to the open faceplate on her suit.

"This is Captain Hui of the Harmony Harmony. We hear you. We are alive, but just barely. How soon will help arrive? We cannot last much longer."

She stopped speaking and looked at the radio expectantly. Nothing happened for a few minutes, and then she again heard, "Crew of the Harmony Harmony. Do not give up hope. Help is on the way. If you can hear this message, please reply." It was a recorded broadcast.

"Ha." Zhi laughed pessimistically. "Of course they cannot hear you. The power on our transmitter is too low. They are broadcasting from Earth with who knows how much power. All we have is this miserable surface-to-surface radio."

"I propose a little patience," Dr. Xu interjected. "If it is from Earth, there will be a lag. So wait. Listen. And then respond again. You must try."

Hiu waited through the silence and couldn't contain her disappointment when the recording played yet again. As it stopped, she once again repeated her message, hoping that somehow it would get through.

Immediately following the meeting at which the idea of using Arecibo was first proposed, the Vice President of the United States contacted the Director of the National Science Foundation and secured the use of the dish. At first, the scientists who were told they'd lost their time at the observatory were quite upset-one even threatened to write his congressman. Once the situation was fully explained, however, they were unanimous in their support for suspending science operations and turning the big antenna into a radio station, broadcasting a message to the stranded Chinese taikonauts nearly a quarter million miles away.

At the same time the Vice President was making his call, NASA Administrator Ross directed that NASA's Deep s.p.a.ce Network (DSN) begin listening for any low-power radio transmission that might originate from the Moon. Freeing time on the DSN was a bit more complicated. The DSN was used to collect data from multiple deep-s.p.a.ce missions and to send them critical commands and software updates. Focusing the network on the Moon meant that signals from the probes circling Jupiter, Mars, Venus, and elsewhere might not get their messages back when they called home. To meet all these competing needs was a matter of scheduling, scheduling, and scheduling.

That was several days ago, and the team running the Arecibo radio telescope had been sending their automated signals for nearly twenty-five hours when the Chinese taikonaut finally turned on her receiver and heard their message. The DSN's automated system picked up the extremely weak signal from Hui Tian and sent an alert to the operators monitoring the system. Less than six minutes after receiving Hui's message, human ears were listening and getting ready to send a response. For the operators at the DSN, this was an unimaginably fast response time.

For Hui Tian and the rest of the Harmony Harmony's crew, it seemed like an eternity.

Hui was staring expectantly at the radio when the automated message cut off and another voice inserted itself, in English. "Crew of the Harmony, Harmony, this is Jeff Caldwell of the National Aeronautics and s.p.a.ce Administration. We hear you. Is this Ms. Hui? What is your status?" this is Jeff Caldwell of the National Aeronautics and s.p.a.ce Administration. We hear you. Is this Ms. Hui? What is your status?"

"This is Hui Tian of the Harmony Harmony. We are so very glad to hear your voice. We are cold and very low on power. We have, at most, thirty-six hours remaining before we are entirely dependent upon our s.p.a.cesuits. One of our crew is injured. The rest of us are okay."

After a brief lag Caldwell replied. "Understood. Ms. Hui, we are so glad to hear that. A representative of your government is here with us. Unfortunately, we don't know exactly where, and we are trying to track him down."

Caldwell's voice then faded a bit as he was obviously speaking to someone with him and not into the microphone. "I don't care if you have to personally search every bathroom in the building. Find him. What about the cafeteria? Okay, just go!"

"Ahem." Caldwell cleared his throat and collected himself before he spoke into the microphone again. "Ms. Hui, there is a rescue mission on its way to the Moon. They know where you are, and they will be landing very close to your location."

"A rescue mission?" said Hui. She was confused, knowing full well that China did not have another vehicle anywhere close to launch status. The transmission lag was quickly becoming intolerable.

"Yes. A NASA crew launched about two days ago. They are on the way to bring you home."

Hui and Dr. Xu were visibly relieved. Help was on the way. They might just survive the wreck after all! Help was on the way. They might just survive the wreck after all! Hui looked from Dr. Xu to the wounded pilot and then to Zhi Feng. Zhi's expression was unreadable. It was clearly not the same one of relief that she was experiencing. Hui looked from Dr. Xu to the wounded pilot and then to Zhi Feng. Zhi's expression was unreadable. It was clearly not the same one of relief that she was experiencing.

Moments later, a voice speaking Mandarin was heard through the radio. It was a voice Hui recognized. It was one of her fellow taikonauts, Gong Zheng. She and Gong had trained together, and she considered him to be a friend.

Gong said, "Hui. This is Gong Zheng. You sound well. Are you okay? You said someone was injured. Who?"

"Pilot Ming Feng was injured during landing. He needs medical attention." Hui's voice was firm, but she was very clearly tired.

"I understand," Gong replied. "How are Dr. Xu and Zhi Feng?"

"They were not injured. But we are all very cold and tired." She went on to explain their general situation.

After listening intently to the status of the crew, Gong said, "In order to help you, I need to know the status of the ship's system in detail." And so began a rather lengthy discussion of virtually every system on the Harmony Harmony-working and nonworking.

During the discussion, Hui once again glanced at the faces of her crewmates. Something was clearly bothering Zhi, and she had no idea what it might be. At the moment she needed to focus on keeping them all alive-and preferably warmer.

Chapter 24.

"Houston, this is Mercy I Mercy I. All systems look good for LOI," Bill Stetson said calmly into the microphone. LOI, Lunar Orbit Insertion, would be the first time the Altair's engines would fire during the mission. In a few minutes, the modified Aerojet RL-10 rocket engines, burning liquid hydrogen and oxygen, would begin to slow the mated Orion/Altair Mercy I Mercy I s.p.a.cecraft so as to allow it to enter orbit around the Moon. s.p.a.cecraft so as to allow it to enter orbit around the Moon.

"Copy that, Mercy I Mercy I. All systems look good on our end. How's the view up there?"

Stetson looked at Chow and then briefly out the window before replying, "Awesome. But it sure as h.e.l.l would be a terrible place to spend eternity."

"Nice place to visit and all that...," Chow added.

Stetson and Chow had been watching the Moon grow larger, and the Earth grow smaller, with each pa.s.sing hour. As the Moon now dominated the view from their windows, so did its gravity dominate the little s.p.a.ceship the astronauts inhabited.

"Couldn't agree more, Mercy I Mercy I. Let's get you guys in orbit and down to the ground for that visit."

A few minutes later, the engines fired, and the Mercy I Mercy I began to slow. At first, though Stetson could feel the engines firing and the resulting acceleration, it was not clear that it was having much of an affect. The Moon's apparent size was still changing-getting larger. Looking at the instruments to confirm that the engines were, in fact, working and slowing the vehicle, Stetson tried to hide his nervousness. He began to slow. At first, though Stetson could feel the engines firing and the resulting acceleration, it was not clear that it was having much of an affect. The Moon's apparent size was still changing-getting larger. Looking at the instruments to confirm that the engines were, in fact, working and slowing the vehicle, Stetson tried to hide his nervousness. He knew knew the engines were functioning and that they were slowing-but his innate Earth-evolved senses could not tell that anything was happening. the engines were functioning and that they were slowing-but his innate Earth-evolved senses could not tell that anything was happening.

After the burn, the instruments confirmed that they had entered orbit, and Stetson breathed a sigh of relief. Looking out the window, Stetson could finally perceive that they were not going to fly by the Moon and off into deep s.p.a.ce; rather, they were clearly circling the gray world for the first time. He thought again about Gene Cernan and his bittersweet departure from the Moon almost fifty years ago.

With that, Stetson and Chow once again had to run through their endless checklists. They were going to leave the Orion parked in lunar orbit while they went to the surface in the Altair. Unlike Apollo, there would not be anyone in the orbiting Orion while they were gone, and Stetson wanted to make certain everything was in perfect working order before he left. He looked at the solar-array status screen and saw that it was still working normally-to his great relief.

"Mercy I, do you copy?" asked one of the controllers in Houston.

Chow replied, "We haven't gone anywhere. What's up?"

"According to the orbital-a.n.a.lysis guys, you should be in a good position to see the Harmony Harmony in about twelve minutes. Look aft, as you'll be flying almost directly over it, crossing from eleven o'clock to about four o'clock in your field of view. The sun angle will be favorable, and if you use the terrain imager you should get a good view. If the Lunar Mapper hadn't failed, we'd have some great pictures of the whole area for you. Unfortunately, all you'll have before descent are the images you get on the next two pa.s.ses. You might say h.e.l.lo to the folks on the ground there while you're at it." in about twelve minutes. Look aft, as you'll be flying almost directly over it, crossing from eleven o'clock to about four o'clock in your field of view. The sun angle will be favorable, and if you use the terrain imager you should get a good view. If the Lunar Mapper hadn't failed, we'd have some great pictures of the whole area for you. Unfortunately, all you'll have before descent are the images you get on the next two pa.s.ses. You might say h.e.l.lo to the folks on the ground there while you're at it."

"Roger that. We'll make a phone call or two before dropping by." Bill looked at the surface and squinted, trying to see something, but eyeb.a.l.l.s weren't anywhere near big enough to detect the downed s.p.a.cecraft at the orbital distance of the Orion/Altair.

The terrain imager, on the other hand, was a different story. It was on the Orion to allow the crew to perform last-minute inspection of the planned landing site with ultrahigh resolution. From lunar-orbital alt.i.tude, the terrain imager could capture the license number on the old Lunar Rover-if it had had one, and if the s.p.a.ceship happened to pa.s.s over the Rover during the lunar day. Night imaging was still good, but not as good as what would be possible in full sun.

"Imager is coming online," Chow said. "Okay. Upload the targeting data and we'll see what she sees." Chow then used the touch-screen display to bring up what the terrain imager was viewing. With the imager tracking the ground, and with it set to nearly maximum magnification, the ground whizzed by dizzyingly fast. The onboard processors were able to extract still images from the video, making inspection of any particular spot relatively easy to accomplish.

Bill Stetson had been listening to the exchange in the background while he was checking out his suit for the surface EVA that would begin in just a few hours-once they were on the ground. He pushed off and floated over to Chow, stopping just behind him so that he could easily see the terrain-imager pictures as they came in. He also keyed at the microphone and tuned the digital transmitter across the band the Chinese were using while leaving the homeward-pointing communications links still in place.

Chow looked at the display, noting that mission control had synchronized a countdown clock to the time at which they should be able to see the Harmony Harmony. The camera would then lock on to the crashed ship and track it as they flew over, providing images from several viewing angles and giving the crew a good idea of where they should land the Altair. On the next pa.s.s, their orbital position would be different and provide yet another complete set of viewing angles. To complete their mission, they would leave the command capsule Orion and land on the surface in the Altair lunar surface access module. Then, if all went according to plan, they would bring the Chinese survivors back up in the Altair, dock with the Orion, and successfully complete their mission of mercy by getting everybody back to Earth safely.

"Harmony, this is NASA s.p.a.cecraft this is NASA s.p.a.cecraft Mercy I Mercy I. Do you copy?" Bill and Tony kept their eyes focused on the imager screen. Still no sign of the downed vehicle.

"Harmony, this is NASA s.p.a.cecraft this is NASA s.p.a.cecraft Mercy I Mercy I about to orbit over your position. Do you copy?" about to orbit over your position. Do you copy?"

"Not seeing it, Bill."

"Keep looking, Tony. It's there." Bill tried not to show any pessimism in his voice. "Harmony, this is NASA s.p.a.cecraft this is NASA s.p.a.cecraft Mercy I Mercy I. Do you copy?"

At almost the same time that Stetson and Chow spotted the Harmony Harmony on the imager, a signal burst over the intercom. on the imager, a signal burst over the intercom.

"There it is!" Bill pointed at the screen.

"Mercy I, Mercy I Mercy I, this is Harmony Harmony! It is great to hear your voice!"

Though the surface was in darkness, the camera's infrared augmentation and automated signal-processing algorithms were able to provide the two men with an image that was clearly identifiable as a manmade s.p.a.cecraft sitting on a plain. It looked very small. As the camera locked on to the Harmony Harmony and tracked it, the image became relatively motionless as their ship flew overhead. and tracked it, the image became relatively motionless as their ship flew overhead.

"Harmony, be advised that we are beginning our decent after the next orbital pa.s.s and will land as close to you as possible. Do you copy?" be advised that we are beginning our decent after the next orbital pa.s.s and will land as close to you as possible. Do you copy?"

"Copy that, Mercy I Mercy I. We are eagerly awaiting you. Good luck with your landing procedure. Be aware that there are several crater rims to our north and west. There are boulders as large as automobiles scattered about to our east."

"Roger that, Harmony Harmony. Thanks for the advice. It's a little dark down there, so if y'all want to turn on the runway lights, it would help."

"If only we had the power to spare, Mercy I Mercy I." Bill wasn't sure the Chinese taikonaut understood his light levity. Rather than easing the mood, it might have been more unsettling to them. He made a mental note to forgo the jokes for the time being.

"We're moving quickly out of range, Harmony Harmony. We'll see you on the next orbit."

"Understood, Mercy I Mercy I. Harmony Harmony out." out."

Chow looked at Stetson as they flew out of range and said, "Are we ready?"

"d.a.m.n right we're ready. Let's go get those people before they freeze to death. We're supposed to start descent just after the next pa.s.s. Suit up!"

On the surface, Hui and her crew were elated that the two American astronauts were directly overhead and looking down upon them. But they were too cold for that elation to help much. It would take a couple of orbits for the Americans to land, and they might not land very close. Help was coming, but it would still be a little while.

They huddled together in the crew compartment watching the power indicator fade to nothingness. With the lander's last battery drained, and the fuel cells fully depleted, they were now totally dependent upon their s.p.a.cesuits for warmth. If nothing were to go wrong, they should be able to survive in their suits for another eight hours.

"Americans. How are we supposed to light up the runway when we can't even heat our suits?" Hui asked Dr. Xu.

"I think that was an attempt to lighten the mood." Xu smiled at his captain.

"Humor? At a time like this? Americans." Hui shook her head. "How's Ming Feng?"

"Hard to say." The doctor peered through the listless pilot's faceplate and didn't look too happy. "He's still breathing. The breaths are rapid and fitful, but he's breathing. I don't know the extent of his injuries, and I fear that even if we get off the Moon, he might not survive the trip back to Earth. Hopefully, we can get him out of his suit and examine him better once the Americans are here."

"Carried home by the great Americans. Coming to the rescue of those poor, backward Chinese, saving us all and heaping shame and embarra.s.sment on our country." It was the first time Zhi Feng had spoken in several hours, and the bitterness was impossible to escape.

"Zhi, we're going home. We're not going to die! And we got to the Moon ahead of all of them. Our countrymen will be proud-and it is better to come home to our families than to die here. I miss my family, and now that I have a chance to see them, I will not begrudge those who are coming to help us."

"I will. It is shameful. I will not be able to face my father-he served his country proudly and never had to bow before the Americans or anyone else."

"Would you rescue the Americans if they asked?" Dr. Xu joined the conversation. "My job is to save lives. Though it grieves me that our moment of glory is now one of humility, I will gladly accept help to save Ming's life as well as my own."

"We took China to the Moon!" Hui said, more than a bit frustrated with the younger man. "Besides, we survived! We crash-landed on the Moon-two hundred and forty thousand miles from home-and have survived longer than we would have thought possible. And we owe that survival to you, Zhi. Without your engineering skills at keeping us warm, we would never have made it. You You will be a hero!" will be a hero!"

"Some hero. I kept us alive long enough for the Americans to get the glory. We would have been better off dead. At least then our countrymen could have come to get our bodies in a Chinese s.p.a.ceship."