A Step Beyond by Christopher K Anderson
Author:Christopher K Anderson [ANDERSON, C. K.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: FIC000000
ISBN: 9780759526181
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Published: 2001-10-01T04:00:00+00:00
Olympus Mons
“Ten minutes remaining,” Carter said as he adjusted Nelson’s life-support pack. They were both fully suited. The computer screen was flashing the checklist items one by one, pausing at each item until Nelson ordered it to proceed. The astronauts had been prebreathing pure oxygen for the past two hours. The gas had the unintended side effect of a mild stimulant; it intensified their thoughts and actions and infused them with a sense of well-being. The purge of nitrogen molecules from their bloodstream was nearly complete.
Endicott was looking down from a screen above.
“Seismic amplifier,” Nelson sounded. His voice could have been computer-generated.
“Check,” Carter replied. “Mass spectrometer.” “Check.”
“Heat-flow probe.” “Check.”
“Time-base generator.”
“Check.”
“Data recorder.”
“Check.”
“UV spectrometer.”
“Check.”
“Core sampler.”
“Check.”
“Food supply,” Nelson said.
“Containers A and B, NAS-SPEC 5601 and 5607, attached.”
“Air pressure.”
“Looking good,” Carter said. He was savoring a stick of gum as he scanned the gauges. He would have to swallow the gum before the day was out. They were about to undertake a twoday EVA to Olympus Mons and would not be able to remove their helmets until they pressurized the life-support tent.
A message indicating that the prebreathing was completed flashed across the monitor. They made a final check of their space suits. Satisfied, Nelson instructed the computer to open the outside portal. Light from the morning sun poured in. They shaded their eyes with their hands as they stood at the edge of the portal, admiring the salmon pink horizon. It was a perfect day for an expedition.
Using a rope and pulley to control the descent, Nelson lowered a supply chest to the ground within a container that slid down the parallel sidepieces of the ladder. Carter unloaded the container and carried the chest to the rover. It took half an hour to lower four chests. The rover was an open-air vehicle that looked like the lunar buggy of the Apollo days, but was considerably larger. It had six titanium wire-mesh wheels, two in front, four in back. The wheels were coated with silicon rubber for traction. The seats resembled lawn chairs, and situated between them, accessible to either astronaut, was a joysticklike hand controller that served as a steering device. An assortment of scientific devices protruded from the frame. There was a high-definition camera situated above the communication relay unit at the front of the rover, which transmitted real-time images to the other astronauts and to the television networks on Earth. Above the halogen headlights were two digital cameras used for stereoscopic imaging. The rover had two antennae. The high-gain employed a directional beam that had to be pointed at a satellite to be effective, and was usually used only when the rover was parked. Its sixty-six-centimeter parabolic reflector looked like an inverted umbrella. The low-gain, which looked like a tin can on a stick, provided blanket coverage of the sky, and could be used at any time. A radar dome was perched on top of the two oxygen tanks at the rear of the vehicle.
Carter climbed aboard as Nelson circled the vehicle, his eyes passing from the neon checklist to the vehicle and back.
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