Good morning everyone, happy Monday! I hope you have had a great weekend, and are looking forward to a great week ahead. This week, we're taking a step back from our Martian operations and focusing on some special places and things - Space ships and Stations! We'll be delving into what Europe has been up to, and setting the stage for some big leaps in spaceflight. For the Americans, we'll be exploring how Gateway has expanded since we last checked in during 2008. I wanna thank
Jay for his hard work supporting this project, always a trooper! I also wanna thank
Ben, who has been doing such amazing work on the music for Proxima,
which you can check out here. Anyway, on with the show!
Chapter 33: New Dawn
The European Space Agency had plans, big plans. Having secured a meeting in Kyiv earlier in the year, a deal had been reached, Ukraine would become the latest member state to join ESA, bringing with them a wealth of knowledge about building some of the world’s most powerful rockets. For many years since the start of human spaceflight, Europe had been interested in flying their own astronauts from their own spaceports, to potentially their own space stations and beyond. With Ukraine’s rocket might, they now had the power to do so. Work on crew rating Liberte had been always a backburner, and the Airbus consortium that had taken over the project had poured additional funds into creating an orbital module compatible with all of the different forms of docking adapter currently in service. Yuhznoye Design Bureau had been looking for customers for their upgraded Zenit vehicle, and as the fates would have it, ESA would take the bait. With the inclusion of Ukraine in ESA, sharing technologies became much easier, and enabled ESA to finalize the design for their upcoming crew vehicle. Liberte Block II would see the addition of the Orbital Propulsion and Habitation module, a small module designed to enable additional habitation space for the crew, as well as orbital maneuvering systems, power generation, and upgraded life support for free flight. Other major upgrades would include a launch escape system, a solid rocket motor pack built into the crew vehicle itself, and an augmented seating position that would enable more comfortable crew access. The carrier rocket, Zenit-3CE, would see performance enhancements to its upper stage that would enable the crew vehicle to reach a variety of orbits, including the 51.6 degree orbit of Odyssey and the aging
Zarya, as well as the nascent Gateway platform and future facilities. As the vehicle continued through its development, it became clear that a robust test campaign would be required to test the whole system. The test campaign would be split into two elements, testing the carrier rocket and testing the orbital vehicle - with the rocket flying first. A 2 launch campaign would be carried out for the rocket from French Guiana, performing fit checks, a first stage test flight, and an all up test with a mass simulator, before the integrated test with the orbital vehicle. For the orbital vehicle, a 3 flight campaign would test a variety of systems. The first would be a pad abort test, testing the newly integrated solid propulsion system and simulating a dangerous situation on the pad, which would require the vehicle to potentially land in the water off the coast. The second test flight would partner with the Americans, and deploy Liberte and its new orbital module from a space shuttle in orbit, and work through an automated return. The final flight would be an all up crewed test with Zenit and Liberte, performing approach and rendezvous with Odyssey, docking, and automated splashdown. It was an ambitious test campaign to be completed over the next four years, but it assured that ESA was poised to carry themselves independently into the future.
In LEO, Gateway was taking shape. Nearly all of the elements that had been required for its core complete configuration had been delivered, with Space Shuttle
Discovery flying the final component in late February of 2009. For a station, it did not possess the same elegance that Odyssey did, rather, it was quite ungainly. Mechanical arms and truss elements, as well as the large Power and Propulsion element made it look almost alien. The whole structure had angles and facets that caused it to glint in the sunlight. As
Discovery conducted its mission, several test campaigns would be carried out as they checked out the station, readying it for its first crucial mission, the upcoming Hubble Telescope Augmentation Mission. Along with the delivery of the Logistics Carrier on
Discovery, the orbiter would also bring with it a small, circular spacecraft, to be installed on the station - the Hubble Propulsion Module. Hubble had been, for many years, the flagship of NASA’s great observatories, and ensuring that it could continue science return well into the future became a priority for those within NASA, as they stared down the barrel of delays with the Next Generation Space Telescope. NGST had begun construction, but issues with the segmented mirror assembly had resulted in a drastic redesign, and budget constraints soon began to eat at the project. It was, with this line of thinking in mind, that the choice to keep Hubble functioning became paramount. Preserving Hubble for as long as possible would once again make use of skills developed over the years, and soon, Gateway would soon accept the first crew. They would fly on
Challenger, and dock to the station in May of 2009 for a 12 day stay to practice techniques for assembling large structures in space, and working with robotic manipulators. The first EVA would be marred by difficulty, as the airlock, much bigger than the one onboard Odyssey, would prove problematic in hatch operations. The outer hatch was a mechanical door, designed to move out of the way of astronauts on its own - this did not occur. Instead, the astronauts, in their bulky EMU suits, would have to physically move the door out of the way, and dedicate their first two hours of the spacewalk attempting to solve the problem. It was not the strongest of starts for the station, but the capabilities it represented were still well understood, and work pressed onwards in preparing it for operational service in the coming years.
All by its lonesome, Gateway waits for its first assignment, assembly finally completed. While much smaller than her predecessors, Gateway would represent a drastic shift in thinking for station planning, while the true Odyssey successor went through its paces.
In the wake of Olympus 9, their successor crew had been deep in the trenches training for the mission that would see the Olympus program spring to life once again. Before their departure, a drastic look at the mission plan would offer careful consideration as to their landing site. Launch of the prestaged supplies on dual sets of Jupiter-OPAV had been successful, and all of the supplies were accounted for on the Martian surface. For the first time, supplies would be available in two distinct regions, Gusev Crater and Mawrth Vallis, but only one of those sites would have easy access to Argonaut. It was ultimately decided to use
Orion, Olympus 9’s lander that had remained at the Base Station, and conduct the mission to Mawrth Vallis, to begin the process of following the water. Their cruise thus far had been uneventful, and their arrival in the Martian system had been nothing but textbook, offering some relief to those within the Olympus Partnership. The crew would spend the following two weeks checking out
Orion, and reviewing procedures before they committed to their landing. In the face of their accident, it was feared that they would not get another shot if something else went wrong.
Minerva, the first MTV up in rotation, had been given interim refits to address some of the problems encountered on the Olympus 9 mission, including improvements in communications, power management and maneuver readiness. This could at least temporarily ensure safety until GAIA could be installed onboard. The Olympus 10 crew, commanded by NASA’s Martin Conway, consisted of representatives from across the Olympus program as a whole, and exemplified the continued commitment to diversity and equity within the program. The MTV pilot, CSA’s Suzanne Vergis, had been the backup for Olympus 9, and had retrained extensively on systems that were upgraded post accident. ESA’s Andrew Lloyd joined the crew to act as the flight surgeon, leveraging his experience in the Royal Navy. Koji Mizushima, an ex-Japanese Self Defense Force pilot, would pilot
Orion to the surface, alongside the rest of the crew - Mikhail Pidalka of Russia, Theodore Sanders and Sarah Virgil Wright of NASA, and Paolo Fermi of Italy. After several weeks ensuring
Orion was in solid shape for landing, they would file in, put their launch and entry suits on and close the hatch, ready to pick up where Olympus 8 left off. Their landing at Mawrth Vallis, a pinpoint operation, was conducted without issue, and the next crew on Mars would take their first steps onto a new world, once again.
The crew of Olympus 10 would spend the first several weeks setting up their home away from home, and checking out their new toy, Argonaut. Their work surrounding the habitat, which they affectionately named “The Range” would involve the setup of experiments, and taking measurements throughout the region. A unique payload carried with them would be six portable weather stations, to be trialed for two weeks before the Argonaut crew would set off. In the wake of Olympus 9, there were some concerns about splitting the crew up, preferring to keep everyone together in the interest of ensuring a safe abort would be possible, should the crew need to return to the MTV. It was ultimately decided that instead of splitting the crew up for multi week sorties, they would conduct two, one week sorties each, before preparing the rover to make the journey across the dunes of Mars to the Olympus 11 landing site. The rover was comfortable for three people, with a small “pop out” section that would enable bunks to be set up. The rover was able to support 5, albeit not comfortably, but 3 seemed to be the perfect number. Conway, Fermi and Padalka would conduct the first sortie, leaving their basecamp behind as they began their week on the road. Padalka, in a touch of humor, had brought with him a small banjo to emulate, as he understood it, the life of the pioneers in their Conestoga wagons. Playing was quickly overruled by Commander Conway, despite protest. The crew would, on their first day, cover 20 miles, and stop for the evening next to a small crater field and cliff system, venturing outside to plant a weather station and take samples. They would then hunker down for the night, making a home cooked meal of reheated pasta, before settling into their bunks to sleep. Their drive the next day would take them up the cliff system, where they’d discover a small cliff face, with a broad vista of the cratered landscape around them. They would, in a quiet moment, record a video message for their compatriots on Earth, naming the vista “Taylor’s Reach.” They did not have a plaque with them, so handwritten on a spare work-space organizer, they would dedicate the site, and place it delicately in the dirt, ready to continue their journey of discovery. The remainder of their trek would result in 158 miles being added to Argonaut’s odometer, a successful test of the rover’s systems. For NASA, and the rest of the Olympus partners, it was the start of a new phase of Martian exploration, the ability to go further and do so safely was definitely a plus. The second sortie would push the rover to 210 miles of traverse, allowing for the team to deploy weather and geological sensors. During their stay on the surface, the crew would test out a new relay spacecraft - the Mars Global Relay Orbiter, and validate its functionality, as well as test new laser relay packages. Olympus 10, despite being a cautious first leap back into the unknown, was shaping up to be a resounding success for all of those involved, and proved that humanity was ready to take those giant leaps once more.
In LEO, a Soyuz crew worked to strip
Zarya of what remaining life it had left. The station, in orbit since 1986, had proved a valuable tool for learning how to live and work in space, but the station was aging rapidly, and the strange mashup of parts had only furthered its outdated status. As the crew of the station worked, they would take a moment to cast their sights down to the steppes of Kazakhstan, where a Proton rocket sat poised for liftoff. Onboard, the core of a new space station, a modernized propulsion module from Russia, and a tried and true node module from Europe. This new station, a brand new step for Europe and Russia, was the product of years of collaboration, and advancement towards a future of sustainable space exploration. At the same moment, an Ariane V in French Guiana, was being integrated ahead of its launch, carrying with it the latest European cargo vehicle, the Automated Transfer Vehicle. ATV had been originally planned for operations to Odyssey, but delays encountered had resulted in a majority of the cargo planned for the vehicle shifted to Cygnus and HTV, as well as back onto Shuttle. It had been an unfortunate setback for the Europeans, but nevertheless, ATV would roll to the pad on top of Ariane V. Like some great beast of another age, the Proton would lift off from Baikonur, carrying with it the future of Europe and Russia’s space endeavors - the Athena Research Complex. Athena rocketed skyward, powered by the booster below it, and soon her payload fairing would reveal her to the wispy touch of vacuum; finally in space. From LEO, this was all visible of course, and as the Soyuz crew watched the station ascend into space, they set their sights on their next destination. After a flawless ride to orbit, Athena would unfurl her solar arrays and antennas, and begin to cycle her life support systems, ready to begin her life as the core of a new station complex. With the station ready, the crew on
Zarya would swing the hatch shut, and cast off from the aging complex, and begin the chase to meet their new home. As the crew backed away, a surprise from ground control would make its way to the Soyuz -
Zarya would seemingly transmit her farewell to the crew, a morse code message reading “thanks for the ride, see you soon.” Their journey time would last around 16 hours, and as they closed in on the new station, they could begin to take in the majesty of it. It was a modern station with two, large solar arrays protruding from the service element, designed to help keep the station at the correct attitude. It was bristling with antennas and docking sensors, as well as cameras to record the planet below. As they docked, and boarded the new complex, they would set their sights on the ground once more, as the Vulcain main engine of Ariane would ignite, carrying the mammoth ATV skywards. Approximately 18 hours later, it would come to dock at the rear APAS port of the station, bringing with it cargo and supplies to set up the new complex. For the nascent station, it was a time to celebrate. This station would be home to new innovations and technological advancements that could enable further expansion of humans into space, but for a moment, an air of reflection hung over the crew. Their previous home,
Zarya, oriented itself to conduct a burn, one that would bring the station within the clutches of the atmosphere, back from whence it came. As the burn was completed, the station began to drift, no longer held within the strict rigors of stationkeeping. Soon, the forces of the atmosphere would begin to lick at the structure, tearing away antennas and solar panels, and soon, dissolving the structure itself. In an instant, the space station would cease to exist, but the second genesis of space stations was well and truly here, ready to begin a new age of human habitation in space.
Athena, seen from the orbital module window on the first Soyuz to the station, would usher in a new age of mankind's existence of space - one where humanity lived on islands dotted throughout the cosmos.
Note: The inter-station flight, while not the first in the Proxima universe, is directly inspired by the free flight of Soyuz T-15, the last crew to visit Salyut 7 and the first to visit Mir. This is made possible by the inclination of the station, accessible by both Russian and European spaceports.
