“God and Fatherland” -Captain Nemo, Submarine Captain, The Mysterious Island
This is Part II of “Flight to Mars”. If you did not read the previous parts, at the bottom of this page you will find a table with links to the previous parts.
The lift goes on forever, there are about ten of us in this lift but there are a few groups of “migrants”, as we called ourselves in a kind of odd way, that have already ridden the lift to the ship and I think we are expected to either be the last or one of the last to make our way to our rocket. I was lucky, we got the fancy SpaceX Interplanetary Transport Ship. There will be many crammed into Russian cans or NASA equally can-like rockets but we get a sleek and clean environment for our trip.
The design of this ship is odd when they brought us our suits we were also given pamphlets about the ships. This one kicks us into space, then the rocket will be able to land at the launch pad, then get loaded up with cargo, then launch again after fueling and then it all comes to Mars. We will fit about one hundred and fifty people in here, more than originally planned but it’s better than some of the plans Russia has with tons of ten or fifteen people per rocket. Even with the additional people, they say it should still be nice and roomy, or at least roomy enough for a rocket.
We get up to the top of the lift and there are about fifty or sixty migrants walking around getting their suits checked by people in “Crew” suits.
“When are we getting shoved into that thing?” an older man asks one of the crew members. “In about an hour, we don’t want you all sitting in there for over an hour just waiting for lift off.” Someone calls out from the crowd of people being checked.
Thank god, I do bad enough on roller coasters. I am only doing this because it’s preferable to dying as the world is destroyed.
“Hey, I’m Christian,” I say “I’m Eric. I’m just checking on your suit, making sure everything is connected and taken care of. Can you think of anything that you might have done to damage this suit or the systems in it?” “No, I don’t think so. I did what I was told, tried it on, hung it up safe in the corner and didn’t touch it again.” “Good, the suit looks good, can you suck on the drinking nozzle? Yep, it’s all good.”
Eric walks away to the next person and I just stretch my legs a little. This is going to be hell, I just know it. The majority of my family is in Maine but they are scheduled in smaller Virgin Galactic ships but everything else is similar. The launch time, the flight, the suits, and landing at least that’s the plan.
“I hate space, I hate rockets, I hate how we got to this point and I hate I am on something that was originally used to kill people,” A woman said as I was walking through the crowd. “I don’t think they ever used the SpaceX rockets to kill people?” “Not SpaceX, but the Americans, the Russians, Germans, Chinese, they all made rockets to kill each other.”
This is going to be a fun 6 months.
“I’m Christian by the way.” “I’m Daniela, do you know what I mean? The whole space race was to get to the level of technology where they could launch rockets into space and kill their enemies on Earth.” “But at least we are here now and we can use the rockets to…. you know… save everyone?” “I’m just opposed to it all. I just think it’s ridiculous that people worship these devices which were primarily used to kill everyone.” “I’m happy we have a rocket,” I say as I dip out of the conversation.
I can’t believe I don’t know anyone here. there are easily more than 100 people now and I don’t even recognize anyone as a stranger on the street. They are all new faces.
Students, a doctor or two, dentist, no young parents with dependent kids though. It was weird and there wasn’t a real explanation about why. Kids and Parents with kids and parents I guess?
Finally, a whistle blows and we are pulled into a circle.
“The plan is as simple as any flight to Mars can possibly be. Everyone will embark, you will strap in, we will come through and check you are strapped in properly like any airline would. Once everyone is checked, the terminal countdown will activate. At T-5 seconds the engine ignition sequence will begin, at T-0, you will get off the ground. Go into an eccentric orbit, go around the Earth one time, then at the closest approach to the Earth, the engines will re-ignite, and that will begin your transportation to Mars.”
There was a weird tension in the circle.
“When can we unbuckle and start moving around?” One of the doctors called out
“Once the initial burn-in done and you are in orbit of Earth. You will have some time to float around stretch your legs and look at the Earth and space through the windows. There will be an alarm that will go off when you are about three-quarters of the way through the orbit. It will sound for a minute and that will be the unquestionable ‘return to your seats and buckle in alarm’ and I promise, if you are not in your seats when the second engines kick in, you will regret it and you will make a big mess for the rest of your shipmates to clean up after the burn.” the crewman said with no laughter in his voice. “Anything else?
“How safe is this?”
“As you may know, there have been many launches by all these companies to bring things to Mars in preparation for a manned Mars landing. The tests have been successful and there is a great confidence that this migration will go off without a hitch for all people involved and within the next year we will be safely on Mars and safe from the Earth.”
“Will you be flying with us?”
“Yes, myself and all crew members preparing everyone for each ship will not be flying in the ship they are checking people for. We will be embarking the second flight with the gear after refueling. Anything else?”
There was a muttering but nothing else was brought up.
So we were started piling into the ship. It was interesting organized. When you walked into it, there was a main ladder shaft and you could climb up and down it. We were instructed to climb up. There were multiple ring levels with seats all organized around. At the base of each level where you entered by the ladder, there were names and numbers that assigned us seats and I was on Ring C, Seat 8. I climbed up until I finally got to the C Ring. Seat 8 was just like every other seat except it is close to the ladder shaft. The seats are laid completely back facing the sky as I imagined but it made it incredibly awkward to sit in.
I sat on the back and grabbed the sides of the seat with both hands and just threw my legs over the front. They had a long holder that we were to rest our legs on during launch instead of dangling them like an inverted roller coaster. I got in and pulled the straps around me like I was shown, through the legs, under the arms, over the shoulders and meet in a middle circle like Ironman.
The crew came around and checked us. Some had issues, mainly the older people but it was never drastic help needed.
On the wall directly in front of us was a screen that showed us the mission info, we could turn it off or select what you wanted to see with a built-in remote. I think it would freak some people out but it gave me some comfort.
T-16:23 the display read. It was almost time, fueling is almost done and now we wait patiently.
I just twiddle my thumbs over while I wait for it blast off. I flipped through the monitor so much that I had the Order memorized: “Mission Status, Current Stage Data, Orbital Map, Mission Plans, Off”
I preferred the Current Stage Data. It showed fuel levels, timing, and direction. It was just nice to look at.
T-00:30. Less than thirty seconds remaining. I grip the armrests tight as I start counting down with it under my breath. We get to “Ten, Nine” and I can hear some of the others counting down as if it was New Year’s Eve.
“Seven, six, five” A deep rumbling begins at five and the hairs on my legs, arms and head all stand up with this foreign experience.
“Four, three, two, one” the rumbling turns to a roar and everything jolts as a group lets out a collective cacophony of “Blast Off” and “Lift Off”
I was pushed into my seat in the way my dreams couldn’t even expect. The data screen quickly change and it is hard to figure out what is happening Next but finally, I get the basics.
We are blasting through the air and you can feel the ship rotate slightly and my head is now tilted to the floor and it feels really odd in my legs.
Now we get to about T+70s. We have officially been off the Earth’s surface for more than a minute and there starts to be an additional rattling.
We are moving faster than the speed of sound, Mach one. There has been some yelling. Some fear, some excitement, all involuntary. No one’s body could have ever truly prepared for this in a week.
We continue pushing through the air and something jolts and a rattling begins and the scream grows hushed as hard gasps.
Previous Parts
| Link | Title | Date |
|---|---|---|
| Part I | Flight to Mars | 2017-11-20 |