Back to the Moon-ARC

“Is there a problem, Captain Stetson?” Hui asked.

“Looks like there might be. We’ll work it.” Bill tried to focus his mind. So much had happened in the last few hours that it would have been too much for most normal people. Fortunately, Bill was far above the average—even for an astronaut.

“Bill, there is no power getting to the door. The circuits must’ve gone dead when we cycled it open.” Tony continued to look at the diagnostics screen that was almost all orange and red.

“Houston, this is Mercy I. We’ve got our leak stopped, but now our main hatch door is frozen in the open position,” Bill communicated back to Earth.

“Copy that, Mercy I.”

“And, Houston, you might as well give me the rest of the bad news, because it looks to me like we are presently farther away from Earth than I expected us to be.” Bill almost held his breath waiting for the answer.

“Roger that, Mercy I. Bill, here is the problem. Something went wrong on aerocapture, and you came out in a forty-four degree inclination. Plus, your orbit is fairly elliptical. The orbital guys tell me you’re tracking with a perigee of about one hundred and ninety-four miles and an apogee of about three hundred and sixty-seven miles.” Bill listened and tried to work some of the math in his head. He couldn’t. But that was what Houston was for.

“Okay, Houston, what does that mean?”

“You don’t have enough fuel to crank your inclination enough to make it to the space station. You’d also need to circularize your orbit some. There just isn’t enough fuel for both maneuvers.” Mission control got quiet for a second.

“What do we do, Houston?” Bill asked.

“First thing we need to do is get that door closed. We think we have a workaround.”

“Roger that,” Bill replied. “What do we do?”

Chapter 34

“Pull harder, Hui!” Tony urged the Chinese taikonaut. “Bill, I don’t feel it budging at all.”

“Yeah, I think the motors are seized up, and I haven’t cut the right interlock cable yet,” Bill replied. “Houston. That didn’t work.”

“Roger that, Mercy I. There is a mechanism behind the panel you just pulled off on the right side and underneath the door’s track. You see it?”

“Roger that, Houston. I see it.” Bill reached in the hole they had made in the ship’s interior panel to feel the track-alignment mechanism. The door looked like it was in the right place, and nothing was wrong mechanically. It had to be software or a seized-up motor.

“Okay, Bill, pop the breaker-box lid open with the regular screwdriver,” the mission control engineer directed.

“Roger that.” Bill reached in with the long-length screwdriver and loosened the spring-loaded screw mechanism holding the breaker box in place. When he got it loose, it flipped up easily. “Okay, Houston. Got it open.”

“Now, there is a single throw breaker on the bottom right-hand side of that circuit box. Do you see it?”

Bill reached up with a finger poised to push it if that was the order.

“Okay, Bill, don’t touch it yet, because it may only let loose for a second or two. Make certain that Tony and Hui are pulling on the door when you do,” Houston directed.

“Understood, Houston.” Bill looked over at Tony and Hui. “Are you guys ready to pull?”

“Yes,” they replied in unison.

“Well, then, in three, two, one, go!” Bill depressed the button. It clicked on, and the hatch sprang to life. The release and close mechanism activated and started cycling the door closed. Then there was a snap he could feel in the panel box as the breaker threw open again. “Don’t stop! Keep pulling!” he shouted.

Tony and Hui had gained enough momentum with the door before the breaker clicked again that it actually slammed closed. Bill depressed the switch once more, and the lock seal popped into place just as the breaker threw again. Tony and Bill both tugged at the latching mechanism and agreed it was closed.

“Houston, I believe that worked.” Bill swam his way back to his console and scanned the screen. “Looks like the interior is sealed off. Tony, start repressurization.”

“Roger that, Bill.” Tony sounded relieved.

“Now, while the cabin comes back up to pressure, why don’t you folks down there start talking to me about how we’re gonna get home.”

“Well, Bill, we’ve got a solution. It’s an unexpected one. But we’ve got one,” mission control started. “We’re working an orbit circularization burn calculation based on the fuel you’ve got left. We’ll give you the procedure in a few minutes.”

“Yeah, and we circularize our orbit. Then what?” Tony asked.

“At that point, we’ll be in a wait mode as the Space Excursions ship Dreamscape plays chase with you. Once it catches you, you’ll dock with it, all of you will transfer over, and then the captain of that ship is going to bring you home. Over.”

“Dreamscape?” Bill and Tony said almost simultaneously.