“Roger, I have you on camera,” Brandon acknowledged and began operating the winch remotely from the first deck. “Proceed.” As the small motor on the winch began turning, it reeled out the cable, allowing Carl to move further up the ladder.
Carl clambered up and out onto the top of the Hab, remaining perched on his hands and knees to maintain a low center of gravity. For a moment, he felt slightly disoriented, as the Hab was still rotating, albeit much slower than it had been. From his prospective, everything was moving around him as if he were the center of the universe. His better judgment whispered not to try standing up if he didn’t need to.
As Brandon reeled him out little by little, Carl slowly inched towards the sunny side of the Hab. Lacking any handholds on the side of the craft, Carl would have to rely on Brandon to lower him into place, just out of sight of the camera.
As he began turning around to lower himself over the edge, feet first, Tom shot up a hand to get Brandon’s attention and called out, “Hold up there a moment, Carl.” Brandon stopped the winch and Carl came to an abrupt halt, nearly bringing him down onto the side of his faceplate. “Sorry about that,” Brandon apologized. Tom continued, “Carl, I would like you to set out over the edge, headfirst. The location to work on is high on the side, so you really shouldn’t need to go past your waist.”
Sally was standing by on the Hydroponic Deck to assist. At this point, it was sealed off from the ladder-well, along with all of the other decks. Tom then ordered, “Sally, in bay 3, using the headset and infrared scanner, let Carl know when he is in position. Where the bulkhead is exposed on the inside, we want Carl to peel back the insulation on the outside.”