![\"ch02-3a\"](\"http:\/\/www.emailfrommars.com\/outbound\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/ch02-3a.png\")
<\/p>\nWhile Carl was on duty at the console and babysitting the monitors, Jackie went about making the science lab comfortable and, more importantly, usable. The primary workspace on Deck One is where the launch couches had been attached to the ceiling and where they will be attached to the floor for the landing. Kneeling on the floor not more than three feet behind Carl’s chair, she assembled one of the two workbenches, placing it lengthwise across the space, setting stools in appropriate locations. In this configuration, a person using the workbench could look beyond his own work to view the console monitors. This well-equipped lab has plenty of room and Jackie has been truly inspired, coming up with a novel use for the extra space. “Hey Carl, what would you think of one of the portable tables being used for card games, setting it up over here?” she queried, motioning toward the wall just inward from one of the airlocks.<\/p>\n
“Sure, as long as it’s outside of the lab area, maybe between the secondary control console and the EVA prep room,” Carl replied, nodding in agreement as he scoped out the locale. “That would be a good spot for a poker table, unless you think it would go better upstairs?”<\/p>\n
Jackie pondered a moment and said, “There’s no room on the hydroponic deck for something like that; and a rowdy poker game might disturb someone trying to sleep on the mid-deck. I think here would be the best choice of the three.”<\/p>\n
“Yeah,” he reasoned. “And the head is right over there and snacks are just at the top of the ladder. I’d say go for it.” He gave her a big grin and began contemplating where to find the makings for suitable poker chips or settling for some faceless app.<\/p>\n
Besides the lab area, the remainder of the first deck consists of a control console, secondary control station, full bathroom with laundry facilities, two airlocks, and the connecting EVA prep room.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
As with any airlock, before opening the opposing hatch, a properly suited person must enter, seal the airlock, and depressurize the space (or pressurize, depending on which direction they are heading). In the EVA prep room, the pressure suits are stored and the user suits up here. Before donning the outfit, a trip to the bathroom is recommended for short-duration outings.<\/p>\n
For longer forays away from the Hab, there is a selection of diapers, collection devices, and undergarments for each crewmember – individually labeled by name, of course. And as someone will usually point out, while you are suiting up: whatever you do in the suit stays with you in the suit. Upon returning to the Hab, one might want to shower after being cooped up in the suit for a time, as sweat, body odors, and ‘other’ odors tend to build up in the enclosed space. And if two people have been out on an EVA, there is a second full bath with shower, on the berthing deck, one level up.<\/p>\n
Elsewhere, there are two more hatches providing an exit outside of the Hab. The first is located in the floor of the first deck, just behind the ladder. This one requires closing off all deck admission to the ladder-well, thereby creating an airlock in the ladder-well, itself.<\/p>\n
The remaining hatch is atop the Hab and is also accessed by sealing off all three deck hatches and decompressing the ladder-well. To reach this hatch, the suited crewmember would climb a stationary, rung-style ladder from the third deck. Because the Hab was wrapped with solar panels before liftoff: this was the crew’s entry point, through an opening in the coupling between the Hab and the booster. Once inside, the opening was sealed from the outside, in much the same way as the Space Shuttles or the old Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo capsules.<\/p>\n
It is hoped that no one will need to use this hatch until they set foot on Mars, or to use any of the hatches, for that matter. There are a couple of good reasons: (1) a space walk would mean something has probably been damaged and must be repaired; (2) each suit weighs nearly 45 kg and is cumbersome, making climbing the ladder and maneuvering through the hatch a chore to be avoided. Due to the reduced gravity on the planet’s surface, the suit will weigh less than 17 kg and can be easily maneuvered. At that point, any one of the crew will gladly scale the ladder to hoist their two flags.<\/p>\n
The two flag display is a unique combo. First, the tri-color Martian flag, with ‘its colors of red, green, and blue as the primary components of light, and thus symbolizing light, enlightenment, and reason’, wrote Dr. Robert Zubrin, as well as its association with the Kim Stanley Robinson epic future trilogy, Red Mars, Green Mars, Blue Mars. Second, the American flag representing their homeland. In reverse of their standard order on Earth, the Martian flag will rise first and take the top spot. One day on the red planet, the flags of each newly emerging nation shall be flown in honor of their perspective immigrants.<\/p>\n
The galley is situated in the ladder-well on the middle deck (berthing deck), which at first might seem like an odd place, the location was actually well thought out. With the ten-foot diameter ladder-well performing secondary duty as a solar flare shelter, a few minutes advance warning allows the entire crew to gather and be protected from the harmful radiation of a major solar flare. On average, flares occurring about once per year can be very intense and may also last for several days. It’s a great port in a storm.<\/p>\n
While working out safety designs for the craft, Brandon had determined that if you’re going to be cooped up for several days, a location near the galley and food supply would be ideal. Safely situated in the ladder-well with access to three decks, even with the hatches sealing off the rest of the ship, there is plenty of room for six people to do almost anything, except perhaps shower. An emergency toilet is stowed beneath the stairs on the first deck and although it hooks into the ships waste system when needed, this toilet does not provide for the same level of privacy as the others. Also stored here are six old-fashioned rope-and-canvas hammocks. By stringing these hammocks up in pairs on each deck, everyone has a place to sleep. Though fairly cramped, the crew could ride out a solar flare storm for a month in relative comfort.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
While Carl was on duty at the console and babysitting the monitors, Jackie went about making the science lab comfortable and, more importantly, usable. The primary workspace on Deck One is where the launch couches had been attached to the ceiling and where they will be attached to the floor for the landing. Kneeling on the floor not more than …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":153,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-chapter"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.emailfrommars.com\/outbound\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.emailfrommars.com\/outbound\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.emailfrommars.com\/outbound\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.emailfrommars.com\/outbound\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.emailfrommars.com\/outbound\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/www.emailfrommars.com\/outbound\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":221,"href":"http:\/\/www.emailfrommars.com\/outbound\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14\/revisions\/221"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.emailfrommars.com\/outbound\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/153"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.emailfrommars.com\/outbound\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.emailfrommars.com\/outbound\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.emailfrommars.com\/outbound\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}