Tuesday, November 27, 2018 (Scottday, Aries 29, 0031)<\/p>\n
The crew was wandering about the control deck in their flight-suits, waiting for word from home that Mike is safe and they can proceed with the landing site. Or, if that message doesn’t arrive before they hear from Mission Support, the crew will need to come up with an excuse for not firing the thrusters to place them on a trajectory back to Earth. Another seventy-two hours is all that is left before they have to decide to either land or head for home. All that is left to do is don their helmets and gloves and strap into the landing seats, now re-attached to the deck, while Tom and Carl will be strapped in at the control console.<\/p>\n
Feelings are mixed among the crew. Tom is sorely missing his dear, sweet Penny. Though longing to be home, he understands that being there won’t bring her back to life. He glances over at Sally. She looks back at him and smiles, dimples appearing at the corners of her mouth. He is finding it easier now to answer her smile with one of his own. Sally has been a wonderful friend and crewmate.<\/p>\n
Gazing again at Sally, Tom now truly sees the beauty that she holds, both inside and out. A new thought flickers through his consciousness; they are going to be spending the next two years together. This is a truly pleasant idea, especially now that she is single. As the two of them share a background in geology, Tom sees them spending a lot of time together, exploring Mars and making new discoveries together. Perhaps discovering a deeper relationship with each other… someday.<\/p>\n
Sally is contemplating the landing to come, not wanting to return to Earth without first setting foot on the surface. The fact that she will be one of the first geologists to set foot on another planet has her feeling like she is striding about a foot off the deck. There will be times when she will assist Carl in his geochemistry tests on the planet, but like Tom, she sees the two of them working side by side at every opportunity.<\/p>\n
She is also relieved to be free of her marriage. Sure, she will miss Bobby. After all, they were together for seventeen years and comfortable with one another. Apparently, that wasn’t enough for Bobby anymore.<\/p>\n
Even before the split, Sally had come to the realization that it was not enough for her, either. Instead of being crushed by the divorce, she was feeling emancipated by the possibilities that it would bring. Sharing a glance with Tom, she notices the look on his face and wonders what he is thinking and smiling about. Is he feeling what she is? His eyes again touch her lightly and a warm feeling fills her breast. Could he…<\/p>\n
Carl is eager to descend to the surface and start scratching around in the dirt. His mind was going over the exciting work to come. The geochemistry of a planet will tell you about the chemical processes and reactions that govern the composition of the soil and rocks. This is in addition to the interactions of the hydrosphere (hopefully, they will find one) and atmosphere and how the cycles of energy and matter transport the chemical components through time and space.<\/p>\n
There was only one big down side to the Mars landing, as far as Carl was concerned. It would be another three and a half months longer before he and Mary could be wed, than if they were to head home now. He loves Mary with all his heart and the wait will be agonizing. But, the additional paycheck will come in handy while they are starting out. Then, a short while later it will be time to sit back and pen a book or two about the trip and their findings. Heck, he can start writing that first book, right now. Why wait? Maybe Mary could join him on the lecture circuit and he could introduce the world to her, through his eyes. Huh, all of this before the age of 30. Not, bad. Not, bad at all.<\/p>\n
To spare Mary any undue worry, Carl has intentionally kept her in the dark about Mike and the possibility of them not being able to land. If they can’t and have to head back to Earth, that will be the time to fill her in. Why should she be made to worry, un-necessarily?<\/p>\n
There are two things on Earth that Brandon is yearning for: to hold the love of his life, Emma, in his arms, and to see Rich, their son. It has been almost unbearable being away from Emma. And, he is so incredibly proud that his son would want to follow in his footsteps. What more could a father ask for.<\/p>\n
But, he’s also looking forward to the prospect of walking in the slightly dimmer sunlight on the surface of Mars. What an adventure this will be! He is visualizing setting up their new state-of-the-art greenhouse on a wide flat expanse of terrain, as well as a different type just beneath the Martian surface. In just the right locale, such as a lava tube, a few meters underground, there could be acres of crops growing by the time the crew gets ready to head home in a year and a half. In his mind he is already going over the logistics of greenhouses vs. lava tubes, grow lights, CO2 levels, nutrients, water, and a thousand other details to be worked out.<\/p>\n
One big question will need to be answered: the possibility of finding liquid water on the planet, or at least a large supply of water-ice. Of course, they can always make their own water by distilling carbon dioxide down to carbon monoxide and oxygen, then combining that oxygen with some of the hydrogen, brought with them from Earth.<\/p>\n
But, if liquid water were to be found, that would take care of one of their greatest concerns. With water in an underground reservoir lying far enough down to maintain a liquid state, they would then only need to pump it up to their temperature-controlled greenhouses. This is the type of challenge Brandon is eager and looking forward to undertaking. Bring it on.<\/p>\n
Like Carl, Brandon had not mentioned their current situation to Emma. No need to cause her any undue worry. The disappointment of not being able to land, will give them many hours of email discourse during the long twenty-month trip, should that become the case.<\/p>\n
Valerie would willingly remain on Mars for the rest of her life, growing her own food and living off the land, if only Steve could join her. She had often fantasized about settling down on Mars with Steve, hanging out her shingle, and waiting for the first immigrants to arrive from Earth (the proverbial small town country doctor in the bad-ass frontier town).<\/p>\n
With the ‘Mars Direct Plan’ moving to its ultimate advantage of a manned flight every two years, it isn’t hard to imagine scores of settlers arriving in less than twenty years. A decent little boomtown, along with a thriving community, could spring up by then. This time frame would only put Valerie in her early to late-fifties to early-sixties, very doable. She would have a busy and productive life for many years, especially considering the reduced gravity and how liberating that could be on aging bones and muscles.<\/p>\n
Of course, Steve would eventually need to retire from his paramilitary career before linking up with her on Mars. But, a boomtown could use a good sheriff, if only to keep the immigrating colonists on the straight and narrow. Besides, knowing human nature, she knew it wouldn’t be long before someone set up a still and started manufacturing Two-Moonshine, begin running games of chance, or launch other types of commerce; setting in motion a myriad of problems requiring law enforcement. His background in subterfuge and policing bad guys would make Steve a natural for the sheriff position, or just as there are U.S. Marshals, Mars could have a U.M. (United Mars) Marshal. ‘I’ll have to bring that up in my next email,’ Valerie thought.<\/p>\n
Jackie is also excited about the prospect of landing on Mars, but in her heart of hearts, she is ready to have the combined genius of Tom, Carl, and Brandon design and build her a transporter, propelling her straight home to Mike’s loving arms. This anxiety is almost more than she can endure. Jackie could topple over and curl up into the fetal position at any moment, if she could only let herself stop pacing long enough to do so. If she knew for sure Mike is all right, it would make everything else a little more tolerable. Then, she would be able to get back to the task at hand: planning her next year and a half stint on Mars.<\/p>\n
With her diverse training, Jackie will have a full schedule to fill her time. As a chemist, she will assist both Sally and Carl with the chemical analysis of the planet. In addition, as a physician, she will assist Valerie with medical situations, as well as tend to Valerie herself if the need arises.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Tuesday, November 27, 2018 (Scottday, Aries 29, 0031) The crew was wandering about the control deck in their flight-suits, waiting for word from home that Mike is safe and they can proceed with the landing site. Or, if that message doesn’t arrive before they hear from Mission Support, the crew will need to come up with an excuse for not …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":202,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-52","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\/52","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=52"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/www.emailfrommars.com\/outbound\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":374,"href":"http:\/\/www.emailfrommars.com\/outbound\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52\/revisions\/374"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.emailfrommars.com\/outbound\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/202"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.emailfrommars.com\/outbound\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=52"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.emailfrommars.com\/outbound\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=52"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.emailfrommars.com\/outbound\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=52"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}