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<\/a><\/p>\nIn an effort to transport as many supplies as possible, in the smallest space possible, Brandon came up with a novel idea of Space Utilization Through Divisional Shifts. By dividing the crew’s work schedule into three eight-hour shifts (two people on duty, two off duty, and two sleeping), four of the staterooms will be empty at any one time. Instead of leaving these spaces empty, they will utilize the four staterooms as in-transit storage for a variety of items such as inflatable Mars greenhouses, tie-down stakes, spare parts, etc. All of this equipment will be off-loaded upon arrival. During the six-month journey to Mars, the crew will only use two staterooms. The crew will each use their own pillow and sleep sack on top of the mattress, which gives them the feeling of sleeping in their own beds instead of ‘hot-bunking’ as is done on many navy ships. Once they have settled in on the planet’s surface, all six staterooms will be available. Then they will all have their own personal, but more importantly, private quarters. This Mars-transit sleep strategy freed up nearly 54 cubic meters of storage space. To put it another way, less spacecraft means less fuel at launch.<\/p>\n
21:00 It was time for Valerie and Brandon to go on duty with Tom and Sally heading for their respective staterooms and sacking out. Jackie and Carl are coming off duty and now have some time to grab a snack, relax, read, or be shutterbugs as Earth and Luna slowly rotates past the port and starboard portholes. It’s called free time, so what they decide to do is up to them. However, the view of the two familiar heavenly bodies is changing rapidly. Already, it is necessary to look toward the rear of the craft to see them, as Bolo One corkscrews its way through space.<\/p>\n
Brandon takes the first watch at the flight control console on the bridge, as Valerie heads up to the Hydroponics Station on the third deck. She will trade places with him in four hours. There really isn’t a whole lot to do on the bridge or much one can do if something were to cross their path unexpectedly. The early warning system would sound the alarm via an ear piercing, ‘Brace for impact!!!’ in an otherwise polite British accent.<\/p>\n
A stationary object might be avoided with fast reflexes on the control stick, but there aren’t very many stationary objects in deep space. The more likely scenario is encountering something orbiting the sun in an orbit between Earth and Mars. If this object were coming at Bolo One head on or passing through the solar system at a right angle, there wouldn’t be much time to dodge it. That’s just one of the risks the crew knew they might have to face when signing on.<\/p>\n
There has never been a robotic probe lost en route to Mars due to an impact. Human error in the planning, on the other hand, is another thing all together, causing the failure of the 1999 NASA Mars Climate Orbiter. This Mars satellite was lost due to ground based computer software, which produced thruster output in English units of pound-seconds (lbf-s) instead of the design specification requirements of metric units in Newton-seconds (N-s). As a result, the craft encountered the Martian atmosphere at too steep of an angle and disintegrated.<\/p>\n
On Deck Three, Valerie began unpacking gear and setting up the Hydroponic Station. The heart of the Hydroponic Station is at the top of the ladder (just like the galley on the mid-deck). Directly ahead, at the top of the ladder, is a sign on the wall that reads: Weed ’em and reap, installed by the assembly crew, to bring a smile.<\/p>\n