Hundreds abandon stricken Mars-bounder liner
Moments of terror after months of boredom
ABOARD THE BOUDICCA, Nov. 25 - Passengers aboard the stricken liner Wandering Star endured a few minutes of terror after hundreds of days of uneventful spaceflight when the ship’s hull was ripped open at the stern by a powerful explosion on approach to Mars
As the alarms howled and emergency lights flashed, the passengers and crew pulled up their soft helmets, attached safety lines where possible and wondered what would come next.
“We held onto whatever we could,” Passenger Hunter Realtin said after coming aboard the Boudicca. “We’d trained a lot with the ship suits. There’s not a whole lot else to do in transit. It’s a cliche, but after months of boredom, we had a few moment of sheer terror.”
The latest strongest explosions came during testing of maneuver engines on Nov. 16, just two weeks before the Earth fleet’s expected arrival at Mars. That followed a smaller explosion five days earlier what was supposed to be routine engine tests.
All 250 passengers and a dozen crew members have been evacuated from theWandering Star, whose now powerless hull will fly past Mars unless Space Rescue ships can nudge it from its current path, Fleet Admiral Ambosius Coleridge confirmed on Sunday.
The fleet, now comprising nine passenger liners carrying 2,712 passengers and crew, and 15 cargo and factory ships, is expected to arrive in Mars orbit on Friday after an 253-sol journey from Earth, or nearly nine earth months.
“All of the passengers are safely headed for Mars orbit aboard the nine other passenger ships, and the 15 cargo and factory ships are on course,” Mission Cmdr. Ceres Piazzi radioed from aboard the Mars Carousel orbital station.
The passengers were transferred by the fleet’s five tenders, and the explorer scout Boudicca, which arrived ahead of the Space Tug Juno.
That transfer in space was welcome after the fear sparked by the explosions at the stern of the Wandering Star.
Blast rips through hull
The passenger liner was hit by an initial explosion Nov. 11 that destroyed three maneuver engines at the stern of the ship.
A second series of explosions in two adjacent maneuver engine groups tore a gash in the ship’s hull the following Friday, and forced the captain to jettison the entire propulsion stage.
“The first explosion shook the whole ship and that was bad enough,” Wandering Star passenger Estella Lents said after boarding the Jove. “The second slammed us into the bulkheads and the whole hull rang and we were worried the ship would come apart.”
The passengers attached their safety lines but could only listen in as the captain and chief engineer issued a flurry orders and crews worked feverishly to assess and fix the damage.
“Hull breach isolated,” an engineering crewman radioed, followed a few tense minutes later by, “Hull secure.”
“Hull secure. Copy that. Passengers, hull secure. Keep helmets closed and suits secured,” Wandering Star Capt. Hervé Xenokostas announced.
While no passengers were injured in the explosion, three engineering crew ejected in an escape module and were only located earlier this week.
Crawling to safety
Through the week, most of the Wandering Star passengers were transferred to the other nine space liners in small groups by the tenders, which can land in an air lock cargo bay, enabling the passengers to essentially walk on and off the tenders using guide ropes.
The few dozen carried by the Boudicca had to shimmy through flexible docking ports between ship.
“That was straight out of a threedee about the early astronauts,” Realtin said. “We had to pull ourselves over through soft tunnel, with space all around us, and get hauled aboard the Boudicca. But we’re very happy to be here.”
The main fleet is still scheduled to arrive in orbit on Friday, Nov. 30.
The orbital will serve as the first stop for the 2,500 contract workers and other passengers aboard the fleet, while most of the 323 crew will remain aboard their ships or transfer to the Carousel or its cargo yards.
The Space Rescue Tug Juno and the Boudicca were expected to rendezvous on Monday, Nov. 26, with the Wandering Star.
The Wandering Star’s captain, Xenokostas, and 11 other crew members remain aboard the ship, but will transfer to the Space Rescue Cutter Juno before the attempt to redirect the powerless hull toward Mars.
Bringing the Wandering Star back
Shipyard workers aboard the Boudicca will add specially built, self-welding pairing lattices to the hull of the Wandering Star to enable the scout and the tug to securely attach to the hull with their own pairing gear.
“It should be a little easier than it was when we brought the Caraval in, because we just have to make sure the lattice is snug against the hull and it will attach itself,” said Shipwright Dominique Martel said aboard the Boudicca.
The fast packet Carousel suffered engine failure on its approach to Mars over the summer and was brought back to Mars by the explorer scout explorer scout Beansí (Banshee).
Martel and Jason Ferrario, now aboard the Jove, worked outside on the haul of the Caraval to weld on attachment points, so that it could pair with the Beansí.
The Wandering Star is a more ambitious effort, Martel said.
“It’s a big and massive hull, so we have to make sure the lattice is securely attached if we want to have any hope of using the Juno and Boudicca to steer it to Mars,” Martel said.
The harder part is in the steering, Martel said, nodding to Boudicca Capt. Attracta O’Ceileachair.
“We’ve practiced this a lot with the tug and we’ve done it repeatedly with the Beansí,” O’Ceileachair said. “We have to bring the lattice right against the hull, in the right place. We’ll secure it magnetically and when we think we’ve got it right, put the self-welders to work.”
The two Space Rescue ships have been outfitted with the modified fusion-powered engines they O’Ceileachair sisters designed for exploring the Asteroid Belts.
“They give us more power for longer, especially the tug, which was modified to be able to move much bigger hulls,” O’Ceileachair said. “We’re going to test that this week. We’ll either get that hull to Mars or put it on a trajectory that allows us to recover it.”
—with Alfwinna Webster
Three crew rescued from errant escape module
Lucky guess leads to rescue
ABOARD THE JOVE, Nov. 23 - Three Earth fleet crew members who fled the explosion aboard the stricken passenger liner Wandering Star in an escape module last week were saved in a dramatic space rescue on Thursday.
After being sent tumbling away from the ship by the explosion on Friday, Nov. 16, the injured spacers were unable to re-establish radio contact until Tuesday and weren’t reached by the Space Rescue cutter Jove until late Wednesday.
The Jove used two self-powered service craft to stabilize the damaged module, and bring it to close the cutter.
The three engineering crew, one of whom suffered serious injuries, were managing the tests from a nearby compartment when alarms sounded and they escaped just before the main explosion.
“Their quick actions minimized the damage to the ship,” Wandering Star Capt. Hervé Xenokostas radioed. “They shut it all down before they got into the escape module. It could have been worse.”
The module tumbled out of control through space for days before the crew could get it under control and get the radio working.
Space fishing
The Jove was headed roughly toward the module when they received the mayday.
“Then we went space-fishing,” Jove Capt. Hayden Torbay said. “We put out a line and reeled them in.”
Jove engineering mate Jason Ferrario went outside the hull and used a tethered service craft to attach a line to the module, to bring it close enough for docking.
“I looked over and saw the crew in the escape pod looking over at me through their porthole, but we got the two ships attached and reeled it in,” Ferrario said. “Once, we had it snugged up, we had to remove some damaged bits around the module’s docking port, so we could get the crew aboard.”
A former shipyard welder, Ferrario’s extravehicular work was instrumental in salvaging the fast packet Caraval, which lost power on Mars approach over the summer and is being refurbished and renamed the Pilgrim.
The Jove, a repurposed scout, became the first ship of the new Space Rescue force, followed by the space tug Juno.
The engineering crew were testing the maneuver engines near the stern of the Wandering Star, when a powerful explosion tore a jagged hole in its hull on Friday, Nov. 16.
That was the second explosion to hit the ship after it lost three engines in a blast five days earlier in an initial round of testing of the maneuver engines.
“We started (the testing) around the other side of the hull and worked our way back,” Wandering Star engineering mate Tatiana Qin said aboard the Jove. “We were down to the last three pods, when things started going very wrong. All the readings were going crazy.”
Tumbling through space
The alarms started screaming, and one explosion rocked the deck, Qin said.
“We dove into the escape pod, closed our suit visors and hit ‘eject,’” Qin said aboard the Jove. “Next thing, I know I’m looking at the fleet through the pod’s porthole.”
The module was sent tumbling by the blast and it took Qin and crewmate Reggie Fabricius nearly three days to stabilize the craft, while tending to their injured colleague, whose name has not been released.
The injured crew member was transferred in a stasis suit late Thursday to a fleet tender and brought to the flagship Constant Star for treatment. Qin and Fabricius suffered moderate injuries and were being treated on the Jove.
“We got bounced around a bit and hit with a bit of debris, but the pod held up,” Qin said. “After we slowed the spinning, Reggie was able to get the comms back, and lucky for us the Jove was already headed our way.”
Following the explosion, the Jove lost visuals on the escape module after the Wandering Star jettisoned its entire propulsion stage, but worked through a variety of scenarios to gamble on a most likely course, said co-pilot Electra O’Ceileachair, who owns the explorer scout Beansí (Banshee).
“We worked through hundreds of possibilities and then Capt. Torbay decided to put us where we thought we’d have the best chance,” O’Ceileachair said. “We were ecstatic when we found out his decision put us pretty close to them after they sent a mayday message.”
Torbay was more modest, saying, “I’d call it a lucky guess.”
Noctis plans to jump start Mars Route 1
Road trip ahead?
LABYRINTHIA, Nov. 24 - The newly elected Noctis Labyrinthus council wants a road trip.
The Council, which meets on the first, fourth and seventh Saturdays of the month in the Grange Hall, voted to fast track plans for a thousand km road stretching northeast to Ares Port from here and east to Ius to kick start development and commerce in the western Vallis Marineris.
‘It’s very hard to move around the Valley,” Noctis Councillor and Supply Capt. Icario Fletcher said in proposing the accelerated timeline. “We already have the Grange Hall depot to serve the long-haul cargo trains, and the road would make Noctis the key to the future development of the Valley.”
The proposal for a printed road, called Mars Route 1, was previously reviewed by the Noctis and Ius Chasma councils in July, with the 750 km section east to Ius to be completed first and the 200 km link northeast to Ares Port to follow.
The ‘printed’ road would cut travel time by two-thirds by enabling supply trains to travel at an average speed above 15 kph, compared to 5 kph or less now, construction engineer Trevia Bothar said remotely from Ius.
Fletcher proposed getting the project underway as early as possible next annos, and starting the shorter 200 km segment to Ares Port first.
The new Tithonia (Urbs Vallis) council might be more interested in participating in the road project after the recent election, Fletcher suggested.
Voters in the City and Valley-wide handed a resounding defeat to candidates seeking to put all development in the Valles Marineris under City and Mars DevCo control.
“The City (Tithonia) and Mars DevCo want to ramp up industrial production and the rest of the Valley is a natural local market for them,” Fletcher said. “We could help our own community by increasing local trade. That would also help the City.”
The printed road would cut the one-way trip to Ares Port to 1-1/2 sols from five currently, over what is essentially a compressed dirt and highly variable dirt track now, Bothar said.
A road to Ius would cut one-way travel time to six sols from 20 sols.
Geography and machinery
Noctis Councillor Blythe Gunther cautioned against getting entangled in projects that could later fall under City control.
“If we rely on their resources and support, it becomes their project and we’ll lose control,” Gunther said. “Let’s not give up our independence for a road. If we want to move ahead earlier, and we should, let’s start with Ius and Melas.”
The council should also consider geography and machinery, Bothar advised.
The route to Ares Port is overall flatter and less challenging, while the transverse ridge and massive ancient landslides in Ius Chasma pose major obstacles.
“Ius Chasma isn’t flat,” Bothar said, “There are some very interesting ascents and descents between here and Ius and the cargo trains have to switchback their way through.”
The road printing project would essentially be undertaken by a dedicated construction train which would handle each aspect from excavation and leveling to crushing, milling, mixing and laying road bed materials and topping that with a ‘printed’ surface.
That construction train could not be built in existing facilities in either Noctis or Ius, leaving the industrial centers in either Ares Port or Candor Chasma as the two possibilities.
Bothar said, “And it would make sense to start where the equipment is.”
Xanthe Terra to upgrade Orson Welles shuttle facility
A long way to anywhere else
ORSON WELLES, Nov. 24, - The new Xanthe Terra Council voted 5-0 Saturday to upgrade the shuttle facilities here to facilitate trade and travel while making it easier for shuttles, crews and passengers.
“Right now, we have a landing pad, and you have to put on a surf suit and climb down to the ground,” Council President Sylvana Phison said at the Council’s twice monthly meeting. “Anyone traveling would appreciate being able to walk off on a runway and into a building.”
While there currently is no scheduled interchasmata shuttle service, that is likely to change in the next few annos, whether through Mars DevCo or through local private groups acquiring used shuttles from DevCo.
“There’s a need for it, and we’ll be better off if we’re ready,” Phison said.
The proposal calls for the initial installation of an inflatable dome adjacent to the existing shuttle landing pad with access ports to allow travelers to move from the shuttle directly into the dome.
Once the dome is in place, a more permanent structure would be built on the other side of the landing zone.
“We don’t get that much traffic or that many visitors,” new Councillor and former Survey Mars explorer Perpetua Heathering said. “One of the reasons is that it’s difficult to get here, and it’s difficult once you get here.”
Visitors to Orson Welles are usually scientists such as geologists and resource geographers or Survey Mars personnel who travel on an as-needed basis.
Most of the roughly 4,000 residents of Welles and the new Shalbatana Vallis settlement took the long and difficult 3,000 km land route from Coprates Chasma into Eos Chasma through the eastern end of the Vallis Marineris then tacking back through Ganges Chasma.
The new Xanthe Terra council elected earlier this month includes Orson Welles Crater as well as the Shalbatana Vallis settlement being develop by famed Mars builder and new Councillor Jeremiah Volcan.
“I understand that many of our residents like being out here away from everybody else,” said Volcan, who took second place in the election. “But if we’re going to grow, we’ll want to at least be able to travel easier to the other chasmata.”
Calendar
La Bandita live
You’ll fall in love too. “La Bandita,” a one-woman play by the author of the romantic threedee, “La Bandita - Thief of Hearts” will be performed by writer Phoebe Nyx at the Geryon Agora Saturday 21:00. The thief of hearts tells how she met her match, sparking a fiery romance.
A city flower
Celebrate the City’s new name at the Tithonia Gardens display of bright yellow, orange and red blossoms at its display of Tithonia flowers. Habtube 2, Terrace 4
City farmers' market
Going green with veggie envy? Get to the City farmer's market. Stalls available by appointment. Industrial Tube Terminal. Saturday 0900-1500
City Strings Quartet
Quartet performs selections from Mozart's "Night Music." WestHill Terrace 4 Friday-Saturday 19:00
“Miracle Moon”
Sci-Fi adventure. Things go very wrong in a lunar crater. Can the crew save themselves and their station? Great lunar landscapes and escapes. Stage 3 Hab 1 Terrace 8 Nov. 29-35, 18:00, 20:00, 22:00
The Opera Tithonia
Open rehearsal for the Strauss opera Der Fledermaus. They’re just practicing, but well worth a listen. Stage 1 on Terrace 8 (HabTube 1). Sunday noon
Cha-cha-one-two-three-cha-cha
It’s time to put a little rhumba in your step, and some cha-cha, at Coprates Schiapparelli Hall Friday 20:00
Acoustic Song Share
Everyone gets a song Cafe du Mont. Geryon Agora Saturday 16:00
City Social
Mix and mingle with new arrivals and old hands. Hab 2. Terrace 4, by Tithonia Gardens. Every Friday 17:00
- Merry Grace, lifestyle correspondent
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The header photo is the iconic mosaic of the Valles Marineris hemisphere of Mars from 2,500 km above the surface taken by the Viking Orbiter. (NASA/JPL-Caltech)
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Photomosaic: Viking Orbiter: NASA/JPL-Caltech