The Spacepod Mission Logs

Red Storm

A few hours after orbital insertion, the two-man crew of Spacepod 1 had completed the lander system checks and was ready to visit the red planet. Captain Jason Tully, the mission commander, joined Lieutenant Michael Philips in the cramped cockpit.

The navigation computer indicated that they were entering the landing window and Lieutenant Philips separated the landing bug from the spacepod. When safely clear of the mother ship, he fired the bug's main engine to slow its orbital speed and the little spacecraft began its descent to the surface of Mars.

Once on the surface, the crew had a number of instrument packages to deploy around the landing site. These would be used by Farside, the main base located on Earth's moon, to monitor local weather conditions and, together with equipment left on previous expeditions, to record vibrations in the martian planetary crust. These seismic observations would give clues about the deep interior of Mars and perhaps detect the action of water on the surface. It was still an open question as to whether any of Mars' water channels were freshly formed or whether they were all fossils of an ancient watery past.

Once the science packages were unloaded, the astronauts would be able to use the cargo bay as living quarters for the few days they would be staying on Mars.

"Lieutenant," said Captain Tully, "finish unloading and then get a weather check. At this time of year, the atmosphere is pretty mobile. I'm going to deploy the first seismic package over on that level area and I'll need a warning if things are going to get rough."

"Roger that," said Philips. "I'll have the coffee brewing by the time you get back, sir."

Captain Tully looked back at the landing bug uneasily. Without his rocket pack he had a long walk back.

"Lieutenant Philips," he called into his headset, "check with the orbiter. See if that dust storm has changed direction."

"Roger, sir." The reply crackled in his helmet. The younger astronaut contacted the planetary monitoring computer aboard the orbiting spacepod to get a recent weather report.Captain Tully finished setting up the environmental monitoring unit as quickly as he could. The thin martian wind could not penetrate his pressure suit, but he could see the first few grains of sand lifting.

"You need to get out of there, sir," came Lieutenant Philips's voice over the suit link. "The orbiter shows a big wave of red stuff edging this way."

The captain was already striding towards the lander. "I copy, Lieutenant. The air's already getting thicker here." Clouds of red dust were overtaking him. Now where was that lander?

"Captain! I'm at your two o'clock." It was Philips again. Smart kid must be tracking my suit transmitter, thought Tully. "Thanks, Mike. It's a little confusing out here. You've heard of an antarctic white out? Well now we've got a martian pink out."

He did not feel as confident as he was trying to sound. Visibility was negligible in this red swirl. Unless he could get close enough to the lander to trip over one of its legs, he would wander in circles until his air ran out.

"Bear more to the left, sir."

He had missed his target.

"How far, Lieutenant?"

"About five metres, sir."

Jason fought the rising panic and lunged into the red fog.

"More left."

"Thanks, Mike."

His foot struck something hard. Stretching out to check his fall, he found a thick, upright post. It was one of the lander's legs. He flailed around, trying to find the ladder.

"You must be right on top of it now, sir."

"I've got a leg but I need the ladder. Can you flash the over door light?"

"Sure thing, Captain. Can you see it flashing now?"

Nothing.

"I must be around the back. Let me just ... wait a minute. I see it!"

Up over his head, Jason could see a flickering brightness. He tried to imagine the layout from memory. Lamp there, door below. So the ladder would be ... there! He hauled himself into the airlock and closed the outer door.

He vented the thin, dusty martian air and refilled the airlock with the bug's usual mixture of nitrogen and oxygen. Once pressure was restored, he opened his helmet visor and punched the intercom button by the inner door.

"I could use that coffee about now, Lieutenant."

"It's freshly brewed and ready to drink, sir." The inner hatch opened and Lieutenant Philips' grinning face appeared in the hatchway.

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All text and graphics copyright ©2005 and 2006 Mark Toner and Spacepod.info.