CHAPTER 13 – TO THE MOON AND BACK
09:51 (California Time)
Friday, August 9, 1963 ‘C’
Space plane LEXINGTON
Vandenberg Space Command Base
California
“If you have all finished stowing and securing your personal kit bags, we will now go back to our seats for the takeoff.”
Obeying the directive from Lieutenant Colonel Shirley Slade, Julie Lecomte dutifully followed the five other passengers of the LEXINGTON out of the passenger module stowed inside the cargo bay of the space plane, then climbed the ladder in the main airlock, emerging on top of the space plane, just behind the cockpit section. They then stepped on the platform surrounding the upper forward section of the space plane, which was contained inside the huge carrying pylon of the C-2000 super-heavy lift first stage aircraft. With Shirley Slade at the end of the line, the six passengers and four astronauts of Moon Mission 11 made their way up to the passenger cabin of the C-2000. Julie’s heart was beating fast as she sat in her seat and buckled her safety belt: she was about to live the most memorable experience of her whole life. Widely recognized at the age of 32 as one of the most brilliant agronomists in France and possibly the World, Julie had never dreamed that her research paper on the growth of plants in space installations would have had attracted enough attention on her to push the American government into offering her a one-year tour as a member of their Moon base. Yet, here she was, about to fly out to the Moon with five other scientists and four astronauts and military technicians. Looking to her right, she exchanged an excited grin with Edward Stokes, the American geologist that occupied the seat next to her, as the eight large turbofan engines of the first stage transporter came to life one by one with pitching whines. Stokes was older than Julie, being 41, but was still very fit physically. From what she knew of him, the American was one of those rugged outdoors types who liked to conduct his geological surveys in some of the most challenging terrains and conditions on Earth. As for the four other scientists on this mission, they were all American, making Julie the only non-American on board. In fact, she was only the second non-American to fly to the Moon to date, the first having been a French biochemist a year ago. Thankfully her English was quite good, something that had facilitated greatly her space training with the American Military Space Command.
The giant transporter aircraft soon lifted off from the long runway with surprising ease considering its size and mass. As it started climbing towards the stratosphere, Shirley Slade unbuckled her seat belt and got up to face the other members of her mission, flashing a smile to them.
“The TITAN will take about one hour to align itself with the pre-calculated launch point, so you have that much time to go in the nose observation deck and admire the view from there. Since the scientists in our group are due to stay on the Moon for a full year, this may be one of the last good looks you will have of the Earth until your return, so use the chance now. You may now undo your seat belts.”
As the others got out of their seats and went towards the nose observation deck, Julie went instead to Shirley and timidly asked her a question.
“Uh, Colonel, how much of our trip to the Moon will be spent in zero gravity?”
“Well, once the LEXINGTON will have boosted itself in low Earth orbit, we will be in zero G for maybe three hours while we join up and hook up to the automated third stage waiting for us in orbit. After a short boost phase to launch ourselves towards the Moon, we will then be again in zero G conditions for the three days needed to get to the Moon. After that, we will fire our engines again to slow down and insert the LEXINGTON into low Moon orbit, following which we will finally land at Moon Base Alpha. Thus, you can expect roughly three and a half days in zero G conditions until we land on the Moon and fall in one sixth gravity conditions. Are you nervous about your reactions to zero gravity, Julie?”
“A bit, Colonel.”
Shirley smiled gently at the French agronomist. While a definite genius when it came to agronomy and plants and also a brave and resolute woman, Julie was one of those very shy persons who simply could not hurt a fly or impose their will on others. Her gentleness and sweetness had made her an instant friend with everybody and also made the male crewmembers very protective towards her.
“You will do fine, Julie, as you did during your training. And please call me Shirley during our mission: I may be your commander but consider me also as a friend.”
“Thank you…Shirley.”
“You’re welcome. You really should go have a look in the observation deck: the view from there is quite fantastic.”
“And from orbit, how is it?”
That drew a grin on Shirley’s face.
“Even more fantastic. Being in space is the ultimate trip, truly.”
“Then I will go to the observation deck. Thank you for your time.”
Shirley watched thoughtfully Julie walk away. While at most a fair-looking woman, Julie’s sweetness was bound to attract one or more male member of the crew towards her during her one-year stay on the Moon. That they would be the only two women in a crew of sixteen persons at Moon Base Alpha would probably exacerbate that point. Unfortunately, the American public and government were still about as prudish as twenty years ago and sexual relations in space was still a taboo subject in the United States. However, with a planned Mars trip to be done around the end of this decade, with a total mission time of well over a year in space, the subject would have eventually to be looked at seriously and realistically. While having a single gender crew would be one way to avoid the sex issue altogether, the past two years of experience gained in maintaining a permanent human presence on the Moon had demonstrated that an all-male crew could and did easily develop interpersonal conflicts, especially since a strong character was one criteria for astronaut selection. As one psychologist had rightly pointed out, locking up two or three strong-willed men in a cramped space with little or no intimacy for months aboard a spaceship or space station was a sure recipe for murder in the long run. Shirley knew that the question would not even be a problem if Ingrid Dows had her say in it but, unfortunately, the politicians still had the last word about this. Shirley sighed before going towards the cockpit: as a single woman in her early forties she was definitely starting to feel the need for a steady companion to replace the collection of short dates she had lived with for the last twenty years.
Fifty minutes later, Shirley called together her crew and passengers in the passenger cabin and looked at them soberly.
“We are now going to get back into the LEXINGTON for our boost into low Earth orbit. I want all of you to don your spacesuits and then strap yourselves in tightly, as the ride will be a bit rough. You will seal your suits on my command, just before our space plane is released by the TITAN, and will open your visors only after I give permission to. One minor mishap could be enough to cause a sudden and catastrophic depressurization of the cabin, in which case I may become too busy to even pass the order to close your visors. Do you have any questions at this point?”
Julie Lecomte rose one hand then, looking a bit pale.
“How strong will the acceleration be during the boost phase, Shirley?”
“It will be around two Gs at first but will quickly go up to a maximum of about five Gs. You shouldn’t worry, Julie: you easily supported up to seven Gs during training, like the rest of us.”
While looking reassured then, Julie didn’t say that she wasn’t worried about herself. She was however unwilling to divulge her secret until they had boosted out of Earth orbit and couldn’t abort the mission anymore. She followed the others down to the upper airlock hatch of the space plane and climbed down the ladder, entering the airlock and then the passenger module. Two of the professional astronauts of the crew, Major Edward White and Navy Lieutenant John Lousma, helped the six scientists put in turn their bulky spacesuits, checking them to make sure that their suits were fully operational. Julie took the time she was waiting to have her turn entering her spacesuit to go discreetly forage inside her kit bag at the back of the module for a couple of minutes, then returned in the line with as innocent an expression as she could show. Half an hour later, everybody was strapped in their respective seats, the six scientists inside the passenger module and the four astronauts in the cockpit section of the space plane. By then they were a mere twelve minutes from their planned release point. Julie couldn’t help being quite nervous by now. The knowledge that she was under the care of a veteran space crew with a number of Moon trips under its belt did a lot to reassure her, though. Still, she started reviewing in her mind the various safety procedures in case of emergencies. The voice of Shirley Slade over the intercom and in the headset of her spacesuit took her out of her thoughts some time later.
“One minute before release… Make sure that your safety harnesses are secured and tight! Close your spacesuit visors.”
Julie’s heart accelerated as she checked quickly her harness and sealed her spacesuit. Sweat also broke on her forehead despite the ventilation inside the helmet section of her spacesuit. She was looking at the television screen hooked on a vibration-absorbing mount in the upper forward corner of the module, watching the view retransmitted by the nose camera of their space plane, when Shirley’s voice came back.
“Release in three, two, one, NOW!”
Julie screamed with fright when the space plane dropped down like a stone for a couple of seconds, feeling as if she was in a giant roller coaster. A mighty roar then erupted behind her and she was pushed hard in her seat by a strong acceleration. With her breathing accelerating as well, she glanced at Edward Stokes, sitting to her right, and was stunned to see him grin like an idiot.
“How could you find this fun?” She asked haltingly, her chest heavy from the acceleration. The American field geologist looked at her, still grinning.
“Don’t you love this? It’s the best roller coaster ride I ever had! My kids would adore this!”
Before Julie could reply to that, their space plane suddenly pulled its nose up sharply, accelerating still at a steadily increasing rate. Julie now felt as if she was sitting on her back, with a man standing on her chest for good measure. The noise was ear-splitting as well.
“God, may Kiki come safely through this!” She whispered to herself. The television screen now showed the black of space above them, with stars dotting the sky. The noise level suddenly increased a couple of minutes later, along with the acceleration. Julie understood as she breathed short, quick breaths, that the rocket engines of their space plane had just taken over from the ramjet engines, nearly doubling their acceleration. The nose of the space plane lowered somewhat shortly afterwards as the rocket engines still burned fiercely. Then, a mere seven minutes after release from their transporter plane, the rocket engines shut down abruptly and the acceleration that had been shoving Julie hard in her seat disappeared. The voice of Shirley Slade then came again on the intercom.
“We are now in low Earth orbit. I will be firing the maneuver engines at intervals in order to achieve rendezvous with our automated booster stage, so keep your safety harnesses on for the moment. You may however open your visors and cheer as much as you like: you are now certified space travelers.”
Julie cheered along with the others for long seconds, feeling literally on top of the World : she was now officially the second French citizen to fly into space. Then she remembered the plight of Kiki and sobered up, feeling guilty and selfish for bringing it along on this dangerous trip.
While the other passengers generally enjoyed themselves in the next hours needed to rendezvous with their booster stage, Julie kept a rather downcast attitude, unable to think about anything else but Kiki. This finally attracted a worried question from Edward Stokes.
“Is something wrong, Julie?”
“No, not really. Thank you for asking though, Ed.”
Realizing that her long face would give her away too early, Julie then made an effort to cheer up in front of the others. She was helped in this by the beauty of Earth’s orb, visible on the image from the nose camera. A bit over two hours after achieving orbit, their space plane slowly approached and overcame what looked like another space plane. The LEXINGTON then started performing a 180 degree rotation around its pitch axis as Shirley Slade spoke in the intercom.
“Lady and gentlemen, we are now pivoting around to be able to dock with the nose port of the automated booster stage that will push us into lunar transfer orbit. Once we are docked, we will have a short wait of forty minutes, time for our two combined vessels to get to the pre-calculated engine ignition point. Following a short engine burn time, we will then be coasting on our way to the Moon, at which time you will be free to leave your seats and get out of your spacesuits.”
A concert of satisfied exclamations and comments greeted that announcement, as being sealed inside a spacesuit, however comfortable it could be, was not exactly a fun experience. For one thing, you could not scratch yourself or wipe away sweat on your forehead while in a spacesuit. Feeling her throat dry, Julie opened her mouth and turned slightly her head inside the fixed transparent dome of her semi-rigid spacesuit, closing her lips on the tip of her suit’s water sucking tube and drinking a good quart from it. The fresh water made her feel much better and she watched with fascination the forward television screen, where they could see the docking port of the automated booster stage as it became closer and closer. The LEXINGTON finally connected smoothly with the automated ship, attracting more cheers from the passengers for their pilot. After another 38 minutes, the rocket engines of the automated ship came to life for a full six minutes, pushing itself and the LEXINGTON into a trajectory for the Moon. Soon after the rocket engines shut down, Shirley Slade’s voice came over the intercom, her tone mellow.
“Lady and gentlemen, this is your captain speaking. We are now on our way to the Moon at the lazy speed of 6.82 miles per second, or 10.91 kilometers per second for our French comrade. The outside temperature is a balmy minus 271 degrees Fahrenheit and the winds are dead calm. You may now undo your seat belts and leave your spacesuits. Our stewardess will soon bring you some nice military rations nuked in a microwave oven for you to barf on. Me and the crew wish you a pleasant flight to the Moon.”
Julie, having waited for hours for just that moment, was the first to leave her seat and go to the forward part of the module, where she braced her spacesuit against the special restraints along the walls and opened the dorsal access hatch. Sticking her head and arms out through the opened back of the suit, Julie disconnected her headset and body garment connectors, then grabbed the overhead bar and pulled herself out of her suit. She was careful to power down her suit systems before closing its hatch and anchoring the suit to the rack with the straps provided for that purpose. She then withdrew towards the rear of the module, leaving the space free for others to take off their suits. Grabbing her personal kit bag from its stowage bin, she floated with it to the aft toilet compartment and went in, locking the door behind her. Edward Stokes, having watched her do her things, smiled to Michael Farmer, the junior geologist of the mission.
“Hell, Julie seemed in quite a hurry to get out of her suit.”
“Maybe she was anxious to go to the toilet. The way she grabbed her kit bag, she probably had to go change her female pad in a jiffy. That could be a messy thing in zero gravity.”
“Yechh!” Replied Stokes, making a face. “It sure could be!”
A few minutes later, as Stokes was leaving his own spacesuit, he saw Julie pass by him, floating on her way towards the cockpit and with her kit bag still in her hands.
“Everything’s alright, Julie?”
She gave him a contrite smile and answered in a sheepish voice.
“I will be able to tell you in a minute, Ed. I have to go see Colonel Slade first.”
Stokes gave her a questioning look, then eyed George Winslow, the mission’s surgeon and biochemist.
“Are French women always this mysterious, Doc?”
“Only when they want to, which is most of the time.” Answered philosophically the tall, thin doctor. They chuckled together at that joke and were about to move to the back of the module when a horrified shriek came from the cockpit, making them and the others hurry in disorder towards it. They nearly bounced on Shirley Slade in the main airlock. The mission commander took a deep breath and spoke gravely to them.
“Gentlemen, we have a stowaway on board!”
18:17 (Florida Time)
Space Mission Control, Cape Canaveral
Florida
Ingrid, now satisfied that the LEXINGTON and its crew was safely on its way to the Moon, was about to leave the main mission control room to go have supper when a military technician called her from his station.
“General, Colonel Slade wishes to speak to you on the secure channel.”
“On the secure channel? Did she say what it was about, Sergeant?”
“No, maam!”
“Alright, I’m coming!”
Walking quickly to the communications station while wondering what this was all about, Ingrid put on the headset offered to her and looked at the television screen where the head and upper torso of Shirley Slade was visible. Julie Lecomte, the mission’s agronomist, was also partially visible on the screen, looking deadly worried.
“We are on secure mode, Shirley. What is the problem?”
“A stowaway, General! Miss Lecomte brought a pet with her aboard the LEXINGTON.”
“A PET?” Nearly shouted Ingrid, having expected about everything but that. “What kind of pet?”
In response, Shirley held up her left hand, presenting to the camera a small cage in which a tiny hamster held on to one of many fabric surfaces fixed between the ceiling and the floor. The surfaces were formed in a pattern that ensured that one strip of fabric was always close enough for the animal to grab, even in zero gravity. The hamster itself was truly tiny, measuring barely more than three centimeters in length, and wore a sort of miniature jacket on which was sewn on its back a tiny French flag. It also wore a miniature diaper.
“A Siberian miniature hamster! We have a Communist pet aboard the LEXINGTON, General!” Said with false indignation Shirley. Ingrid, like a nearby female technician, couldn’t help grin with amusement at the sight of the animal.
“Ooh, he’s so cute! What is its name?”
Julie Lecomte took on her to answer that, approaching her head to the camera and speaking in a sheepish voice.
“Its name is Kiki, General. I…I know that what I did is illegal but I just couldn’t leave it behind. I love Kiki more than anything else and it is such a nice companion. It eats and drinks next to nothing, is very clean and doesn’t smell. I promise you that Kiki won’t be a problem at all on this mission, General.”
Before responding to that, Ingrid urgently signaled the military doctor present in the control room to join her, then spoke in whispers with him.
“Do you foresee any contamination or health problem from that hamster, Doctor?”
“Uh, I really should check in detail first, as I am no expert on hamsters, but I don’t see any at first glance, General.”
“Then, I am of the opinion to leave it be for the moment. If you find something alarming later on, we can still deal with the problem then.”
“I’m going to check on this right away, General.” Assured the doctor before leaving at a near run. Ingrid looked back at the television camera perched on top of the communications station and its viewing screen and smiled to Julie Lecomte.
“Miss Lecomte, you may keep your pet for the moment. Please understand however that if any danger of disease or contamination is found later to be connected to it, it will then have to be destroyed.”
“I assure you that you will find none, General: I checked extensively on this myself. Thank you so much for letting Kiki stay with me.”
“We Americans are no heartless barbarians, Miss Lecomte: we do not execute hamsters, even when they come from Siberia.” Said Ingrid as a joke before looking at Shirley. “Keep me posted if anything else unusual happens, Shirley.”
“Will do, General! LEXINGTON, out!”
As the line was cut, Ingrid shook her head in amusement and looked at the female technician who had grinned with her at the sight of the hamster.
“Decidedly, space business is full of surprise, Corporal.”
“Could we bet that there will be a rush on miniature hamsters in pet stores once this becomes known, General?”
“Hell, you’re probably right!” Replied Ingrid, smiling. It didn’t take long for the female technician’s prediction to come through, once the major television networks got hold of that piece of news a few days later. In France, Kiki the hamster was quickly baptized with humor by the local press as ‘the third French citizen’ on its way to the Moon.
21:50 (Universal Time)
Monday, August 12, 1963 ‘C’
Moon Base Alpha, Mare Nectaris
The Moon
The smooth landing of the LEXINGTON on the wide landing pad of Moon Base Alpha was followed by a concert of wild cheers from its passengers. Already wearing their spacesuits, the ten crewmembers and passengers of the space plane then got moving at once, grabbing their personal kit and lining up at the main airlock. Shirley Slade was part of the first group to go down on the elevator platform integrated in the floor of the airlock and was greeted on the ground by the current base commander, Lieutenant Colonel John Glenn, and by Major Virgil ‘Gus’ Grissom. They exchanged salutes as best their spacesuits let them, followed by handshakes.
“Welcome to the Moon, Shirley!” Said via radio John Glenn. “You should find your time here fascinating, even if a bit claustrophobic.”
“Claustrophobic?” Protested Shirley while sweeping an arm and pointing at the wide horseshoe formed by sixteen converted automated cargo ships and five buried modular units, all linked together by buried telescopic circulation tubes. “Hell, I already feel like the mayor of a small village.”
“Mare Nectaris, population: sixteen.” Said jokingly Grissom. “It costs a hell of a fortune to deliver mail to it, though.”
“The population will grow soon, by the way.” Replied Shirley. “In view of the extent of the facilities available on this base, Ingrid has decided to augment the living-in scientific crew by six people. This will allow an acceleration of the Moon exploration and exploitation programs. One automated cargo ship with extra living accommodations will be sent in a month, prior to the arrival of those extra occupants. We will soon qualify for our own Zip postal code.”
“And how many pets in that number?” Asked John Glenn sarcastically while eyeing Julie Lecomte, who was part of the first group out of the space plane. Shirley signaled Julie to approach before facing back Glenn.
“Only one, John. Kiki was accepted solely because he is so small and has minimal needs. By the way, how are our farm animals these days?”
“Prospering quite well, thank you! The chickens are laying enough eggs to allow us to have each at least two fresh eggs per week. As for the rabbits, they are copulating like, well, rabbits.”
“Excellent! I love rabbit stew!”
“Me too! Some of my crew are however heartbroken every time we serve rabbit. I guess that they would not have made good farmers or ranchers. So, where is that infamous Kiki?”
“Right here, Colonel.” Answered Julie, pointing at her throat. Looking closely, Glenn and Grissom saw that a small transparent box with multiple small holes was suspended by a string from Julie’s neck. Inside the box was a tiny hamster that pointed its nose at them, returning their stares. Both astronauts smiled at that sight.
“I have to say that it is a cute animal, Miss Lecomte.” Said Glenn. “Does the American public know about it?”
“Not yet, Colonel. Shirley said that we will wait until Kiki is safely inside the Moon base and in its cage before introducing him to the medias. Thankfully, Kiki seems to have survived the trip from Earth quite well.”
“Thanks to lots of petting.” Added with a smile Shirley. “Kiki has quickly been adopted as our group mascot and had no lack of caregivers. He is getting positively spoiled.”
“Well, now that you are all here, you will be able to do some useful work to justify your transportation cost, ladies and gents.” Replied Glenn, becoming serious. “Major Grissom will now go inside the LEXINGTON and take over internal watch in the space plane. As soon as all of your crew has disembarked, I will lead you to your base quarters.”
Fourteen minutes later, the ten members from the LEXINGTON were all regrouped on the Moon surface at the step of the space plane, while Grissom was now inside the space plane. They were then guided by John Glenn towards what looked like a mound of dust off the edge of the metallic plate-surfaced landing pad. The LEXINGTON crew soon realized that the mound was in fact man-made, consisting of an A-frame structure covered with scooped Moon soil. Inside the structure were a few benches, a set of overhead electrical lights, a radio terminal and two waiting wheeled rover vehicles.
“This is the landing pad’s anti-radiation shelter.” Explained John Glenn as the group entered via one of the open ends of the structure. “It helps us avoid as much radiation exposure as possible while waiting for an incoming ship. If you will now please take place in the rovers. Shirley, you may drive the second rover brought by Gus.”
The rovers being rather small vehicles, the astronauts not sitting in the two seats of each rover had to stand in the cargo bed of the rovers and hang on to handrails. The electric vehicles rolled out of the shelter and headed at a speed of fifteen kilometers per hour towards the base proper, 300 meters away from the landing pad. The rovers used the wide taxiway leading from the landing pad to the entrance of the horseshoe formation of converted cargo ships, entering the mouth of the horseshoe and veering slightly to the right, heading towards a sort of small open-ended garage set between two converted cargo ships. Julie couldn’t help look around with wild eyes as they rolled through the base grounds: it was impossible to realize the true extent of this base’s facilities until you could see it by yourself. Each of the converted automated cargo ships was as big as a medium civilian airliner and serving a specific function. Buried communications tubes linked the converted ships together and also connected them to five pressurized modules buried in the center of the horseshoe formation. A collection of storage tanks, shelters, solar cells arrays and communications and sensors masts completed the base setup, while lit windows, banks of external lights and landing light beacons illuminated the pitch dark of the Moon’s night period. The sheer sum of technological achievement and industrial power this represented awed Julie as she had never been before. As they were rolling close to the center of the hub, she was able to eye in detail a transparent dome covering four inflated transparent modules connected to a central, metallic module. Four communications tubes emerging from the ground were attached to the central module. Julie recognized this from her briefings in Vandenberg as being the central hub and crew lounge complex of the base. She could in fact see three persons sitting inside one of the transparent modules and watching her and her companions pass by. Julie was still gawking around her when the rovers stopped inside the open garage, where two more rovers were parked. Grabbing her kit bag and stepping out of the rover like the others, she followed John Glenn to the external hatch of an airlock on the underside pod of the nearest converted ship. They had to squeeze in, the airlock being barely large enough for the eleven of them, for the time it took to pressurize the airlock. John Glenn opened an inner hatch and invited them through, passing first into a 2.4 meter-diameter plastic tube that had a rubberized carpet rolled out over its floor. The tube went down at a rather steep angle at first, then became horizontal for maybe twenty meters before going up to connect to another airlock chamber. John Glenn made a point of closing the hatch while looking at the newcomers.
“First rule of this base, and possibly the most important one: never leave an airtight hatch open behind you. If you leave one open through negligence or inattention, a meteorite strike on one converted ship could depressurize more than one ship and cost us a number of lives. Remember: no matter how much in a hurry you are, always close and lock the hatch behind you.”
“Uh, how often could those meteorite strikes happen, Colonel?” Asked Steven Millikan, the mission’s biologist.
“In theory, maybe once per few thousand years on any area of the Moon. In practice, one such strike will be enough to qualify as a disaster for us.”
“I see.