“Hello, and thank you for joining us,” Cathy said to the camera.
“Today on CNN’s Mark Watney Report: Several EVAs over the past few
days… what do they mean? What progress has NASA made on a rescue
option? And how will this affect the Ares 4 preparations?
“Joining us today is Dr. Venkat Kapoor, Director of Mars Missions
for NASA. Dr. Kapoor, thank you for coming.”
“A pleasure to be here, Cathy,” Venkat said.
“Dr. Kapoor,” Cathy began, “Mark Watney is the most-watched man
in the solar system, wouldn’t you say?”
Venkat nodded. “Certainly the most watched by NASA. We have all
12 of our Martian satellites taking pictures whenever his site’s in view.
The European Space Agency has both of theirs doing the same.”
“All told, how often do you get these images?”
“Every few minutes. Sometimes there’s a gap, based on the satellite
orbits. But it’s enough that we can track all his EVA activities.”
“Tell us about these latest EVAs.”
“Well,” Venkat began, “It looks like he’s preparing Rover 2 for a long
trip. On Sol 65, he took the battery from the other rover and attached it
with a homemade sling. The next day, he detached 14 solar cells and
stacked them on the rover’s roof.”
“And then he took a little drive, didn’t he?” Cathy prompted.
“Yes he did. Sort of aimlessly for an hour, then back to the Hab. He
was probably testing it. Next time we saw him was two days later, when
he drove 4km away, then back. Another incremental test, we think. Then,
over the past couple of days, he’s been stocking it up with supplies.”
“Hmm,” Cathy said, “Most analysts think Mark’s only hope of rescue
is to get to the Ares 4 site. Do you think he’s come to the same
conclusion?”
“Probably,” Venkat said. “He doesn’t know we’re watching. From his
point of view, Ares 4 is his only hope.”
“Do you think he’s planning to go soon? He seems to be getting readyfor a trip.”
“I hope not,” Venkat said. “There’s nothing at the site other than the
MAV. None of the other presupplies. It would be a very long, very
dangerous trip, and he’d be leaving the safety of the Hab behind.”
“Why would he risk it?”
“Communication,” Venkat said. “Once he reaches the MAV, he could
contact us.”
“So that would be a good thing, wouldn’t it?”
“Communication would be a great thing. But traversing 3,200km to
Ares 4 is incredibly dangerous. We’d rather he stayed put. If we could
talk to him, we’d certainly tell him that.”
“He can’t stay put forever, right?” she asked. “Eventually he’ll need
to get to the MAV.”
“Not necessarily,” Venkat said. “JPL is experimenting with
modifications to the MDV so it can make a brief overland flight after
landing.”
“I’d heard that idea was rejected as being too dangerous,” Cathy said.
“Their first proposal was, yes. Since then, they’ve been working on
safer ways to do it.”
“With only three and a half years before Ares 4’s scheduled launch, is
there enough time to make and test modifications to the MDV?”
“I can’t answer that for sure. But remember, we made a lunar lander
from scratch in seven years.”
“Excellent point,” Cathy smiled. “So what are his odds right now?”
“No idea,” Venkat said. “But we’re going to do everything we can to
bring him home alive.”
“How’d I do today?” Venkat asked.
“Eeeh,” Annie said. “You shouldn’t say things like ‘Bring him home
alive.’ It reminds people he might die.”
“Think they’re going to forget that?”
“You asked my opinion. Don’t like it? Go fuck yourself.”
“You’re such a delicate flower, Annie. How’d you end up NASA’s
Communications Director?”“Beats the fuck out of me,” Annie said.
“Guys,” said Bruce Ng, Director of JPL. “I need to catch a flight back
to LA in three hours. Is Teddy coming or what?”
“Quit bitching, Bruce,” Annie said. “None of us want to be here.”
“So,” said Hermes Flight Director Mitch Henderson “Who are you,
again?”
“Um,” Mindy said, “I’m Mindy Park. I work in SatCon.”
“You a director or something?”
“No, I just work in SatCon. I’m a nobody.”
Venkat looked to Mitch “I put her in charge of tracking Watney. She
gets us the imagery.”
“Huh,” said Mitch. “Not the Director of SatCon?”
“Bob’s got more to deal with than just Mars. Mindy’s handling all the
Martian satellites, and keeps them pointed at Mark.”
“Why Mindy?” Mitch asked.
“She noticed he was alive in the first place.”
“She gets a promotion cause she was in the hot seat when the imagery
came through?”
“No,” Venkat frowned, “She gets a promotion cause she figured out
he was alive. Stop being a dick, Mitch. You’re making her feel bad.”
Mitch looked over to Mindy. “Sorry.”
Mindy looked at the table and managed to say “’k.”
Teddy entered the room. “Sorry I’m late. Let’s get started,” He took
his seat. “Venkat, what’s Watney’s status?”
“Alive and well,” Venkat said. “No change from my email earlier
today.”
“What about the RTG. Does the public know about that yet?” Teddy
asked.
Annie leaned forward. “So far, so good,” she said. “The images are
public, but we have no obligation to tell them our analysis. Nobody has
figured it out yet.”
“Why did he dig it up?”
“Heat, I think,” Venkat said. “He wants to make the rover do long
trips. It uses a lot of energy keeping warm. The RTG can heat up theinterior without soaking battery power. It’s a good idea, really.”
“How dangerous is it?” Teddy asked.
“As long as the container’s intact, no danger at all. Even if it cracks
open he'll be ok if the pellets inside don't break. But if the pellets break
too, he’s a dead man.”
“Let’s hope that doesn’t happen,” Teddy said. “JPL, how are the MDV
plans coming along?”
“We came up with a plan a long time ago,” Bruce said. “You rejected
it.”
“Bruce,” Teddy cautioned.
Bruce sighed. “The MDV wasn’t made for liftoff and lateral flight.
Packing more fuel in doesn’t help. We’d need a bigger engine and don’t
have time to invent one. So we need to lighten the MDV.
“We have an idea. The MDV can be its normal weight on primary
descent. If we made the heat shield and outer hull detachable, they could
ditch a lot of weight after landing at Ares 3, and have a lighter ship for
the traverse to Ares 4. We’re running the numbers now.”
“Keep me posted,” Teddy said. He turned to Mindy. “Miss Park.
Welcome to the big leagues.”
“Sir,” Mindy said.
“What’s the biggest gap in coverage we have on Watney right now?”
“Um,” Mindy said. “Once every 41 hours, we’ll have a 17 minute gap.
The orbits work out that way.”
“You had an immediate answer,” Teddy said. “Good.”
“Thank you, sir.”
“I want that gap down to four minutes,” Teddy said. “I’m giving you
total authority over satellite trajectories and orbital adjustments. Make it
happen.”
“Yes, sir,” Mindy said, with no idea how to do it.
Teddy looked to Mitch. “Mitch, your email said you had something
urgent?”
“Yeah,” Mitch said. “How long are we gonna’ keep this from the Ares
3 crew? They all think Watney’s dead. It’s a huge drain on morale.”
Teddy looked to Venkat.“Mitch,” Venkat said. “We discussed this-“
“No, you discussed it,” Mitch interrupted. “They think they lost a
crewmate. They’re devastated.”
“And when they find out they abandoned a crewmate?” Venkat asked,
“Will they feel better then?”
Mitch poked the table with his finger “They deserve to know. You
don’t think Commander Lewis can’t handle the truth?”
“It’s a matter of morale,” Venkat said. “They can concentrate on
getting home-“
“I make that call,” Mitch said. “I’m the one who decides what’s best
for the crew. And I say we bring them up to speed.”
After a few moments of silence, all eyes turned to Teddy.
He thought for a moment. “Sorry, Mitch, I’m with Venkat on this
one,” he said. “But as soon as we come up with a plan for rescue, we can
tell Hermes. There needs to be some hope or there’s no point in telling
them.”
“Bullshit,” Mitch grumbled, crossing his arms. “Total bullshit,”
“I know you’re upset,” Teddy said calmly, “We’ll make it right. Just
as soon as we have some idea how to save Watney.”
Teddy let a few seconds of calm pass before moving on.
“Ok, JPL’s on the rescue option,” he said with a nod toward Bruce.
“But it would be part of Ares 4. How does he stay alive till then?
Venkat?”
Venkat opened a folder and glanced at the paperwork inside. “I had
every team check and double-check the longevity of their systems. We’re
pretty sure the Hab can keep working for 4 years. Especially with a
human occupant fixing problems as they arise. But there’s no way around
the food issue. He’ll start starving in a year. We have to send him
supplies. Simple as that.”
“What about an Ares 4 presupply?” Said Teddy. “Land it at Ares 3
instead.”
“That’s what we’re thinking, yeah,” Venkat confirmed. “Problem is,
the original plan was to launch presupplies a year from now. They’re not
ready yet.“It takes 8 months to get a probe to Mars in the best of times. The
positions of Earth and Mars right now… it’s not the best of times. We
figure we can get there in 9 months. Presuming he’s rationing his food,
he’s got enough to last 350 more days. That means we need to build a
presupply in three months. JPL hasn’t even started yet.”
“That’ll be tight,” Bruce said. “Making a presupply is a 6 month
process. We’re set up to pipeline a bunch of them at once, not to make
one in a hurry.”
“Sorry, Bruce,” Teddy said. “I know we’re asking a lot, but you have
to find a way.”
“We’ll find a way,” Bruce said. “But the OT alone will be a
nightmare.”
“Get started. I’ll find you the money.”
“There’s also the booster,” Venkat said. “The only way to get a probe
to Mars with the planets in their current positions is to spend a butt-load
of fuel. We only have one booster capable of doing that. The Delta IX
that’s on the pad right now for the EagleEye 3 Saturn probe. We’ll have
to steal that. I talked to ULA, and they just can’t make another booster in
time.”
“The EagleEye 3 team will be pissed, but ok,” said Teddy. “We can
delay their mission if JPL gets the payload done in time.”
Bruce rubbed his eyes. “We’ll do our best.”
“He’ll starve to death if you don’t,” Teddy said.
Venkat sipped his coffee and frowned at his computer. A month ago it
would have been unthinkable to drink coffee at 9pm. Now it was
necessary fuel. Shift schedules, fund allocations, project juggling, out and
out looting of other projects… he’d never pulled so many stunts in his
life.
“NASA’s a large organization,” he typed. “It doesn’t deal with sudden
change well. The only reason we’re getting away with it is the desperate
circumstances. Everyone’s pulling together to save Mark Watney, with no
interdepartmental squabbling. I can’t tell you how rare that is. Even then,
this is going to cost tens of millions, maybe hundreds of millions ofdollars. The MDV modifications alone are an entire project that’s being
staffed up. Hopefully, the public interest will make your job easier. We
appreciate your continued support, Congressman, and hope you can sway
the Committee toward granting us the emergency funding we need.”
He was interrupted by a knock at his door. Looking up, he saw Mindy.
“Sorry to bother you,” Mindy said.
“No bother,” Venkat said. “I could use a break. What’s up?”
“He’s on the move,” she said.
Venkat slouched in his chair. “Any chance it’s a test drive?”
She shook her head. “He drove straight away from the Hab for almost
two hours, did a short EVA, then drove for another two. We think the
EVA was to change batteries.”
Venkat sighed heavily. “Maybe it’s just a longer test? An overnight
trip, kind of thing?”
“He’s 76km from the Hab,” Mindy said. “For an overnight test,
wouldn’t he stay within walking distance?”
“Yes he would,” Venkat said. “Damn it. We’ve had teams run every
conceivable scenario. There’s just no way he can make it to Ares 4 with
that set-up. We never saw him load up the Oxygenator or Water
Reclaimer. He can’t possibly have enough basics to live long enough.”
“I don’t think he’s going to Ares 4,” Mindy said. “If he is, he’s taking
a weird path.”
“Oh?” said Venkat.
“He went south-southwest. Schiaparelli Crater is southeast.”
“Ok, maybe there’s hope,” Venkat said. “What’s he doing right now?”
“Recharging. He’s got all the solar cells set up,” Mindy said. “Last
time he did that, it took 12 hours. I was going to sneak home for some
sleep if that’s ok.”
“Sure, sounds good. We’ll see what he does tomorrow. Maybe he’ll
go back to the Hab.”
“Maybe,” Mindy said, unconvinced.
“Welcome back,” Cathy said to the camera. “We’re chatting with
Marcus Washington, from the US Postal Service. So, Mr. Washington, Iunderstand the Ares 3 mission caused a Postal Service first. Can you
explain to our viewers?”
“Uh yeah,” said Marcus. “Everyone thought he was dead for over two
months. In that time, the Postal Service issued a run of commemorative
stamps honoring his memory. 20,000 were printed, and sent to post
offices around the country.”
“And then it turned out he was alive,” Cathy said.
“Yeah,” said Marcus. “We stopped the run immediately and recalled
the stamps, but thousands were already sold. The thing is, we don’t print
stamps of living people.”
“Has this ever happened before?” Cathy asked.
“No. Not once in the history of the Postal Service.”
“I bet they’re worth a pretty penny now.”
Marcus chuckled. “Maybe. But not too much. Like I said, thousands
were sold. They’ll be rare, but not super rare.”
Cathy chuckled then addressed the camera. “We’ve been speaking
with Marcus Washington of the United States Postal Service. If you’ve
got a Mark Watney commemorative stamp, you might want to hold on to
it. Thanks for dropping by, Mr. Washington.”
“Thanks for having me,” Marcus said.
“Our next guest is Dr. Irene Shields, Flight Psychologist for the Ares
missions. Dr. Shields, welcome to the program.”
“Thank you,” Irene said, adjusting her microphone clip.
“Do you know Mark Watney personally?”
“Of course,” Irene said. “I did monthly psych evaluations on each
member of the crew.”
“What can you tell us about him? His personality, his mindset?”
“Well,” Irene said, “He’s very intelligent. All of them are, of course.
But he’s particularly resourceful and a good problem-solver.”
“That may save his life,” Cathy interjected.
“It may indeed,” Irene agreed. “Also, he’s a good-natured man.
Usually cheerful, with a great sense of humor. He’s quick with a joke. In
the months leading up to launch, the crew was put through a grueling
training schedule. They all showed signs of stress and moodiness. Markwas no exception, but the way he showed it was to crack more jokes and
get everyone laughing.”
“He sounds like a great guy,” Cathy said.
“He really is,” Irene said. “He was chosen for the mission in part
because of his personality. An Ares crew has to spend 13 months
together. Social compatibility is key. Mark not only fits well in any social
group, he’s a catalyst to make the group work better. It was a terrible
blow to the crew when he ‘died.’”
“And they still think he’s dead, right? The Ares 3 crew?”
“Yes they do, unfortunately,” Irene confirmed. “The higher-ups
decided to keep it from them, at least for now. I’m sure it wasn’t an easy
decision.”
Cathy paused for a moment, then said. “All right. You know I have to
ask: What’s going through his head right now? How does a man like
Mark Watney respond to a situation like this? Stranded, alone, no idea
we’re trying to help?”
“There’s no way to be sure,” Irene said. “The biggest threat is giving
up hope. If he decides there’s no chance to survive, he’ll stop trying.”
“Then we’re ok for now, right?” Cathy said. “He seems to be working
hard. He’s prepping the rover for a long trip and testing it. He plans to be
there when Ares 4 lands.”
“That’s one interpretation, yes,” Irene said.
“Is there another?”
Irene carefully formed her answer before speaking. “When facing
death, people want to be heard. They don’t want to die alone. He might
just want the MAV radio so he can talk to another soul before he dies.
“If he’s lost hope, he won’t care about survival. His only concern will
be making it to the radio. After that, he’ll probably take an easier way out
than starvation. The medical supplies of an Ares mission have enough
morphine to be lethal.”
After several seconds of complete silence in the studio, Cathy turned
to the camera. “We’ll be right back.”
“Heya, Venk,” came Bruce’s voice from the speakerphone.“Bruce, Hi,” said Venkat. “Thanks for clearing up some time. I
wanted to talk about the presupply.”
“Sure thing. What’s on your mind?”
“Let’s say we soft-land it perfectly. How will Mark know it
happened? And how will he know where to look?”
“We’ve been thinking about that,” said Bruce. “We’ve got some
ideas.”
“I’m all ears,” Venkat said.
“We’ll be sending him a comm system anyway, right? We could have
it turn on after lading. It’ll broadcast on the rover and EVA suit
frequencies. It’ll have to be a strong signal, too.
“The rovers were only designed to communicate with the Hab and
each other; the signal origin was presumed to be within 20km. The
receivers just aren’t very sensitive. The EVA suits are even worse. But as
long as we have a strong signal we should be good.
“Once we land the presupply, we’ll get its exact location from
satellites, then broadcast that to Mark so he can go get it.”
“But he’s probably not listening,” said Venkat. “Why would he be?”
“We have a plan for that. We’re going to make a bunch of bright
green ribbons. Light enough to flutter around when dropped, even in
Mars’s atmosphere. Each ribbon will have ‘MARK: TURN ON YOUR
COMM’ printed on it. We’re working on a release mechanism now.
During the landing sequence, of course. Ideally, about 1000 meters above
the surface.”
“I like it,” Venkat said. “All he needs to do is notice one. And he’s
sure to check out a bright green ribbon if he sees one outside.”
“That’s what we’re thinking,” said Bruce.
“All right, good work. Keep me posted,” Venkat said.
“Venk,” said Bruce. “If he takes the ‘Watneymobile’ to Ares 4, this’ll
all be for nothing. I mean, we can land it at Ares 4 if that happens, but…”
“But he’ll be without a Hab. Yeah,” Venkat said. “One thing at a time.
Let me know when you come up with a release mechanism for those
ribbons.”
“Will do.”After terminating the call, he saw an email from Mindy Park arrive.
“Watney’s on the move again.”
“Still going in a straight line,” Mindy said, pointing to her monitor.
“I see,” Venkat said. “He’s sure as hell not going to Ares 4. Unless
he’s going around some natural obstacle.”
“There’s nothing for him to go around,” Mindy said. “It’s Acidalia
Planitia.”
“Are those the solar cells?” Venkat asked, pointing to the screen.
“Yeah,” Mindy said. “He did the usual 2 hour drive, EVA, 2 hour
drive. He’s 156km from the Hab now.”
They both peered at the screen.
“Wait…” Venkat said. “Wait, no way…”
“What?” Mindy asked.
Venkat grabbed a pad of Post-Its and a pen. “Give me his location,
and the location of the Hab.”
Mindy checked her screen. “He’s currently at… 28.9°N, 29.6°W.”
With a few keystrokes, she brought up another file. “The Hab’s at 31.2°N,
28.5°W. What do you see?”
Venkat finished taking down the numbers. “Come with me,” he said,
quickly walking out.
“Um,” Mindy stammered, following after. “Where are we going?”
She asked when she caught up.
“SatCon break room,” Venkat said. “You guys still have that map of
Mars on the wall?”
“Sure,” Mindy said. “But it’s just a poster from the gift shop. I’ve got
high quality digital maps on my computer-“
“Nope. I can’t draw on those,” he said. Then, rounding the corner to
the break room, he pointed to the Mars map on the wall. “I can draw on
that.”
The break room was empty save a computer technician sipping a cup
of coffee. The urgency of Venkat and Mindy’s entrance caught his
attention.
“Good, it has latitude and longitude lines,” Venkat said. Looking athis Post-It, then sliding his finger along the map, he drew an X. “That’s
the Hab,” he said.
“Hey,” the technician said. “Are you drawing on our poster?”
“I’ll buy you a new one,” Venkat said without looking back. Then, he
drew another X. “That’s his current location. Get me a ruler.”
Mindy looked left and right. Seeing no ruler, she grabbed the
technicians notebook.
“Hey!” The technician protested.
Using the notebook as a straight-edge, Venkat drew a line from the
Hab to Mark’s location and beyond. Then took a step back.
“Yup! That’s where he’s going!” Venkat said excitedly.
“Oh!” Mindy said.
The line passed through the exact center of a bright yellow dot printed
on the map.
“Pathfinder!” Mindy said. “He’s going to Pathfinder!”
“Yup!” Venkat said. “Now we’re getting somewhere. It’s like 800km
from him. He can get there and back with supplies on-hand.”
“And bring Pathfinder and Sojourner Rover back with him,” Mindy
added.
Venkat quickly pulled out his cell phone. “We lost contact with it in
1997. If he can get it online again, we can communicate. It might just
need the solar cells cleaned. Even if it’s got a bigger problem, he’s an
engineer!” Dialing, he added “Fixing shit is his job!”
Smiling for the first time in weeks, he held the phone to his ear and
awaited a response. “Bruce? It’s Venkat. Everything just changed.
Watney’s headed for Pathfinder. Yeah! I know, right!? Dig up everyone
who was on that project and get them to JPL now. I’ll catch the next
flight.”
Hanging up, he grinned at the map. “Mark, you sneaky, clever, son of
a bitch!”