Back to the Moon-ARC by Les Johnson, Travis S. Taylor Page A

billion dollars back in the seventies. And number three, to demonstrate NASA’s commitment to low-cost planetary exploration by finishing the mission with a total cost of under like three hundred million dollars or so, I forget the exact number. Oh, and that was including the launch vehicle and mission operations. Do you see anything exciting in that? Oh, and by the way, land in the desert so there will be no way that anything exciting will be found.”
    “This is good stuff, Paul. What else? What about the desert?” Gary asked. Caroline just shook her head at the both of them.
    “Well, they landed in the desert, right? What do kids want to find in space? What do old people want to find? What does everybody want to find? Aliens! Everybody wants to see aliens, dammit all to hell. Don’t lie and say you don’t.”
    “Uh, Paul,” Caroline muttered.
    “Let him finish, Caroline.”
    “So, nobody really believes we’d find aliens on Mars, but what about life? We might find life. At least water, which everybody wants to believe is the key to finding life. Any kid with a good pair of binoculars can look at Mars on a clear night and tell you where you should land your spaceship if you want to find water.” Paul looked around to see if they understood him. The businessman and the marketing major didn’t seem to get it. So he told them. “The polar ice cap. There is an ice cap on Mars. Oh, some of the planetary guys will tell you that it is all dry ice, but others will tell you that it can’t be all dry ice. Some of it must be water. The odds are at least better that we’d find water at the edge of the ice cap, where it meets the desert, rather than in the middle of the bone-dry desert! The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, the Phoenix , the Opportunity , all of them saw evidence of water. The MRO took pictures of what looked like lakes, the Opportunity took pictures of puddles of water, and the Phoenix actually had water drops form on it and the camera sent back images of the droplets running down the structure on the thing. But how many people in the general public know that? NASA’s PR people suck.”
    “You about done, Paul?” Gary smiled at him. “If you need me to, I can get Burt Rutan on the phone, and you and he can go off on NASA and how they screwed us out of going to space. It would be therapeutic for both of you.”
    “What?” Paul was surprised. “I thought you were on my side.”
    “Paul, I’m on the side of my company making a whole bunch of money,” Gary said, not really tongue-in-cheek. “And if it means we need to cheerlead for NASA for a while, then that is the side I’m on. I don’t really care if they have done what they should’ve done in the past. They are what they are, and they are the nation’s space agency. We are a space company. Therefore, all things space are good! Sis boom bah! Rah rah rah!” Gary waved his arms like he was wielding pom-poms.
    “So, what are we saying?” Paul asked.
    “Don’t be so slow, Captain.” Caroline smiled at him. “This is marketing, Paul. We have to market ourselves positively. Negative campaigns are never as successful as positive ones. All things space are positive. They must be. From now on.”
    “You understand us, Paul? I let you vent for a while. That’s good sometimes. But it must be done in private. Now, forget about all that and start studying the cool things, the unique things, the amazing things that NASA has done and is doing. They are sending four people to the Moon within a year from now. That is pretty damned amazing.”
    “I see,” Paul said, still not really seeing.
    “Make sure you do, Paul,” Caroline added. “Thinking about the cool things when you discuss NASA will change that expression on your face.”
    “You don’t get it yet, Paul,” Gary said. “Focus on the good NASA is doing overnight, and then you’ll see. Have a safe flight out. I’ll see the both of you tomorrow.”
       

Chapter 7
    Paul Gesling was