big smile erupted on my face. I had a flash of Loreena, clapping her hands and smiling, showing nothing but joy and happiness for me. I guess I was lucky that most of my memories of her were good ones. Floating serenely in the silence, I unzipped the breast pocket on my fight suit and pulled out the small plastic folder. I flipped it open and gazed with fondness, and longing at her picture: My red-headed Amazon. She was 193 cm tall, almost 11 cm taller than me. She looked back at me, her soft green eyes peeking out from under her flowing red curly hair; the wild hair that she refused to tie up, falling down over her shoulders; over her one shoulder white dress; she was as radiant in the picture as she had been in person. That picture, taken on our wedding day, in the back of the limo, showed us very happy and very much in love. It was how we lived almost every day, almost. With the military assistance in getting us on the way to Mars, it was natural I would think of her at that moment. She had served most of her career as an Interdiction Specialist on the Restigouche class destroyer HMCS Terra Nova. Loreena spent her last year instructing future officers in Interdiction tactics at the Royal Military College of Canada. That she had been such a fearless and effective warrior, a truth supported by her nightmare screams; the way she died was beyond tragic - it was just stupid. That son-of-a-bitch just had to stop off for a cold one after work. I put that thought of my head, I needed to focus. I gave the picture a soft kiss, and then put it back in my pocket, over my heart.
The Smarties were still floating there. I ate the last of the red ones. It was now time to get back to the Lander and get strapped in for the final trajectory burn. Before the return to the Lander, however, upon being alerted by Flight Control, I went over to the Port portal (window) and watched the Trajectory Engines burn on the PDV. The distance between the PDV and the MTV had been widening over the eleven hours, but I could still see where it was. We weren’t close by ground standards, but we were close by space standards, though still a safe distance apart. Because of its stealth properties, I couldn’t actually see the PDV until the engines lit up. Being relatively close, it was a bit of ‘Shock & Awe’ to watch those nine Merlin engines ignite, and witness the space ship move off slowly at first; but very, very rapidly gain speed. In a few seconds it was gone from sight, and all I could see was the fading light from the engines. The Trajectory Engines burn for only five minutes, exactly. That gets the rocket up to supersonic speed. After that, the Trajectory Engines are jettisoned and it is Newtonian physics that gets the space ship where it’s going. All three Laws of Motion at play.
Presently, I was now in the final leg of the GTO and coming up on the rapidly approaching apogee. Because of the MTV’s higher overall mass, the MTV trajectory burn was from a bit higher orbit. I had been awake now over thirty hours, but the thought of sleep still wasn’t anywhere on my radar. With the PDV finally en route to Mars, I was strapped in my seat again and was impatiently waiting for the Mars Transit Vehicle to be on its way.
The size of the MTV had caused some comment. The Command Module itself had just over 30 feet by 12 feet of interior space (minus cupboards, equipment, and storage areas) for the occupants. It was designed for four people to spend over eight months inside that small area. For just one occupant on this journey, it was positively palatial by comparison to the Apollo 11 Command Module. However, as a proof of concept mission, there were a lot of concepts I had to prove. That was why they sent me in the full size Command Module.
The Support Module had caused a small stir. Most space designers (Roscosmos, ESA, Falcon, etc.) agreed it only needed to be about eighteen feet long; however, the Support Module on the MTV was forty feet long.
The Smarties were still floating there. I ate the last of the red ones. It was now time to get back to the Lander and get strapped in for the final trajectory burn. Before the return to the Lander, however, upon being alerted by Flight Control, I went over to the Port portal (window) and watched the Trajectory Engines burn on the PDV. The distance between the PDV and the MTV had been widening over the eleven hours, but I could still see where it was. We weren’t close by ground standards, but we were close by space standards, though still a safe distance apart. Because of its stealth properties, I couldn’t actually see the PDV until the engines lit up. Being relatively close, it was a bit of ‘Shock & Awe’ to watch those nine Merlin engines ignite, and witness the space ship move off slowly at first; but very, very rapidly gain speed. In a few seconds it was gone from sight, and all I could see was the fading light from the engines. The Trajectory Engines burn for only five minutes, exactly. That gets the rocket up to supersonic speed. After that, the Trajectory Engines are jettisoned and it is Newtonian physics that gets the space ship where it’s going. All three Laws of Motion at play.
Presently, I was now in the final leg of the GTO and coming up on the rapidly approaching apogee. Because of the MTV’s higher overall mass, the MTV trajectory burn was from a bit higher orbit. I had been awake now over thirty hours, but the thought of sleep still wasn’t anywhere on my radar. With the PDV finally en route to Mars, I was strapped in my seat again and was impatiently waiting for the Mars Transit Vehicle to be on its way.
The size of the MTV had caused some comment. The Command Module itself had just over 30 feet by 12 feet of interior space (minus cupboards, equipment, and storage areas) for the occupants. It was designed for four people to spend over eight months inside that small area. For just one occupant on this journey, it was positively palatial by comparison to the Apollo 11 Command Module. However, as a proof of concept mission, there were a lot of concepts I had to prove. That was why they sent me in the full size Command Module.
The Support Module had caused a small stir. Most space designers (Roscosmos, ESA, Falcon, etc.) agreed it only needed to be about eighteen feet long; however, the Support Module on the MTV was forty feet long.
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