Going to Mars! Ep2

 Going to Mars!

By James Ray the Phantom Texter

January 2026

Episode 2

Present day

Sunday, October 17, 2032 six days before launch

Now this I can tell myself. Hank, this is a beautiful day. I guess I can say a calm before the hustle and bustle. The morning commute to work. The day me and the crew leave the ground of Earth. To get ready to touch the ground of Mars. Looking at my fellow crew members, it makes me think, of course it’s a car pool! As the rest of the crew was finishing up their checks I just sat and reminisced on history. Currently I was reminded of the Saratoga’s robotic little brother. And to its credit it’s still working today. I think to date, it’s made six or so roundtrips. 

You see it’s a constant thrust engine or

Brachistochrone trajectory craft. For you science types. Never taking your foot off the gas and then flipping halfway into the trip tends to shorten your overall trip. Big Red’s little brother Edison, was making the trip in about 7 to 8 days to Mars. Then 7 to 8 days back, give or take. It left us with a much larger launch window. But with that kind of acceleration as long as you felt like spending the fuel, almost every window is your window. You have to pay the cost, to be the boss. Damn, if my head swells anymore my helmet will never fit!

It’s just that under constant acceleration of varying “G’s” we also didn’t have to worry about muscle atrophy. Starting off the first 1.5 days at 1g is a piece of cake. Then about 1.5 days at 2g’s. It’s decidedly uncomfortable but survivable. That is of course including the flip in the middle. Which with the engines off is weightless. Back down from 2G for 1.5 days to 1G for about 1.5 days. And then you’re in orbit. Easy peezy, lemon squeezy! Then four out of the six crew members take a nice Sunday drive down planet side for about a week. Of course that is the plan.

But the pièce de résistance is the breakthrough in high-efficiency heat transfer systems. With the water, some of which get used by us squishy things called humans. Some shared with the engine. After all what’s the sense in getting there if you’re a rotisserie chicken by the time you arrive.

The Edison was very productive in its cycle trips back and forth. It landed the first robotic prep equipment. They’ve reclaimed enough water ice from the surface to refine it into hydrogen, to refuel anyone who lands a shuttle, so they can get back up. There is even pre-positioned rations on site already. It may taste three steps below fast food but it’s better than the alternative. So really the only thing the landing crew needs is their own drinking water. You know what they say, when you go to Mexico, don’t drink the water. Yes, we know it’s safe. But why test your luck? This did cut our water needs down by a very large degree. It also gave our homegrown tourists some redundancy. And if you know NASA they’re all about redundancy. They have contingency plans, for the contingency plans, that cover the other contingency plans!

Big Red, carrying her five decks. Two of which are just for the engines and power plants. The other three for the humans. Even our own little gym section. A section called kitchen, but more like a breakfast nook that you would find in any office. But we we’ll definitely find out who’s stealing someone’s lunch from the refrigerator! Then I’ll have them walk the plank! 

There was idle chitchat between all of us as we finished our checks and loaded into the transfer bus to the launch gantry. And then the cumbersome trip up to the Dragon capsule. With the final loading into the very spacious sardine can. All of us have spent time at Earth’s space stations. Both ours and the Chinese. So we knew the routine. Just looking at my crew at this moment I couldn’t help but think. For a first crew we’re about as international as you can get. 

Me American, Colonel Hank “Phantom” Wilson. No one salutes. But everyone answers. And of course I’m from Texas. And you damn right I brought a cowboy hat! Don’t bother asking me when I’m ever going to get to wear it. But what kind of Texan would I be if I didn’t even pack it! Just thinking about my logic on that one makes me giggle. Yeah, I said it giggle.

 

One Brit, Lieutenant Colonel Sir Roland Hawthorne, but most never say the Sir, except his mother. And she calls him Roly. He seems to be a Texas equivalent at heart. Maybe that’s why we get along so well. I suspect he may even have a six shooter in a holster in his gear!

 

One Japanese, Dr. Yumi Nakamura. PhD in propulsion systems. She fixes the engines as the mission engineer. She even calls them all by first names when she's angry.

 

One from India. Dr. Priya Kaur, material sciences specialist. She’s going to give everything we’ve done and are doing, the thumbs up or down. Either way she’s going to make everything 1,000 times better by the time she’s done.

One from Africa, Dr. Chike Okonkwo. He's the mission doctor, and yes, he's heard all the Heart of Darkness jokes. He’s promised anyone a most uncomfortable hex if anyone calls him “Bones”. I think he’s joking… I hope he’s joking. I called him Bones as we loaded in the Dragon capsule! OMG, is he joking, why do I feel itchy? Okonkwo!, I see you back there! Not funny!

One crew member from our on-again, off-again, friends over in Russia, with Lieutenant Colonel Sasha Petrova. She’s the one who will babysits the two ColdFusion plants. But more importantly, the one who brought vodka and a harmonica. Which is funny because Sasha has the best jokes out of all of us. That woman even makes me blush.

What an odd sense of foreboding as I thought to the Mars side of the journey. The fact that we only have the one reentry shuttle. That’s kind of a sticking point for me. But all of our test equipment down on the prefab base shows that it’s already got the fuel to send it back up to Red. It was a consolidation that had to be taken. Red just didn’t have the room for a second one. But Edison was carrying a spare. Let’s just hope that whatever the reason we might need it, doesn’t negate the fact that Edison has it. Lieutenant Colonel Hawthorne my second-in-command wouldn’t be making the trip down planet side. Someone has to stay on the ship, to make sure no aliens hijack it. So he would get to trade jokes back and forth with Lt Col. Petrova. I already told him that what happens in space, stays in space. But if it happens on my watch. I’m going to smile and snitch to his wife! Ha!

So after the farewell parties. After the speeches. Not to mention after the hangovers. Because quite frankly no one wanting to do this mission was gonna do it without experiencing one last bender! Yes, we all believed in it, but none of us of are that naïve. So early on a Sunday morning, as some people were waking to get their coffee and start their day. Me and my crew were strapping down and checking circuits. Whereas all the other astronaut crews in the past, were in deep deliberation with Mission Control. We were in deep deliberation in a three-way, between Mission Control and our ship’s AI. Which was babysitting us from orbit. A ship’s AI computer we affectionately named Aries. Some people thought it was because of the Aries project. For that they would be wrong. We figured if we’re going to Mars, we’re gonna need a God of war to ensure we get there without a fight.

So in the due course of time all lights were green. Edison was in a stable orbit and would leave right after us to ensure that some kind of backup with supplies and spares was right behind us. The wives and girlfriends were seated in Mission Control. And from what I heard even the president was looking over his “I’m taking all the credit”, speech. Yes, and no doubt his “This is the other guys fault”, speech.

Quite frankly I didn’t understand all the hoopla. This was just a transfer up to Big Red in orbit. We’ve been getting off the surface of Earth for quite some time now. This was nothing more than the redeye flight up to Big Red. Where we would board and sign over from the maintenance crew. They would then use our Dragon capsule to return to earth. After about a week of checks the departure burn would commence. We would even be participating in weeklong classes broadcasting live over the Internet. Mom always wanted me to be a TV star. Then the trip would really start after that. But I guess you can’t slap a computer monitor on the back and say, go get’um. Not to mention it’s a little difficult to have a farewell party if the guests of honor are in orbit. The next party they have will be when we light out and burn for Mars. And I swear to my thrusters. If those parties look like more fun than the ones they gave us, I’m cursing somebody out! Just joking… not.

This is it. The final 20sec countdown begins. This sucks! We’re not even wearing diapers so I can’t even piss myself! Because as the countdown gets to the final 10sec and Aries echoes the count on the Dragon capsule’s speakers from his overwatch from Red in orbit. You realize at this point you can’t call in sick. This is it. 

We’re, Going to Mars!