The European Space Agency’s base at Kourou in French Guyana had gone through some changes the past decade. The Mars mission had called for larger launch power for all agencies and two more sites for rockets had been added here. In addition, three launch pads for self propelled shuttles had been constructed. These shuttles trafficked routes between Earth, Moon and a multitude of different stations and working platforms orbiting the planet. The astronauts would dock with the Jupiter bound ship at one of these working stations.
The trio continued to move across the long concrete walk towards the small shuttle. A faint red light lay on the horizon. Dawn was coming. Time arrived. As they stepped into the white shuttle, they had to rest a while as they went in one by one. Instruments surrounded them in the equally white and padded interior. Some hundred diodes blinked in different colours. Munch entered first, being second in command. Technicians went in after making sure he was well secured in his unwieldy space suit. After him du Pont stepped into his seat, being the pilot. Starchild came last. She had her pre-designated place behind the two pilots in the front. She would have an empty seat beside her during launch. The cabin hatch closed with a small hiss as the interior pressurized. A few moments later, all systems where go inside the capsule.
The three astronauts walked through the morning mist. Some ten people or more followed them close behind. Close enough to be able to rush in an aid if support should be needed, after all, their suits were rather cumbersome. One of them could fall, and there was lot of equipment connected to them. Yet the technicians had to be far enough behind for the cameras to have a clear view of the hopefully soon historical triumvirate. Astronauts in focus, personnel out of focus, it would be classic pictures.
The last weeks had been hectic, for all the three of them, and for the personnel as well. The schedules had been filled with preparations, reorganisation, and more preparations and of course all the interviews. Then again, yet more preparations. Media had asked the ordinary questions. How did it feel to be headed on such a long journey? What would it be sharing space in such a small vessel. Had they had any fears about the mission? What did they think about the object? How did they feel about being taken off the Mars mission?
Answers had been fairly short and predictable. It was a very exciting moment for all of them going away on this historical mission. The small size of the group didn’t really matter, they were well prepared as a team. A lie, they had been, but the coming of the new partner had overthrown that status. They had no fears about the mission; no one had ever died in space. No reason to start now. And there was no real opinion about the object it self, that was the reason they were going in the first place. Jupiter was larger than Mars. No regrets. It wasn’t until a reporter asked what their mission was really about that some tension got into the room. There was no real answer to the question, neither officially nor unofficially. du Pont had tried some technical explanations that no one cared much about. Starchild had simply changed her position in the chair. Astronaut Munch had stepped in and saved the conversation with a small joke in his German accent.
“We are going out there in the name of mankind”, he said, ”to make sure they pay their parking fee. It is long over due. And we have also got some complaints about large volume on their stereo.” Radio astronomers had noticed that the signal overshadowed everything else in the cosmic area around Jupiter. This fact had been discussed in the news the resent days.
Laughter filled the room and the interview was proclaimed to be over. Officials stepped in and led the astronauts away, thanking the press for their time and patience. The truth was that there was no real objective to the mission, beyond the obvious, “go there and have a look”. Their ship would be fitted with every possible technical that anyone could come up with. But only time would to tell what the real object would come to be.
The trio continued to move across the long concrete walk towards the small shuttle. A faint red light lay on the horizon. Dawn was coming. Time arrived. As they stepped into the white shuttle, they had to rest a while as they went in one by one. Instruments surrounded them in the equally white and padded interior. Some hundred diodes blinked in different colours. Munch entered first, being second in command. Technicians went in after making sure he was well secured in his unwieldy space suit. After him du Pont stepped into his seat, being the pilot. Starchild came last. She had her pre-designated place behind the two pilots in the front. She would have an empty seat beside her during launch. The cabin hatch closed with a small hiss as the interior pressurized. A few moments later, all systems where go inside the capsule.
The three astronauts walked through the morning mist. Some ten people or more followed them close behind. Close enough to be able to rush in an aid if support should be needed, after all, their suits were rather cumbersome. One of them could fall, and there was lot of equipment connected to them. Yet the technicians had to be far enough behind for the cameras to have a clear view of the hopefully soon historical triumvirate. Astronauts in focus, personnel out of focus, it would be classic pictures.
The last weeks had been hectic, for all the three of them, and for the personnel as well. The schedules had been filled with preparations, reorganisation, and more preparations and of course all the interviews. Then again, yet more preparations. Media had asked the ordinary questions. How did it feel to be headed on such a long journey? What would it be sharing space in such a small vessel. Had they had any fears about the mission? What did they think about the object? How did they feel about being taken off the Mars mission?
Answers had been fairly short and predictable. It was a very exciting moment for all of them going away on this historical mission. The small size of the group didn’t really matter, they were well prepared as a team. A lie, they had been, but the coming of the new partner had overthrown that status. They had no fears about the mission; no one had ever died in space. No reason to start now. And there was no real opinion about the object it self, that was the reason they were going in the first place. Jupiter was larger than Mars. No regrets. It wasn’t until a reporter asked what their mission was really about that some tension got into the room. There was no real answer to the question, neither officially nor unofficially. du Pont had tried some technical explanations that no one cared much about. Starchild had simply changed her position in the chair. Astronaut Munch had stepped in and saved the conversation with a small joke in his German accent.
“We are going out there in the name of mankind”, he said, ”to make sure they pay their parking fee. It is long over due. And we have also got some complaints about large volume on their stereo.” Radio astronomers had noticed that the signal overshadowed everything else in the cosmic area around Jupiter. This fact had been discussed in the news the resent days.
Laughter filled the room and the interview was proclaimed to be over. Officials stepped in and led the astronauts away, thanking the press for their time and patience. The truth was that there was no real objective to the mission, beyond the obvious, “go there and have a look”. Their ship would be fitted with every possible technical that anyone could come up with. But only time would to tell what the real object would come to be.
***
The shuttle itself resembled a white cone with a rounded top. The design was classical and the combined emblems of ESA and NASA had been depicted on its side. The shape and white coloured ceramic plates gave it away as a thing that where meant to go into space. Ten years earlier it would have been mounted on top of a large rocket. But this model would fly for it self. It had four seats inside and was just about four meters tall from base to top. It would take off like a rocket, and land in the classical way with a splash in the ocean. It was still the most efficient way. Great progress had been made the recent years in the field of interplanetary propulsion, but inside Earths dense atmosphere, this was still the easiest and most economic way in terms of load to go about it.
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