First Steps (Founding of the Federation) (4 page)

The
group began to mutter. A few stared at him. "Right, now....”

A
man with a crew cut stood. "You’re kidding right?"

Mario
gave him a long look. "No, I'm afraid not. Now...” The man
shook his head. Mario sighed and looked at him. "Yes?" he
growled. He seriously didn't need a pissing match or to get bogged
down in the concept.

"It's
just, there is no way we can do that, redesign the entire Orion in
two weeks? It took years to get where we are!" the man said,
spreading his hands.

Mario
nodded. "Precisely why we are doing it in two weeks." He
stepped around the podium to better face them. "You've got
mountains of data, models, and tests to use. The initial design was
for the five point five, there should be data on it," he said
firmly. Several scientists nodded. "Most of you better consider
living here; you’re not going home much for the next couple
weeks." Several chuckled at that. "Seriously, not kidding.
Nick is putting in some government issue trailers behind this
building right now for us to crash in." The room quieted into
disbelief once more.

"And
yes, there is overtime," he smiled at the various expressions.
"But you all know the plan; we're going to do the impossible.
Most of the work is done, we just have to dig it up and apply it. The
vehicle is going to be launched with a lower stage, on an Uragan."
Several murmured at that. "So no need of a crew escape system,"
he finished and then smiled. "See? Weight saved right there. We
have one hour to go over the basic design. Then I have to split for
another meeting," Mario sighed.

"I've
been in the Constellation program from the beginning. The CEV..."
the man paused in expectation.

Mario
smiled. "Right, I know, Command Entry Vehicle I was watching the
program." He waved. "Not a problem to get the acronyms
sorted. Let’s move on. I've dug up the five point five Orion
data, the original spec sheets are in front of you. Now, we have to
modify the CEV for long term use on the Martian surface, plus entry
for the crew from the ground...." Mario used the grease board
behind him to start bullet pointing out the changes. After a few
minutes people began to participate. He could feel the air charge
with excited energy as they wrapped their minds around the idea of
really doing this.

...*...*...*...*...

"Although
three lander legs are the minimum required, it is better to have four
or even five," the engineer making the presentation said.

Mario
nodded for a moment then frowned. "Why five? I would think that
four would be enough," he said cautiously.

Nick
nodded. "Yeah, we can save a lot on weight." He'd stuck his
head in to check in on things.

The
engineer sighed. "Gentlemen, this is a case where more is really
better. If one leg fails, then with four we have a chance of
compensating. On a five legged vehicle it is much easier. On three?
You topple over." The engineer used his soda bottle and a pair
of pens to illustrate.

Nick
nodded. "Right, so compromise and go with four on the MAV's and
five on the habs?" Nick asked.

"The
MAV's are top heavy; their center of gravity is higher. We should go
the other way, but I can't see it."

The
engineer pulled up a cad drawing on the table top computer. The
computer was a new addition; Nick had managed to get it and a few
others out of Microsoft and Intel. They also had a couple rooms with
poor man super computers nearby crunching numbers and running
simulations. "The problem is weight and space on the MAV, if we
have five legs it means we have to redesign the tanks on this side.
That means either we have an odd shaped tank and loose fuel, or we
have to shoe horn it into somewhere else and move it around."

Another
engineer shook her head. "Not going to happen, we are already
building the first prototype in parallel to this design review, it
can't be done without the schedule slipping big time. Not to mention
everything else is where it is because it has to be there!" she
said and then waved in anxiety. "The only things we can
re-arrange are in the lower module. Not going to happen."

Mario
took a look and hummed. "She's right, it isn't possible. We
could shift a few things here and here, but they are minor." He
took the cad drawing and moved around system modules. He pulled out
the tank then cloned a leg and moved it over. He spun the design with
his hands, getting different views. Casey tapped the box at the top
and the view split so they could see it from multiple angles at once.

"Yeah,
see, they won’t fit," Mario replied. "So we're stuck
with four on the MAV. The hab is different you said?" he asked
turning to the engineer. The engineer's nodded.

"Anyway
to go with five?" Nick asked.

"Why?"
Mario asked mildly, too mildly.

"Now
don't go riding up on me and turn into super Mario." Nick raised
his hand. "In this case redundancy has its uses. You don't want
to topple over with people inside. If we get a breech they could
easily be killed."

Mario
grunted. "What is it designed for now?" he asked. He
watched as the engineers changed the design to the Hab.

"Four
legs, but we have a little space here and here. If we shift these
over this way..." They watched as the engineers pulled modules
over and created a void. “Now drop a leg in, and cut the others
legs down a little..." The cut the legs scale down a little.

"Why
cut them down?" Nick asked.

"More
legs mean less weight each has to support. So... We can do this,"
she said. The woman looked up and removed her hand to show the Hab
with five legs.

"Nice.
Any conflict with the ramps?"

She
looked the design over. "Maybe this one and this one if the legs
articulate to far over." She sketched in a zone.

"Can
we compensate somehow?" Mario asked.

“I
don't see how." She sat back looking frazzled. She ran a hand
through her unruly hair. "We fix one thing to mess something
else up!"

Mario
smiled. "Not so fast. What about a floating hinge? Or a flexing
hinge? Something that allows a little articulation at the joint to
move the bottom of the ramp a little?" he asked.

She
nodded. "Could work. Do the habs have to have wheels?" she
asked.

Mario
nodded. "Yes, we need to be able to move them together so we can
link them up."

She
nodded. "Why not add some motors and walk them?" another
engineer behind her asked.

Mario
shook his head firmly. "Not going to happen. Too much to add to
do that. Wheels are simple. Stick with simple. Works for me every
time." Mario didn't even look up. He was becoming infamous for
taking the straight simple path in engineering discussions. "Besides
once we hook the habs up, we can prop them up on blocks and pull the
wheels for other things." Mario added. The engineers started to
babble.

Casey
smiled. "I didn't think of that. Recycling... huh..."

Mario
chuckled as he looked up. "Folks hold it down." The room
quieted. "You are all thinking in terms of one shot or one use
application, I want you to step back from that. Look at the bigger
picture. We want to use this hardware a lot, and we want to recycle
some of it into other things once their primary job is done. The fuel
tanks?" He waved his hand to them. "Great for storage."
He waved to the rockets. "Rockets? We can make a lobber or
hopper, or reuse them in the SSTO," he said and then smiled.

"Or
strap it on the back of a rover for a race car," someone in the
back chuckled.

"You
saw that old movie? Plymouth?" Mario asked and then chuckled.
"So did I. That was cool," he smiled. "Think about it
folks. The wheels have to be big to support the hab, but once they
are off, we can use them on a construction vehicle..." he said
suggestively. The babble suddenly started again. He smiled. "I
want everyone to think about that. Get me a recycling idea in your
spare time. You all know my e-mail address." He waved. "I
have to go."

...*...*...*...*...

"Eight
wheels? Are you people totally nuts?" Mario slapped the papers
down then angrily flicked them onto the floor. Every time he thought
he had a handle on something someone somewhere had to muck it up.
He'd just gotten done with the MAV landing group and now this. One
look at their render was all he'd needed. They had recycled the rover
design from the Constellation program.

"What
moron came up with that idea? Do any of you geniuses know the whole
Kiss concept? There is a reason we have a saying about Murphy folks,
and every engineer should know it by heart." He glared at the
assembled team. Several looked down at their shoes.

"But,
we designed it for the moon," someone in the back replied.

"Now
here this! We are
not
going to the moon!" Mario slapped
the table. "And whatever possessed you to design the most
complex piece of shit I have ever seen? There are so many points of
failure it isn't funny! Each wheel has its own motor, its own tire,
brake system, suspension, and axle... bearings GAH!" He threw
his hands up in the air.

He
pointed to the back. “You get that guy from that Spike show on
the horn. I want him in on this. The guy from Extreme four by four.
He knows how to design a rig. Get him here and get him to show you
how it is done. KISS people KEEP IT SIMPLE STUPID! Four tires and a
spare! Keep it simple!" Mario stomped out before he really
started throwing a tantrum.

Wanda
met him down the hall. "Feel better?" she asked. He
growled. "Hey." She grabbed him by the waist. He stopped
and wrapped his arms around her. She rested her head on his shoulder.
"Easy big guy, just breathe." He let out a long suffering
sigh as people passed. He closed his eyes. "That bad huh?"
she finally asked. Mario had been going all out, alone time together
had evaporated. Hell, sleeping time had evaporated. He was catching
naps on a couch. It was thesis and test time all over again.

He
shook his head. "You have no idea. It is like herding cats.
Designing things with the most whiz bang gadgets that cost a mint and
break down all the time," he sighed.

"Yeah,
that sounds bad," she said quietly. He squeezed her again then
relaxed his hug. She smiled up at him. "Dinner tonight?"

He
nodded. "I don't know when I will be done, I have to deal with
this mess, and then throw another tantrum in the lander design team's
face."

She
smiled. "Well, I'll keep dinner warm." She gave him a
lurking smile she knew would perk him up. It did.

He
returned the smile, and then kissed her. "Go on, get back to
work. Go play with your rocks," he said gruffly. He patted her
backside as she walked off.

"That's
sexual harassment you know," she teased over her shoulder.

"Promises
promises," he returned with his own grin.

She
grinned. "Later dear."

...*...*...*...*...

"Mario
is going to blow a blood vessel at this rate! Heard his rant
yesterday?" Nick asked Luigi on the plane.

"Yeah,
I had to talk to him a little about it. I see his reasoning though;
it is like working with kids," Luigi sighed.

Nick
blinked at him. To hear a twenty year old talk about people twice his
age like that... it was an eye opening experience. "Hey now, we
got it to work before!" Nick grumped.

"Yeah,
for a mint. We don't have that kind of budget. If he can get us a
rover design that works, and costs less than a tenth of the cost of
the current planned version?" Luigi asked. Nick nodded sobered.
"That means we can send more." Luigi smiled. "More
bang for the buck."

Nick
chuckled. "I'll have to remember that one."

...*...*...*...*...

"The
first missions are going to need a flat place with a lot of features
nearby. I know Doctor Mackenzie is lobbying for the Shackleton
crater, and Bob, you're after an equator landing, but I was thinking
we land here."

Bob
looked at the chart. "Thirty degrees longitude by thirty degrees
latitude... there's nothing there... Oh I see, flat." Bob looked
at is and tried to see what his understudy was getting at. Luigi
hadn't broken in the constant political circus. If anything he'd
truly blossomed.

"Yes,
but look at this. If we map out the range of the rovers..."
Luigi picked up a clear piece of plastic with a yellow rim around it
and overlaid it, centering it over the landing zone. "You see?
We are within range of Olympus Mons, Valle Marines, plus this entire
section here. Most of these canyons look like water ways; we should
get a good cut of geological time there. Within the marines canyon we
should get an even better and deeper look at Martian history,"
Luigi explained.

"Ah,"
Bob said softly. He took a look at the map, rubbing his chin.

"It
is also in the north, so we have fewer problems with southern dust
storms, and we are not as exposed to solar radiation events as the
southern equator is," Luigi added looking at his boss.

"You’re
going to have trouble building a base there, no hills to dig into,"
Zubrin cautioned. Mario nodded.

"Yes,
but with a good trencher we can dig a trench, then widen and deepen
it as needed. We can take samples for the egg heads to drool over
too," he said. He grinned at Wanda who wrinkled her nose.

"The
lack of hills will make it much easier to land the craft. If we place
beacons out around the perimeter, we can form a landing zone to make
guidance of follow on vehicles much easier," Luigi finished.

"All
right, go with that for now. The steering committee will have to have
final approval though, but we need to get this programmed in a week,
the first launch is in five weeks," Zubrin said as he sat back
tiredly. "Damn, I can't believe we're really doing it this
fast." He shook his head. "I was never sure we could do it
in my life time," he admitted. Wanda chuckled.