Space Stations

Eric Kotani is a pen name used by an astrophysicist who has published seven science fiction novels, some with co-authors, e.g., John Maddox Roberts. He also edited an anthology of stories in tribute to Robert A. Heinlein. He served as the director of a satellite observatory at NASA for fifteen years, and previously headed the astrophysics laboratory at NASA Johnson Space Center during the Apollo and Skylab Missions. He is now co-investigator of the Kepler Mission to detect Earth-like planets. He has held professorship at several universities, including the University of Pennsylvania and the Catholic University of America. He has published over 200 scientific papers and edited thirteen books on astrophysics. He has received a number of awards for his work, including the NASA Medal for Exceptional Scientific Achievement and Isaac Asimov Memorial Award. An asteroid has been named Yojikondo in recognition of his contributions to astronomy. He holds a sixth degree black belt in judo and in aikido and has been teaching a class for the past few decades.

LANDING maneuvers—uh, correction!—docking maneuvers in three hundred seconds!” Jacques Boutillier, the pilot of Mars Trailblazer, announced somewhat flamboyantly. The crew tensed in anticipation. This was the last step before reaching the Martian surface. Actually, they were about to “land” on Phobos, the larger of the two satellites of Mars; it was a little over a dozen kilometers across, with an irregular shape typical of small objects in the solar system. The surface gravity of the Martian moon was so miniscule—less than a thousandth of the standard g-force on Earth but varying widely at different locations due to the nonspherical shape—that the “landing” was essentially matching the orbital velocity with the Martian moon and establishing contact on the surface smoothly.

Poul Eriksen, the captain of this manned expedition to Mars and an experienced U.S. Air Force Space Command test pilot, was looking closely over Boutillier's shoulder. He had an outstanding reputation among his fellow officers as the man who got the job done right, no matter what. He looked the part, too—the indomitable look of a Viking war chieftain, with an intelligent face.

Eriksen was doing his utmost to avoid the disaster that overcame the Consortium's Mars Expedition I, and to become the captain of the first successful manned mission to Mars, something practically every kid would dream about in growing up. He had no desire to be a dead hero, but, more importantly, this was his expedition and he had no intention of letting it fail. Since he had little information on what had gone wrong in the first manned mission, it meant close supervision of everything that went on, occasionally irritating his crew, all of whom were experienced space jockeys.

Boutillier was a veteran pilot, too, with the rank of Major in the U.S. Marine Corps, Space Division. At twenty-eight he was probably the youngest among the crew; he had been selected specifically for his skill and fast reflexes in landing flying ships of all sorts. His credentials included piloting the Navy's single stage to orbit ships several times. He also had a unique qualification—successful landing on a small Earth-crossing asteroid a few years earlier. He looked lean, his brown hair framing the clean-cut features of his determined face; there was hardly any suggestion of his one-eighth Cherokee ancestry there. He was from the Louisiana bayou country and it was not always easy to control his Cajun temper. But it was either maintain a tight grip on his disposition or be disqualified for the mission. He had kept his cool.