The ‘write stuff’ for Mars: Curiosity Base
2016-10-21
NASA is pioneering space—specifically, a journey to Mars. Last year, NASA@work challenged the creative writers at NASA to visualize a reality where we have truly become Earth Independent, starting with the first human missions to Mars.
Nearly 50 writers answered the call, and three fiction stories were chosen as the winners of that challenge.
Immerse yourself in their short stories about what might happen when humans first travel to the Red Planet. This post is the second of the three stories. See the first story here.
Interested in more about NASA@work? NASA@work is an agencywide, collaborative problem-solving platform that connects the collective knowledge of experts (like YOU) from all centers across NASA. Challenge owners post problems, and members of the NASA@work community participate by responding with their solutions to posted problems. Anyone can participate! Visit https://nasa.innocentive.com for more information.
If you haven’t already, be sure to read the fall Roundup, which features JSC’s distinct roles in the human space exploration roadmap to Mars.
Meet Chris Goetter, author of the second Write Stuff challenge short story.
Title: Operations Training Project Manager within the Human Health and Performance Directorate
Years at JSC: 17
In his own words: “I watch the NASA@work challenges for ways I can contribute, and The Write Stuff was right up my alley. First off, I love reading. A good book or story that captures my imagination is one of my favorite things. Even with fiction, I often find that I gain a greater understanding of a piece of technology or other concept through an engaging story. That is why I chose to write a story for this competition—to try to bring alive the technology and operations concepts outlined in NASA’s Mars Design Reference Architecture in a way that the reader not only loves the story, but also gains a greater understanding of the challenges we face on Mars. People who read my story may think it is right on, or they may think there is no way it would happen like that—but either way, they are thinking and imagining—which is my ultimate goal.”
Below is his Mars fiction story.
Curiosity Base
Intro
Life on Mars? There is now. 15 years after the Curiosity rover abruptly dropped offline, geologist Jacob Williams and crew have made the epic journey to Mars. But will Jacob’s obsession be their downfall? They say no plan survives first contact intact, and that couldn’t be truer than on Mars.
1.0
Jacob stood near the edge of the plateau lost in thought, as was the case most mornings lately. The horizon was obscured and hazy again. Another dust storm brewing. He tried to recall the board in the habitat. Who was in charge of dusting the arrays this week? He sincerely hoped it wasn’t him. The ‘automated’ dust removal system had proven largely ineffective, so now someone had to assist it every week. It was normally not a difficult job, but once a dust storm blew through, it became not only more challenging but more critical since the efficiency of the arrays dropped quickly once they were coated. He wished again that they could get the reactor back online soon. More bad weather would probably delay that too. A storm could put a wrinkle in his personal plans as well.
A brief burst of static in his ear threatened to bring him back to reality, but he remained deep in thought. What has it been, one year? One year to the day, he realized, since he had left Earth. Kind of a unique anniversary he mused. The first of its sort, and he shared it with not only his wife, but with four of his best friends. His brow furrowed a little while doing some quick mental math. That means in 183 days it would be their one year anniversary on Mars. If that wasn’t an excuse for a party, what was? Jacob was thankful the biohabitats were so exceedingly successful. One of the big commercial space providers had volunteered to launch, at their own expense, a series of inflatable modules to establish a network of greenhouses. And were they fruitful! Literally, he thought, as he chuckled at his own pun. The nearly automated farm actually produced more than they needed. So much that Jacob (a dedicated home brewer on Earth) had been able to put together a mini-brewery and process some of the leftover grain into a close approximation of beer. The crew had dubbed it Marsbrau and the name stuck. He looked at the big bold letters spelling out the company’s name on the outside of the nearest greenhouse and thought, now THAT is how you advertise.
He ignored another loud burst of static. Only one day left until the next expedition and Jacob was extremely excited. As the crew’s geologist, that was why he was here on this planet, not to dust arrays and maintain the equipment. He had certainly proven himself good at that though and had saved the day numerous times with quick repairs to the water purifier and the carbon dioxide scrubber. A natural tinkerer, he was able to use the manuals and procedures to not only repair the broken equipment, but also to work with the teams back on Earth to improve it in some cases. The comm delay was still annoying though, even after simulating it regularly during training. He often figured out the answer to his own question while waiting up to 44 minutes for a reply and the crew, in general, was much less reliant on mission control now than when they started the mission.
The next expedition! He had a good feeling about this one. He was getting close; he knew it. A VERY loud burst of static rattled his ear.
“Jacob!!”
“What!!”
“I’ve been trying to reach you for 15 minutes and was getting worried you’d wandered off.”
Jacob sighed audibly and said, “Not really an option here is it?”
“No, not really. You only have a half hour of suit consumables left, so you had better get back here.”
“Copy that.”
“And can you be a dear and dust the arrays on your way back? Looks like we are in for a storm”
2.0
Jacob was back through the airlock 25 minutes later and Emily greeted him with a warm cup of coffee once he sat down in the living quarters. He carefully took a sip and recalled his first drink on Mars and the subsequent five minutes it took to clean the stain from his shirt. At roughly 1/3 Earth’s gravity, it was possible to do most activities like he would at home, but it was easy to get carried away with what he called his super-strength. He had always wanted super powers and now he had them! Jacob smiled at the irony since on Earth he tended to steer clear of the weight machines but was an avid marathon runner. And he definitely didn’t have super speed once he suited up and went outside.
Emily loved to see Jacob happy and knew he was thinking about his ‘super-strength’. They had been lucky enough to be selected for this mission from a half dozen extremely qualified couples. The mission architecture NASA selected had surprised the entire astronaut corps. Not only were they going to send six people to Mars, they also wanted to establish a permanent presence. The way NASA figured it, two people would be required to maintain the outpost while crew rotations were made. The psychologists had determined that if two people were going to be left alone on a distant planet, a married couple would be the most successful. Now, here they were. Amazing. And lucky. When they had gotten married, the furthest thing from their minds was whether the combination of a prominent geologist and a leading robotics expert would make the cut for the first Mars mission.
“Great cup of coffee Emily!” Jacob said appreciatively.
“Least I could do since you dusted the arrays.” Emily replied.
Jacob looked at the job board and scowled at Emily in mock irritation when he saw her name next to ‘Array Dusting’.
“I won’t fall for that twice! Good luck after the storm blows through. I bet you have to recharge your suit twice before the arrays are back to 100%.”
“Not if the upgrades I made to the automatic dusting system pay off. I’ve been working with mission control for two weeks to improve the system and this will be the first big test. Keep your fingers crossed!”
“Definitely. I wish I could see it in action, but I think I’ll be long gone before the storm blows through. How does the radar look?”
“Seems to be a medium sized storm, but it is hard to tell. The Mars 2022 provided some imagery as well, but these storms are so hard to see. I think medium is about as good as I can figure. Until after it blows through; then I’ll know exactly.”
Jacob laughed at her joke. He was heading north towards Gale crater the next day and doubted the storm was going to impact his mission. The dust storms they had experienced so far were very mild, and nothing like the violent, blinding sandstorms on Earth.
Major Peter McDonnell joined them at the table and asked Emily, “How is the storm looking?”
“Medium,” she said.
Pete to his friends, and Major PITA to his enemies, Pete smiled at Emily and asked, “Is that what the Magic 8 Ball says this time?”
“It actually said ‘Ask Again Later’, but the 2022 says it is medium so I’m going to side with the satellite on this one,” Emily replied.
“Excellent. We are heading out at 07:00 tomorrow so get some beauty sleep,” Pete informed Jacob.
“And be ready to go on time!” Pete called over his shoulder as he entered his tiny personal sleeping area.
Pete could drive, fly, or sail anything and had been selected for the mission for those exact reasons. Even though most systems were automated, there were manual backup options and he was trained to operate them all. And he could do so in his sleep. In fact, before a big trip like he was taking tomorrow, that is probably all he would dream about.
3.0
07:00 always came too soon for Jacob. That was one thing that still bothered him even after six months on Martian time. He was a morning person on Earth, but for some reason his circadian rhythms had never adjusted on Mars despite the similar day length. He frequently suffered from insomnia and would never be anywhere on time without an alarm. Luckily, that potential issue was anticipated and his Flight Surgeon immediately sent him to one of the logistics depots for a medication to help him sleep. The depots were self-contained cargo containers that flew to Mars ahead of time and had deployed autonomously near their centrally located habitat. It was a quick trip to the depots then, and was even quicker now that they had dragged a majority of the supplies closer to the habitat.
Pete was already out running through the pre-mission checklist on the Big Dog. That was what they affectionately called the big rover they took on missions longer than two weeks. Little Dog was due back that morning from a quick overnight trip the three others had taken it on. Those short missions were more grab-and-go with the smaller, quicker rover. The operator would plot a course to some new sites, head there as quickly as possible, and the two crew on science detail would jump out and collect specimens to be analyzed back at the habitat. The name of the game was speed, so they would constantly compete on who could collect the most samples in the least amount of time. Back at base they could take their time and analyze the samples and then send out the Big Dog for some serious in situ analysis of the most promising sites. The only real negatives to the fast paced gathering missions were the long days and having to sleep in their seats, which rivaled economy class on airlines for lack of leg room and general discomfort. The food was leaps and bounds better though; that was one thing NASA didn’t skimp on. Plus they had food fresh from the farm.
Pete had heard from Little Dog when they checked in at 06:30. The team crewing that mission consisted of the other expedition pilot, Colonel Michael Summers, who was almost as good as Pete himself, and the other two specialists, Dr. Sarah Engelbright and Dr. Hannah Wilson. Sarah was the team’s physician, with extensive experience in wilderness and emergency medicine, and Hannah a pioneer in the field of evolutionary microbiology. Both also loved collecting rocks and were currently number one and two in sample collection.
They had just entered the safe zone, which was the only thing holding up Big Dog’s departure. Established to enhance efficiency, the safe zone was a circle that basically represented ‘walking distance’ just in case one of the rovers broke down and the other wasn’t there to come to the rescue. This allowed them to use both rovers at the same time as long as one of them was within 10 miles, which represented the longest distance they were comfortable walking in the suits plus a healthy margin for consumables. Given the official maximum rover speed of five mph, adopting that strategy saved two hours every time trips overlapped and had added an extra 100 hours of science already.
***
With Pete at the controls and Jacob riding shotgun, Big Dog rumbled over the terrain at max speed pushing seven mph. Previously, they had cleared approximately 10 miles of straight, graded paths from base in each of the cardinal directions. This allowed them to make it to the research zones much, much faster when compared to the maximum of one to two mph that they averaged when crossing irregular, rocky terrain. It also greatly reduced wear and tear on the rovers which broke down far less often now.
“A fine morning for a drive, isn’t it?” Pete asked semi-rhetorically.
“Yes indeed!” Jacob replied. Best morning ever, he thought.
“Now, how about you tell me why you swapped out the coordinates for our prime site in the navigation computer?” Pete asked lightly.
Jacob looked at Pete with panic in his eyes. Busted.
(To be continued….)
Nearly 50 writers answered the call, and three fiction stories were chosen as the winners of that challenge.
Immerse yourself in their short stories about what might happen when humans first travel to the Red Planet. This post is the second of the three stories. See the first story here.
Interested in more about NASA@work? NASA@work is an agencywide, collaborative problem-solving platform that connects the collective knowledge of experts (like YOU) from all centers across NASA. Challenge owners post problems, and members of the NASA@work community participate by responding with their solutions to posted problems. Anyone can participate! Visit https://nasa.innocentive.com for more information.
If you haven’t already, be sure to read the fall Roundup, which features JSC’s distinct roles in the human space exploration roadmap to Mars.
Meet Chris Goetter, author of the second Write Stuff challenge short story.
Title: Operations Training Project Manager within the Human Health and Performance Directorate
Years at JSC: 17
In his own words: “I watch the NASA@work challenges for ways I can contribute, and The Write Stuff was right up my alley. First off, I love reading. A good book or story that captures my imagination is one of my favorite things. Even with fiction, I often find that I gain a greater understanding of a piece of technology or other concept through an engaging story. That is why I chose to write a story for this competition—to try to bring alive the technology and operations concepts outlined in NASA’s Mars Design Reference Architecture in a way that the reader not only loves the story, but also gains a greater understanding of the challenges we face on Mars. People who read my story may think it is right on, or they may think there is no way it would happen like that—but either way, they are thinking and imagining—which is my ultimate goal.”
Below is his Mars fiction story.
Curiosity Base
Intro
Life on Mars? There is now. 15 years after the Curiosity rover abruptly dropped offline, geologist Jacob Williams and crew have made the epic journey to Mars. But will Jacob’s obsession be their downfall? They say no plan survives first contact intact, and that couldn’t be truer than on Mars.
1.0
Jacob stood near the edge of the plateau lost in thought, as was the case most mornings lately. The horizon was obscured and hazy again. Another dust storm brewing. He tried to recall the board in the habitat. Who was in charge of dusting the arrays this week? He sincerely hoped it wasn’t him. The ‘automated’ dust removal system had proven largely ineffective, so now someone had to assist it every week. It was normally not a difficult job, but once a dust storm blew through, it became not only more challenging but more critical since the efficiency of the arrays dropped quickly once they were coated. He wished again that they could get the reactor back online soon. More bad weather would probably delay that too. A storm could put a wrinkle in his personal plans as well.
A brief burst of static in his ear threatened to bring him back to reality, but he remained deep in thought. What has it been, one year? One year to the day, he realized, since he had left Earth. Kind of a unique anniversary he mused. The first of its sort, and he shared it with not only his wife, but with four of his best friends. His brow furrowed a little while doing some quick mental math. That means in 183 days it would be their one year anniversary on Mars. If that wasn’t an excuse for a party, what was? Jacob was thankful the biohabitats were so exceedingly successful. One of the big commercial space providers had volunteered to launch, at their own expense, a series of inflatable modules to establish a network of greenhouses. And were they fruitful! Literally, he thought, as he chuckled at his own pun. The nearly automated farm actually produced more than they needed. So much that Jacob (a dedicated home brewer on Earth) had been able to put together a mini-brewery and process some of the leftover grain into a close approximation of beer. The crew had dubbed it Marsbrau and the name stuck. He looked at the big bold letters spelling out the company’s name on the outside of the nearest greenhouse and thought, now THAT is how you advertise.
He ignored another loud burst of static. Only one day left until the next expedition and Jacob was extremely excited. As the crew’s geologist, that was why he was here on this planet, not to dust arrays and maintain the equipment. He had certainly proven himself good at that though and had saved the day numerous times with quick repairs to the water purifier and the carbon dioxide scrubber. A natural tinkerer, he was able to use the manuals and procedures to not only repair the broken equipment, but also to work with the teams back on Earth to improve it in some cases. The comm delay was still annoying though, even after simulating it regularly during training. He often figured out the answer to his own question while waiting up to 44 minutes for a reply and the crew, in general, was much less reliant on mission control now than when they started the mission.
The next expedition! He had a good feeling about this one. He was getting close; he knew it. A VERY loud burst of static rattled his ear.
“Jacob!!”
“What!!”
“I’ve been trying to reach you for 15 minutes and was getting worried you’d wandered off.”
Jacob sighed audibly and said, “Not really an option here is it?”
“No, not really. You only have a half hour of suit consumables left, so you had better get back here.”
“Copy that.”
“And can you be a dear and dust the arrays on your way back? Looks like we are in for a storm”
2.0
Jacob was back through the airlock 25 minutes later and Emily greeted him with a warm cup of coffee once he sat down in the living quarters. He carefully took a sip and recalled his first drink on Mars and the subsequent five minutes it took to clean the stain from his shirt. At roughly 1/3 Earth’s gravity, it was possible to do most activities like he would at home, but it was easy to get carried away with what he called his super-strength. He had always wanted super powers and now he had them! Jacob smiled at the irony since on Earth he tended to steer clear of the weight machines but was an avid marathon runner. And he definitely didn’t have super speed once he suited up and went outside.
Emily loved to see Jacob happy and knew he was thinking about his ‘super-strength’. They had been lucky enough to be selected for this mission from a half dozen extremely qualified couples. The mission architecture NASA selected had surprised the entire astronaut corps. Not only were they going to send six people to Mars, they also wanted to establish a permanent presence. The way NASA figured it, two people would be required to maintain the outpost while crew rotations were made. The psychologists had determined that if two people were going to be left alone on a distant planet, a married couple would be the most successful. Now, here they were. Amazing. And lucky. When they had gotten married, the furthest thing from their minds was whether the combination of a prominent geologist and a leading robotics expert would make the cut for the first Mars mission.
“Great cup of coffee Emily!” Jacob said appreciatively.
“Least I could do since you dusted the arrays.” Emily replied.
Jacob looked at the job board and scowled at Emily in mock irritation when he saw her name next to ‘Array Dusting’.
“I won’t fall for that twice! Good luck after the storm blows through. I bet you have to recharge your suit twice before the arrays are back to 100%.”
“Not if the upgrades I made to the automatic dusting system pay off. I’ve been working with mission control for two weeks to improve the system and this will be the first big test. Keep your fingers crossed!”
“Definitely. I wish I could see it in action, but I think I’ll be long gone before the storm blows through. How does the radar look?”
“Seems to be a medium sized storm, but it is hard to tell. The Mars 2022 provided some imagery as well, but these storms are so hard to see. I think medium is about as good as I can figure. Until after it blows through; then I’ll know exactly.”
Jacob laughed at her joke. He was heading north towards Gale crater the next day and doubted the storm was going to impact his mission. The dust storms they had experienced so far were very mild, and nothing like the violent, blinding sandstorms on Earth.
Major Peter McDonnell joined them at the table and asked Emily, “How is the storm looking?”
“Medium,” she said.
Pete to his friends, and Major PITA to his enemies, Pete smiled at Emily and asked, “Is that what the Magic 8 Ball says this time?”
“It actually said ‘Ask Again Later’, but the 2022 says it is medium so I’m going to side with the satellite on this one,” Emily replied.
“Excellent. We are heading out at 07:00 tomorrow so get some beauty sleep,” Pete informed Jacob.
“And be ready to go on time!” Pete called over his shoulder as he entered his tiny personal sleeping area.
Pete could drive, fly, or sail anything and had been selected for the mission for those exact reasons. Even though most systems were automated, there were manual backup options and he was trained to operate them all. And he could do so in his sleep. In fact, before a big trip like he was taking tomorrow, that is probably all he would dream about.
3.0
07:00 always came too soon for Jacob. That was one thing that still bothered him even after six months on Martian time. He was a morning person on Earth, but for some reason his circadian rhythms had never adjusted on Mars despite the similar day length. He frequently suffered from insomnia and would never be anywhere on time without an alarm. Luckily, that potential issue was anticipated and his Flight Surgeon immediately sent him to one of the logistics depots for a medication to help him sleep. The depots were self-contained cargo containers that flew to Mars ahead of time and had deployed autonomously near their centrally located habitat. It was a quick trip to the depots then, and was even quicker now that they had dragged a majority of the supplies closer to the habitat.
Pete was already out running through the pre-mission checklist on the Big Dog. That was what they affectionately called the big rover they took on missions longer than two weeks. Little Dog was due back that morning from a quick overnight trip the three others had taken it on. Those short missions were more grab-and-go with the smaller, quicker rover. The operator would plot a course to some new sites, head there as quickly as possible, and the two crew on science detail would jump out and collect specimens to be analyzed back at the habitat. The name of the game was speed, so they would constantly compete on who could collect the most samples in the least amount of time. Back at base they could take their time and analyze the samples and then send out the Big Dog for some serious in situ analysis of the most promising sites. The only real negatives to the fast paced gathering missions were the long days and having to sleep in their seats, which rivaled economy class on airlines for lack of leg room and general discomfort. The food was leaps and bounds better though; that was one thing NASA didn’t skimp on. Plus they had food fresh from the farm.
Pete had heard from Little Dog when they checked in at 06:30. The team crewing that mission consisted of the other expedition pilot, Colonel Michael Summers, who was almost as good as Pete himself, and the other two specialists, Dr. Sarah Engelbright and Dr. Hannah Wilson. Sarah was the team’s physician, with extensive experience in wilderness and emergency medicine, and Hannah a pioneer in the field of evolutionary microbiology. Both also loved collecting rocks and were currently number one and two in sample collection.
They had just entered the safe zone, which was the only thing holding up Big Dog’s departure. Established to enhance efficiency, the safe zone was a circle that basically represented ‘walking distance’ just in case one of the rovers broke down and the other wasn’t there to come to the rescue. This allowed them to use both rovers at the same time as long as one of them was within 10 miles, which represented the longest distance they were comfortable walking in the suits plus a healthy margin for consumables. Given the official maximum rover speed of five mph, adopting that strategy saved two hours every time trips overlapped and had added an extra 100 hours of science already.
***
With Pete at the controls and Jacob riding shotgun, Big Dog rumbled over the terrain at max speed pushing seven mph. Previously, they had cleared approximately 10 miles of straight, graded paths from base in each of the cardinal directions. This allowed them to make it to the research zones much, much faster when compared to the maximum of one to two mph that they averaged when crossing irregular, rocky terrain. It also greatly reduced wear and tear on the rovers which broke down far less often now.
“A fine morning for a drive, isn’t it?” Pete asked semi-rhetorically.
“Yes indeed!” Jacob replied. Best morning ever, he thought.
“Now, how about you tell me why you swapped out the coordinates for our prime site in the navigation computer?” Pete asked lightly.
Jacob looked at Pete with panic in his eyes. Busted.
(To be continued….)
Chris Goetter is an Operations Training Project Manager within the Human Health and Performance Directorate at Johnson Space Center. Image courtesy of Chris Goetter.