Brenda Munday Gifford

Mars is Magnificent

2008-05-26T23:44:32Z

Where to start and what to say. Once again man has reached out and landed on Mars. I can’t come close to finding the words to express the amazement I have for those at NASA and the Phoenix project in my home state of Arizona. I held my breath and crossed my fingers right along with the Phoenix team as it made it’s final descent. You can’t beat that drama on any reality show! If you haven’t seen the photo of the Phoenix coming in for a landing, here is the link. http://www.space.com/missionlaunches/080526-phoenix-mission-update.html It’s not just the millions of miles the Phoenix traveled. It’s partly the fact that it traveled that far and nothing collided with it, no micro-meteors, nor solar storms, pretty smooth sailing. Multiply that by the fact that all that metal and circuitry built by man, made it all those miles with no failures. Again amazing! Now we see first images of Mars’ “earth” that has the initial look of the earth at our polar ice caps. We have pondered, manipulated and created so many Martian worlds and scenarios in science fiction and now real data of this alien world are before us. I often say that movies like Star Wars got me hooked on science fiction, but in reading the hundreds of blogs and articles posted in the last few days it struck me that it has been a fascination with space travel that hooked me at a very young age. My fondest memories are those from my youth with my family sitting at our wooden picnic table in the back yard. We’d cook up some burgers and carry the television on to the porch to watch and listen to NASA’s every word. I remember staring at the moon the moment the first astronaut sat foot on the moon. Will I get to sit in my back yard with my family again, only this time to look at Mars through the telescope as astronauts set foot on the red soil of Mars. I certainly hope so. It’s great fun creating worlds such as I did in my book The Charon Covenant and strange and unusual beings that have traveled from out of this universe and sometimes from Mars itself. I hope we run in to some evidence that life has been there and perhaps still there in some form. The next few months will prove to be exciting beyond our dreams. I certainly never thought we’d see Mars up close, let alone now for another successful landing on its surface and look forward to every picture and discovery. Way to go Phoenix!

Life, writing and Being Overwhelmed

2008-04-15T23:18:45Z

This may fall into venting more than blogging and I'm sure there are no new revelations herein, however, suffice it to say, I am overwhelmed and not sure how to make it all fit. First there is the feeling of needing to keep up with all the other books coming out. I always knew there was a constant stream of new books emerging week after week, but it became so much more clear when my book The Charon Covenant was published. Now just the science fiction genre is an overwhelming amount of not only competition but choices to read--staggering. Secondly, I own four small independent bookstores and believe it or not, they keep me beyond busy. You see I thought if we put all our books in the computer it would help us provide more variety to our customers. I had no idea that the amount of time involved in entering the books would be so overwhelming. Although everyone helps, I too spend as much time as I can doing inventory. Third there is this writing thing. I need to finish the series for The Charon Covenant, along with the new book I've almost finished editing and am very excited about, that is, if my editor will cease with the suggestions. The thought of fitting this in to my schedule everyday is also overwhelming. We won't even mention that somewhere in there I have a husband and son (who work with me) and ailing parents who want my time. Last but never least are my two girls, my two Yorkies that are at my feet and constantly begging for time. Overwhelmed is definitely my word of the month! If only self-cloning were real. :)

Baby Steps To The Moon

2008-04-12T23:18:52Z

I can spend an entire day reading at www.space.com, frankly I could spend everyday reading there. A recent article was on sending a small orbiter piggy backed to another rocket to study the moon dust. As most people know the regolith, or moon dust, is like tiny glass particles. These particles can be dangerous to human skin and lungs and the moon dust tends to cling to everything. Astronauts have to spend a fair amount of their time managing it. The first thought that comes to mind is how much we are still in the baby steps of space travel. When we are just now struggling with the concept of handling moon dust problems and have to spend an approximate $80 million dollars for just the orbiter to study it. This doesn't include the man hours on Earth needed to extrapolate those results. http://www.space.com/missionlaunches/080410-ladee-moon-dust-mission.html]]>

SPACE EXPLORATION MAY BE OVER

2008-03-09T19:44:07Z

As many science fiction authors I take a look at our planet and what’s going on around us. Every day I hear of another resource gone or nearly depleted. The stories of pollution of all kinds abound to the point of nearly overwhelming me at times. I saw recently that a species of wolverines was discovered that was thought extinct, making me feel pretty good for a moment. Then I read this article

Review of Walter Mosely's The Wave

2008-01-20T16:26:54Z

This book was a bit of a departure from some of his previous books that I have read. It starts out as a story of a man struggling with his every day demons and an unhappy family life. It quickly turns into a mystery as late night phone calls from a young man begin. They are very ominous calls that start with just a word or two. “Cold, So Cold, Naked”. This begins a mystery that becomes a nightmare for the main character Errol Porter and mixes in science fiction/fantasy. The story takes you along with Errol as he becomes a captive of a madman and escapes and is recaptured throughout the story. The strange caller becomes a large influence in Errol’s life and makes him question who this stranger really is. Is he who he says or is he some malevolent presence. Although this was quite different from other Walter Mosley’s works, his writing style is fluid and the story kept me guessing until the end. There are some rather graphic scenes, both violent and sexual that certainly make this an adults only book. I completely enjoyed it, however, and recommend it to those who like something different in a mystery.

Favorite Old Sci Fi Series

2008-01-13T00:15:10Z

I was looking through my VCR movie tapes making a list of the ones I need to purchase into DVD's, as we all know the VCR is going the way of the beta, and there are favorites I don't want to lose out on for the future. I came across one that sent me into full flashback mode. There was a TV series many many years ago that my parents believed I was too young to watch when it first came to television. This, of course, made it even more mysterious and exciting. I had to have it! Read on to know what show wasthe great temptation. Once you hear you have to laugh as I did when I thought of this series today. I laugh at how naive human beings have been over the years, my parents included. The series never seemed to play again, or perhaps during my college years it may have played, but I watched very little television during those years. The years rolled by and I had forgotten all about the forbidden fruit until I was in my early forties and had been struck by a crippling illness that required chemo-therpay and alot of bed rest for months on end. One afternoon it hit me, the one thing I could find to watch and bring a drop of cheer to my days. Thus began the hunt. The internet was still a fledgling and no place to hunt for nonsensical things like TV shows. I sent my son and husband out to all the known movie sellers of the time, but alas no series. After many months of treatments and feeling fairly good one day, my son and I went to one of the shopping malls in our area and happened in to a video store and began our usual hunt for something sci-fi we hadn't seen a thousand times. Suddenly a golden beam of light shown upon a single video. There it was, but not exactly. It was only 1 of a 5 show series. I plucked it from its shelf and bolted to the counter. "Please tell me you have the rest of these?" I asked or begged, I'm not qutie sure. The young man behind the coutner told me to hold my horses while he checked their catalogs. I believe beads of sweat were forming on my forehead when he came back and told me those precious words. "Yes, I can get them." Two weeks went be, my anticpation grew daily, then the phone rang, it was the video store. Oh happy day, they were in. An anxious call went out to my husband who faithfully ran to the video store and brought them home. My hands shook as I opened them in excited anticipation then quickly pushed the tape in and hit play. I couldn't take my eyes off the screen as the title rolled. "The Martian Chronicles", starring Rock Hudson. I have only 1 VCR left in my house and knew I just had to watch it again, it's been many years and I had to see if it still held the same enjoyment as it did over 10 years ago. Yes, it was. I'm not sure if it's because it's just my cup of tea, in a movie, or if it's that little guilty pleasure of possessing what had been forbidden.

Patience Wanted!

2008-01-04T22:40:19Z

I have been a member of AZ Authors for only a few months and although I don't attend very many of the events, I get a great deal of information and often rejuvenation from reading various tips and articles from their website. I have to laugh at your comments about waiting daily for the mail to come. We're all in that boat at various points at one time or another. http://tagates-lureevanderpool.com/index.html]]>

Distractions of Writing At Home

2007-12-31T16:08:00Z

Many authors discuss the subject of how lonely a profession writing can be. I find I enjoy the solace of writing, not so much the struggle of sitting hour after hour in front of a keyboard, but I like my share of alone time. Writing at home with a semi-retired husband and my two girls (my two 6 lb. Yorkies that is) provides a twist to the challenge. You see, the problem for me is I am never quite alone. Even when I escape to a quiet sanctuary somewhere on my own, still I have my two tiny companions sleeping at my feet while I type away. Oh, you say if they are sleeping they aren't a distraction. Obviously you don't have dogs. They sleep, they snore, they bark and chase memories as they sleep. It is anything but a quiet proposition. Then when the sleeping is over they are playing, running, barking and just being dogs. I know you say then why take them everywhere. I would love to leave them occassionally with my husband, however, they don't eat when I'm gone and I don't sleep if they aren't laying all over my feet. It's a love hate relationship and a complete distraction, but without some of these interruptions I find I don't stop, breath or eat and they remind me. Then there is the other being in my world, my husband of over 24 years who is currently between careers or that infamous semi-retired bored out of his mind, hoping you'll play with him, mate. He tries hard to keep occupied but on the days it seems I am at my most fluid, he is his most bored. This means that every walk from his den to any other room in the house takes him by my office. He just can't resist to step in and look at me. He thinks looking doesn't constitute interrupting. No words, no noise, no interruption. Unfortunately it's like the game when you were kids and held your finger a half inch away from your siblings face until they finally break and throttle you. So I don't talk to him necessarily when he comes in, I just start reading the current sentence I'm working on and that usually chaces him away. I think he gets the point....I'm writing! So I'm slowly training him but the two girls train me, although they have figured out that when I sign out of my AOL and it says goodbye, that signals I'm done and they come running, tails wagging. My tail wags too when I get to turn off the computer!

Getting Children Reading

2007-12-19T21:13:54Z

http://mumpsimus.blogspot.com/ I was lucky to have a son who likes to read. I do give credit to the fact that I read to him from an early age. Reading early and fun books, taking on the characters or making up voices as you read is a great night time activity and helps spur them on to read on their own later.]]> In lieu of that make rewards for reading. Pick a book in a category that they like and for a reward perhaps offer a comic book or sticker book as a prize for finishing a book. I own and operate 4 used bookstores and talk to alot of parents who use this type of idea. Bringing your children to the bookstores and browsing around with them is a fun activity, make a fun lunch stop afterward part of the goal for them. I am also an author of science fiction, The Charon Covenant and was fortunate that my son also loves science fiction. When he was younger we picked a book and had family night to read and discuss the book together. Pick a night each week as family night, it was alot of fun and he still remembers those nights.

Before The Charon Covenant

2007-11-30T15:23:49Z

An Excepted Short Story Based On The Novel The Charon Covenant “My darling Dara, Don’t show this letter to anyone. I want you to know the true history of what happened and how we all became so mindless, so docile that we lost our ability to defend ourselves because the time is coming that you will need to. The Earth, as we knew it, had been nearly unlivable for over two decades. The world where trees, wildlife and flowers once blossomed under the warm sunshine had withered, veiled in a dark gaseous cloud. Even as the end neared, people buried their heads in the sand, always expecting someone else to solve the problem. As food supplies waned, tensions between countries grew while hundreds of thousands of people starved in every country across the globe. Even neighbors began to distrust neighbors; people were hording food in an attempt to ward off the inevitable. Without warning, came the Great War of Nations. Then, without warning, came the Great War of Nations. The war ended abruptly two years later, not because some peaceful means of resolution had been established, but for lack of resources. The leaders of the world agreed that if they were to survive, they must unite; thus, the Inner Circle was created and secret alliances were formed and the ruling class became the secret Czars of the Circle. The Inner Circle created the Weapons Control Group, which functioned much the same as the armies and police forces of the past. The world was finally rid of war, but that wasn’t the same as having peace. The human race suddenly found themselves on the verge of extinction. Pollution had become overwhelming, the ozone layer was deteriorating rapidly, everyone wore oxygen masks, and scientists were scrambling for answers as acid rain was killing most of the foliage. The Inner Circle knew time was running out and began plans to create a haven on the moon. Resources had been deployed to the moon stations. The Circle knew they must put a daring plan into action. Launch teams were assembled. Orders were handed out to each team, including the lists of names of those who would be taken. And taken was what they did. Weapon Control units accompanied the Launch Teams and took people from their homes, often with force, as no one knew they’d even been selected. There was no time given to say goodbye to loved ones, no one must know what was happening. The panic that it would cause if this secret were to get out could cause delays and possibly destroy hope of a successful mission. A small group of key scientists were left behind to provide needed input on any changes in the Earth’s environment that might allow man to return some day. Once we were on the moon the Inner Circle wasted no time in taking over; new laws went into affect immediately. Every person would be required to carry identification cards, which allowed entry into only those designated areas approved for each person by the Circle. Something new was to be added to daily life, the worker drones. Small pot bellied, barrel shaped robots that hovered like they were magically being levitated and would become the watch dog for the governing body. They came equipped with highly sophisticated Automated Intelligence Computers, (AIC’S for short), infrared sensors and armed with two laser weapons perched on the top of their mechanical heads. The remaining members of the Circle became very reclusive, seldom seen by any of the common people. The Circle made it clear that to survive man could not make the same mistakes again. Believing that the methods of the Inner Circle were the only hope for survival, people became docile, most were too frightened to speak out. As time passed new life came to thrive, children were born and crops flourished in this created atmosphere of Earth II. Many members of the original families of space passed on. With them went the haunting memories of Earth’s final desperate hours and the haunting faces of those left behind. As the oldest generation passed on, any thought of life on Earth all but disappeared. The children of the original Earth colonists grew and had their children and a new generation came to survive here. As you know I worked for many years as a vested member of the Circle and served on the advisory panel overseeing research and development projects. Recently things have changed, men and women I once called friends have withdrawn and become very private about their lives. I believe there is some kind of conspiracy going on that stems from the fact that our resources have been dwindling for some time and then as if like magic, our stores have begun to be replenished. When I ask questions now I get no answers and believe I am going to be ousted from the Circle.” All my love and hopes for your happiness. Your father, Conrad Drew As he finished writing the letter Dara’s father could never have imagined that the fight to save the world and the future of the human race would lead to this or that his daughter would ever learn about her father’s past or the secrets of hers. He had finished the letter to his daughter and slowly folded it, placing it in an envelope. As he did he began remembering what brought him and mankind to what may be the brink of man’s extinction. He was a brilliant student but only endured sitting in school in order to have the opportunity to study all he could on space flight and had an overwhelming capacity to devour information on aeronautics or anything to do with rocket science. Conrad was a medium built young man a little on the thin side with a well defined tight muscular look to his arms that were very fair from the lack of sunlight. Although he was a nice looking young man with slight features and auburn colored hair, he didn’t spend much time or energy chasing the young girls that tried to catch his eye; he had a fire in his belly for one thing, working at NASA someday. He found himself with his nose pressed in his books looking for any new information about the latest plans from NASA for their next rocket launch. As he went through school he had skipped a number of years, third grade, fifth grade, seventh grade and his junior year of high school, enabling him to finish the standard 4 years of college at, MIT, of course, and complete his graduate work for his PhD. all by the ripe young age of 22 in late 2006. He had been tested a few times over the years and it was guestimated that his I.Q. was in the top 2% in the world. It was no surprise to anyone who knew him that his application to NASA had been approved before he completed college and allowed him to work there part time while completing his graduate studies. Conrad could hardly contain his excitement when in 2007 NASA announced their plans to build a manned base on the moon and his assignment to work in the top secret Building 16. His specialty was robotics and his team was to be responsible for building many of the robots that would gather the oxygen rich rocks along with rocks that would contain water, as well as, much of the workings of the processing equipment and storage systems to be used on the moon. It was announced that it was to be an international project with companies around the globe supplying various components and that the goal was to place initial robotics on the moon by 2010. NASA had more than one major project under its charge; they had also begun initial plans for an Orion/Mars satellite-probe to be launched in the near future, possibly as soon as 2015. Looking back now Conrad knew that either the SETI monitoring station or perhaps Surrey Space Center in the U.K. must have picked up a contact somewhere near Mars back as early as 2005. Rumors have circulated that a “message” had been detected but many in the scientific community denied such an event. He couldn’t help but believe it was true and that it had to be the reason that NASA suddenly announced the Orion/Mars project had been moved up and was now to be a manned space capsule to Mars and not just a probe. Even more unusual was the amount of resources and scientists that were shifted to this project, almost as if there were some urgency unknown to most. The new launch date was projected for 2008 and no one was saying why there was such a push to go. “If I’d known what was to come I could have done something, changed the course somehow. I’m so sorry my dear one,” he whispered as he reached out and stroked a picture of his daughter he kept in a frame on his desk. Conrad looked up as he leaned back in his chair and began rocking. “If I’d only known.” He closed his eyes and his mind wandered once again to those early years at NASA and the naiveté of the people back then. All his dreams were that his robots would be part of a plan that might someday bring new and needed resources back to Earth. He, like many Americans, worried about the future of our planet. Everyday it seemed a new story of devastation or headlines on melting polar ice caps filled the news. The hope that they would find a solution and that he could be part of it along with his love of robotics kept him working longer and longer hours behind his computer terminal. One good thing that came out of it were the friendships he made with other scientists, but especially the close friendship he built with one of the astronauts picked for the Orion/Mars flight. Ken Erickson was like many astronauts, quite full of himself but serious about his work. Ken had no shortage of female admirers either and somehow found time for a personal life, sharing stories of his latest conquests with Conrad. It didn’t hurt that Ken was big Suede with white/blonde hair cut close on the sides and slightly longer on the top, worn slicked back. He had blue eyes that seemed almost clear and a bright and ready smile that disarmed even his biggest critics. Ken was assigned to work with Conrad’s department to coordinate some of what the astronauts would need when it came time for them to man the moon base and take control of the robots. In addition he was in constant meetings on the development of the Orion/Mars capsule as he was destined to be the main pilot during that mission. During one of their planning sessions Conrad remembered asking Ken, “What do you make of this sudden push up of the Mars mission?” Ken leaned back in the chair across the desk from Conrad and placed his hands behind his head and smiled as he spoke, “Well you know, they only tell us rocket jockies what we need to know, as we need to know it. My guess is that there’s probably some big money guy behind it that has plans for the resources we’re gonna find once we get there. Why, what do you think’s behind it?” “I don’t know I have a bit of a funny feeling in my gut that they aren’t telling us everything. We have no conclusive information as to what will or won’t be usable or valuable once we get there. They really haven’t told you anything about the goals of the mission?” “Right now all we know is the powers that be want to get to Mars with a manned flight. I believe it’s like the first mission to the moon, in much of the case it’s simply for the same reason men climb Mount Everest, just because it’s there. Frankly, I’d take any mission for my shot at going into space, so whether it’s the moon, mars or just a spin around the globe, I’m there.” They really never spoke again about the motives behind their assignments and like so many people were thrilled in the fact that they got to work on something they loved so much. “I should have asked more questions,” he thought to himself. The next year flew by and everyone began focusing most of their time and resources on the Mars mission. He saw Ken very little during the last six months of 2008 as the launch grew nearer. Before he knew it the launch day had arrived and he had barely managed to squeeze in a short visit with Ken before he left to get suited up. “I don’t know what to say, break a leg, doesn’t seem right. So, don’t take any fake Mars rocks I guess and come back in one piece.” Conrad smiled as he spoke and slapped Ken on the shoulder. Ken grabbed his upper arm giving it a squeeze and a shake. “Hey don’t worry about me, besides you’re the one that likes to play with rocks.” He let go and started to walk away then turned back to Conrad. “Hey, if I don’t come back you can have my little black book,” he paused. “If anyone needs it you do.” He laughed as he turned and walked away. “It still feels like yesterday,” he thought, remembering the crowd as they watched the rocket lift off with his best friend inside. “See you in about 5 years,” he said softly and giving sort of a salute into the sky toward the rocket as it filled the sky with a thick white plume trailing from behind the rocket. It wasn’t long after the Orion/Mars mission left Earth that the success of that mission along with the moon based colony became more important than ever. Seven months after the Mars launch Conrad was working on his C.A.D. program laying out the latest changes to one of the robotic arms when he heard the sound of voices, loud voices out in the hallway. “What the hell is going on?” He somewhat shouted at one of the women talking in the crowd. She turned toward him nearly shouting as well, “It’s the Yellowstone caldera…it…it’s erupted, a massive eruption.” “When, just now?” He prodded. “Yes, minutes ago, it’s spewing pyroclastic ash into the sky. Look, it’s terrifying,” the young lab tech yelled as she pointed to a large monitor across from them. Conrad couldn’t believe his eyes, he remembered the Mount St. Helens eruption and how devastating that was but this was like something out of prehistory; a force like that which created our world or perhaps destroyed life on Earth before man. “Oh my God!” Was all that seemed to come out of his mouth as he watched the monster erasing the sun over Yellowstone. This was only the beginning, Yellowstone continued to bellow ash into the air and by the eighth day the government announced a mass evacuation of all of one third of the west coast states. The air grew so thick that even air conditioning systems were shutting down, too clogged to continue and no one could keep up. Thousands and thousands had died, no one could even predict how many, most deaths were from the poor air quality yet others committed suicide, believing it was the end. Buses and trains were loaded and passengers were handed oxygen masks to assist them during their trips. No airplanes could be used as the ash would fill the engines causing them to fail. Many of the buses also clogged and had to be abandoned leaving the passengers to fend for themselves. The world watched helpless to provide assistance. Day after day the skies across the United States continued to darken and people stayed in their homes or offices trying to escape the ever worsening air. Finally after thirty-five days of constant flow, Yellowstone slowed to a whisper and now all the world would have to wait and watch. The cloud had traveled inward across more than half of the United States and up into Canada. Ocean winds finally changed its direction and pushed the clouds into the upper atmosphere and across the Pacific Ocean and over China and parts of Russia. Most of the world thought the threat was over but then began the acid rains. The rain was so hard over the Philippines it completely wiped out all vegetation, making the islands uninhabitable and killing all wildlife that had been left outside. As acid rains crossed the globe there were no countries that escaped the devastation. The scientific community agreed that the Earth was in danger of extinction as the cloud remained fixed in the upper atmosphere. The weather was plummeting colder and colder and green house gases had nowhere to escape. Earth was choking itself and man to death. There was no choice but to step up the plan for the moon base colony as a last resort. Many other options to attempt to clean the atmosphere were underway but no machine or methods had ever been created to handle pollution at such a massive scale. Conrad worked day and night, sleeping as little as possible, as did everyone involved in the moon project. They had already placed the first robots on the moon in mid 2009 just before the eruption and now focused on using them to assemble the processing and holding systems. The resources of every scientific community were fully committed to the moon base projects or atmospheric solutions. What would have taken many more years now had enough resources that each phase was taking one-fourth the time to accomplish. The world scrambled to build plastic domes over all the crops that they could, trying to save as much as we could from the acid rains. Large structures were also built to house the wildlife that was diminishing around the world. There was the occasional update from the astronauts aboard the Orion/Mars capsule still hurling toward Mars. They had now been in space for more than two and a half years and announced a successful coupling with the space station on April 21, 2011. Conrad was glad to see Ken’s smiling face plastered all over the news each day as he shared his excitement with all of those left behind. They had a first hand look at the eruption and were able to watch much of the spread of the cloud across the planet and had asked if they should turn around but the world needed some hope of perhaps finding a resource that could help our wounded planet. Conrad knew his friend had sighed in relief, knowing Ken was not one to give up in the middle of a mission. With the continuing success of the Mars mission, hopes were high and NASA provided the world with another exciting development. The water and oxygen stations on the moon were now filled to capacity and the first of the domes had been completed. Along with that a domicile unit was constructed and the entire inside of the domed area had been covered with a cement mixture comprised mostly of moon soil mixed with water and then compacted under extreme pressure to harden it. The next phase was about to begin, a manned flight to the moon where the astronauts were going to land and live for a thirty day test period. Although Conrad was constantly monitoring and manipulating his robots on the moon’s surface he also stayed appraised of the status of the Earth. Over the past two years the cloud had dissipated to nearly half its original density but had not completely cleared. The weather had dropped over 3 degrees worldwide having a compounding effect to the point that areas such as Alaska and large parts of Russia and some surrounding countries were completely uninhabitable with staggering temperatures in some regions reaching negative 140 degrees below and in the process millions had now died. He couldn’t help think that man might not survive here on Earth. In countries around the world civil unrest and rioting and in a few countries the governments were overthrown by larger countries encroaching on their resources to help fuel their own economies and feed their people. The fear of nuclear war was on everyone’s mind. But before he knew it 2012 had come to an end and the twin rocket ships Hope and Faith stood side by side readied on the launch pad on Christmas Eve. This dual launch would allow twelve initial astronauts to settle in on the moon. Other shuttle launches were set a few days apart until a total of six more flights and a total of 30 astronauts from all countries would be housed on the moon by the beginning of the new year. Once again Conrad stood watching the ship begin its warm up for launch as steam ascended from its base and rose up its sides spilling out into the air. As the rockets ignited and the roar of the engines began to deafen the crowd he could hear the quiet prayers of the onlookers; adding a prayer of his own. “God help us.” This launch was different in many ways, including the fact that once the rocket hit the upper atmosphere it would disappear into the thick volcanic cloud that was choking the planet. This was also the time that the Orion/Mars capsule was approaching Mars and was within only 24 hours of reaching its initial orbit around the giant red planet. Conrad sat intently listening as his friend Ken announced. “This has been an unbelievable journey. The ship has performed amazingly well with few problems. We have managed to avoid a few close calls with some micro meteors along the way thanks to the quick maneuverability of the craft. As you can see Mars is very large out the port window of the Orion capsule. We are hopeful that 2012 will be the beginning of new and exciting resources to be discovered to help earth recover and renew its resources.” As he spoke he turned the lens of the camera toward the window. Mars was a giant red ball that seemed to be rolling across space. The red blowing storms on its surface made it appear as if it were spinning and tumbling through the dark sky. “We are on orbital approach and plan to….” Suddenly the voice transmission ceased and only static came across. NASA quickly ended the telecast and an announcer came on telling us that they would resume the telecast as soon as the connection was restored. Several days went by and then weeks with no new transmissions. Conrad knew that if the astronauts couldn’t fix their radio equipment to communicate with Earth they would have to abort the mission and return home. He knew that would crush his friend’s hope of landing on Mars but also cause a major set back in finding resources that might help Earth heal itself. Conrad also knew that the problem could very well be that his friend and the other astronauts were gone. That something hit the capsule or a catastrophic failure occurred and they wouldn’t be coming back. We may never know what happened. NASA quickly reprogrammed one of the closest telescope satellites to Mars to scan the surface for evidence of the ship; either landed or for debris from its crash landing. They may never know their fate for sure, but if nothing else, they had five years to wait and see if any contact would be made or perhaps even for their return. The renewed hope that was felt by the successes of the astronauts on the moon and the amazing reports from the surface of the moon and how well their man-made environment was performing was quickly shattered when in August of 2012 in desperation to save itself from being engulfed by Russia the Korean government launched a nuclear attack. They launched four missiles directly toward downtown Moscow and other cities in Russia. The Russian government quickly responded not with a counter nuclear attack but launched missiles to explode the war heads while still en route. Their nearly heroic efforts were almost rewarded when three of the missiles hit their target and the nukes exploded in the sky. The fourth missile misfired before reaching the target and although Russia launched an additional missile it was too late. It hit its target but the nuke was already over land and exploded over Krasnoyark in the Siberian Lowlands; an area filled with small towns and the Yenisey River, one of the largest rivers in Siberia that also fed into China. It was somewhat fortunate to have been in a more remote area than if it had been highly populated like Moscow or any other major city. Not so fortunate is that although the others didn’t explode on the ground they did explode in our atmosphere and the nuclear fallout was carried into the upper atmosphere and began to mix with the volcanic ash cloud causing more acid rain and a snow like substance that burned the skin rather severely if you were unlucky enough to be outside. It was strong enough that it could eat through clothing if left unwashed. This was the beginning of the end of the world as we knew it. Russia joined with China and invaded Korea nearly wiping its people from the face of the earth. Other countries tried to step in and halt the attack but soon found themselves at war with two of Europe’s largest war machines. The United States sent all the support it could but within 8 months from the beginning of the Korean nuclear assault the wars came to an abrupt end in March 2013. The news bulletins suddenly changed from battlefront stories to reports of a new plague upon us. We didn’t stop fighting because some peaceful means had been found to settle the world’s differences, but machines, vehicles, planes and even rocket launchers and weapons could not run, could not fire. The ash and acid rain had created a new substance that permeated the softer metals, lead, zinc, aluminum and plastics, the parts and pieces, the inner workings of much of the equipment used to fight the wars were no longer working. Enemies had no choice but to lay down their arms. Peacekeepers joined with those in conflict at the United Nations and agreed a new world order would be needed if we were to fight the real enemy of man; the volcanic/nuclear holocaust that man was partly responsible for. After several months the British Prime Minister, Alicia Downing penned a solution. Thus was created the Inner Circle and by the end of 2013 a single government rule was in place; made up of chosen people from each nation who would enact the laws and rules and decide how the exhausted resources of the world would best be utilized. This new world order gave peace of mind to the masses and over the next few years civil unrest seemed to quiet and once again the world could focus on the solutions needed to save mankind from its own destruction. The polluted waters of the Yenisey River in Russia were a main concern as it traveled cross Russia and through China and some of its tributaries flowed into the ocean. Major efforts were underway to do everything possible to filter out and clean up the waste and block the water from entering other waterways. Much of our spoiled way of life was ending as well. Since so much of our equipment used outdoors was exposed to the acid rain and volcanic ash affect, now called NUVO ROT for Nuclear Volcanic Rust Oxidizing Toxin, we were finding long distance travel nearly impossible. The few planes left capable of flying had to be housed in hangers and as soon as they landed had to be taken inside and completely overhauled with new parts. Flight was now only for necessity and government uses. Automobiles slowly came to a halt, left abandoned on the streets as they gave out. People were returning to bicycles, walking and horse back for transportation. Some of the underground transports still worked and countries were working on expanding their underground subway systems across their countries. It would soon be the only fast mode of transportation in every city. All of these changes devastated the economies across the globe and found people migrating to two main areas of work, sciences and agronomics. Most activities were indoors as the air had become so polluted it was risky at best to go outside without a breathing mask. In poor countries millions died once again from the NUVO ROT affects and lack of resources to protect them. Even what were the world powers had areas of poverty with high losses as well. It seemed as if there was only struggle to survive left and no solution in sight. These several years passed with most of the world’s focus on finding methods to clean up the air and trying to survive on our wounded planet. At least for Conrad, through it all he still had his one love, his science and robotics. He kept fully focused on providing new enhancements to the lunar robots and looked forward to the daily updates from the astronauts, even though it often made him melancholy over the loss of his best friend. Time passed and seemed to settle into a routine after a few years and Conrad thought maybe he might even have time to start thinking about getting out there and finding that special someone. As he plopped down on the sofa in his very sparsely decorated apartment he picked up the remote off of the cushion next to him and flipped on the news, taking in a deep breath and slowly letting it out. “Oh boy it feels good to stop for a bit,” he thought as he clicked on to his favorite news channel. “Let’s see what the Circle’s up to today.” He leaned back and stretched his arms over his head and groaned as he stretched, causing him to yawn. He picked up the glass of wine from the table and took a big sip. “This’ll put me to sleep the way I feel already,” he said looking through the glass at the television. As he did the news bit caught his attention. The female announcer was in mid sentence as he focused in on her words. “Just after five this afternoon a transmission was captured by SETI.” She was standing in the dark moonless night on the front lawn outside SETI and pointing at the building. “It was not announced until now as SETI had to verify with NASA control that it was in fact a broadcast from the capsule.” Conrad leaned forward, “Damn it, what capsule, come on.” He urged at the reporter. She continued. “Only a few minutes ago NASA announced that they had made contact with one of the astronauts on the thought to be doomed Orion/Mars mission. Astronaut Ken Erickson has been identified as the voice coming over the radio.” She put her finger up to her ear to press the ear piece tighter and stopped speaking for a moment. “Yes, we’re going to go back to the studios where they have the recording from NASA of the conversation with the astronauts.” The announcers appeared instantly at their desks in the studio and Conrad listened intently has one of his favorite news anchors, Ben Schansky began. “We don’t have video on this only the audio, so we’ll play that for you now. It is the voice of Ken Erickson the pilot from the Orion/Mars capsule. The studio went silent and then the sound of some slight static; he couldn’t believe his ears but it was Ken’s voice. “This is Orion space capsule to NASA control, come in, NASA control do you hear me?” Then silence for a moment. “NASA control this is the Orion/Mars capsule, we lost radio contact but are o.k. and heading toward Earth, can you hear me?” Once again static was all you could hear. Conrad jumped to his feet. “Holy crap!” he exclaimed as he stuck his feet back in his shoes. He stopped for a moment. “Who should I…what can I…” He didn’t know if he should call someone or what was best to do so he decided the most news would probably be found back at the laboratory and flew out the front door. As he stepped out the front of the apartment building he slipped on his oxygen mask and pulled the heavy denim hood of his jacket over his head and jogged for the subway entrance a block away. It took only a few minutes for him to get to the lab but he could already see the building was buzzing with excitement. Entering the front door and puling off his mask he immediately started talking to one of the other techs as he walked in. “Has there been any more contact?” he asked. The tech was someone he should’ve known better than he did after working with him for nearly nine years but other than his field of specialty Conrad barely knew his name. “No, they have been able to locate the capsule passing one of our satellites; it looks intact and is heading for home.” “How close are they, did they say?” he continued to prod. “They only guestimated they should be here within a day or two. This is something to celebrate, hey?” Conrad nodded and jogged away completely overwhelmed at the excitement of seeing his old friend, even if their mission had failed they were alive. He had taken the day off just to be at the airfield when the helicopter carrying the astronauts arrived. He wanted to be among the first to greet his old friend and hear all about their exploits in space. He was relieved to see they all stepped out of the helicopter unassisted and seemed to be completely healthy. The astronauts walked across the tarmac and filed through the gate by the entrance to the airport. Conrad stepped forward as Ken approached and waived. “Ken, hey Ken,” he somewhat shouted but Ken didn’t acknowledge him. He shouted again, “Ken, it’s Conrad I’m so glad to see you.” But again no response from his friend as he walked right past him and he couldn’t help but notice the complete lack of emotion on their faces. “Could they be that disappointed that they didn’t land on Mars?” he thought. “I’ll give him a bit of a break to get adjusted and catch up with him after the press conference.” The day flew by and as he tried to focus on the job in front of him his mind kept picturing the lack of expression and how Ken had ignored him, it was almost a haunting feeling. After several hours he realized there should have been a press conference by now. “That’s weird, we can use all the good news we can get,” he pondered as he clicked off the video feed on his computer. “Something’s screwy,” he thought but shook his head and tried to get back to work. The end of the day couldn’t come soon enough and Conrad headed straight for Ken’s apartment to check on his old friend. As the door opened he could see that the group of astronauts was assembled in Ken’s apartment. “Hey bud, I’m so glad to see you in one piece,” he blurted out as he started to walk through the door. Ken quickly put his arm out and pressed his hand into Conrad’s chest. “Not now, we’re in the middle of something here,” he said with no inflection in his voice. “I’ll call you later,” he offered. Although he was completely taken aback he stopped and forced a bit of an uncomfortable smile. “Yeah, sure, call me. I’ll talk to you later.” And left without any further explanation. “Jesus, what’s his malfunction?” In fact there would be no further explanation or phone call later to his friend, worse than that he never saw or spoke to Ken again. Conrad assumed his disappointment over the failure of his mission had changed him, made him more recluse. But now sitting here in his domicile on the moon contemplating the past he is not so sure that that was his friend at all. That perhaps someone or something else had come back in his place If he was correct he knew that this wasn’t the only secret that his daughter would have to face and he hoped he was wrong about that because if he was wrong then that would mean he would also be wrong about the fate he believed lay in store for him.

Is Space Science a Waste of our Resources?

2007-11-18T17:22:35Z

I remember the first time I knew I was hooked on the drama of space travel. I was sitting at a wood picnic table on the bench seat with my father, mother, brother and assorted pets in the backyard of our home in Cave Creek, Arizona waiting for the televised first steps of man on the surface of the moon.. I was in third grade and had been anticipating this night for quite some time. My father barbecued hamburgers and my mother was bopping in and out of the house with all the fixings. I can remember she teased me that I didn’t need to get up and help. “Oh, no, don’t get up, I’ve got it.” She kept saying with each trip back out of the house. I seldom ignored helping my mother but I was transfixed. The night sky was clear, the stars were so abundant it took my breath away, but most of all that night the moon was full and bright. The ashen colored craters and pock marks were as clear as could be. I remember feeling as if at any moment the moon would revolve around and like some strange cartoon, “the man in the moon” would appear and smile. Even the moon new we were coming. Through all my excitement and anticipation I couldn’t help but feel that there was a lot of waste created in getting there and in the fact that so much “trash” and expensive “trash” would be left behind. That thought has haunted my enthusiasm for space travel, moon bases, space stations, explorations and the billions and billions of dollars and tons of Earth’s resources dedicated to these quests. The question has revolved around in my head most of my life with no significant answer that would allay my thoughts of the wastefulness being created. Finally a partial answer arrived late one evening while watching a special on the Orion/Mars mission. They were interviewing an American scientist James Garvin, Chief scientist for Mars and Lunar exploration for NASA. He said a couple of interesting comments that have put some of my worries to rest. During the processes that all the scientists are going through to develop all the various elements needed for this mission they will create many products and breakthroughs that we are using now and more in the future. Some of the improvements can be in cleaner products for automobiles, Freon and the reuse of product waste and so on. It is also possible that these new fuels they will develop may hold the solution for removing the need for fossil fuels or perhaps even the gasoline for the millions of cars on the planet. I guess it’s that early love of space exploration that influenced me and keeps me reading and watching all I can on the latest in space travel. It is no doubt the reason that my writing has turned to the sci-fi genre and the main character, Dara Drew, in my book The Charon Covenant is a strong female character who loves the world she is living in until she has to venture into the unknown void of space. So, although I can’t recount the myriad of items he listed, he certainly gave me a renewed feeling of relief and to some degree a better reason to continue space exploration than just doing it because we can.