The Throne of Saturn, page 45
It was almost noon and he had a luncheon date with the vice president in the latter’s office. He wondered if he should put off further reading until afternoon, decided he could accomplish in ten minutes the remaining highlights he felt he had to read; pressed on. “Mars Landing” the next subhead announced: a tiny white spider spun down in mind’s eye toward the fog-shrouded, mysterious surface of the far-off planet.
Connie would be at the controls. Someone—it had not been decided yet, probably Pete—would be beside him. Above, Jazz and Jayvee in the finked modules would continue their inexorable, predetermined orbit. The planet, two thirds the size of Earth, would turn slowly below them as they flew; they would have lost visual contact with the tiny white spider almost at once. Only the precious voices, probably fuzzed and distant in the atmospheric conditions of Mars, would come faintly back to them, and from them to Houston, and so to the waiting world.
The tiny spider might or might not land, that too had not yet been decided. But—a mass of wires and systems hopefully infallible, and two humans as infallible as skill, nerves, and training could make them—it would get as close as it dared before its commander fired the ascent rockets and he and his companion, and the world, found out whether everything was infallible or not.
To the red planet, slumbering through the eons, the tiny spider would matter not at all. Only if someone were waiting would it matter. And of that, for all the work of Vernon Hertz’ JPL, there was, as yet, virtually no indication and even less proof.
But again, man was as prepared as he knew how to be. And nothing was going to stop him now. Watch out, Mars, Andy Anderson thought wryly: here we come, ready or not.
mars landing
The Mars Landing Module (MLM) is designed to transport two men safely from Planetary Fleet One in Mars orbit to the Martian surface and return them to the mother craft. The MLM provides operational capabilities such as communications, telemetry, environmental support, the transport of scientific equipment to the Martian surface, and the return of surface samples with the crew to the mother craft.
The Mars Landing Module consists of two stages: the Command Center and the descent-ascent stage.
For Planetary Fleet One the stages have been fused as a single reusable unit. There will be no separation, and no abandonment of the descent stage, as occurred on Apollo missions to the Moon.
command center
The Command Center accommodates two astronauts and is the control center of the MLM. The stage structure provides three main sections consisting of a crew compartment and mid-section, which comprises the pressurized cabins, and the unpressurized aft equipment bay. The cabin volume is approximately 235 cubic feet.
descent-ascent stage
The descent-ascent stage is the unmanned portion of the MLM. It provides for major velocity changes of the MLM to deorbit, land on and ascend from the Martian surface. The major structural material is aluminum alloy.
guidance, navigation, and control system
The GNC system provides all equipment required for a manned Martian landing mission and return to Planetary Fleet One. It includes a landing radar which provides slant range and velocity data for control of the descent to the Martian surface. Slant range data is available below Martian altitudes of approximately 25,000 feet and velocity below approximately 18,000 feet.
communications system
The communications system provides the links between the MLM and the Manned Space Flight Network, and between the MLM, the mother craft, and any extravehicular astronaut. The CS includes all S-band, VHF, and signal processing equipment necessary to transmit and receive voice, tracking and ranging data, and to transmit telemetry and emergency keying.
environmental control system
The environmental control system of the MLM provides a habitable environment for two astronauts for the maximum assigned Martian stay time while the MLM is separated from the mother craft. It also controls the temperature of electrical and electronic equipment, stores and provides water for drinking, cooking, fire extinguishing, and food preparation.
But before Mars would come the long flight out, and before the flight would come the launch; and before the launch, the drama would have moved to Florida. There Al Freer would be in his glory again after all the drab, drear years of penny-pinching, science-crippling, mind-hobbling drought.
The administrator had been down just a week ago. He had been able to congratulate himself that all appeared to be going well as of now. Clete O’Donnell had not interfered again—so far.
Pad C was moving fast. Already its great concrete massif, riddled with underground tunnels and honeycombed with electrical systems, loomed above the flat scrubland beside its two older brothers. Hard-hatted workmen, their coveralls white against the merciless sun, swarmed over it. Jackhammers and pneumatic drills chattered in the sultry air. A constant stream of trucks filled with support equipment and electronic gear ground up the ramp along which the ponderous Crawler would presently carry Piffy One to her marriage with history.
He could imagine the three great missiles now, white and perfect in the sun. The thought of that beautiful sight, whose like he had seen so often in the great days of Apollo, made his pulse beat faster and brought a sudden touch of moisture to his eyes.
“You will go,” he assured them again softly in the silence of his office. “You will go.”
At the Cape, in the domain of Albrecht Freer, they were getting ready to do the endless, detailed, painstaking jobs that had to be done—the thousands of patient, necessary things that thousands of patient, necessary minds and hearts and eyes and hands would bring as their contributions to the success of Planetary Fleet One of Project Argosy.
The report, as usual, reduced it all to a straightforward march of statistics. But they were statistics fantastic and almost too much for the mind to grasp:
LAUNCH COMPLEX
GENERAL:
Launch Complex 39, located at Kennedy Space Center, Florida, is the facility provided for the assembly, checkout, and launch of the Argosy Saturn V Space Vehicle. Assembly and checkout of the vehicle is accomplished on a mobile launcher in the Vehicle Assembly Building. The space vehicle and the mobile launcher are then moved as a unit by the Crawler to the launch site. The major elements of the launch complex are the Vehicle Assembly Building, the Launch Control Center, the mobile launcher, the Crawler, the crawlerway, the mobile service structure, and the launch pad.
LC 39 FACILITIES AND EQUIPMENT
vehicle assembly building
The VAB provides a protected environment for receipt and checkout of the propulsion stages and Instrument Unit, erection of the vehicle stages and spacecraft in a vertical position on the mobile launcher, and integrated checkout of the assembled space vehicle. The VAB is a totally enclosed structure covering eight acres of ground. It is a structural steel building approximately 525 feet high, 518 feet wide, and 716 feet long. The principal operational elements of the VAB are the low bay and high bay areas. A 92-foot-wide transfer aisle extends through the length of the VAB and divides the low and high bay areas into equal segments. The low bay area provides the facilities for receiving, uncrating, checkout, and preparation of the S-II stage, S-IVB stage, and the Instrument Unit. The high bay area provides the facilities for erection and checkout of the S-IC stage; mating and erection operations of the S-II stage, S-IVB stage, IU, and spacecraft; and integrated checkout of the assembled space vehicle. The high bay area contains four checkout bays, each capable of accommodating a fully-assembled Argosy Saturn V space vehicle.
launch control center
The Launch Control Center serves as the focal point for overall direction, control, and monitoring of space vehicle checkout, and launch. It is located adjacent to the VAB and at a sufficient distance from the launch pad (three miles) to permit safe viewing of liftoff without extra protections. The center has four firing rooms, one for each high bay in the VAB, and each containing control, monitoring, and display equipment for automatic vehicle checkout and launch.
mobile launcher
The mobile launcher is a transportable steel structure which, with the Crawler, provides the capability to move the entire Argosy Saturn V vehicle to the launch pad. The ML is divided into two functional areas, the launcher base, and the umbilical tower. The launcher base is the platform on which a Saturn vehicle is assembled in the vertical position, transported to one of the launch sites, and launched. The umbilical tower provides access to all important levels of the vehicle during assembly, checkout, and servicing. The equipment used in the servicing, checkout, and launch is installed throughout both the base and tower sections of the ML.
The launcher base is a steel structure 25 feet high, 160 feet long, and 135 feet wide. The upper deck, designated level O, contains, in addition to the umbilical tower, the four hold-down arms, and the three tail service masts. There is a 45-foot square opening through the base for first stage exhaust. The umbilical tower is a 380-foot-high open steel structure which provides the support for eight umbilical service arms, spacecraft access arm, 18 work and access platforms, distribution equipment for the propellant, pneumatic, electrical, and instrumentation subsystems and other ground support equipment. Two high-speed elevators service 18 landings from level A of the base to the 340-foot tower level. The structure is topped by a 25-ton hammerhead crane. Remote control of the crane is possible from numerous locations on the launcher.
launch pad
The launch pad provides a stable foundation for the Mobile Launcher during Argosy Saturn V launch and pre-launch operations. The three pads at LC 39 are located approximately three miles from the VAB area. Each launch site is approximately 3000 feet across. The launch pad is a cellular, reinforced concrete structure with a top elevation of 42 feet above grade elevation. Located within the fill under the west side of the structure is a two-story concrete building to house environmental control and pad terminal connection equipment. On the east side of the structure, within the fill, is a one-story concrete building to house the high-pressure gas storage battery. On the pad surface are elevators, staircase, and structures to provide service to the mobile launcher and mobile service structure. A ramp with a five percent grade provides access from the crawlerway. This is used by the Crawler to position the mobile launcher housing the Saturn V and the mobile service structure on the support pedestals. A flame trench 58 feet wide by 450 feet long bisects the pad. This trench opens to grade at the north end. The 700,000 pound, mobile, wedge-type flame deflector is mounted on rails in the trench.
mobile service structure
The MSS provides access to those portions of the space vehicle which cannot be serviced from the mobile launcher while at the launch pad. The MSS is transported to the launch site by the Crawler where it is used during launch pad operations. It is removed from the pad a few hours prior to launch and returned to its parking area 7000 feet from the launch pad. It is approximately 402 feet high and weighs 12 million pounds. The tower structure rests on a base 135 feet by 135 feet. At the top, the tower is 87 feet by 113 feet.
crawler
The Crawler is used to transport the mobile launcher including the space vehicle and the mobile service structure to and from the launch pad. The Crawler is capable of lifting, transporting, and lowering the ML or the MSS, as required, without the aid of auxiliary equipment. It consists of a rectangular chassis which is supported through a suspension system by four dual-tread, crawler-trucks. The overall length is 131 feet, and the overall width is 114 feet. The unit weighs approximately six million pounds. It is powered by self-contained, diesel-electric generator units. Maximum speed is 1 mph with full load on level grade and 0.5 mph with full load on the five percent grade to the pad. It has a 500-foot minimum turning radius and can position the ML or the MSS on the facility support pedestals within +2 inches.
vehicle assembly and checkout
The Saturn V Launch Vehicle propulsive stages and the IU are, upon arrival at Kennedy Space Center, transported to the VAB by special carriers. All components of the space vehicle, including the Argosy spacecraft and launch escape system, are then assembled vertically on the Mobile Launcher in the high bay area. Following assembly, the space vehicle is connected to the launch control center via a high-speed data link for integrated checkout and a simulated flight test. When checkout is completed, the Crawler picks up the ML with the assembled space vehicle and moves it three miles to the launch site via the crawlerway.
At the launch site, the ML is emplaced and connected for final vehicle checkout and launch monitoring. During the pre-launch checkout the final system checks are completed, the mobile service structure is removed to the parking area, propellants are loaded, various items of support equipment are removed from the mobile launcher, and the vehicle is readied for launch.
And at that point, the administrator thought with a fond smile—for everyone was fond of Bob—Bob Hertz would come into his true glory.
Already, of course, he had come into a good deal of it, for he and his highly skilled group of scientists and technicians at Mission Control Center in Houston had already spent many long days and nights and weeks and months on specific plans for pre-launch and launch operations, on plotting trajectories, on devising crew exercises, on abort procedures and on all the many other advance coordinations that had to be done before the great birds and their passengers could fly. Bob Hertz loved space and his contributions to it were mighty. It was at launch and after that it all paid off.
How would Bob feel, Andy wondered, as he stood in the glassed-in observation booth above the big Mission Control Room looking down upon its four banks of busy computers and its restless occupants as the countdown neared its end? More likely he would be down on the floor in the thick of it, standing beside Stu Yule at the Capsule Communicator’s desk, his hand resting easily on Stu’s shoulder as the seconds ticked away. Outwardly he would be calm, joking, unconcerned as always. But the pressure of the hand would be growing—growing—growing. Stu would know how Bob really felt inside; and Stu himself would not be exactly calm either, although outwardly he too would probably laugh and joke and parry, now that he was beginning to walk comfortably again and had regained some of his sense of life and humor.
It would be a great moment for them, and great for everyone else in Mission Control, when Planetary Fleet One took off for Mars. They would guard and protect her all the way through the flight plan Bob and his staff had established: the launchings, the rendezvous at Space Station Mayflower for the docking of the three modules, the checkout journey to the Moon, the practice lunar orbits, the practice lunar surface descents and ascents of the Mars landing Module Adventurer, the return to rendezvous with Space Station Mayflower for final checkout, and then the engine firing to put them into trajectory for Mars. And after that, almost constant hellos and goodbyes, suggestions, corrections, agreements, objections, experiments, and changes, for eighteen long months, until at last, at very long last, splashdown and the emergence from Planetary Fleet One into the glaring eye of the world, of—what?
No one really knew, Dr. Anderson thought with a little shiver, for no one had ever tried it. But whatever emerged—and prayerfully, it would be the same personalities that left, a lot older in many ways, a lot more knowledgeable of secrets never unlocked before, probably more tired and physically strained than they had been upon departure, but essentially the same men, in good shape—it would not be for lack of care and protection by Bob Hertz and his faithful crew. Not only in Houston but literally around the world, the controllers and their network would keep pace with Piffy One; and though the signals might grow a little faint far, far out on the distant planet, the care and concern, the helpfulness and encouragement, the affection—the love—would keep them company.
It was not so bad a companionship, Dr. Anderson reflected as he turned to complete his reading: not many were so fortunate. Love was not a concept one thought of very often with skilled, impersonal, scientific NASA, but love was there—and had been—and would be—on every occasion when brave men and their brothers worked together to fling their challenge into the face of the universe. This was Bob Hertz’ world, and few could have guarded it better:
MISSION PLANNING, EXECUTION, AND MONITORING
Mission planning begins with the receipt of mission requirements and objectives. The planning activity results in specific plans for pre-launch and launch operations, pre-flight training and simulation, flight control procedures, flight crew activities, support by Mission Control (Houston) and Manned Space Flight Network (worldwide), recovery operations, data acquisition and flow, and other mission-related operations. Numerous simulations are planned and performed to test procedures and train flight control and flight crew teams in normal and contingency operations.
Mission execution involves the following functions: pre-launch checkout and launch operations; tracking the space vehicle to determine its present and future positions; securing information on the status of the flight crew and space vehicle systems via telemetry; evaluation of telemetry information; commanding the space vehicle by transmitting real-time and updata commands to the onboard computer; voice communication between flight and ground crews; and recovery operations on return to earth. The flight crew and the following organizations and facilities participate in mission control operations:
