My Story by YDY

Sorry gang, I didn't get time today to finish it. I have a good ending too. It just seemed like the story wasn't going the way I wanted it to. I also wanted to go back and add more descriptions.

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I woke up to the same metal walls I have seen for the past few hundred days. I was supposed to live in plain white walls. Thanks to my markers, I have added my own decorations. Now that I look at it, I wonder if I went mad at some point during this ordeal. This is the prison I have put myself in. If I die in my sleep, this will become my coffin since the entire building is buried under the Martian soil. The thin atmosphere of mars does not protect the surface from the little bit of radiation from the sun. Being underground also protects the building from the dust storms that can rage on the surface.
Now I have to get out of bed. I have to fight the depression that I know I am in or I will never get up. It is like a fog that surrounds me. It blocks out the good things for me to see. In the shadows of the fog, I only see the worst. I have to think of the positive things to act like the sun and burn off this fog of depression. The NASA adviser told me this could happen. She could have never known how bad my situation would become.
Let's see, I am still alive and I don't have to wake up to an alarm clock. THE LAUNCH CLOCK! Today is the day I thought I would never see. This is worth getting up for. I move from the bedroom to my living room. This is where I do part of my work that has become my daily routine that keeps me alive. There is nothing much here. A small table with a computer on it is in the center of the room. From that computer I can do everything. I can control the remote vehicles on the surface, monitor the cameras, play games and I can continue to try contacting earth. The best chair from the spacecraft that brought me here seems out of place for the sterile decor. It doesn't bother me as this is my favorite place to be. I settle into the chair and display the launch clock on the computer screen.
There is what I have been waiting for. The launch window is now open for the next week. I can put on my spacesuit, go get in the return spacecraft and head home. I feel like I am in shock. I'm just staring at the clock as the time ticks by. You would think that I would run out and blast off the first second that I could. However my situation is much more complicated. I have made all the preparations to launch; I just haven't made the decision to go back to earth.
I really want to go home more than anything. It would be so great just to talk to someone. The last person I talked to was the NASA operator when I made it to Mars. I was in orbit and ready to start the decent to the surface. I asked him to wish me luck. He did and I detached the lander from the main mother ship. I fired the rockets that pushed the spacecraft down to the planet. I knew there would be a radio blackout. I was too busy with the landing to be chatting on the radio.
When I safely landed, I switched the radio to the Mars network. Instead of sending from the mother ship, my little lander radio sends the message to one of the nearest satellites in orbit and it sends the strong signal to earth. The closest to earth that mars can ever be is about 45 million miles. At that distance, it takes a radio signal about 4 minutes to cover the distance one-way. I radioed back that I was 100% successful in the landing.
People back on earth joked with me that if I ever had to land the ship, there would be a broken landing strut. You see, I was never supposed to pilot the craft. My job was to run the science experiments. I was only trained briefly on how to land just in case something happened to one of the crew. I always seemed to land the ship hard. Nobody really worked with me to make sure I got it right since it was unlikely that I would ever touch the controls.
On the flight here to mars, one of the connecting air locks must have been hit by something big. Two living areas were decompressed killing everyone except me. I was in the science pod near the rear of the ship. That is why I have been alone on Mars for a little over a year. I hate to think about this. I only sink deeper into the quicksand of depression remembering this. I have to think of something positive.
I remember when I was accepted into the new astronaut training program. That at the time was what I wanted more than anything. I was always being called in for another interview and test. I have been through a hundred tests of everything you could imagine. It seemed like NASA was making up different tests to delay starting the President's initiative to land people on Mars.
I opened up the door to a building I had never been in before at NASA. I had no idea how they were going to spin me around a new way or reduce the oxygen to see when I couldn't think clearly. Whatever the test, I was determined to pass it. Inside the building was a warehouse full of people that seemed to be having a party. Was I in the right place? The director of NASA himself shouted out, "Everyone welcome the newest member to our Mars astronaut crew!" I couldn't have been happier. All those people making a big fuss over me. I was just getting my dream job at NASA. That memory has kept me focused as best I can on completing this mission. All those people cheering for me. I wish everyone could experience that at least once in their life.
Testing was finally over. Training had just begun. I knew my field of science. It was easy learning the simple experiments they had planned. I would be in charge of astronomy on the 300 day trip to Mars. Once on the planet, I became a Botanist working with plants. The really tough training was being a backup to the other three men in the crew. They were all top in their field. I felt I was barely half as good as they were.
I learned that the ship was being built to be the lightest they could make it. Imagine a triple sized Apollo command module with 4 rails going a long way behind it. Connected to the back of that command module are 9 inflated living areas. They are just a little more than Kevlar balloons that we will live and work in on the trip. The bullet proof balloons 'should' protect us from the micro meteorites that may hit the ship.
In the center of the ship is our safe room. A lead lined room for us to go to when the sun has a large solar flare that releases deadly radiation. We stay in that room until the danger has passed. At the very back of the ship in front of the rocket engines is another command module. If the ship hits something that damages the main controls in the front, the rear controls will let us operate the ship.
I really don't like being in that rear control room because it is right in front of the fuel storage area. Where do they put my science lab? That's right, the very last balloon pod. If anything caused an explosion, you would be dead in an instant. I would rather take my chance at the front of the ship. Space is so vast that the odds of hitting something that will cause serious damage are very small. At least the front of the ship should survive the rockets exploding. The front is also our landing craft to descend to the surface of Mars.
Our spaceship was being built in orbit around earth with materials mined from the moon. An electromagnetic rail gun shoots a metal container to earth orbit. Inside the container are the building materials for the ship. Of course some things get sent up from earth.
The rail gun is something I would have like to have seen. It is a long rail with many electromagnets in a circle around the rail. When the metal cylinder is put on a sled on the rail, it is ready to be fired. All the magnets are turned on to full power which pulls the sled and cylinder through the tunnel of magnets. As the sled moves forward, they break a beam of light which turns off the magnets that it has reached. Each rib of magnets has a light beam that will turn it off. That way only the magnets in the front are pulling it forward. They say it goes really fast.
Our journey started off great. We started the rockets and used the moons gravity to slingshot our way to towards mars. Since the earth goes around the sun faster than mars, we also had the momentum from the earth's orbit around the sun to help. When we launched, the earth was catching up to mars. Getting there seemed easy. Getting back would require more fuel.
NASA had already landed supplies on the surface of mars before we launched. Using remote controls, they had mined and refined the fuel we would need to come back home. The storage tanks were full on mars when we launched. That was one less thing we would have to do.
The first few days after we left earth, we were kept busy on the radio with reporters interviewing us. Some asked good questions, but most were the same questions asked by different people. When the public lost interest in us, the reporters didn't bother us anymore. Instead NASA was busy finding busy work to keep us occupied. I don't think they wanted us idle to think about our situation. If anything went wrong, we couldn't turn around. We had to go to mars!
The radio helped us from going crazy. We got our news from it. We were able to vote in the Presidential election. A new president was elected. I was sorry to hear that the old president wasn't reelected. He did a lot to support NASA and increased their budget. I just hope the new president will do the same.
The first half of the trip went well. There were a few minor glitches but nothing to speak of. However, being in the confined space caused some people to be irritated with others. Everyone could escape to their own pod to be alone if they wanted. The long journey was starting to take its toll on us. NASA made sure we had duties to work as a team to force us to work together. They didn't want hermits on the ship.
Day 249 of the trip was the disaster. We were all getting together to eat and celebrate the pilot's birthday. Everyone had gathered together in pod 2, the second from the front. I forgot the birthday card I had made in the science lab. Little things like having to go to the rear of the ship and back would bother me. One of the rules of the ship was that airlocks between the pods must be closed unless someone was moving from one to the other. I always felt like breaking that rule so that I could move quickly back without having to open the airlock door again. It was good that I didn't break that rule. As I got in pod 6 heading back to my lab, the ship shuddered. I wondered if someone fired the rockets for just a second since we were coasting towards mars. If it was a joke, that kind of thing would not be tolerated.
I decided to continue to the last pod to scout for what caused the trouble. Nothing seemed out of place when I got the birthday card. I worked my way back to pod 4. When I tried to open the airlock to pod 3, it was on a seal lock. That meant there was no air pressure on the other side of the door. Now I had found the trouble. Pod 3 had depressurized. I was cut off from the guys in pod 2. I got on the intercom to tell them what I found. There was no response. A deep sense of dread came over me. Had someone been moving into pod 3 when it depressurized? Hopefully it was only the intercom that was broken.
I moved as quickly as I could to the rear command module. Red lights and alarms were going off all over the place. The ship was in a spin which wasn't good. The automatic controls were firing the maneuvering thrusters to stop the spin and point the ship in the right direction to minimize any impacts.
Contacting NASA ground control was difficult. I didn't want to tell them what my fear was. Telling them just the facts that I knew was bad enough. They approved my EVA to go outside the ship and survey the damage. This is where I could easily die. Traveling at such a high speed with only a space suit to protect me was the biggest danger I had faced on the trip. If we were going through the debris from a comet's tail, it could take hours to cross through it.
I got into my suit and nervously went outside. I attached a cable to a runner on one of the four rails that went down the length of the ship. There was no way I was going to let go and go floating off. Traveling the length of the ship from the inside always seemed to take a long time. Just traveling this short way to pod 3 from the outside seemed to take even longer. Getting past pod 4 was the beginning of my nightmare. I could see not only 3 had deflated but also number 2 where everyone was. The only hope for someone to be alive is if they moved forward from the ship.
Moving forward, I could see the damage. Something hit right between the pods. The airlock was pushed hard enough to rip open part of each pod it was connecting. The air would have escaped in a couple of seconds. I could see inside the lights were still on. Counting the bodies floating inside, I knew they were all dead. I fought to hold back the tears. Our party had turned to a tragedy. Not only had I lost friends but now operating the entire ship was all up to me.
I made it to the front command module and got inside. Using the radio, I gave NASA the code for a crew member is dead. At least I remember that part of my training. Since family members or the general public could be listening to our radio, NASA wanted to make sure they notified the family and not some reporters racing to them. It was difficult informing them in code that I was the only living crew member on the ship.
The ground controllers were talking to me about meaningless things for a long time. I could imagine that everyone was called in on this. It was probably chaos for all the NASA people. Finally the decision was made to cast the dead into space after a service was held. For now, I was to leave the pod alone. After the service, I was to recover anything that I could.
We had a backup plan in case one or all the pods were to fail. I had to get the tunnel out of storage and do an EVA to connect 1 and 4. Otherwise I would have to put on a space suit every time I wanted to move from one end of the ship to the other. Keeping busy kept my mind off the situation.
I hate thinking about any of this. I will never forget the scene as I committed the bodies of my friends to space. After traveling alone for a few days, I didn't bother checking in with NASA. I wanted to grieve for the loss. When I resumed radio contact, I answered questions in an annoyed tone. I knew the decision to abort the landing on mars was mine to make. I could either orbit mars and recover the fuel or land and try to complete the mission.
I decided with all the supplies on the surface, I should give it a try. At least it would honor the crew that was lost. The ground controllers had psychologists talk to me to try and prepare me for being alone. Most of the time they were just getting on my nerves trying to help me. I knew it was going to be difficult. Having a conversation was the worst since I had to wait almost 4 minutes for what was transmitted to arrive at the other end.
Finally, what seemed like forever, the ship entered orbit. I prepped the lander with extra supplies since there was less weight. All the prepackaged food that was to stay on the ship for over a year was raided. I made a good sized dent in those supplies. At least I was going to eat for a while if the seeds I brought didn't grow. When I made the trip back to earth, I should still have extra supplies when I arrive.
Detaching the lander was tough. I wanted all the help I could get so I asked the person at ground control to wish me luck. I knew what I was facing in the future and that made it hard to start the landing. Had I forgotten anything? NASA had a detailed checklist. If I did forget something that I wanted, it couldn't be that important.
The trip down was just like the simulators. I followed the checklist as things happened. Right before the final rockets fire to slow the lander to the surface, my heart was beating as hard as it could. On manual landings, I almost always landed hard for one reason or another. This time I got it just right. I let the computer land the craft. Now I am safely on mars.
The radio on the lander is weak compared to the ship. I switched over to the mars network. My radio would send the signal to one of the orbiting satellites and it would send a stronger signal to earth. That just meant the delay was going to get longer. I radioed back that I was 100% successful in the landing. I waited for the cheers from ground control. 30 seconds went by and no response. There should have been something sent to me. After a minute, I switched the radio to the mother ship and have it relay the message. I still got no response.
Something must have broken in the link for us to communicate. I was probably sending out the signal and just not receiving what earth was sending to me. I decided to check out the main base and see if the radio there worked.
On the first trip from the lander to the tunnel that leads to the underground base, I tried to carry too much. I left one bundle of food on the ground near the tunnel entrance. At least I got it part of the way. Once inside I found the main controls and radioed that I was OK. After a minute, still no response. Could this be mission control testing me or something? Why am I not getting a response?
I decided to move all the vehicles in a line in front of the main camera. If NASA couldn't talk to me, they could at least move something to let me know they are trying. Then I got a bright idea. I used one of the rovers to pick up the package of food I left on the ground and bring it to the airlock. This was going to save me multiple trips to the lander.
With the space suit sealed, I brought the pack of food inside. There was enough air in the tanks to make multiple trips out before I would have to recharge it. I went back to the lander and unloaded everything to the ground outside. After sealing up the lander, I took all that I could carry back to the underground base.
Driving the remote rover was actually fun for me. I was able to monitor the radio and get something done at the same time. When everything on the ground was moved to just outside the airlock, I parked the rover back in the line and brought everything inside. Finally I could take off the bulky spacesuit. Now to explore my habitat and see if there are any changes from the model we trained in on earth. I also have to find a place to store everything I brought from the lander.
Once everything was stored away, I had to find something else to keep me busy. Planting the seeds was the most important. They should grow but they have been exposed to a lot of radiation during the trip when we went to the safe room. Some seeds were soaked in water to get them started faster. Other seeds were just planted in the farming rooms. Any sunlight from outside was gathered by mirrors and sent down fiber optic cables. I could direct the sunlight to any part of the room I wanted. Growing lights were in the ceiling and available for when the sun wasn't shining on the mirrors.

Well done. It kept me reading to the end. The design of your interplanetary ship was rather interesting. I hadn't considered the command modules being the only "solid" portions of the ship. That would certainly make it much lighter for fuel conservation. As you noted, however, it has it's own set of pitfalls. It's too bad you didn't get a chance to finish this.