“Well obviously China is out, and right now Russia is staying neutral,” the president stated.
Doug posted a finger in the air. “There was one creative idea suggested by one of the engineers. He recommended using the Soyuz escape pod on the International Space Station. He concluded since it was already out of Earth’s atmosphere, there would be no need for a large rocket. The problem with this situation is the Soyuz engine is not powerful enough to provide sufficient thrust to boost it out of Earth’s orbit. In order to get it going to the moon, the engine would have to fire constantly. The dilemma is its low thrust would only be able to push it into a slightly higher orbit each time going around the earth. So the engine would have to continuously fire, taking the Soyuz around and around the earth until it eventually escapes the earth’s gravitational pull. Unfortunately, we calculated this would take weeks before it escaped and was headed to the moon. Though I guess you could say this is a possible solution, the chances of success are very slim. The Soyuz engine just isn’t designed to fire constantly for that long a period. Of course, you would also need a great deal of fuel for this to happen, which currently doesn’t exist on the ISS.”
The president let out a loud grunt as he got up from his chair and walked over to the window, thinking. All were quiet waiting for him to speak. The president abruptly turned to Doug. “Damn it, there has to be a way. We are the leading country in space exploration. We’ve already sent men to the moon. You would think with all this experience and expertise at NASA we could figure out how to get a man back if it was a national crisis. Doug, think! There has to be a way!”
Doug was visibly struggling, trying to come up with some kind of solution. The room was quiet waiting for him to respond. All of a sudden he perked up. “Well, maybe there is a way! In one of our last Shuttle missions before they were retired, we took up a new engine that was going to be tested in space. This booster rocket is called the Variable Specific Impulse Magnetoplasma Rocket, or VASIMR, which is an electro-magnetic thruster for spacecraft propulsion, like a plasma rocket.”
Bill waved his hands around. “Wait… wait… you are getting too technical for me. Please say it in more layman’s terms.”
“Sorry, sir. The VASIMR engine is not suitable for operation in our atmosphere. It needs to be in a vacuum or in space to operate correctly. It’s an engine that is more fuel efficient than our current boosters and the hope is to use it on future explorations in deep space, such as flying to Mars. In order for us to even consider flying to Mars or far off asteroids, we need more efficient engines. We wanted to get as accurate a test as we could, so we chose to do this in space. Since the space station needs to be periodically boosted into a higher orbit to keep it from falling to Earth, we concluded this test could be that boost. The test worked perfect. Because of its success, and the fact the propellant for the engine is hydrogen, which is a byproduct of the ISS, NASA chose to continue using the engine for altitude reboosting. Using the VASIMR rocket instead of the current chemical rockets to boost the ISS saves $200 million dollars in fuel costs annually.”
Doug took a moment to gather his thoughts before continuing. “There is a possibility this rocket could be attached to the back end of the Soyuz and provide it with a powerful enough boost to get it out of orbit. Of course this is all a stretch. This has never been discussed or thought of, so I am not sure if this is even plausible. Plus I am not sure there is enough fuel at the ISS to accommodate such a boost. This is definitely thinking out of the box, sir.”
Jack asked, “Assume this engine worked—are there any other issues we should be concerned with?”
“Unfortunately, yes. First, the escape pod is not designed for deep space travel. It would need to be modified for barbecue mode, then—”
Bill interrupted Doug again. “Barbecue mode? What the hell is that?”
“Sir, that is where the spacecraft slowly rotates as it travels through space, preventing one side from being overexposed from the sun and overheating, kind of like a rotisserie chicken on your barbecue. All our moon missions had this.”
“It’s been awhile since I’ve barbecued, but I get it.” Bill smirked.
Doug went on. “Additionally, the Soyuz will need some liquid rockets for course adjustments. I’m not sure if the current thrusters can handle this, but I can have this looked into. Also, the VASIMR engine will need to be jettisoned from the spacecraft shortly after it fires, possibly with explosive bolts or a spacewalk so the Soyuz engine could be used—” Doug’s eyes suddenly widened before he started shaking his head and looked to the ground.
Bill asked, “What is it?”
Doug looked back up at the president and let out a deep breath. “Well, sir, with the VASIMR engine jettisoned, the Soyuz engine should be able to fire to slow the spacecraft down and allow it to get into lunar orbit, but…”
“But what?”
“Sir, there would be no way of bringing that spacecraft back to Earth.” Doug shifted in his chair, hands between his knees.
“Oh. Why?” asked Bill.
“There would not be an engine available to provide the boost needed to escape the moon’s gravitational pull and return the astronaut to Earth. Our astronaut would circle the moon until he ran out of supplies and died. So I guess that rules out that option.”
“Any other ideas?” asked Bill.
“I can’t think of any, sir.” Doug shrugged.
“Then I want your team to figure out how to get our man home,” said the president sternly.
“Yes, sir,” said Doug, crinkling his brow.
Jack turned to Doug. “Let’s say this miracle works and we get our man to the moon. Would he be able to reprogram the laser on the first pass?”
Doug thought for a moment before answering, “It would be tough. That first pass is the quickest going around the backside, only forty-five minutes. He would have to initiate and monitor the LOI burn. I guess it depends on how complicated inputting those codes are. He would definitely be a busy man back there on that first pass.”
Steve chimed in. “What’s the LOI burn?”
Doug said, “That’s the burn that slows down the spacecraft and puts it into lunar orbit. It happens on the back side of the moon.”
“How would we get him up to the space station?” asked Jack.
“SpaceQuest, probably. They’re the first commercial company we signed a contract with to resupply the space station. The first missions will be using unmanned cargo ships. I’m not sure what modifications would be needed to handle a manned flight, but I know that’s its ultimate design. So I doubt it would require too much change. Besides, their current trips need to handle live animals and plants. They’re probably our best choice if we can’t put him on a Russian flight. Unfortunately, they’re behind on launching their first resupply mission.”
“Russia is out, so it would have to be this company, SpaceQuest,” Bill said. “Plus, since they’re a private firm it’ll be easier to say we’re not involved.” Bill nodded to the NASA director. “Doug I want you to research this more, and determine exactly what it would take for this to work. Also, have your engineers brainstorm and see if they can come up with any other ideas or suggestions, especially on how to get our man back. Make sure the specifics on why you’re looking into this are kept secret. I do not want the mole in your agency getting wind of this and forwarding it to China.” The president signaled the meeting was over by standing. “We’re going to get a man to the moon and prove China wrong! I want a report on my desk in twenty-four hours.”
Doug hesitated, but answered, “Yes, sir.”
The president called the meeting adjourned. As all three men got up, Jack mentioned to the president there was something he needed to discuss in private. The president motioned for him to stay as he shook the other two gentlemen’s hands.