Peter signaled to Viktor he would take it from here. “NA1SS, we are preparing to dock at Node 2 Zenith, do you copy?”
“What? We have no knowledge of any spacecraft scheduled to be docking. What is your purpose and what country are you from, over?”
“NA1SS, this information cannot be transmitted over the radio. We will commence stage docking in fifteen minutes, over,” said Peter.
“Hold on, sonny. You can’t just dock with the ISS until we get it officially approved,” said the voice.
“Galileo signing off,” said Peter as he slid his hand across his throat signaling a cutting motion.
Viktor immediately cut off their transmission.
“They didn’t sound too happy, did they? You figure they would be a little friendlier to guests stopping by.” Peter smiled. He called back to Mission Control, “California, ISS has been informed that Galileo will begin docking in fifteen minutes.”
“Roger, Galileo. How did they sound?” asked Mission Control.
“Pissed.”
“Roger that.”
PETER LOOKED AT BOTH CONTROLLERS at the end of his arm rests. Up to this point he had not grabbed them. What was the point, since Mission Control was flying Galileo? But now, Galileo was holding just fifty meters out from the space station and Mission Control was doing its final check before passing control over to him. His palms were sweating inside of his gloves as he was about to pilot a spacecraft for the first time. He opened up his gloved hands and slowly lowered them on the controllers. He gradually wrapped his fingers around, one by one, securely grabbing each stick. It felt good. I’m ready for this!
While Peter waited with anticipation for the go-ahead, he looked out his window at the large station floating above him and located the two Soyuz spacecrafts hanging upside down on the Russian side of the station, like wasps hanging from their nest. He stared at the Soyuz closest to the VASIMR Engine, which was the model K version and their ride to the moon. He shook his head, still amazed at the adventure ahead of him. He turned his focus to the Harmony module on the U.S. side where he would be docking. He saw no obstacles in his way. Should be a piece of cake. As he continued observing the station he couldn’t help thinking it looked a lot like the many Tinker Toy masterpieces he had made as a kid. The most impressive part was the station’s eight enormous golden solar arrays that hovered above him, dwarfing both the Galileo and the station’s modules. He felt like he was on the edge of a giant redwood forest. This is going to be a challenge and its going to be a blast! The radio came alive. “Galileo, this is California. You’re clear for initial stage docking with Node 2 Zenith. Good Luck.”
“Roger, California, cleared for initial stage docking,” said Peter. He slightly tilted the rotational controller to the right to see if he actually had control. To his delight, the thrusters fired and the capsule started to roll right. Yep… she’s in my hands. He smiled as he positioned her back. He had spent hours in the simulator at SpaceQuest training for this moment. He remembered back to Allen stressing the importance of this maneuver, and how he sadly crashed the first time trying. That wasn’t going to happen this time. As his breathing increased, he ignored his nerves, focusing instead on the monitor showing a three dimensional view of his spacecraft and the space station.
Before proceeding, he flipped the switch to pop open the front cone of the capsule, exposing its docking adapter. A soft motor sound vibrated in their cockpit as he looked out his window. He was relieved to see the tip of the capsule slowly swinging open; there was no backup plan if it didn’t open. Once the display signaled cone detachment, he radioed, “Mission Control, Galileo has cone detachment.”
“Roger, Galileo, we confirm detachment. Proceed at .05 meters per second and hold at the ten meter mark, over.”
“Roger, California.” He glanced at Viktor, who was keeping an eye out his window insuring Peter didn’t fly into anything. He gave Peter a thumbs-up before resuming his position.
Peter twisted the left controller to the right and heard the thrusters fire. The spacecraft slowly yawed to the right. He stopped it once he had Galileo perfectly on line with Harmony. Peter was now sweating as he studied the display in front of him. After a final review of his instrument panel, he began moving the capsule toward the station. As they inched along he did slight adjustments with each controller keeping the ship aligned, each adjustment causing thrusters to fire around them. He was impressed with how well the spacecraft was responding—just like the simulator. Allen would be proud.
As expected, there was no black cross target on Harmony’s docking port to help guide them in like there was in the simulator, so he had to rely on his eye and instruments to line up Galileo. Soon he was at the ten meter mark. Feeling comfortable with their position he radioed, “Mission Control, Galileo at the ten meter mark and on target. Holding for clearance to proceed.”
“Roger, Galileo, continue to hold while we confirm your position.” Then the radio went silent. Everything was going according to plan, but Peter knew not to get over-confident, especially since both spacecraft were cruising at over 17,000 mph and only ten meters apart. He tightly held each controller steady as he stayed focused. He continued to study his monitor as he waited for California’s go-ahead.
“Galileo, all systems look good and you are clear for final stage docking.”
“Roger, California, clear for final stage docking.”
Peter began moving Galileo toward Harmony’s zenith docking port while Viktor called out the remaining distance.
“Eight meters until engagement.”
Peter elected to keep his eye only on his monitor since it showed three different views and would give a warning indication if he strayed off course.
“Three meters,” called out Viktor.
Peter lifted his left hand off the controller and reached for the docking switch out of the corner of his eye, not deviating from the monitor.
“One meter until engagement.”
Peter had Galileo in position and both men prepared for contact. A soft screeching sound of two metals sliding against each other was heard before a loud thud as their docking adaptor slammed into the docking port, giving a slight jolt to the capsule that shook the astronauts. The contact light illuminated and immediately Peter flipped the docking switch which initiated a series of hooks, securing Galileo tightly with the space station. Peter took a moment to review his monitor, then looked outside. All looked good. He looked at Viktor, who had a big grin on his face.
“Good job, Commander.”
Peter smiled. They had successfully handled the first major step of their mission. “California, Galileo is securely docked with Node 2, over.”
A sudden burst of screams in the background rang through the radio before Bernie calmly spoke over the excitement, “Congratulations, Galileo, you have some happy folks down here.”
Peter beamed. “Roger, California, you have some happy astronauts up here.”
SO FAR PETER HADN’T GOTTEN SICK. Instead he felt great. If that continued he wouldn’t have to wait thirty-six hours to do the first spacewalk. It was time to confront the ISS crew and hope they could get to the point of working in space.
Both men sat in their capsule. They’d taken off their helmets and gloves after securing Galileo. Peter had initiated further conversations with the station since docking without divulging their intentions, persuading the ISS commander to let them enter. Peter had already opened his hatch and was waiting for the ISS crew to open theirs.