Every now and then, John would succeed in proving to some captain that his presence of mind wasn't all it ought to be. Looking at the victim with a cynical grin, he would remark, "there are some mistakes a man makes but once in a lifetime — and not because he learns a lesson from the first one, either. He only makes the one because he hasn't the chance to make any more…"
Of course the Command Post Simulator had no real danger attached to its operation — it wasn't a life or death matter. But it served to fill Holt's record book on his personnel with vital data. An error and its consequences could be thoroughly discussed when committed here. Errors made could be countered later by the unhurried processes of logic, and the best means of preventing or correcting could be thought out at leisure. Some definite "sequences of events" could be repeated and repeated until the correct response had been drilled into the command to a point where it became a conditioned reflex. The Command Post Simulator proved to be an invaluable aid in preparing crews for the mass of difficulties which technological troubles might foist upon them during the trip, and its high cost was more than justified thereby.
As the training proceeded, the Command Post Simulator was to undergo a fate which had not been predicted by either Spencer or Holt, both of whom had shared in its basic conception. Nor did any of the many scientists and engineers who had brought it to a state of highly ingenious perfection have any suspicion of its eventual lot.
The closer the date of eventual departure of the expedition approached, and the more millions were swallowed up in Operation Mars, the greater became the number of Very Important Persons who could not refrain from getting a peep behind the scenes of this most titillating of all projects. Mostly they were driven by a combination of sense of responsibility and just plain curiosity. In ever-increasing numbers they swarmed around the building slips of United Spacecraft for inspections of the landing craft and the components of the Mars vessels. Almost all of them wanted a trip up to the orbit of departure to watch the final assemble, but at that point, General Braden called a very decided halt indeed.
This made the Command Post Simulator a favorite spot for cigar-bearing senators and efficient looking executives. All sorts of dignitaries could be found in it, including Indian potentates and venerable, clever old Chinese, who were frequently said to be influential members of the United Congress. Gray-headed generals renewed their youth in the Simulator as they envisaged realistically what would face the expedition. Braden had found a smooth and satisfactory treatment for these gentry, for, while they often cluttered his efficient plans, he did not feel it wise to risk their displeasure by neglect. And so it came about that John Wiegand often found it necessary to restrict his tender ministrations in the matter of producing synthetic interstellar disasters. Whenever a practice run for once went off without incident, the otherwise tortured crews would remark, "well, that was a V.I.P. run, all right…"
Meanwhile, Sam Woolf had not been idle and had lined up his program of geological studies on Mars under the supervision of Ashley's organization. Holt had promised him a detail of 12 men for excavation and similar geological purposes. This stimulated a veritable flurry of enthusiasm in the development and preparation of suitable digging and drilling tools. The latter presented no small problem in view of the limited tonnage assigned to Woolf's equipment, and particularly because they would have to operate under wide temperature variations in Mars's thin air and be manipulated by men encumbered by space suits. Among other things, Woolf procured a series of colored photographs of terrestrial rock formations of great variety in order to promptly recognize and classify those of Mars, so that he might purposefully lay out his work.
The World Research Board took over in its psychological section a weird assortment of gifts which from all directions were pressed upon Holt for transmission to the Martians. Each giver wished to dispose the Martian recipients favorably towards Earthmen and to acquaint them with the beauties, achievements and peculiarities of life on this terrestrial sphere.
There was a marvelous collection of colored photographs showing every aspect of the Earth's vast countenance. Some were taken from Lunetta and showed Earth as an enormous disc of oceans, clouds and continents. There were pictures of towns and cities in all regions, landscapes, mountains, forests, factories, observatories, ships, railways, automobiles, aircraft and people of all races and colors at work and at home. Flora and fauna were not missing. But of all the photographic subject matter, the ocean was the most prolific. Surf, calm and storm in all their infinite variety seemed to be counted upon to make the greatest impression upon the liquid-lacking Martians.
Not neglected was a sample collection of artistic and handicraft products from different regions. Reproductions of famous paintings, sculptures, memorials and architectural masterpieces; phonograph records of symphonic music, opera and modern music came, along with films of plays and extracts from daily life. There were artistic Chinese silks, Belgian embroideries, French jewelry, German optical work, English porcelain. Finally there were important varieties of woods and metals, ceramics and plastics, together with pictures typifying the advancement of arts and sciences, including a chemistry set with which simple experiments might be demonstrated.
It seemed well for Holt to carry with him under lock and key a folder showing the war potential upon Earth. Atomic explosions, men of war, bombers, space vessels, radar gear, tanks and battle scenes were here depicted in the unhoped-for event that the Martian mentality might exhibit inimical inclinations towards the sister planet. But it was the deepest hope of Holt and of all his collaborators that even a discussion of eventual hostilities would never be called for.
Chapter 11 — The Cosmic Rays
One of the training phases for the great expedition consisted of a month's course of lectures in the old rocket pilot's school in Kahului. It had the further objective of welding the participants into an integrated unit which should be capable of withstanding the physical and psychological hardships of a three years' trip through space. Consequently, it likewise acted as a screening operation, subjecting its members to the most severe type of character test, including absolute sequestration from the outside world. Three candidates in all actually failed to meet the requirements by mockingly belittling Holt's Spartan regulations.
The physical capabilities of the future spacefarers were also tested to the limit under the supervision of a small army of medical and psychological specialists who allowed no defect, whether of body or of personality, to escape. Particular attention was paid to equilibrium and respiration. Even the scientists were made to undergo an exhausting course of athletic exercise to fit them for the great adventure.
The lecture course included every possible phase of interstellar hypothesis and knowledge, it being one of Holt's cherished theories that no member of the expedition should ever pose any question which must remain unanswered within the knowledge possessed by the science of the day. Among the relatively unfamiliar subjects was the effect of cosmic radiation upon the human frame. The Lunetta crews were exposed to it but for short periods, since no man ever spent more than 14 days on duty in the artificial satellite, followed by not less than a month deep within the sheltering shell of the atmosphere. There was much discussion as to what would happen on the trip to Mars, when even the favored ones who would descend to the planet would be exposed to cosmic rays for almost a year and a half, while the shipkeepers who would circle in the Martian orbit would find no shelter from the rays for a full three years. There were those who insisted that members of the expedition would return to Earth, if indeed they returned at all, with severe damage to their organic systems.