"3. Estimated personneclass="underline" 70. Approximately 25 % to be Commando troops in preparation for any armed resistance which might be met. The remaining 75 % will consist of officers and technicians for the rocket ships, scientists, communicators and physicians, etc.
4. The expedition will be composed of ten space ships, of which seven will return to Earth, while three will be abandoned near Mars. Each of these three ships will be equipped with a landing boat to be used for landing upon the Martian surface and for taking off therefrom. The three ships will also serve as general cargo carriers for food and supplies; likewise for such supplementary equipment as special devices, committing boats, spare parts, repair equipment and so forth.
5. When the ten ships have reached the orbit of Mars and entered its gravitational field, any tendency to fall freely to the surface will be counteracted by a power maneuver. This will lead them into a satellite orbit. From this satellite orbit the surface of the planet will be carefully reconnoitered, photographed and studied, preliminary to the selection of a suitable landing area and the planning of the movements of the landing party upon the surface. Should this observation give grounds to believe that a landing might be impossible or inadvisable, none will be attempted. In this case, the squadron will await a suitable opposition between Mars and the Earth for the return trip and then undertake it.
6. Departure and return paths of the expedition will be those of a satellite orbit around the Earth. This orbit will lie in the plane of the ecliptic and will complete a full turn around the Earth in two hours at an altitude of approximately 1,040 miles. This orbit is almost identical with that of Lunetta, except for the fact that it lies at an angle thereto.
7. The Mars ships and the equipment pertaining thereto, including personnel, will be transported to the departure orbit by rocket ships of the Sirius-class. The Mars ships and equipment will be transported disassembled. Assembly and loading will take place in the orbit of departure. The landing boats will be assembled on Earth and flown up to the departure orbit under their own power.
8. A ferry service will be instituted whose main problem as to volume and mass will be to deliver the propellants for the Mars ships into the departure orbit. It is anticipated that the Space Forces will augment the number of Sinus-class rocket ships at their disposal in view of this exigency.
9. The landing on Mars is to be carried out, if possible, with avoidance of any hostile contact with inhabitants of Mars." General Braden ceased reading for a moment, then he said, "There you have it, Holt.
What's your opinion?"
"General, it's a wonderful plan."
The general went on, "It can hardly be called a plan, Holt. You might call it an outline for a plan. When the details are gone into, there are probably many changes to be made, but it will serve as a general directive."
"May I ask a few questions, sir?" said Holt.
"Shoot, Colonel," replied the General.
"Where is the money coming from?"
"Of course that's still one of the most important problems. President Vandenbosch intends to ask the United Congress for a special appropriation if our preliminary studies seem to justify it. Our astronomical division is working hard on a Special Report, as complete as they can make it, and profusely illustrated with the latest and best photographs of the planet. That ought to give the President's request enough power for him to put it over."
"Is that material available, sir?" said Holt. "I'd like very much to see it if I may…"
"Of course you may," said the General. "Tell you what you do. Drop up to Lunette in the next day or so and interview the astronomers. Mars is in opposition right now and in the most favorable phase for observation. We've taken advantage of it for the photographs you've seen, and you can get a good look at your planet in the new reflecting telescope."
"General, I'm sure we'll need a very considerable quantity of new information about Mars in order to have adequate basic data to work up a satisfactory plan for this undertaking." Holt looked at the General quizzically. We surely shall," answered the latter, "and there is a lot more which is not covered by data on Mars alone. There are many other phases of this job which call for extensive research along many lines. Professor Ashley — you know, he's Head of the World
Research Board — has promised us all the support and cooperation that the Board can give. That means that every University and Research Center in the whole world is at our disposal. And, of course, quite a lot of the funds appropriated by the Congress will have to be spent for such research."
"General, what's your guess as to the total amount of money required?"
"Our preliminary estimate is two billion dollars. But whether it'll be enough's another question…"
"How about personnel, general? Has anybody besides myself been selected to handle the planning and to go on the expedition?"
"Here's the setup on that, Holt: United Spacecraft will build the space ships and the landing boats. Spencer must have told you that, and I'm sure that you'll agree that he's the best man and his company is the best company for it. Spencer will also have to build the additional Sirius-class ships for the ferry work.
"For the planning job, we're going to form a committee composed of Spencer and some of his staff, one of Professor Ashley's men, and you and me. This committee will determine just what's to be done and will also distribute the work appropriately.
"We've made no plans as to the personnel of the expedition itself. If you head it, it seems best to give you the widest latitude as to who goes with you. But, of course, Ashley ought to have the say when it comes to picking the various scientific specialists, particularly for the research work on Mars itself."
The General smiled at Holt and continued, "You know you'll be gone from the Earth for almost three years, don't you? That's a very long time, and you'll run into a lot of surprises and technical difficulties. Not only that, but you're going to have some pretty psychological problems on your hands.
"Think it over for a minute… You and your crews will see the Earth only as another heavenly body for almost three years. It will not appear as a solid, homey disk, with the familiar continental outlines standing out and reminding you of where you live. You see it that way from Lunetta, or from the Moon…
"When you pick your people, you'd better see to it that every man jack understands that. You and they will have to know that everything that matters to you will seem to have shrunk to nothingness on the surface of a nasty little star in the dim distance. And you'd better be mighty careful about the bodily fitness and the psychological strength of every one of them. Ask yourself whether their initial enthusiasm will hold up after two and three years before you choose. I tell you, Holt, you're going to need men of steel for this job. And you, the leader, will have to be case-hardened."
The old soldier's words made a deep impression on Holt, and the fact that the grand old man of the Space Forces had found in him the qualities necessary for a task of such magnitude touched him profoundly. After a moment, he asked, "What about the publicity, sir? Is there to be any? I presume that it's all Top Secret so far…"
"Well," said the general, "so far, we've kept the new research data on Mars and the photos under wraps to prevent too much of a stir. But when President Vandenbosch forwards his request for the appropriation to Congress, that will be dropped. We then propose to put on a campaign in all the newspapers of the world. The idea is to publish the pictures and to discuss them technically; likewise to go into the plans for the expedition. Our hope is that we shall be able to steer the public reaction, which we expect will be enormous, into constructive and controllable channels."