It was a tough balancing act that often put her resilience and composure to the extreme test.
The day after she accepted the assignment of Orion task force leader, her face was all over the televised landscape. In addition to being the subject of pieces on virtually every national and local newscast, she made appearances on two of the three morning coffee klatch shows via satellite, conducted the first of what would be a series of regular afternoon media briefings at the Cape, and was the leadoff guest on cable TV’s highest-rated prime-time interview program, again via remote feed.
Her first booking was a five-minute spot with the same Gary Somebody-or-other who’d snared her for the cameras just before the shuttle launch was to have taken place. A genial man in his thirties, his plain-vanilla good looks and honey-voiced manner contributed to his talent for reducing conversations about wars, disasters, and the latest showbiz buzz alike into a homogeneous puree that washed down smoothly with breakfast and made him a consistent Nielsen winner. While Gary was certainly opportunistic, Annie had to admit that she sort of liked him, finding him to be further removed from a Gila monster than many of his peers, and a whole lot sharper than his soft and fuzzy veneer let on.
“We appreciate your taking the time to join us, Ms. Caulfield,” he began in a tone of gentle empathy. “On behalf of this broadcast’s staff and viewers, I’d like to extend my condolences to NASA and the family of James Rowland. Our thoughts go out to all of you.”
“Thank you, Gary. The support we’ve gotten from the public obviously means a great deal to us, and has been a particular comfort to Jim’s wife and daughter.”
“Can you tell us what sort of impact the tragedy has had on you personally? I know that you and Colonel Rowland were close friends as well as colleagues.”
Don’t choke up, she thought. Answer him, give him his follow-up, and maybe then he’ll drop it.
“Well… like anybody who suffers the loss of someone dear, I find it hard to put all my feelings into words. Jim’s death has been devastating for everyone who knew him. He had a huge, warm personality, and it’s hard to believe he’s gone. He’ll be terribly missed and remembered always.”
“You flew several missions into space with Colonel Rowland, didn’t you?”
One word. Don’t choke.
“Yes.”
“As crewmates on several missions, did the two of you ever discuss the possibility of being harmed in what is, after all, a highly dangerous occupation?”
Please, let’s move on.
“I don’t recall that we ever did. I think every astronaut feels a sense of privilege about being chosen to go into space. We’re always aware things can go wrong and try to prepare for these eventualities in training, and I’m convinced it’s because of this training that the rest of Orion’s crew escaped the shuttle unharmed. But we really can’t afford to dwell on the risks of our job any more than a firefighter or police officer can worry about them when he starts out each day.”
“Of course, I understand, and believe it’s one of the main reasons that astronauts have come to epitomize an almost mythic spirit of heroism to those of us who’ve only been able to see the stars from the ground, and dreamed of seeing the ground from the stars.”
Whatever that means, as long as you please, please move on, she thought with an interim smile, having no idea how to respond.
“On the subject of your present duties as Orion task force leader, how do you intend to proceed with your efforts to determine the cause of last Tuesday’s terrible calamity at the launchpad?”
Thank you. I think.
“Speaking in general terms, and that’s the best I can do at this juncture, we’ll assemble a team that will look at what happened and search for clues to help us isolate the factors leading up to it. Any forensic probe is largely a process of elimination, and it’s going to require a painstaking examination of Orion’s remains.”
“May we assume your investigative team is to be composed of NASA personnel?”
“As we expressed in our initial statement to the press, we’re quite firmly committed to using experts from inside and outside the space agency—”
“When you say outside experts, I find myself wondering where they’d be drawn from, this being an occurrence that’s had few historic parallels. Other than Challenger, and Apollo 10 before that, nothing else gratefully comes to mind… and I do want to emphasize the word gratefully. ”
“I understand the basis of your question, Gary. But we’ve learned a great deal from the accidents you mention, and many of the people who helped determine what occurred in those instances are available for consultation — or even active participation — in our investigation. Also, while it’s true that the shuttle is a unique and advanced spacecraft, many of its systems and subsystems share a common baseline with the technologies used in other modern flying machines. Consequently, there’s a wide pool of authorities from government and civil aviation who can be of tremendous assistance to us.”
“Does that mean the FAA and National Transportation and Safety Board will be involved?”
Name the two agencies that nobody but nobody trusts, why don’t you? Might as well ask about the possible inclusion of former KGB operatives, or maybe Nixon’s White House plumbers while you’re at it.
“We’ll be working alongside those groups to get to the bottom of what happened, and may very well include representatives from both as part of our team’s composition. However, we’ve already had many specialists from the aerospace industry and other parts of the private sector volunteer their expertise, and we will certainly be taking full advantage of it. What matters to me is that the job gets done, and I’m inclined to engage anyone who can have constructive input, regardless of his or her professional affiliation.”
Gary Somebody-or-other paused a beat. Though Annie was looking directly into the bland eye of a television camera and had no video monitor with which to see him long distance, she suspected he was getting instructions from the control room.
A moment later her suspicion was confirmed.
“I’m being told we’re short on time, so some final questions,” he said. “We’ve heard from various sources that there’s been a break-in at an UpLink International facility in Brazil, where critical elements of the International Space Station are being manufactured. Several accounts indicate that a military-style assault force was involved. Can you tell us anything about this?”
Have to get back to you on that one. Soon as somebody gives me more than the Cliff Notes version of what’s going on over there. Which may eventually happen if I’m lucky.
“To be frank, I’ve spoken with Roger Gordian just once since my appointment as head of the probe, and didn’t have a chance to discuss the matter at length—”
“Can you confirm that there indeed was an attack on the plant?”
“Apparently a break-in, to use your characterization of the incident, did take place and was contained by UpLink security forces. That’s all I’ve gotten up to this point, but I plan to be in further touch with Mr. Gordian sometime today or tomorrow, and will hopefully have additional information to share with you afterward.”
“Any idea about the size of the attack force, what they were after, or who might have been sponsoring them?”
“No, none. I really do wish I could tell you more right now, Gary, but everyone needs to try and be patient.”