Rover III Landing Site, Mars—Rocks ranging in size from clenched human fists to ones that rivaled the height and width of supermarket shopping carts littered the smooth plain. Coming down gently, the probe delivery vehicle landed slightly askew, propped on one of the smaller stones. Latches retracted, allowing clamshell doors to fall open with slow dignity, a fall that was halted prematurely when one section struck against one of the larger rocks. Inside the probe, Rover III spun its wheels impotently, unsuccessfully trying to climb out of its tiny prison.
NASA Conference, Houston—
“Only one door is stuck. Why won’t the rest open?”
“Because they’re all slaved together, Doctor Singleton. The idea was that the combined weight of the doors would make sure they all fell open.”
“Why did we drop it into all those rocks?”
“They were too small to see from orbit. It looked like a smooth plain.”
“What can we do? We need answers, people!”
“Well, there’s no way to open the doors enough for it to get out, but Rover III can see segments of the planet through gaps left by the doors when they partially opened. We think some of the sampling probes might be able to reach through the gaps and get some surface samples.”
“So it’s not a failure, then? Rover III can carry out its functions?”
“It can’t go anywhere.”
“But where it is, it can do everything, right?”
“Kind of like Rover I?”
“No, not like Rover I. This is a totally different situation. The landing vehicle suffered from a minor problem, but there’s no failure on the part of Rover III. Am I wrong?”
“No, I guess not.”
Senate Hearing Room, Washington, DC—
“If Rovers I, II, and III have been so successful, why is Rover IV needed, Doctor Bray, and where is Doctor Singleton?”
“I’m sorry, Senator Claghan, but Doctor Singleton had to remain at the Cape for final launch preparations. Senator, like any exploratory program, each mission can only accomplish so much. Exploring the New World required more than just Columbus’s first voyage, and we’ve got literally an entire new world to discover here. The fact that much more remains to be found is no reflection on the undeniable achievements of the earlier Rovers.”
“I’m a little vague on these ‘undeniable achievements’ you’re citing, Doctor Bray. My staff has uncovered numerous complaints regarding the paucity of data produced by the Rovers.”
“Senator, scientists are like little children when it comes to raw data: they always want more and they always want it now. I don’t believe you’ll find any scientist unwilling to admit that the Rovers have been responsible for producing unique and uniquely valuable information about Mars.”
“I am willing to concede that, but must reiterate my concerns over the small amounts of that information. My staff estimates that, in toto, based on the data released to date the first three Rover missions have conducted in-depth examination of less than ten square meters of Mars.”
“Senator, I can’t imagine where that figure could have come from.”
“Do you have a different one?”
“I’ll have to check with Houston, but I’m certain we’ll be able to provide a different number. As I’m sure you are aware, Rover III is still functioning so the amount of Mars being covered is constantly changing.”
“I’d understood Rover III is immobile, Doctor Bray.”
“I don’t know where you got that information, Senator. I assure you, and I’d be prepared to assert this under oath, that Rover Ill’s propulsive system is not now and never has been inoperative.”
Rover IV Landing Site, Mars—High in the sky, so deeply blue it hovered on the edge of black, a new light flared to life among the brilliant stars. Initially racing across the heavens, the light slowed, crawling to a halt, then began tracking in the other direction. Finally, the fiery beacon winked out, but soon afterwards another light appeared, growing in size rapidly as it hurtled toward the surface. Somewhere in the distance, the meteor struck with such force that Martian soil trembled briefly.
NASA Conference, Houston—
“What happened?”
“The retros fired on schedule, but they didn’t shut down. We sent an override to make them halt, but by the time it got there their fuel had been expended. Apparently, not every retro burned out simultaneously, so the final spurts started a tumble in the probe. We can’t be sure from here, but we think the result was that instead of kicking the landing vehicle into its planned trajectory, the prolonged burn ended up spinning it through the atmosphere at the wrong angle and too high a speed. The landing vehicle couldn’t deploy and the whole thing hit the planet in a catastrophic impact.”
“How could such a minor failure have wrecked the entire mission? Who failed here?”
“We’re sorry, Doctor Singleton, but there was nothing else we could do. By the time we could see the problem and get a command back, it was too late. Even iight-speed isn’t fast enough to maintain positive control of a quickly moving situation that far off.”
“ ‘Sorry’ is not an acceptable response. We cannot afford another, um, limited success. Period. There’s too much visibility, too many questions being asked. The next mission must produce a wealth of results, or large portions of NASA’s interplanetary exploration budget will be on the chopping block.”
“Is it time to reconsider the entire programmatic approach, then?”
“What do you mean?”
“Doctor Singleton, every problem encountered by the Rovers to date on Mars would have been easily overcome by a human explorer on-scene. Perhaps a manned mission—”
“We are committed to the Rover unmanned exploration program. Understand? NASA cannot afford the expense of a manned mission.”
“But the cost of five robotic missions—”
“And, I might add, there is nothing human explorers could do that the Rovers cannot. Robotic explorers carry all the scientific equipment human explorers could.”
“But if the best way to explore Mars—”
“The best way to explore Mars, and every other planet in this system, was determined before the Rover program began. Robots are faster, cheaper, and better than manned programs. Every official evaluation since then has reconfirmed that finding. I know, because my office was responsible for producing those evaluations.”
“Excuse me, Doctor Singleton. They assigned the Rover office responsibility for evaluating the success of the Rover program?”
“Of course. Who knows more about the program than we do? Now, I want a solid proposal for a means to ensure no limited successes like those we’ve encountered with Rovers I through IV.”
“I told you. Send a human.”
“You don’t appear to be functioning as a team player. Perhaps you’d be more comfortable in the trans-URANUS probe development office. Yes, Doctor Bray?”
“There may be a way, sir, to avoid these problems without using a manned spacecraft. It’s really just a matter of perspective.”
NASA Conference Room, Cape Canaveral—
“I don’t understand.” Commander Halstead peered at the laptop com: puter screen with a quizzical frown, then back at Doctors Singleton and Bray. “This looks exactly like a scaled-down version of the preliminary spacecraft design for a manned mission to Mars.”