Press Conference

21 Monday Mar 2016

Posted by Paul Kiser in Book, Earth Space Exploration Program, Mars, Mars 2016, Mars calendar, Science Fiction, Space, Space, Virtual Adventures

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2016, astronauts, Charlie One, communications, Earth, Earth Space Exploration Program, Elon Musk, engineering, ESEP, ESS Carl Sagan, Jenna Wade, LOS, loss of signal, Mars, Mars Mission 2016, Mars time, Megan DeLuca, NASA, Noctis Labyrinthus, Noctis Standard Time, NST, Press Conference, space, space travel, spacecraft, spacecraft design, SpaceX, Time, Time Zones

Mars Date/Time: Year 001, Sur Two, Saturday, Sol 17 (001.2.17) 04:38 NST
Earth Date/Time: Monday, 21 March 2016 2:00 PM PDT
Distance traveled: 87,418,728 kilometers Time Delay: 3 mins 36 secs
Distance to Mars Rendezvous: 304,991,024 kilometers

Megan stood behind a plexiglass lectern and faced the sixty reporters that had been given credentials for the press conference. She was not accustomed to making formal press statements, but she was always close by her former boss when he did, and she had advised him on what questions might be asked, and how to answer them.

However, being the person with the camera lens focused on them, was different from supporting the person with the camera lens focused on them. The room had been noisy when she walked in, but now there it was silent. She began,

“As you know from our first news conference last night, we lost signal with the ESS Sagan at 5:48 AM Nippon Standard Time, 1:48 PM Pacific Daylight Time or 5:04 AM Noctis Standard Time. The Sagan had traveled approximately 83.8 million kilometers.

As we said last night, we have visual confirmation that the ship is intact; however, we cannot see enough detail on the ship to determine any physical damage to the ship.

Our engineers have gone over the possible scenarios that would cause a loss of signal with the ship, and the two most likely scenarios are an explosion on the ship, or a strike by a small meteoroid. Almost any explosion would cause the ship to spin and/or deviate from course, which has not happened.

We believe that a meteoroid strike is to most likely explanation for the loss of signal. Specifically, a meteoroid strike in the ship’s Communications or Comm section would be able to disable all the communication temporarily; however, the Sagan has two Comm Sections. The one in use was the section that was originally part of the ESS Queen Elizabeth II. The Sagan originally had a smaller Comm system that was used prior to the merge of the two ships. It is located in front of the QE II’s original Comm section. It is possible that both were damaged, or for some reason, the crew is not able to access either Comm sections.

Two hours ago we sent a chase ship after the Sagan. This ship, designated Charlie One, consists of a Comm Section, an ICP drive section, a fuel storage section, one Hab section with four, seven-section Quills and eight cargo Quills each with four sections. It is coming up to velocity, which will be just over 300,000 kilometers per hour, or twice the speed of the Sagan.

However, because Earth has been moving in the same relative direction as the Sagan, the distance between them is only 43 million kilometers. It will take nine days for Charlie One to overtake the Sagan, which will be sometime on March 30th or Sol 25 of Sur Two. It has a crew of 18 on board.

I’ll now take questions.”

“What possible reasons might prevent the crew from reaching the Communication sections?”

“To your question, if this was a meteoroid strike, the section would be sealed to prevent the loss of atmosphere. They would have to repair the damage to the section to repressurize it, before they could enter it and begin work of repairing or switching to the other Comm Section. There is also the possibility that the damage is to both sections. We should face the possibility that we may not have contact with them until Charlie One reaches them.”

“Elon Musk has said that ESEP has moved too fast and that this situation is a direct result of ESEP ignoring the safety concerns of several engineers and the former Director of Security, who committed suicide because of his despondency over the situation.”

“First, Elon Musk has no capability of getting out of low Earth orbit, let alone to catch up with our ship, so he cannot know the cause of this situation. Second, the people he is referring to were all involved in the criminal takeover of ESEP in attempt to create a dictatorial-style management over our space program. They used the tragedy of the loss of our Director and several others to kidnap and lock out the people who were the decision-making authority and they illegally took command of the Mars mission and attempted to end it. The Director of Security was the leader of this group and his suicide occurred after he was arrested for multiple felonies associated with his actions.”

The room erupted in reporters asking questions, but Megan’s focus was on one person. The Mission Director had walked into the room and was now coming up to whisper something to her. She listened and then held up her hand to silence the unruly behavior of the journalists. She turned back to the lectern and said,

“We have contact with Director Wade. The crew is safe. We will have another press conference later today after we have had a chance to talk with her.”

Megan then left the room as the journalists erupted into an even louder outburst of questions, none of which were intelligible. None of that mattered. Everyone was alive.

Educating Ezekiel

16 Wednesday Mar 2016

Posted by Paul Kiser in Book, Earth Space Exploration Program, Mars, Mars 2016, Mars calendar, Science Fiction, Space, Space, Virtual Adventures

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2016, astronauts, biology, botany, communications, Earth, Earth Space Exploration Program, education, engineering, ESEP, ESS Carl Sagan, graduate studies, Mars, Mars Mission 2016, Mars time, MIT, Noctis Labyrinthus, Noctis Standard Time, NST, post graduate, research, science, space, space travel, spacecraft, spacecraft design, Time, UC Davis, Zeke Jackson

Mars Date/Time: Year 001, Sur Two, Monday, Sol 12 (001.2.12) 07:50 NST
Earth Date/Time: Wednesday, 16 March 2016 2:00 PM PDT
Distance traveled: 69,394,248 kilometers Time Delay: 3 mins 18 secs
Distance to Mars Rendezvous: 323,015,504 kilometers

“She said we should treat him like a graduate student. I’m saying we should make him a graduate student.”

Alexander Rivera was not one of the names most people on Earth would know. He was the Biology Officer on the Mars Mission, and yet, his function was one of the most important. He was responsible for all of the natural sources of air, food, and water.

Zeke, or Ezekiel, Jackson had been assigned to Alexander for a work detail. He had Zeke manage the bamboo plants throughout the ship. Every hab section has large wall sections of bamboo to produce oxygen and absorbing carbon dioxide. Zeke’s job was to learn about caring for bamboo and monitoring their growth.

Zeke’s work impressed Alexander, and now he was discussing his idea to help Zeke earn a masters degree, with the Science Director, Lanny Deaton.

“I have contacts at UC Davis who will be happy to serve on his thesis committee, and I could be Zeke’s advisor,” Alexander continued, “We’d have to work out the topic of his thesis, but everything we do is groundbreaking work, so whatever he does will help us report our findings back to our colleagues on Earth.”

Lanny replied, “Let’s go farther. Let’s check with UC Davis and MIT about establishing a remote study program for several fields. I’ll talk with Roman about engineering programs. Once we’re on Mars we will be the first graduate program offworld. We need to make it count.”

Alexander smiled. Everything about the mission was becoming more significant than just a first landing on Mars. The mission was big before, but now it was awe-inspiring. Alexander looked up to see Zeke coming down the Quill.

“Zeke, we need to talk.”

Daylight Saving Day

13 Sunday Mar 2016

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2016, communications, Earth, Earth Space Exploration Program, ESS Carl Sagan, Jenna Wade, Ken Hart, Mars, Mars Mission 2016, Noctis Labyrinthus, Noctis Standard Time, NST, space, space travel, spacecraft, spacecraft design, Time

Mars Date/Time: Year 1, Sur Two, Friday, Sol 9 (001.2.9) 09:46 NST
Earth Date/Time: Sunday, 13 March 2016 2:00 PM PDT
Distance traveled: 58,579,560 kilometers Time Delay: 3 mins 00 secs
Distance to Mars Rendezvous: 333,830,192 kilometers

Daylight Saving Time on Earth does not impact ESEP. The entire organization operates on Noctis Standard Time, which is not affected by Earth time zones, nor annual changes in time for the seasons of Earth. In addition, the Mars landing site is close enough to the equator that there is no reason to impose a Daylight Saving-type change to the standard time.

However, an adjustment to the location of ESEP’s operation is advantageous in keeping Earth in synch with the mission. A Mars day is about 40 minutes longer than an Earth day, so every eight days or so the administrative functions on Earth is moved west in order to keep the Mars day aligned with the Earth day. The day of the swap is known as the Daylight Saving Day, as it is done to keep Earth-based ESEP functions in the daylight when the Mars landing site is in the daylight.

Currently, the administrative functions are handled out of the San Jose ESEP Center in California. At 12:01 AM NST it will switch to Kumamoto, Japan. A handful of administrators will leave San Jose at about 4:00 PM NST today and arrive in Japan at about 3:00 AM NST (6:00 AM JST.) At 6:00 AM NST (9:00 AM JST) the day shift will begin for ESEP.

It was during the last swap from the twin Operation Centers in Figueres, Spain and Perpignan, France that one of the three planes carrying the administrative team crashed in the North Atlantic. Today was haunted by the fact that it was the first Daylight Saving Day since the tragedy.

While it was on the minds of the Command team listening to Megan De Luca, it didn’t seem to faze her as she was explaining,

“Director, I understand your concerns; however, the more this has been discussed, the more logical it seems. The one issue is computer power. As we move into longer and longer transmission delays, the infrastructure needed to support an offworld centered administration becomes a critical issue.

The solution seems to be a triple-redundant computer system. This would mean computer centers on Earth, in orbit above Earth on Earth Prime, and a computer center on Mars. We had discussed the computer center on Mars as part of the establishment of self-sufficient colonies; however, what we are talking about now is sending the infrastructure up as soon as we have it built. This also means that a significant element of colonization will now be in place years before we planned.

Establishing ESEP administration offworld also means establishing support staff on Mars ahead of schedule. Development and Exploration would be concurrent. Life support and food resources would become a high priority. None of this is a negative, it just means we are moving faster than we originally planned. Let me know if we can move forward on this. It is pending your approval.”

Naomi was the first to speak,

“Director, Paige will be the lead on the computer system and Earthside has discussed this with her. Based on her recommendation, they could have the hardware ready to leave Earth orbit by the second or third week of Sur Three. I’m not sure when it would be in Mars orbit, but it would be a shorter trip than ours, so it would be there soon after we have established our landing site.”

Roman Gomez followed up,

“Director, the timing of it is good. They are talking about a three section Quill, and it would be best to land it close to our base, so connecting it up would be less complicated than bringing it in later. They expect Earth Prime’s computer center to be operational by the time we arrive at Mars.”

Jenna said,

“Alright, it’s a go; and Megan, I want this to be an open decision, with it revisited after we arrive at Mars. None of us really know what our lives will be like once we start putting people on the surface. I’ll assume the Directorship on those conditions. Also, let’s move up the next mission. Roman, I need you and Lanny to come up with a priority list of what we need and when we need it. Assume we will have four more missions by the end of this year, and a January mission. Look at equipment, supplies, and personnel.

Kayla, your medical center has now become a full-fledged hospital. Find out what we need for 400 people on Mars by Sur One of Year Two. Wendy, you need to look at staffing and facilities for your team. Assume two bases, four outposts, and multiple remote operations by the start of Year Two.

Ken, I’m not sure we can keep you as Commodore on Mars Prime. Look for a replacement and the timing of getting them to Mars. Same for you Naomi. Roman, at one point the engineering team discussed using Storm Crater as a city center and covering it with a transparent dome. Would you and Lanny look into the idea and decide whether we would be better with excavating living spaces underground or using a crater and building in to it.

Now, Megan, let’s talk about Daylight Saving Day.”

Under New Managment

12 Saturday Mar 2016

Posted by Paul Kiser in Book, Earth Space Exploration Program, Mars, Mars 2016, Mars calendar, Science Fiction, Space, Space, Virtual Adventures

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2016, communications, counseling, Counselor, Earth, Earth Space Exploration Program, engineering, ESEP, ESS Carl Sagan, Jenna Wade, Ken Hart, Mars Mission 2016, Mars time, NASA, Noctis Labyrinthus, Noctis Standard Time, NST, science, space, space travel, Time, Wendy Stevens

Mars Date/Time: Year 1, Sur Two, Thursday, Sol 8 (001.2.8) 11:23 NST
Earth Date/Time: Saturday, 12 March 2016 2:00 PM PST
Distance traveled: 54,974,664 kilometers Time Delay: 2 mins 48 secs
Distance to Mars Rendezvous: 337,435,088 kilometers

Mr. Duncan’s suicide was the bad end to a series of tragic events. It exposed the frailty of some of the people in ESEP. People who had been important gatekeepers in the decision-making process had suddenly turned on the central goal of the organization, only because the organization had grown past them. Instead of protecting the mission to Mars, they were trying to end it because they wouldn’t let go.

This frailty was not lost on the member countries of ESEP. The shock of the management coup began discussions of security and protocols. The Executive management was now split between the newly created Council, and the Interim Director, Jenna Wade, and her crew. The Council consisted of Division Executives and two representatives of the member countries.

Throughout the crisis and the fallout, Jenna and her staff were the heroes. To the ESEP member countries and the Council, the process of selecting a new Director to replace Jenna seemed pointless. An idea grew that the solution to finding new leadership for ESEP had already been accomplished when Jenna and the Mars Mission crew took back control of ESEP.

Jenna laughed and said, “That’s absurd!”

Megan’s image was on the screen in front of Jenna. Megan had just explained the agenda item for tomorrow’s Council meeting that would make Jenna the permanent Director of ESEP. Megan wouldn’t hear Jenna’s reaction for another three minutes, but she could have guessed what it would be, and she knew she would have some more explaining to do.

Ken said, “No, actually it makes perfect sense. ESEP was vulnerable because people had access to key people and critical systems. With you offworld, and the Sagan controlling ESEP computers, any attempt to attack the company is almost impossible unless they destroy every communication system on Earth.”

Jenna’s Command team was gathered around for the morning briefing from Megan, and heard the idea at the same time Jenna did.

Wendy said, “And from a management perspective, it pushes back daily decisions to the people who are closest to the issues, so only the big decisions go to the top. It is ideal for a more efficient model of management. Because you’re too far away to nitpick on details that you don’t need to know, everything moves faster.”

Jenna said, “Because I’m not around to make a remark about the windows being dirty, no one scurries to clean the windows, because it’s not important to the objectives. I see your point, but what happens when we get to Mars? I can’t run ESEP and our first exploration of Mars.”

Wendy replied, “Why not? You’re at the tip of the sword. Where better to direct the operations of the Exploration of Mars than from Mars. It is one of the best management models I have ever heard.”

Jenna looked at her team and said, “What about all of you? This is putting an extra workload on all of you. We are going to have busy days setting up on Mars.” Lanny, the Director of Science for the mission said, “I’d much rather be setting up are experiments on Mars knowing that you’re commanding all of ESEP’s resources, rather than being second guessed by my colleagues on Earth. Roman added, “We’re not going to be following their playbook in the Engineering Division when we get to Mars. I like the idea of them as consultants, not overlords, and if they select a Earthbound Director, that person is going to want to justify their existence by nitpicking what we are doing. With you as the Director, I’m confident that our workloads will be easier rather than harder.”

Jenna shook her head, and said, “First it was Commander, then I was a Rear Admiral, now I’m being asked to be the ESEP Director and Governor of Mars? Does anyone else see a problem here?”

Seven people in unison said, “No.”

Housekeeping

11 Friday Mar 2016

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2016, astronauts, communications, counseling, crew morale, Earth, Earth Space Exploration Program, ESEP, ESS Carl Sagan, Jenna Wade, Ken Hart, Mars Mission 2016, Mars time, NASA, Noctis Labyrinthus, Noctis Standard Time, NST, science, space, space travel, spacecraft, Time, Wendy Stevens

Mars Date/Time: Year 1, Sur Two, Tuesday, Sol 6 (1.2.6) 13:01 NST
Earth Date/Time: Thursday, 10 March 2016 2:22 PM PST

Jenna and Wendy left her quarters and climbed up to the Mess. Jenna asked, “What’s the deal with everyone telling me to eat?” Wendy said, “You can thank Kayla. We’ve all been briefed to be your welfare team. Megan has asked for daily reports.” Jenna said, “Megan. I love her, but does everyone realize she is our master?,” then Jenna continued, “That reminds me….” Jenna called Ken. Ken answered, “What can I do for you Director?” Jenna hesitated. It had only been today that everyone began using her official title at Megan’s insistence. Jenna wasn’t used to it. Jenna replied, “Are you on the Command deck?” Ken said, “Yes.” Jenna said, “Good, if you have a few minutes I need to talk to you.” Ken replied, “Acknowledged.”

Wendy and Jenna were in the Mess and Wendy told her to go on. She would bring her lunch. Jenna climbed onto her workstation deck and saw Ken waiting for her. Jenna called John Schultz, who was a Comm Specialist for the mission, but now was handling Comm duties that would normally only be seen at one of the ESEP Centers on Earth. Jenna said, “John, I need to transmit to Earth Prime Actual, encrypted and priority.”

Ken said, “What’s up?” Jenna said, “I want you to work with Claude on something.” Jenna’s tapped an icon and a screen came up, “Transmission to Earth Prime Actual, Priority, Encoded – Delay 2 mins 36 secs” Jenna looked at her camera and said,

“Claude I’m asking you and Ken to work together on Megan’s detail. I know we have her under protection, but I’d like Ken to have someone he personally knows and trusts to lead her security team. Likewise, I need you to identify someone you know and trust to be her personal assistant. I trust her to find people who can assist her with her schedule and workload, but she is a critical link in ESEP’s continued operation, and I don’t think she places a priority on her needs. Set her up with team of five people managing her personal/work life interaction. I want them to report to Wendy and Kayla on a daily basis. I need all of them vetted with Ken. To be clear, she is to be covered by top-tier security and welfare. We cannot afford to lose her under any circumstances.

Also, I’m denying your request of your last message. I’m afraid transporting Mr. Duncan to Earth Prime and accidentally losing him out an airlock may send a message that we’re being to soft on him. My plan is to take up our friend’s in Chile who have offered to take Mr. Duncan on the high plateau, strip him, stake him to the ground, and cover him in honey. They say it could be days before the ants take enough blood for him to bleed to death. Jenna out.”

She looked at Ken, who had been smiling at the last topic, and said, “She may fight us on this.” Ken replied, “Megan’s smart. She’ll know why we’re doing this, and she’ll accept it. The key will be finding people who can know when to let Megan be Megan, and when to step in. Good call on involving Wendy and Kayla. Offworld oversight is the best security we have now.”

Wendy brought Jenna’s lunch and Jenna thanked her and sat down at her workstation. All the workstation chairs had a frame the size of a food container that could be pulled out. In addition, workstations had built-in water dispensers for hot and cold drinking water. Jenna invited Ken and Wendy to sit in chairs designed to allow a small group of people to sit and talk with the Admiral at her workstation.

Jenna looked at Wendy and said, “Claude and Ken are going to set up a personal assistant team for Megan. I’m also asking Ken to personally set up her security team. The personal assistant team will be reporting to you and Kayla.” Wendy smiled and said, “Is this to get her back?” Jenna replied, “Actually, I thought of this yesterday, but I forgot to take care of it. Her monitoring my welfare reminded me.”

Jenna turned to Ken, “What’s the status of the investigation?” Ken said,

“As far as we can determine the plane crash was an accident. Based on communications we reviewed, Mr. Duncan was the first to be informed and he took control. I don’t know at what point he decided to make it a coup, but it seems it developed over a period of hours. By six that morning he was fully committed and ordered the passengers on the first two planes to be held upon landing.

I have a team reviewing the past six months of the people involved to determine if there has been any plan brewing, but it seems that everyone was loyal to ESEP until Nick allowed the mission to have priority decision-making. At that point, the organization fractured in a power struggle.

Everyone we know to be involved is under arrest somewhere. My team has tabs on all of them and none of them can be released without that law enforcement agency notifying us. In some cases it seems we have people who were just following orders; however, after Mr. Duncan began acting as ESEP Actual, it should have been obvious to anyone that he was not qualified to assume those duties. We may have cases coming to the Council for leniency.”

Naomi came down to the Admiral’s deck and Jenna motioned for her to join them. Ken continued,

“Right now we seem to be secure company-wide. Part of that is due to the fact that Paige holds the leash of the ESEP computer system and no one can try anything without her knowing it.”

Naomi broke in, “Sorry to interrupt, Director, we just got word. Mr. Duncan was found dead in his cell. It was suicide.”

Moving On

10 Thursday Mar 2016

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2016, communications, Counselor, crew morale, Earth, Earth Space Exploration Program, ESEP, ESS Carl Sagan, Jenna Wade, Ken Hart, Mars, Mars Mission 2016, Mars time, Noctis Labyrinthus, Noctis Standard Time, NST, science, space, space travel, Time, Wendy Stevens

Mars Date/Time: Year 1, Sur Two, Tuesday, Sol 6 (001.2.6) 12:40 NST
Earth Date/Time: Thursday, 10 March 2016 2:00 PM PST
Distance traveled: 47,764,872 kilometers Time Delay: 2 mins 36 secs
Distance to Mars Rendezvous: 344,644,880 kilometers

“This is awkward trying to have a meeting when we are dealing with a five-minute round trip delay in transmission; however, our new format seems to be working. I would like Megan to continue to chair the new Council and I will observe meeting. I will transmit questions and concerns through Megan during the meeting and make remarks at the end of the meeting. Since I will abstain from all votes, the Council can make decisions without waiting for my vote.

With the exception of emergency issues, all agenda items must be submitted to Megan by 14:00 the day prior to the meeting. All items should only have a three-minute summary, and the rest of the information should be attached to the agenda item with a file.

As for the interim staff structure: Megan De Luca is now Earth Liaison for ESEP, Ken Hart is now ESEP Director of Security, Naomi Pierce is now my Chief of Staff, Paige Flores is now ESEP Chief Information Officer, and Anna Flores is now Mars Mission Operations Executive. The rest of the Mars Mission crew is expanding their roles during the interim.

I would ask the Council to work quickly to restore ESEP’s leadership, so that everyone can return to a normal schedule. I appreciate everyone’s dedication to ESEP and the Mars missions. It is incredible that we are back on schedule, less than a week after losing seven of our top leadership, and putting down a management coup. Thank you to all of you and your staff.”

Jenna ended her transmission and looked to her left, where Wendy was waiting. Wendy said, “Did you ever think that going to Mars, meant you had to run the whole, damn thing?” Jenna just looked down and shook her head. She then said, “Nick was my anchor. He was the one who cleared my path. I don’t know how long I can go without him there.”

Wendy said, “Well, that’s a side of you I don’t need to see.” Jenna looked up in surprise. Wendy continued,

“I’ve never seen a person like you. People hardly know you and they want to work with you. Sure, Nick was good at greasing the track and clearing the trash, but his motivation was to help you. You have a unique ability to do the right thing and Nick knew that, so he tried to help you. Now you are surrounded by ‘Nicks’ who all are motivated to help you, and you are mourning the loss of one person. Yes, you need the time to mourn for Nick, but you are not one person acting alone. Everyone else has had the same loss, but they are rallying around you. We remembered Nick two days ago and celebrated his life. Unfortunately, you, of all people, can’t linger on his loss. We will remember him many times over the next few years, but now you have to move on.”

Jenna said, “If I were a normal person, I would be angry right now.” Wendy smiled and said, “Jenna, there is nothing about you that’s normal. Let’s go grab some lunch.”

An icon was flashing at Jenna’s workstation. Jenna tapped it and said, “What’s next, Naomi?” Naomi replied, “You should grab some lunch and come up to the Command deck. I need to brief you on some important messages.” Jenna sighed and said, “On my way.”

Extra Equipment

27 Saturday Feb 2016

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2016, Arica, artificial gravity, astronauts, communications, construction pod, counseling, Counselor, crew morale, 熊本市, Earth, Earth Space Exploration Program, engineering, ESEP, ESS Carl Sagan, ESS Queen Elizabeth II, Figueres, France, gravity, HD cameras, Holiday, Japan, Jenna Wade, Kumamoto, Kumamoto Prefecture, Mars, Mars Mission 2016, Mars time, NASA, Noctis Labyrinthus, Noctis Standard Time, NST, Perpignan, Peru, pod, San Jose, science, space, space travel, spacecraft, Spain, Time, Time Zones, Wendy Stevens

Mars Date/Time: Year 1, Sur One, Thursday, Sol 54 (1.1.54) 20:22 NST
Earth Date/Time: Saturday, 27 February 2016 2:00 PM PST
Distance traveled: 5,555,363 kilometers

In addition to its launch facility near Arica, Chile, ESEP has four ‘Centers’ around the world. The primary Center is in San Jose, California, USA. There are also Centers in Kumamoto, Kumamoto Prefecture, Japan 熊本市; and the twin Operation Centers in Figueres, Spain and Perpignan, France.

On January 30, 2016, all ESEP operations converted to Noctis Standard Time (NST) at the Mars landing site. Since then the Director of ESEP and most of his leadership team have chosen to move from Center to Center on Earth to stay with the daytime at the Mars landing site. This way they have a day of schedule adjustment when they fly to the next Center, but then they enjoy daylight on Earth at the same time the crew is on their day schedule. Currently, the leadership team is split between the twin Centers in Spain and France.

This also means the leadership team experiences late nights when the crew of the ESS Queen Elizabeth II is up late like tonight. Last evening the ship had a near disaster when the Munitions Officer was pulled out the firing chamber into space. His safety tether drifted into the ICP barrel just as a fuel pellet had been pushed out and he was sucked into space.

Fortunately, he wasn’t seriously injured, his space suit didn’t become damaged and leak, and the pilot was fast enough to abort the detonation of the pellet milliseconds before the computer sent the command. The crew also recovered quickly from the incident and was able to fire the ICP drive 45 minutes later. The QE II was now travelling at 147,258 kilometers per hour.

The ESEP leadership team and the Command team of the QE II planned a special mission assessment meeting tonight at six PM tonight and they were now two hours and 22 minutes into the meeting.

Nick was speaking from his office in Spain, “…our concern now is that the crew might develop a ‘cursed’ mentality about this mission.” Wendy spoke up, “Director, my ground team has expressed this to me and I am aware of the possibility of that attitude; however, my assessment is just the opposite. The crew has developed a “bring it on” attitude and my sense is that if we lost this ship the crew would just don spacesuits and grab the Sagan when it comes by tomorrow.”

Nick laughed, “I agree. This crew is a special group of people. I trust in your assessment and I’ll have a little chat with the our Counselling trolls down here.”

Jenna changed the subject, “Nick, when will your team move to San Jose?” Nick replied, “We’re leaving here the afternoon of Sol 60 and sleep in the air. Will be should be in the San Jose Center by eight AM of Sol 1.

Jenna said, “That reminds me, we have been talking about making the first day of every Mars month a holiday.” Nick lit up, “That’s a great idea. Do you have a plan for your first holiday?” “Not yet,” Jenna replied, “but we have almost a week.” Nick said, “Keep me posted and we will make it an ESEP-wide holiday.”

Nick continued, “In honor of the new holiday, let’s consider the final item on my list as our present to you. Ken, when the Sagan left dock our cameras picked up an extra pod on the ship. You were supposed to have three, now you have four.” Ken said, “How did it get there?” Jenna’s suddenly began to listen very intently. Nick said, “We don’t know how it got there. After the Sagan left, Claude’s team conducted the standard inventory and discovered a pod missing. We checked the video file and found it two days ago. With everything else, we decided to wait to tell you.”

Jenna suddenly showed her military persona, “Was the pod there on the Sagan before or after closeout?” Nick knew Jenna was asking an important question, but he didn’t know why it was important and said, “We’re not sure, we haven’t had time to do a review of the video to know when it was docked to the ship. It could have been weeks ago.” Jenna fired back, “But I’m willing to bet I know when it happened.”

Jenna had gone into another world, as if the meeting and everyone around her no longer existed. Jenna called to the First Officer, “Anna.” Anna was two decks above them but was participating in the meeting from her workstation. “Yes, Admiral?,” she replied. Jenna continued, “I need you to check out the Sagan section by section.” Anna was confused, “What am I looking for Admiral?” Jenna hesitated while she thought. If what she was thinking was correct, the camera may not see anything.

Ken suddenly realized what Jenna was thinking, and added, “Anna, in each section, turn the lights on and off while you have it up on your monitor and note if you see a change. Start looking at….Director, where was the pod located?” Nick was now fully confused, “Uhm, cargo section three, Quill four ‘D’. Jenna, what’s going on?” Jenna smiled and said, “Just looking for some lost equipment, Nick.”

Red Handed

20 Saturday Feb 2016

Posted by Paul Kiser in Book, Earth Space Exploration Program, Mars, Mars 2016, Mars calendar, Science Fiction, Space, Space, Virtual Adventures

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2016, artificial gravity, astronauts, communications, counseling, crew morale, Earth, Earth Space Exploration Program, ESEP, ESS Queen Elizabeth II, gravity, HD cameras, Jenna Wade, JPL, Mars, Mars time, NASA, Noctis Labyrinthus, Noctis Standard Time, NST, science, space, space travel, spacecraft, spacecraft design, Time

Mars Date/Time: Year 1, Sur One, Friday, Sol 48 (1.1.48) 00:52 AM NST
Earth Date/Time: Saturday, 20 February 2016 2:00 PM PST

It was almost one AM NST and Zeke Jackson had been under questioning for twelve hours. He was caught in a cargo area on the QE II and accused of attempting to be a stowaway on the first mission to Mars.

Mr. Duncan had both of his Security Officers on Earth Prime questioning Zeke and he was watching from his monitor in his office in Peru. Zeke flowed through the stages of interrogation. First he denied everything, then he acted annoyed, then he went silent, then he got angry, now he was back to silence.

Nick had told Duncan that he had to end the interrogation at midnight, but Duncan had interpreted that to mean that when his staff took an hour for a meal break, he could leave Zeke handcuffed at the table and add an hour on to the interrogation. Despite their efforts, they hadn’t learned much more than they could figure out on their own.

Duncan was feeling frustrated and his Security team was feeling cruel. They were leaving Zeke sitting at the table and going to bed, but then Claude Dubois walked into the room. Claude looked at the monitor at Duncan and said, “What have you learned?” “Not much,” Duncan replied. Claude looked at his exhausted former employee and said, “Has he been fed?” The Security team both shook their heads, ‘no.’ Claude then said, “Take him to the Commons area and feed him, and then let him clean up, then put him in Section J in one of the quarters. I’ll send two people to watch over him tonight and you two can get some sleep.”

Duncan did not agree with the Claude’s orders, but he couldn’t do anything about it. Claude was the Commodore of the spaceport and he could release Zeke if he wanted, or have him put to death. Duncan had pushed it farther than he should and ESEP was not an organization that condoned torture of anyone regardless of what they had done.

Duncan was embarrassed. He almost failed to catch Zeke and his failure was in front of three of the most important people in ESEP. Duncan didn’t like being embarrassed.

Closeout of QE II had gone ahead as scheduled. Jenna went off ship to see talk with Claude before the closeout. She had wanted to interview Zeke, but Duncan asked for him to be isolated for a few hours. The fear that he was some kind of terrorist was Jenna’s greatest concern, but after talking to Claude and reviewing Zeke’s history she was convinced he didn’t fit the profile.

Under Claude’s orders, Zeke was allowed to sleep until eight AM NST, dress, and eat. Duncan had planned to start the interrogation at five AM, but he discovered that Claude had talked to Nick about his methods and Duncan was ordered to stand down. Claude would take charge of the prisoner and Security would only be allowed to guard Zeke.

Nick, Claude, and Jenna had decided she would interview Zeke at ten AM. Jenna’s skill at assess someone in a short period of time was a natural ability that had only improved with her years of experience in solving people issues. She wanted to do this face-to-face, which involved her going off ship. After closeout, no one was supposed to cross the ship/spaceport barrier unless it was mission critical. They decided this was mission critical.

Claude had Zeke brought to his quarters and asked the guards to wait outside. Nick was present via the video monitor. Claude asked Zeke to sit down and asked him if he wanted anything to drink. He shook his head ‘no.’ Zeke was unsure what was going on. He expected the interrogation, but this was more like a friendly conference.

The door opened and Jenna walked in. Zeke immediately stood up and faced her. Jenna said, “Have a seat Zeke.” Claude asked her if she wanted anything and she said, “If you have tea, that would be great.” She turned to Zeke and said, “Zeke, do you want something?” Zeke said, “Ah, tea would be great.” Claude smiled. Already she had gotten farther with Zeke than Security and she had just walked in the door. He began preparing the tea.

Jenna sat down, looked Zeke in the eye and began, “First, I apologize for your treatment yesterday. What you’ve done is a major violation of our program, and you will answer for that in court; however, you were mistreated last night. That is unacceptable.” Zeke shook his head, and said, “Admiral, I deserved what I got, and I know I will be punished. I am sorry I have created a problem for you.” Jenna was not expecting Zeke’s humble attitude. She skipped her lead in questions and went to the heart of the matter, “Zeke, …why?”

Zeke looked down for a moment and then looked back at her and said, “You’re the best. Not only you, but your entire crew. I want to go to Mars and I want it to be with your crew. I would stay in a food locker the entire trip if it means I can go to Mars with you and your crew. If I had the chance…I’m sorry,…I would do it again.” Jenna said, “Why didn’t you apply for the crew?” At that moment Claude interrupted and said, “He can’t.”

Rat Trap

19 Friday Feb 2016

Posted by Paul Kiser in Book, Earth Space Exploration Program, Mars, Mars 2016, Mars calendar, Science Fiction, Space, Space, Virtual Adventures

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2016, artificial gravity, astronauts, communications, Earth, Earth Space Exploration Program, ESEP, ESS Queen Elizabeth II, gravity, Jenna Wade, JPL, Ken Hart, Mars Mission 2016, Mars time, Mr. Duncan, NASA, Noctis Labyrinthus, Noctis Standard Time, NST, security, space, space travel, spacecraft, stowaway, Time

Mars Date/Time: Year 1, Sur One, Thursday, Sol 47 (1.1.47) 01:30 NST
Earth Date/Time: Friday, 19 February 2016 2:00 PM PST

CODE ALERT! Text in three parts to follow:

CODE ALERT – PART ONE: Closeout of ESS Queen Elizabeth II will occur today at 16:00 NST. All Earth Prime team members should have inspected and finalized all areas on the ship by 13:00 NST. No non-mission equipment should be left on the ship. Please account for all tools, suits, and other Earth Prime equipment and notify the Earth Prime Director’s Office of any missing items.

CODE ALERT – PART TWO: All non-essential personnel should be off ship by 12:00 NST today. Final inspections of all cargo areas will occur from 08:00 to 11:00 NST and Hab area inspections will occur between 10:00 and 13:00 NST. Inspection teams will work from stern to aft closing out areas behind them.

CODE ALERT – PART THREE: Security personnel will be at both entrance hatches at 12:00 NST today. All personnel must have proper authorization to enter the ship. At 16:00 NST all hatches will be closed and sealed. No one may enter the ship without pre-authorization of the Nick Castillo, Director of ESEP, Rear Admiral Jenna Wade, Commodore Ken Hart, AND Commodore Claude Dubois. Ship will depart from port at 10:35 NST on Sol 49.

The Code Alert was broadcast at 01:30 NST. It was now 05:34 NST and Jenna was rereading the Code Alert. She had read it yesterday after Duncan sent the final draft to her, Nick Castillo, and Claude Dubois. As she sipped the morning tea she wondered if it would work.

Early yesterday morning one of her crew had discovered evidence that someone was trying to stowaway on her ship. The person had left equipment in a cargo area that would keep him or her alive in an unheated and stagnant air environment.

In three days the ESS Queen Elizabeth II will leave the Earth Prime spaceport and because she will be under her own power, life support functions such as circulating air and heat will be shut down in some cargo areas. It was in one of these sections that equipment had been found that would keep someone alive for a few days.

Whoever was responsible was clever. They chose an area that none of the crew would have reason to enter. They had some type of quick attachment device that allowed them to put a tablet in front of the camera playing a loop of the cargo bay. A person would have to be the monitor to catch them putting the tablet in place and with almost 100 cameras in place, no one was going to catch it.

It took several replays of the video of the cargo area to catch the moment the tablet was put in place and it was not removed for 29 hours, so it was impossible to track down the person based on the time the camera was disabled. The person also managed to avoid all other cameras leading to that section. This person was good.

After the equipment was discovered yesterday morning, Duncan ordered it left in place. He had a hidden camera with a motion detector installed with a view of the equipment. Duncan left two security people hidden away near the cargo quill ready to arrest the person if they came back to check on the equipment. The perpetrator didn’t.

Time was running out. The person would likely board the ship just before departure from the spaceport. That would make him or her easier to catch, but it would mean the QE II would have to return and redock, which had never been done before. Ships are constructed with the first section already docked at the spaceport. Docking the mass of the entire ship would be nearly impossible. They had to catch the person before the QE II undocked.

Duncan decided to try to trap the person at the closeout. By having the inspection of the cargo areas end at 11:00, and the putting Security in place at the ship entrance hatch at 12:00, he felt that the potential stowaway would try to check on his or her equipment during the hour after the end of the cargo inspections, but before Security took positions at the hatches.

Jenna, Nick, and Claude all agreed, but now Jenna was having doubts. This person was not stupid and they had avoided detection on a ship covered in cameras. Somehow it didn’t make sense that they would fall for the trap.

Jenna dressed for the day and headed to the Command Commons area to grab some breakfast. Only Ken, Nick, Claude, and her knew about the plan to catch the stowaway. One of her reserve crew members knew about the equipment, but he was told to not discuss the situation with anyone. Most of the Command staff came to the Command Commons area while Jenna was there, but she kept the conversation on the closeout events, and avoided any hints that a significant security issue was overshadowing the day.

The morning kept the crew busy with the closeout procedures, but at 11:00, Jenna and Ken announced that they would have a working lunch in her quarters. The two of them climbed down to the Commons area to get a lunch ration, prepared it, then headed down to her quarters.

Once there she contacted Duncan and Nick and pulled up the camera feed from the hidden camera. Jenna knew that nothing had happened or else she would have been called. She looked at both of Duncan and Nick on the monitors and said, “You don’t mind if we eat, do you?” Nick said, “No.” Duncan was unresponsive. Jenna was concerned that if they didn’t catch him or her the departure schedule might have to be pushed back, but at this point it was up to Duncan, and she and Ken would just have to focus on their jobs.

Over the next hour Ken, Nick, and Jenna talked about mission issues. None of them were significant, but lately all their conversations had been about major issues. This was one of the rare times when they could chat about the mission rather than discuss the mission.

At 11:58 NST, Nick said, “It looks like our person didn’t take the bait.” Duncan replied, “It doesn’t make any sense. He has to know that his stuff could have been found. He should have come.” Jenna joined in, “May he’s changed his….” Jenna looked closer at the monitor and then said, “Mr. Duncan, what is that flashing icon at the bottom of the screen?” Duncan casually answered, “That’s just the motion detector icon.” Jenna tried again, “But why is it flashing.” Duncan thought for a moment, “Uhm, well it flashes when it senses….wait, we would see the person…unless….but he couldn’t have…he doesn’t….” Jenna interrupted him, “Mr. Duncan, he has fooled your camera and he’s there.”

Before Jenna had finished Duncan had sent the signal to his staff on board. Hopefully, it would not be too late.

Talking Paige

17 Wednesday Feb 2016

Posted by Paul Kiser in Book, Earth Space Exploration Program, Mars, Mars 2016, Mars calendar, Science Fiction, Space, Space, Virtual Adventures

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2016, artificial gravity, astronauts, communications, counseling, Counselor, crew morale, Earth, Earth Space Exploration Program, engineering, ESEP, ESS Queen Elizabeth II, gravity, HD cameras, Mars Mission 2016, Mars time, NASA, Noctis Labyrinthus, science, space, space travel, spacecraft, Time

Mars Date/Time: Year 1, Sur One, Saturday, Sol 42 (1.1.42) 6:07 AM NST
Earth Date/Time: Sunday, 14 February 2016 2:24 PM PST

Jenna had finished her video call with Nick Castillo and then contacted her Comm Officer, Paige Flores. Paige wanted to meet with her, but under the circumstances she decided to put Paige off until she could dress for the day. Jenna also wanted the ship’s Counselor on standby in case she was needed.

Paige Flores was the youngest crew member. She was 27 and like all crew members, she had a special talent that uniquely qualified her to be on the first mission to Mars. Paige’s gift was her understanding of electrical and computer systems. She had a doctorate in electrical engineering and a masters in computer science; however, she looked more like a model than a geeky engineer.

Paige rarely formed attachments to anyone but her older sister, who was also on this mission. Anna Flores was the First Officer and Jenna had selected her to be on the crew six months before she began interviewing for a Comm Officer. ESEP administration was initially hesitant to have sisters on the same mission, but both were highly qualified and Jenna wanted her. It was the Counseling team that cleared the way for Paige to join the team because they wanted to study familial relationships during long-term missions.

Jenna was beginning to regret selecting Paige because she suspected that her maturity, or lack of it, might be a factor on this mission. Jenna was looking through Paige’s file to remind her of why she selected her when her door chimed.

“Come in,” Jenna said. Paige entered and said, “Good morning, Rear Admiral. Thank you for letting me come talk to you so early. Do you mind if I ask the Counselor to come and join us? I really would like her to hear what I have to say.” Jenna was already confused, but she touched her tablet to call Wendy. In a moment Wendy’s voice said, “Good morning, Jenna.”

Wendy knew that Jenna might ask her to come into this meeting, but she didn’t want it to sound like she knew. Wendy was surprised when Jenna said., “Wendy, Paige and I are meeting in my quarters and she asked if you could join us.” Wendy paused for a moment and thought to herself, “Paige wants me there?” She then realized she was creating an uncomfortable silence and blurted out, “Be right there!”

Paige then launched into her next thought, “I’ve been talking to Wendy and she has given me a different perspective on my situation and I really want her to hear this.” Jenna motioned to Paige to sit down and asked her if she wanted tea. Before she could answer the door chimed and without hesitation Paige said, “Come in!” Suddenly Paige realized that she should not have invited someone into the Admiral’s quarters. Paige said, “I’m sorry, I don’t know why I did that.”

Wendy came in and Jenna said, “That’s okay, but are you nervous?” Paige said, “Yes, I am. I’m not sure exactly what to feel right now.” Jenna said, “That’s understandable under our circumstances.” Jenna looked at Wendy and said, “Have a seat. I’m getting tea for Paige and I, would you like a cup?” Wendy said ‘yes,’ and Jenna began putting together a tea-tray for them.

Wendy decided to probe Paige while Jenna made the tea, “What’s going on, Paige?” At that invitation Paige launched into a stream of words,

“I talked to Dane last night….which was great….he’s doing better….he found out his wife was leaving him….that wasn’t good, but he’s okay…he and I were having an affair….he didn’t tell me he suspected Trice was cheating….Abby’s a mess because this other guy was trying to replace Dane as her father…I like Dane, but he’s now in this mess….I know ESEP knows about our affair….I was really mad at you Jenna, but Dane helped me see that he couldn’t have stayed on this mission….I want to stay here, but maybe I’m now too involved….I don’t want to be involved…”

At this point Wendy took control, “Paige, let me see if I understand your concerns. You were involved in a relationship with Dane, but you concerned that he needs to sort things out without you, you don’t want ESEP to hold this relationship against you and you want to stay with this mission, and you were mad a Jenna because you thought she kicked Dane off the mission too soon, but you understand there was no choice…is that everything?”

Paige looked at Wendy blankly and paused. Paige said, “Yes…yes, I believe it is.”

Jenna had sat down with the tea-tray and had poured everyone tea. She looked at Wendy and they both smiled. As Jenna handed Paige her tea she said, “Paige, I have no concerns about you or your ability to do your job. The only reason I would replace you is if you wanted off the ship, and I’m hearing that this mission is your priority. Wendy can help you sort out any issues you’re having about your relationship with Dane.”

Jenna paused and then continued, “Finally, I pleased to hear that both you and Dane understand that he had to go to his daughter. It is human nature to want someone to blame for the outcome of this tragedy, and I expected both of you to have some anger directed at someone. I’m not offended and I’m pleased you have forgiven me.

Jenna reached out to her and took her hand and said, “You’re part of our crew, period.”

Paige’s face and body began to relax. Jenna thought Paige might start crying, but she didn’t. Paige said, “Thank you. That’s all I needed to hear.”

Jenna said, “I’m going up to grab a bite and then head up to the Command deck. Why don’t you head off to sleep?” Paige responded, “I can’t. I won’t be able to sleep until I know the countdown has started.” Jenna said, “Alright, then come up with me for breakfast and then we’ll both go to the Command deck. The countdown starts in three hours, and then you can head off to bed.”

The three of them ate a quick breakfast and then headed to the Command deck. Jenna had a flood of messages coming in but she asked Paige to prioritize them and between the two of them they worked through them with ten minutes to spare before the countdown commenced. By this time a long list of divisions and departments had given the ‘go’ to start the countdown.

All of the Earth-based stations had completed their checklists and now the spaceport was finishing up their list. It was up to the departments onboard the ship now. As it came down to the last ninety seconds, Anna, the First Officer, was running down the final four sectors,

“Science?” “GO!”

“Comm?” “GO!”

“Engineering?” “GO!”

“Navigation?” “GO!”

Anna then turned to Ken and said, “Commodore, we have a go to begin the countdown.” Ken turned to Jenna and said, “Rear Admiral Wade, we are ready to commence countdown with your approval.”

All eyes and the cameras focused on Jenna and she said, “Comm Officer Flores, everybody seems to think we should go to Mars. Do you agree?” Paige looked a little startled as all focus came to her. She smiled and said, “I agree!” Then Jenna had another surprise for everyone and said, “Then Comm Officer Flores, would you give the Commodore your approval?” Everyone on the Command deck was beaming. After all that happened in the past week, this made it all right. Paige turned to Ken and said, “You have approval to commence the countdown!”

Ken snapped back to the Anna, First Officer Flores, your sister says we can go!” Everyone wanted to laugh but they had cut the process too close and Anna quickly announced, “COUNTDOWN begins on MY MARK, in six, five, four, three, two, one, MARK!”

In 251 hours, seventeen minutes, and 32 seconds the ESS Queen Elizabeth II would begin her journey to Mars.

Valentine’s Night

14 Sunday Feb 2016

Posted by Paul Kiser in Earth Space Exploration Program, Mars, Mars 2016, Mars calendar, Science Fiction, Space, Space, Virtual Adventures

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2016, astronauts, communications, crew morale, Earth, Earth Space Exploration Program, ESEP, ESS Queen Elizabeth II, Jenna Wade, Mars, Mars Mission 2016, Mars time, Noctis Standard Time, NST, Pacific Standard Time, PST, space, space travel, spacecraft, Time, Time Zones

Mars Date/Time: Year 1, Sur One, Saturday, Sol 42 (1.1.42) 4:43 AM NST
Earth Date/Time: Sunday, 14 February 2016 2:00 PM PST

Jenna couldn’t sleep. It was almost 5:00 AM and she had been awake for two hours. This week was not the week she had anticipated and later this morning the 10-day countdown would begin to send them off to Mars.

The replacement pilot came on board two days ago, but the crew, including Jenna, was still dealing with the emotional circumstances of the loss of their former pilot, Dane Paris, on Tuesday morning.

He lost three immediate family members in a matter of hours and suddenly was a single parent. ESEP was able to get him from the ship to his daughter in less than 24 hours, which was a small miracle performed by a dedicated ESEP team.

Jenna had talked to him briefly on Thursday, and Nick Castillo, the Director of ESEP, was forwarding reports to her from the Counselors that had been assigned to live and care for him and his daughter while he worked through the grief and life changes resulting from the loss of his wife and in-laws.

As for the crew, they had been trained to accept the loss of a crewmate and move on, but this was different. They lost a crewmate, but he was still alive and he was suffering. They couldn’t be there for him.

Even worse was the reality of the situation. Every crew member knew that during the two-year mission things might change with the people they left behind. None of them realized how significant the changes could be, and how suddenly it could happen.

Dane was lucky in some aspects. His family tragedy occurred while the ship was still in orbit, and still attached to Earth Prime, the orbiting spaceport. In ten days there was no turning back. Whatever happened on Earth would be literally be on a different world.

Two weeks ago, ESEP worldwide and orbital operations switched over to the time zone of the landing site on Mars. That meant adapting the Mars clock and calendar. The Mars calendar didn’t have Valentine’s Day on it. It didn’t have any holidays, but that didn’t mean the crew wouldn’t be thinking of family and friends during Earth holidays.

Jenna was sipping her tea in her quarters and thinking that the timing of this couldn’t be worse. Currently the Mars night, their night, was Valentine’s Day for much of the western world. During the crew’s morning tasks they would likely be reminded of the people they would be missing during the next two years. Jenna had considered a light duty day for today, but with the start of the countdown, this morning would require everyone at their stations. The afternoon would be anticlimactic as the first few days of the countdown were designed with long, open time periods to allow any issues to be resolved without holding up the count.

Jenna checked in with the Comm Center for any pending messages before she dressed for the day. She touched the Comm icon on her pad and the voice said, “Good Morning, Rear Admiral. You’re up early.” The voice was Paige Flores who was covering the night shift. Paige had developed a close friendship with Dane Paris, and her mood this morning seemed out of line for her emotional state the last time they talked.

“Good morning, how was last night?” Jenna asked. Paige replied, “It was good. I talked to Dane last night.” Jenna was glad to hear they had a chance to reconnect, “How’s he doing?” Paige mood seemed to become more serious, “He’s still trying to deal with everything, but he’s focusing on helping his daughter deal with the loss of her Mom and grandparents. That seems to be helping him.”

Jenna had suspected taking over the role of nurturer for his daughter, Abby, would help him out of the emotional hole he could be sucked into. Jenna said, “That’s good. Dane’s a great father.”

Paige agreed and then moved the conversation on, “Admiral, the Director would like you to contact him as soon as possible, and you have some other messages, but would it be okay if I came to talk to you after you call the Director?” Jenna was curious why, but decided not to ask now. She hoped that Paige wouldn’t be requesting to leave the ship. “Of course,” Jenna replied, “Monitor my call and come down when I’m done.”

Jenna put her concerns about Paige to the side and focused on her call to the Director. She would have been woken if there was an emergency, but lately the Director hadn’t been the source of good news. About ten seconds after she finished her conversation with Paige a flashing icon appeared at her workstation. Paige had set up the video call.

The image of Megan, Nick Castillo’s assistant, was on the monitor. She said, “Rear Admiral Wade, good morning. The Director is on his way.” Jenna smiled and said, “Megan, thank you for all your help in these past few days. If I could requisition you for our mission, I would.” Megan smiled and said, “Thank you, Rear Admiral. It is a pleasure to help out in any way I can. The Director is here.”

Jenna could see the doorway to Nick’s office suite across from the camera and within seconds of Megan saying he was ‘here,’ he stepped into the room. Megan had an uncanny sense of her boss and Jenna wondered if she was really human.

Nick looked up at the video monitor and said, “Good morning, Jenna. I didn’t mean to have you woken.” Jenna replied, “I was awake and checked in. They didn’t wake me.” Nick said, “Can’t sleep?” Jenna shook her head and said, “Not last night. If things go well this morning I might order a nap for the crew.” Nick smiled and said, “If you do that, I’ll do the same here. I know your crew was hit the hardest by the tragedy, but I didn’t realize how much everyone down here would be affected.” Jenna said, “I’m halfway serious about the nap.” Nick replied, “I’m completely serious. If all goes well this morning we’ll both stand down our people until 10:00 AM tomorrow. Claude’s team has been asking to help out. I’m sure he can find people to cover shifts for you.”

Jenna then said, “Wait, we have the countdown starting. Are we going to put that on hold?” Nick shook his head, “No. We’ll start the countdown and do the immediate tasks related to initiating it, but…,” at this point Nick turned to his assistant, “Megan, how many tasks would we delay if we stand the crew down from noon today until ten AM tomorrow?”

Megan scrolled through her tablet for a few seconds and said, “32 non-countdown tasks are scheduled and 15 meetings. The total allocated time to recover from a delay is 28 hours and seven minutes.” Nick turned to Jenna and said, “Maybe it’s not..” But Megan interrupted, “Of course, if those the tasks are rescheduled to be done concurrently it will take one hour and 43 minutes.”

Nick smiled again, then frowned, “What about the meetings?” Megan replied, “Most of the meetings can be eliminated and combined with the end of day meetings.” Nick had a thought and then touched an icon on his tablet. A now familiar voice said, “Security Actual. What can I do for you Director.” Jenna noticed that Megan began quickly typing out a message on her pad. Nick seemed unaware of her activity and continued, “Mr. Duncan, I think we should follow your recommendation and stand down operations for the security sweep you suggested.” Mr. Duncan was clearly confused, “Security sweep?….I’m not…..” Mr. Duncan paused. It became apparent to Jenna that Megan had sent some type of message to Mr. Duncan and he resumed his response with enthusiasm, “YES. The security sweep from noon today until ten AM tomorrow…do we…do I need more time to do this sweep? Nick was clearly enjoying this and replied, “Now, Mr. Duncan, we can’t hold up the program too long…noon today until ten AM is all we can afford I’m afraid.”

Megan had continued typing while they talked. Mr. Duncan then added, “Very well, I’ll send out….” At that moment a message marked urgent popped up on everyone’s tablet. The conversation stopped as everyone read it. It said,

CODE ALERT! MESSAGE IN TWO PARTS TO FOLLOW:

CODE ALERT – PART ONE: All non-critical operations will stand down after countdown initiation. Today at noon, all non=critical mission operations will stand down until 10 AM tomorrow. All non-critical task and all meetings are to be rescheduled. The Office of the ESEP’s Director will issue a new schedule later today. All questions and concerns should be forwarded to that office.

CODE ALERT – PART TWO: Security will be performing a routine security operation from noon today until 10 AM tomorrow. This was planned but unannounced for security reasons. This is not in response to any known issue or concern, but a test of pre-departure security. Thank you for your cooperation.

Mr. Duncan then resumed, “Correction, I’ve sent out a message to all…I think it’s all…operations….Actually, Director, I would like to do a security sweep of both ships and Earth Prime.” Nick looked at Jenna on his monitor and she nodded. Nick said, “You have the Rear Admiral’s approval and…” Nick looked back at Megan who was once again typing, then he continued, “I’m sure Claude will be contacting you shortly with his approval.” Mr. Duncan said, “Excellent, thank you.”

Nick continued, “How’s the new pilot doing?” “She’s a little rattled right now,” Jenna replied. Jenna had a pilot in mind to replace Dane, but it turned out the pilot was in training to advance to Captain and would have had to give that up to go on the mission. Jenna and Ken bypassed the top two candidates suggested by the Director and offered the position to the third person on the list.

Nick decided to ask, “Why did you select Keira over the others?” Jenna smiled, “We liked her.” Nick was not going to accept a non-answer, he said, “She was kicked off one ship for insubordination and she was the pilot on the shuttle crash eleven months ago.” Jenna replied, “It was because of those events that we selected her. The ship she was kicked off of was captained by Williams, who you fired this week, and on the shuttle crash, everyone walked away, which, under the circumstances is a miracle. She’s been tested and proved herself.”

Nick smiled and said, “I’ve learned to trust your judgement. In fact, Megan gave me the list with Keira’s name at the top, and I moved her to the third option.” Jenna said, “You need to stop doing that. Megan’s way smarter than all of us.”

Nick smiled and glanced over his shoulder at Megan at her station. She was involved in a video call with three other people. Nick quietly said, “I found her in a bottle walking on a beach” Megan looked over her shoulder at Nick and said, “I heard that….Master,” and then resumed her video call.

Nick and Jenna both laughed. After a moment Nick became serious and said, “There is some cargo coming up to you that we need to talk about.”

Jenna’s smile disappeared.

Commissioning Day: Queen Elizabeth II

03 Wednesday Feb 2016

Posted by Paul Kiser in Earth Space Exploration Program, Mars, Mars 2016, Mars calendar, Science Fiction, Space, Space, Virtual Adventures

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artificial gravity, astronauts, Commissioning, communications, crew morale, engineering, ESEP, ESS Carl Sagan, ESS Queen Elizabeth II, gravity, JPL, Mars, Mars Mission 2016, Mars time, NASA, Noctis Standard Time, NST, Pacific Standard Time, Queen Elizabeth II, science, space, space travel, spacecraft, spacecraft design, Time, Time Zones

Mars Date/Time: Year 1, Sur One, Sunday, Sol 29 (1.1.29) 1:10 PM NST
Earth Date/Time: Monday, 1 February 2016 2:06 PM PST

Many of the same people present on the Command deck of the ESS Sagan were now present on the Command deck of the ESS Queen Elizabeth II. The main difference was the presence of all 28 members of her crew. QE II Plaque

For years engineers, scientist, and crafts people had been thinking, planning, designing, and building on a dream to send humans to Mars. Now the entire program became real. Today, two ships and a crew of 28 would officially become Earth’s first interplanetary ambassadors.

Commander Jenna Wade began the final Commissioning ceremony with a nod and one word, “Captain.” At that Captain Ken Hart followed the same procedure he had done earlier in the day and broadcast a “Code Alert,” which meant everyone to standby for an important message to the crew.

As the Captain, anyone on his ship, with the exception of Commander Wade, was subject to his orders; however, this ceremony included many more people than those standing in the Command section. Around the world millions of people watched as this group of people orbiting 2,500 kilometers above Earth were witness to history. Today Earth would commission the ships and crew to be committed to take humanity to the fourth planet.

After this morning’s ceremony Earth had commissioned the ESS Carl Sagan. Now, the second ship, the ESS Queen Elizabeth II and the entire crew would be commissioned.

Again, it was Nick Castillo, the Director of the Earth Space Exploration Program or ESEP, that would conduct the ceremony. In his hands he held two cloth covered plaques. Everyone knew one was the ship’s plaque, but the other object was a mystery.

Castillo stepped to the edge of the platform near the center of the Command deck and began,

For over a century we have pretended that we still had ‘frontiers’ on Earth. There are many things we still need to explore and understand on our planet, but no place on Earth is really a frontier. This ship and crew, along with the sister ship the ESS Carl Sagan, are reviving the exploration of a true frontier.

Since 1960, Earth has sent 46 unmanned missions to Mars. Only one-third of them made it. The ones that did make it have given us volumes of data; however, the knowledge we have gained about Mars and interplanetary travel will double within one year after we set foot on Mars.

Human exploration is the most efficient way to truly explore a frontier as vast as Mars, and now we are ready to step past the millions of kilometers between Earth and Mars and write the next chapter of human knowledge.

Castillo paused as the everyone applauded. He looked around and realized that this was the largest group of people to ever gather in space. At that moment it hit him. His smiled suddenly disappeared. What would happen if the carbon dioxide in the air rose to toxic levels? He briefly considered stopping the ceremony, but then quietly reassured himself that alarms would go off if there was a problem, so he continued and hoped that the ceremony wouldn’t end in an embarrassing scramble for oxygen,

On the 24th Earth day of this month, and the 51st Mars day of Sur One, this ship will lead humans to another world and they will do so on a ship named after one of history’s most constant leaders, Queen Elizabeth II. For over sixty years she has served as Queen of the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth. Today we thank her for service to humankind and name this ship in her honor.

Castillo removed the cloth from one of the covered objects and held it up for the remote cameras to zoom in on while the section was filled with clapping. He then handed to plaque to one of the ESEP VIP’s standing behind him, and then Castillo continued,

As the first ship to begin our human journey to Mars it has been designated as the Flagship of Earth’s coming fleet of ships. It will pass this designation to the ESS Carl Sagan once the two ships integrate, but it will retain Flagship status anytime she flies as an independent ship.

It has also been decided that the ESS Queen Elizabeth II will be the first ship to carry back a crew from Mars in April 2017.

He unveiled the second plaque designating the QE II’s Flagship status and again held it up for all to see. After a brief period of applause Castillo handed the second plaque to the man behind him and turned to one of the other ESEP VIP’s who looked more serious than the rest and said, “Mr. Duncan, if you please.”

Commissioning Day: Seeking the Incredible

02 Tuesday Feb 2016

Posted by Paul Kiser in Earth Space Exploration Program, Mars, Mars 2016, Mars calendar, Science Fiction, Space, Space, Virtual Adventures

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Mars Date/Time: Year 1, Sur One, Sunday, Sol 29 (1.1.29) 9:10 AM NST
Earth Date/Time: Monday, 1 February 2016 10:06 AM PST

Several of the remote-controlled cameras inside the Auxiliary Control Deck, or ACD, were active and broadcasting the scene on the ESS Carl Sagan. One of them zoomed in on a man standing on the sixth deck of the ACD holding a flat object covered in a soft cloth. He was Nick Castillo, the Director of the Earth Space Exploration Program or ESEP. Castillo looked at the 21 people in the Command Deck and then began,

Carl Sagan said, ‘Somewhere, something incredible is waiting to be known.’ Today, I stand on the Command Deck of a ship that will take us in search of the incredible. Often space programs justify their existence by explaining that what we learn out there will help us better understand our world. This is true, but the exploration of space elevates us as a species.

We are not merely seeking a better understanding of Earth, but a better understanding of the human being and the context in which we all exist.

The incredible awaits us and now we have Archimedes’ lever that will take us there. This ship, the Earth Space Ship Carl Sagan, is that lever that is big enough to move our world to Mars.

Almost fifty years ago we took a step off our home world and landed on the Moon. The impact of taking that small step has carried humans into a new age of technology and economic success. It is long overdue for us to take the next step.

The Carl Sagan will not take our crew to Mars to touch it and quickly run back home. Almost all of this ship will stay in orbit around Mars, or serve as human’s first habitat on the surface of another planet.

With this ship we honor Carl Sagan for his vision, his brilliance, and his love for humankind. Without people like Carl Sagan we would still be nomadic tribes subject to the whims of nature and superstition.

And so, on behalf of the Earth Space Exploration Program, I commission the Earth Space Ship Carl Sagan. May she take us to the incredible and beyond.

As everyone applauded he uncovered a plaque that had the name of the ship and an image of the man for which it was named. People moved to Castillo and shook his hand.

Captain Hart moved over to Commander Wade and said, “Do you suppose Carl Sagan ever imagined this?” Wade looked at him and said, “I wouldn’t be surprised if he meets us on Mars and offers to show us the sights.”

Commissioning Day: The Carl Sagan

01 Monday Feb 2016

Posted by Paul Kiser in Earth Space Exploration Program, Mars, Mars 2016, Mars calendar, Science Fiction, Space, Space, Virtual Adventures

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Mars Date/Time: Year 1, Sur One, Sunday, Sol 29 (1.1.29) 9:04 AM NST
Earth Date/Time: Monday, 1 February 2016 10:00 AM PST

There was no doubt this was the Auxiliary Command Deck or ACD, but it was odd. It was designed to be functional in a weightless or gravity environment. It was a ten meter diameter section with multiple layers of control stations down its thirty meter length. It looked like a nine-story silo with partial decks reaching out to the center. On each deck there were chairs facing the outside wall.

The walls had video displays that extended up to the ceiling and on each screen were live images of inside sections of the ship, the view around it, data or information vital to ship operations, or personnel on the QE II, Earth Spaceport Prime, or at one of the ESEP Earth-based Centers.

Each deck hung in space. They extended toward the center, but stopped leaving a two meter circular corridor the length of the Command section. In addition, each floor had three gaps with ladder-like rungs protruding out of the wall to allow crew members to easily move between floors.

Only six mission members were in the ACD of the Earth Space Ship (ESS) Carl Sagan, named for the famous scientist who rebooted science in the minds of millions of people.

Eight more managers and directors of Earth Spaceport Prime were also loitering in the ACD. They needed no tour because most of them had been intimately involved with configuring both ships in advance of this first human mission to Mars.

The rest of the crew was on board their sister ship, the ESS Queen Elizabeth II or QE II. In three weeks all 28 crew members would leave Earth orbit for Mars. This ship would be piloted by remote control to meet up with the QE II a few days after it left Earth orbit.

Carl Sagan, 1934-96, Scientist, Author, Educator, Visionary

Ann Flores, the First Officer, kept checking her monitor. She was following the progress of the VIP tours being conducted by Captain Ken Hart and Commander Jenna Wade. They were leading six Earth Space Exploration Program (ESEP) executives around the ship in two groups. The ESEP Center Director, Nick Castillo, was with Captain Hart’s group and they were returning down the Quill to the ACD.

Captain Hart and his tour slowly descended down the guide pole in the central corridor into the ACD. Flores quickly turned from her monitor and stood at attention and announced, “CAPTAIN ON DECK!” Immediately the crew moved to the edge of each of their floors and stood at attention.

The Captain said, “At ease.” and then he looked at Flores and frowned. “We’re not going to do that all the way to Mars are we?,” he asked. “It is protocol, sir,” she replied.

The Captain moved his VIP’s to the Command Floor. Just as they settled in on the Captain’s section Flores announced, “COMMANDER ON DECK!” Again, the crew stood at attention as Commander Wade and her tour descended to the Commander’s section across from the Captain.

Wade looked at the Captain and said, “That’s going to get old, quick.” Hart replied, “She’s enthusiastic,” and then added, “Today is a day for formality. I’m sure we won’t be ‘announced’ once were underway.” “Good.” Wade said, “This isn’t the Enterprise.”

Castillo interrupted, “I believe it’s time.” Wade looked at Castillo and nodded, then turned back to Hart and said, “Captain.” At that the Captain pulled out his tablet and hit the COMM icon and said, “All hands, all ships, this is the Captain, CODE ALERT!” At that all the crew members on both ships stood at attention their stations watching the screen in front of them. Around the Command Deck life-sized screens showed astronauts at attention on both ships ready for what was to come.

Hart then announced, “Crew of the Carl Sagan and Queen Elizabeth II, standby for an announcement by ESEP Director Nick Castillo.”

Celebration Surprises

31 Sunday Jan 2016

Posted by Paul Kiser in Earth Space Exploration Program, Mars, Mars 2016, Mars calendar, Science Fiction, Space, Space, Virtual Adventures

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artificial gravity, astronauts, communications, crew morale, engineering, ESEP, ESS Carl Sagan, ESS Queen Elizabeth II, gravity, HD cameras, High Definition, JPL, Mars, Mars Mission 2016, NASA, Noctis Standard Time, NST, Pacific Standard Time, PST, science, space, space travel, spacecraft, spacecraft design, Time, Time Zones

Mars Date/Time: Year 1, Sur One, Saturday, Sol 28 (1.1.28) 1:42 PM NST
Earth Date/Time: Sunday, 31 January 2016 2:00 PM PST

Today is a day of celebrations. In a surprise arrival, ESEP Mission Director, Nick Castillo and five other ESEP executives ferried up to Earth Spaceport Prime. Castillo sent over a temporary crew to the QE II and ordered all 28 crew members to join the executives and spaceport astronauts for a pre-commissioning party.

Celebration party set up for Spain ESEP Center

On Earth, the families and friends of the crew were invited to a ESEP party at one of the three ESEP Centers in the United States, Japan, and Spain/France. All four parties were connected through video links on human sized monitors around each room and allowed everyone to interact across the planet and in space.

With the ESEP personnel in orbit, tomorrow’s commissioning of the ships and crew will be done in person, rather than by video link. The idea of sending up the ESEP executives was discussed two months ago, but it was contingent on how tests and drills on the ships went in this last month.

Tonight the crew will return to their ship and will have dinner with the Commander and Captain as hosts. Castillo and the ESEP team were also invited to join the crew. After dinner there will be short team meetings to review tomorrow’s schedule of events, responsibilities, and requirements, then all crew members will be in quarters by 21:00 NST.

On Mars Time

30 Saturday Jan 2016

Posted by Paul Kiser in Earth Space Exploration Program, Mars, Mars 2016, Mars calendar, Science Fiction, Space, Space, Virtual Adventures

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2016, astronauts, communications, crew morale, engineering, ESEP, ESS Carl Sagan, ESS Queen Elizabeth II, JPL, Mars, Mars Mission 2016, Mars time, NASA, Noctis Standard Time, NST, Pacific Standard Time, PST, science, space, space travel, spacecraft, Time, Time Zones

Mars Date/Time: Year 1, Sur One, Friday, Sol 27 (1.1.27) 2:21 PM NST
Earth Date/Time: Saturday, 30 January 2016 2:00 PM PST

The Earth Space Exploration Program (ESEP) is now officially on Noctis Standard Time (NST). This is the time zone on Mars that the primary landing sites for Mars Mission 2016, near the Noctis Labyrinthus feature.

The Noctis Labyrinthus Time Zone on Mars

It also means we are now on the Mars calendar and today is Friday, Sol 27, Sur One. There are sixty days in this month. The orbital transfer to Mars will begin later this month and the crew will arrive in Mars orbit in the third month, or Sur Three.

The crew will not start shift rotation until Sunday, Sol 29, after the ship and crew have been commissioned. Most of the crew will either the 8:00 AM to 2:00 PM shift or the 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM. Two astronauts will be on duty on the Command Deck from 4:00 PM to 12:00 midnight, and another two from 12:00 midnight to 8:00 AM.

Sur One

Each crew member will have three days of light duty in every ten days. Light duty may mean shorter hours of scheduled work, a lighter workload, or assignment to a special duty. Whenever possible, the team members work together to plan a group schedule so that tasks can be planned based on the number of team members on duty at any given time.

Tomorrow crew members will be preparing for Sunday’s (Earth’s Monday) commissioning ceremonies both ships and the crew will be commissioned.

Finals Week

29 Friday Jan 2016

Posted by Paul Kiser in Earth Space Exploration Program, Mars, Mars 2016, Mars calendar, Science Fiction, Space, Space, Virtual Adventures

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Mars Date/Time: Year 1, Sur One, Thursday, Sol 26 (1.1.26) 2:59 PM NST
Earth Date/Time: Friday, 29 January 2016 2:00 PM PST

Today the crew is finished testing on the systems on ESS Queen Elizabeth II and the ESS Carl Sagan. As the crew is currently on board the QE II, a crew of spaceport astronauts filled in for the testing on the Sagan.

A mishap did occur during Thursday’s test of the Sagan’s Impulse Cycle Propulsion (ICP) pellet propulsion. An astronaut broke his leg when a pellet moved into position for firing. The situation was investigated and it was determined that the astronaut had not notified the Pilot on QE II that he was in the loader area. New requirements were instituted to require video monitoring of the propulsion section by at least two crew members during any use of the propulsion drive on either ship.

Sagan ICP Gun Section near where an astronaut broke his leg this week

With the exception of Thursday’s accident this week’s testing has gone well. The crew has run simulated test firings of the propulsion systems of both ships without actually launching a pellet or detonating it. All other systems are ready for the orbital transfer to Mars.

The next few weeks the crew will be loading in final supplies, running drills, and preparing to leave Earth for a minimum of 21 months. The crew is ahead of schedule and tomorrow will be light duty before Monday’s commissioning of both ships.

Also, tomorrow the entire program switches over to Mars time. This date was selected to give the crew adequate time to adjust before orbital transfer and it will have minimal impact on the crew. At 12:00 PM PST the clocks will convert to 12:21 PM NST.

Mars Calendar: 12 Long Months

28 Thursday Jan 2016

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Mars Date/Time: Year 1, Sur One, Sol 25 (1.1.25) 3:38 PM NST
Earth Date/Time: 28 January 2016 2:00 PM PST

Creating the Martian calendar required understand why Earth’s calendar is divided into units. In some cases there is a clear astronomical reason (one planet rotation equals a day,) but other units, such as weeks, have no celestial cycle to establish the unit.

However, the month and year on Earth can be traced to certain astronomical patterns.

MONTH and YEAR
Earth months are loosely based on the orbit of the Moon. The Moon orbits Earth more than twelve times per year, but there is a clear link between the phases of the Moon, and the length of a month.

Mars has two Moons, but they’re orbits are not useful in establishing a time unit similar to Earth’s month standard; however, because Mars is tilted on its axis similar to Earth, it does experience seasons. Those season’s can be measured by the two equinoxes and two solstices.

Earth’s division of seasons

Mars division of seasons

However, because the orbit of Mars takes almost twice as many days (Earth days) than Earth, the seasons are almost twice as long and they have more variance (length) than Earth’s seasons.

Mars takes almost twice as long as the Earth to orbit the Sun, and Mars orbit is more non-circular than Earth's

Mars takes almost twice as long as the Earth to orbit the Sun, and Mars orbit is more eccentric than Earth’s

To establish a Mars month, ESEP divided the Mars year (one orbit around the Sun) into four seasons. Each of those seasons are divided into three, roughly equal months. The full Mars calendar can be seen here.

ESEP began the calendar on the Winter solstice for the Southern Hemisphere, which occurred on 3 January 2016 (Earth Date.) The first six months are measured by the Winter and Spring in the Southern Hemisphere (called Sur) and the second six months are measured by the Winter and Spring of the Northern Hemisphere (called Nor.)

: Sur One

: Sur Two

: Sur Three

: Sur Four

: Sur Five

: Sur Six

: Nor One

: Nor Two

: Nor Three

: Nor Four

: Nor Five

: Nor Six

Mars Calendar: Why Seven Days Make a Week

27 Wednesday Jan 2016

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Mars Date/Time: Year 1, Sur One, Sol 24 (1.1.24) 4:16 PM NST
Earth Date/Time: 27 January 2016 2:00 PM PST

As we have noted, a calendar is a human device, not a scientific one. This is especially true when it comes to the construction of a week. A day is determined by the time it takes a planet to make one rotation on its axis. A year is determined by the time it takes a planet to make one orbit of the Sun.

A week = 7 days because our ancestors saw seven significant moving objects in the sky.

However, a week has no astronomical cycle. It is simply a device humans created. A calendar doesn’t have to be divided into weeks; however, over time we have allowed the ‘week’ to define a boundary between work and rest. For this reason alone it would create problems to revise or eliminate the use of the ‘week’ concept in the Mars calendar.

WEEK
Humans have divided the Earth calendar into weeks simply because they knew of seven moving heavenly bodies in the sky. Those seven objects were the Sun, Moon, Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, Venus, and Saturn. The Latin/Spanish names for those objects are Sōlis/domingo, Lūnae/lunes, Martis/martes, Mercuriī/miércoles, Iovis/jueves, Veneris/viernes, Saturnī/sábado. The English version of the days of the week were heavily influenced by the germanic language; however, the names still correspond to the names of the seven moving objects in our sky.

The first month of the Mars year is 60 days long and has 8 1/2 weeks.

A week is simply a repeating pattern of the names of seven objects in Earth sky. If Earth had two Moons, or if Uranus or Neptune were in an orbit close enough to be visible to the naked eye, we might have an eight-day week, instead of seven.

Despite its simplistic invention, the week is an important part of how humans note time, so ESEP has chosen to keep the same convention for the Mars calendar; however, because a day on Mars is 40 minutes longer, the days of the week are not in sync. On any given day, the days of the week will not usually be the same on Earth and Mars. When it is Friday on Earth, it is probably not Friday on Mars.

Some discussion occurred regarding changing the name of Tuesday (Martis in Latin) to Terra, since Tuesday was named for Earth’s perspective of Mars, and from Mars perspective, Earth would be one of the significant moving objects in the sky. The idea was rejected.

Mars Calendar: What’s in a Day

26 Tuesday Jan 2016

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Mars Date/Time: Year 1, Sur One, Sol 23 (1.1.23) 4:54 PM NST
Earth Date/Time: 26 January 2016 2:00 PM PST

It is important to remember that a calendar is a human device, not a scientific one. Humans have divided time into units in order to keep track of the past, present, and future events, and science has worked to make time units more precisely measured. Thus, creating time units for Mars is to establish the standard for humans to use to reference past, present, and future events.

There are many possible ways to establish time units on Mars, but the Earth Space Exploration Program (ESEP) determined that fusing elements of Earth time units with the characteristics of Mars would be the most efficient.

An Earth Day is defined by one rotation of the planet

DAY
One Earth day is based on one rotation of our planet. It is divided into 24 increments, called hours. Hours are divided into 60 minutes, and minutes are divided into 60 seconds.

One Mars day is also based on one rotation of the planet; however, compared to Earth, Mars rotation takes approximately 24 hours and 40 minutes. Because it is so close, and we are accustomed to the 24 hour clock, scientists have established a “Mars clock” that also has a 24 hour day. They did this by making each second of Mars time slightly longer than an Earth ‘second,’ so there are still 60 seconds to a Mars minute, and 60 minutes to a Mars hour, and 24 hours to a Mars day.

A Mars Day is about 40 minutes longer than Earth’s

However, this makes a Mars day out of sync with an Earth day, but that is unavoidable. Earth rotates faster than Mars, therefore, Earth days occur faster than Mars.

What Time Is It?

14 Thursday Jan 2016

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Mars Date/Time: Year 1, Sur One, Sol 12 (1.1.12) 12:36 AM NST
Earth Date/Time: 14 January 2016 2:00 PM PST

There are several versions of Mars Clock apps

As humans expand their reach, time becomes a major issue. Before the invention of machines that could transport people over long distances in a short time period, all time was local. When the Sun was directly overhead in a village, it was noon.

However, as transportation and communication advanced, so did our recognition that the time of day was different depending on the location. The railroads in Europe were the first to establish a ‘standard time’ that later became know as Railway Time.

However, with space travel, a time standard based on Earth isn’t compatible with keeping time on another planet. We’ve already discussed this issue in a previous article (SEE: A Matter of Time,) but there is more to this issue than just when the Sun rises and sets on two different planets.

The Mars Mission has four Earth-based Operation Control locations. (San Jose, California, USA; Kumamoto, Kumamoto Prefecture, Japan 熊本市; and the twin Operation Centers in Figueres, Spain and Perpignan, France.) In addition, we have our launch facility near Arica, Chile. For simplicity the workers and crew have been on Pacific Standard Time; however, on 30 January all mission operations on Earth, and in orbit will switch to Mars Noctis Standard Time (NST.)

This will eliminate confusion by Earth-based operations as to what time it is for the Mars Alpha Base (once it is established) and avoid interruptions during their sleep cycle. As teams for previous robotic missions to Mars have known, this creates and odd situation for them, because of a forty-minute difference between a day on Earth and a day on Mars. All Mars Operation Control locations will be on shifts of six hours and ten minutes each (plus a one hour briefing before each shift,) with the next day beginning 40 minutes later.

For the crew and the support staff of the Mars Mission, the question: “What time is it?” will require knowing what time it is on Mars at that moment.

A Matter of Time

09 Saturday Jan 2016

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Airy Crater, Mars time, MTC, Noctis Labyrinthus, Pacific Standard Time, PST, Time, Time Zones, UTC

Date: Year 1, Sur One, Sol 6 (1.1.6)

If you understand the reason humans created time zones on Earth, you will understand that we have the same need on Mars. On Mars, time zones are divided into 15° segments of longitude.

Time Zones on Earth for the Americas

On Earth, the beginning point of all time zones is in Greenwich, England. It was referred to as Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) but is now replaced by Coordinated Universal Time (UTC). Every time zone on Earth is determined by how many time zones or hours it is from Greenwich. For example, Pacific Standard Time (PST) is currently eight hours behind UTC, so it is referred to as UTC -8.

Mars has been given a similar zone zero, like Earth’s UTC zone. It is located at the Airy Crater and that zone is known as Mars Coordinated Time (MTC). Our primary landing site on Mars is the Noctis Labyrinthus which is seven hours behind the Airy Crater or MTC -7.

As I am writing this post, it is 6:11 PM (18:11) PST, 8 January, 2016, on Earth. The time at our primary landing site on Mars is 8:33 AM (08:33) at what we are calling Noctis Standard Time (NST). The date is 6 Sur One, meaning it is the 6th day of the first month of Sur winter.

However, a day on Mars, (the time it takes the planet to make one revolution,) is 2.7% longer than an Earth day (about 40 minutes longer.) This means that at 6:11 PM PST tomorrow, it will NOT be 8:33 NST on Mars. In fact it will be 7:53 NST. To keep Mars on a 24 hour day scientists have devised a time system for Mars by making each second 2.7% longer than an Earth second.

If you are an astronaut on Mars, this is not an issue; however, if you’re a Mars scientist on Earth then you will experience a Mars ‘time creep’ where each Mars day pushes your Earth schedule 40 minutes forward each day.

As more of Mars becomes occupied by humans the time and day length differences will seem more commonplace; however, it can be confusing when someone says it will take 110 days to reach Mars because you have to know if that is Earth days, or Mars days.

Noctis on Mars

~ A Real Time Virtual Mission To Mars

Tag Archives: Time

Press Conference

Educating Ezekiel

Daylight Saving Day

Under New Managment

Housekeeping

Moving On

Extra Equipment

Red Handed

Rat Trap

Talking Paige

Valentine’s Night

Commissioning Day: Queen Elizabeth II

Commissioning Day: Seeking the Incredible

Commissioning Day: The Carl Sagan

Celebration Surprises

On Mars Time

Finals Week

Mars Calendar: 12 Long Months

Mars Calendar: Why Seven Days Make a Week

Mars Calendar: What’s in a Day

What Time Is It?

A Matter of Time