Chapter 39

The Atlas 4 rocket was almost 250 feet tall and 200 thousand kilograms of aluminum and rocket fuel. Really just a container for liquid hydrogen and oxygen. The five main engines developed 250 thousand kilograms of thrust which was enough to propel the giant tank not only upward but also out of earth's orbit and on toward Venus. As it sat on pad 24, the water vapor in the air condensed on the outside of the rocket forming a frost. The rocket looked massive. It was massive.

In the business end of the rocket there were ten ultralight aircraft and a satellite. Each was a Walter Cathcull special. The planes weighed 100 kilograms which was quite light for vehicle with a 20 meter wingspan. The wing was covered with a layer of mylar over kevlar. The spares in the wings were a honeycombed matrix of graphite and epoxy. The top surface of each wing was covered with solar collectors to power the electric motor. The planes had a glide ratio of 1:30 at 1 atmosphere of pressure and would float in 10 atmospheres. The fuselage was also graphite epoxy over honeycomb. The wings folded into a very compact package and would unfold with spring levers. Each was an origami miracle of plastic and electronics.

Inside each fuselage there was one incubator for the hybrid bacteria blue green algae mix and one for the sulfur fixation bacteria. The section of fuselage over the hybrid incubator was clear plastic to allow photosynthesis to proceed. In the aft section there was a set of nozzles much like on a crop duster which sprayed the mixture into the atmosphere. In the front of the craft there were intake pitot tubes for carbon dioxide and water vapor. The incubators had a small supply of water and a condenser for removing water vapor from the atmosphere.

In the front of the fuselage there were the three parallel computers and navigational systems. The computers not only controlled aerodynamics and navigation, but also had a silicon chip based mass spectrometer for atmospheric analysis and analysis of the incubator progress. Each calculation was performed by all three computers. If the answer was not the same in all three the answer from the two that agreed would be used. There was a mechanism to shut down individual computers by telemetry when one truly failed.

The robotic planes were designed to spray intermittently and then refill their incubators from growth. A growth cycle took 36 earth hours. Since the planes were to stay on the daylight side of the planet, growth was continuous. It was difficult to calculate the growth potential of the algae bacteria mix in Venusian atmosphere since many of the organisms would originally fall into the hotter lower atmosphere and be cooked. Bacteria Flambé, if you will. As the atmosphere cooled, the conversion process would accelerate. The lower atmosphere would be at a cooler temperature and allow growth. It was thought that after 6 months the process would be self perpetuating and probably take 5 years to go to completion. It was much like deciding how long a great champagne would take to ferment in the absence of previous vintenology experience. A planetary size bottle of champagne - Magnum Grande. One must pardon the metaphor, the French with their silly accent, and those hideous words with silent letters, would be offended by any sparkling beverage not made in the Champagne region of France having that name, but tough, they will have to learn to relax.

The planes also transmitted atmospheric and navigational data to the orbiting base satellite which would then relay the signal to earth. Navigation was both by laser gyro- based inertial navigation and by solar sightings. The craft stayed on the sunny side of the planet, and so could not use star sightings. If the project was successful, more relay satellites would be placed which would improve local navigation. For the initial project the planes did not need to know exact position. The planes just had to stay at altitude and not stray into the lower hotter atmosphere where they would be destroyed. Temperature perturbations were controlled by altitude adjustments however, in the early phases when the atmosphere was hotter, they would soar near the area of Venusian dawn and dusk to get lower temperatures. Skirting near planetary dawn where the temperature was lower, allowed the craft to operate at lower altitudes. At lower altitudes the pressures were higher and the craft needed less thrust to stay aloft. These lower altitudes also provided a higher concentration of water vapor and allowed for more rapid growth.

The orbiting relay satellite circled Venus every ninety minutes. It took star sightings and then relayed position fixes to the planes on the day light side. The relay satellite had a dish antenna for transmitting to earth. There was a laser for testing global atmospheric density and specific composition and a spectrophotometer for assessment of chemical composition of the atmosphere. The radar range finder had a Doppler unit which allowed both the determination of ground based topography and of wind speed and atmospheric density.

Harold was impressed with what 500 million dollars could buy. Usually, it was no more than a screw driver and an owner's manual if the Pentagon was involved. But George, Harold, and Walter Cathcull had put together a package with existing technology in a short period of time, with few long range studies. They had just built the buggers and then checked to see if they worked. Harold had a basic rule that he had written above the door in the management center. If it hasn't been tested it doesn't work. If it can't be tested in the exact manner to be used, it will never work. This baby was going to work.

As the countdown got closer to lift off, Harold squeezed Emily's hand to the point where love had long stopped and she was now considering reconstructive surgery. He was a bit nervous. Three years of his life, a trivial time for NASA, but an eternity for a guy who had complained about the slow pace of getting lunch at McDonalds. The countdown clock hit zero. The valves opened on the oxygen and hydrogen lines. The pumps began to force liquid oxygen and hydrogen to the engines. The ignition control computer created an arc in the burn chamber and the first shot of orange flame flickered and then caught. Harold's palm became not only vise like but also a warm, wet vise. Not vice, vise. The flames engulfed the pad.

The enormous rocket moved slowly at first. Clouds of smoke and steam billowed from the pad. The rocket began to accelerate. It started the slow roll to the horizon and then it really began to move. The chase planes were able to photograph it until 50 kilometers. The first stage finished when the rocket was just barely visible by ground based cameras. The second stage ignited and it was off on its six month journey to Venus. The cool blackness of space was quiet solace for the first pilgrims to the new world. Those first colonists were frozen in their incubators for now.

Harold turned to Emily and gave her a hug and a kiss. They went to the post- launch party. Senators, congressmen, and the vice president, each congratulated the team and Harold specifically. "It was a great day for mankind." "A day when we start on a great new project to start a new world." "A day when we use our knowledge to create, not destroy." It had never occurred to Harold that he was creating a new world or destroying an old one like some sort of god. He had always thought of himself simply as a gifted ordinary doctor. Now he was the creator. He smiled to himself. Maybe he should start to speak in platitudes and wear a toga. Some outward manifestation of his new status. Instead he got a beer from the large ice filled trash can and wandered around talking to different team members.

At about nine thirty Emily came up to Harold and squeezed his hand. She whispered in his ear giving it a brush with her lips. He turned to smile, hug her, and then kiss her. He offered his apologies to the host and they drove to their condo. Harold had picked it up for almost free in late 1996 when it was obvious they were going to be preparing for the launch. They walked into the house. Emily put her coat away and walked to the bed room. Harold went into the john. Harold always enjoyed the bathroom. His IBBS sent him there embarrassingly often. Emily at first suspected prostate problems but then realized he just loved the bathroom. He would stand in front of the mirror and make faces at himself. First he would contort his face like a baboon. Then the lips would make a pout. The best faces were asymmetrical ones that made him look like he had either anoxic brain damage or a focal motor seizure starting in his face. Harold began to brush his teeth. Emily had tried in vain to reform him but he just let the toothpaste collect on his hand and drool down his arm. He made foam like a rabid skunk. Harold would then incorporate the foam and facial contortions to make a face the average mother could not love even in a first child. A sort of cross between a person in need of exorcism and a bubble bath.

Emily had slipped into a black crotch length negligee and was reading in bed when Harold jumped in. He crawled on all fours toward her with a growling noise he thought sounded like a wild animal. He could never understand why she bothered with these silly clothes. No warmth and she only wore them a few seconds if they were any good at all. They were the type of clothes that simply became sexual shrapnel in the explosion of carnal lust. Their love making started in the usual fashion. Harold nibbled on one ear and then worked his way down her neck with his slightly moist lips. Emily usually was gasping for breath simply from his kissing her neck. By the time he began kissing her breasts she was well on her way to la la land. He believed in the destructive rivalry of breast jealousy so he never allowed one boob to get more attention than the other. She usually forgot about him until he began to kiss her lower quadrants. This was a special time for the two of them. Emily had stopped taking the pill three months before and this was the first of their attempts to start a family. Harold stopped for a moment and gave her a hug and a kiss. Emily just looked at him. "Honey, is this what you want?.." "Yes." It was a different experience. Totally new, totally different. Neither could put their finger on the exact difference but both realized they had never done this before, despite a lot of practice. When Emily was ready, they went together. There was a smile that was like no other and they collapsed in a pile of flesh and sweat. They held one another and smiled. Harold finally rolled to the side and they coiled into spoons. He loved the closeness afterwards. What a day. Two great projects off to a wonderful start.

The third stage separated just after the burn that took the rocket into interplanetary space. The explosive bolts separated with a small pop and it was off into the cold of space. The meeting of monoflagellate and unicellular was not as explosive but was too in deep space. All were aglow.

Chapter 40

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