As It Is On Mars

In India, the elite and scientific community was following the unfolding drama with intense interest. None in India was more interested than 41-year old Dr. Jalal Kumar, formerly of Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, the world's foremost institution for spacecraft propulsion and control. At JPL, Dr. Kumar had earned a reputation in NASA circles as a worker of miracles with spacecraft control software. Three years earlier he had returned to India, to a lower income, but undiminished reputation, because of a homesick wife. He was now owner and chief control-systems software engineer at the Spacecraft Software Company of Bombay, a prime contractor to NASA.

As the hearing opened, Dr. Kumar sat in the darkness, just after midnight, on the balcony of his small but pleasant apartment, in a coastal town six miles north of Bombay. The balcony had an uninterrupted view of the Indian Ocean and the western night sky, and was adorned with flowering plants, whose large leaves partly hid a video screen in one corner. The Red Planet was clearly visible in the southwestern sky, nearly three months past opposition with Earth, but still shining very brightly. The recent safe landings of human beings on Mars for the first time was in no small measure due to Jal Kumar's software.

The Chairman of the Space Committee was 68-year old Senator Gerald Fitzgerald Kerrigan from Massachusetts. He had white hair, and a reddish, square face. He tapped the bench with his gavel, and the light murmur of voices in the chamber died away.

"Ladies and gentlemen," he began, "this special hearing of the Congressional Joint Space Appropriations Committee is now in session. We welcome Dr. James Byrd, Chief Administrator at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, and his team of specialists. We also welcome Dr. Franz Hofmann, Director of the European Space Agency, Dr. Igor Levshinsky, Director of the Russian Space Agency, and Dr. Fumiko Hasegawa, Deputy Director of the Japanese Space Agency."

He then spoke directly to the NASA chief, who was seated at a table below and in front of him, between two technical specialists from NASA.

"Dr. Byrd," he said, "in the past twenty-four hours, we have gradually become aware of the extent of the tragedy that has befallen our Mars mission." He paused, and then said solemnly: "We offer our condolences, and those, I am sure, of the whole nation, to the family members and relatives of the men and women of the mission who have lost their lives in the tragedy-- American, German and Russian."

As he said this, he turned towards another table at the NASA chief's left, and bowed slightly to Dr. Hofmann and Dr. Levshinsky. Returning his gaze to Dr. Byrd, he went on: "Dr. Byrd, I now ask you, for the record, to relate the events leading to and surrounding this terrible tragedy, so that we in government can decide what we can do to help, this very day, if need be."

"Thank you, Mr. Chairman," said Dr. Byrd. He was a tall, trim, executive-looking man of fifty-four, in a gray suit and red tie. Although an engineer by education, he understood Washington politics very well. He had been forced to spend most of the past seven years in political fights, many of which he had lost, to keep budget cuts from endangering the Mars mission. Through it all, he had retained a reputation in the space community as a man of integrity, drive, dedication, and competence.

"With your permission, Mr. Chairman," the NASA chief began, "I first need to outline the historical background of the mission. This will help you all understand why things were done the way they were." Senator Kerrigan gave him a nod of approval.

"It takes about six months to travel to Mars in a conventional chemical rocket," Dr. Byrd went on, "if you go when Mars and Earth are closest, near an opposition--which is when Mars, the Earth and the sun are lined up. Oppositions happen every twenty-six months, which means you have to stay about eighteen months on Mars, and then spend six months coming back at the next opposition. So the shortest trip is about two and a half years. Compare that with a ten-day trip to the moon.