Orbital Maneuvers Read Online Free PDF Page A

fly and lead the mission.  I kept telling myself that it was just a dream and I was just suffering a case of nerves but that did not really help.  I remember taking off and listening to every sound that came over the radio, listening for that message as it came in my dream when the first plane went down, or any indication that something was wrong.  But it never came.  The flight went off with no problems at all.  Well, until my flight commander jumped us in a surprise attack on our way back to base, but that is another story.”
    “Susan, the mind can do strange things to people in the best of times, and in the worst of times it can direct you down the path of self destruction, if you are not careful.”
    “I know what you’re saying, Ivan, and I appreciate it, but this is different,” said Susan.  I’ve had first time jitters before and this is not the same.  I don’t know if it’s a sixth sense, or intuition, but whatever you want to call it, it’s different.  It’s a feeling deep down inside, like you know you are going to experience something and it is not going to be pleasant.”
    “Susan, what do you think is going to happen?”
    “I don’t know, but for some reason I feel that it is coming from out there,” she said, pointing out the window at the black velvet of space studded with pinpricks of light.
    “What do you think is out there?  Aliens?”
    “No, not aliens.  But something dangerous…very dangerous.” Susan’s voice grew softer, colder, and more frightened as she felt the danger getting nearer, seeping like ice water into her bones.  With much effort, she pulled herself back into the shuttle with Ivan, and with the fear, too.  Her voice rasped as she said, “I think we should release the satellite and land as soon as possible.”
    “Susan, you are not sounding very rational at the moment.  If you keep this up I am going to have to talk to Houston about this.”
    “I am not crazy, or irrational!  I don’t know how to tell mission control that we have to abort the rest of the mission based on my intuition alone!  If I did, I would have already told them myself.  Look, I know this sounds crazy but if we are still in orbit in a couple of hours, something is going to happen.  I don’t know what— just that it won’t be good.”
    “Susan, in a couple of hours you and Jill will be out on your EVA taking care of business.  We pack up our stuff and in twelve hours we go home, right on schedule.  As you say, ‘piece of cake,’ right?”
    “Ivan, the satellite service procedure is not going to go as planned.  I can feel it.”
    “You are letting yourself get carried away, Susan,” Ivan said.  He was beginning to have serious doubts about Susan’s mental well-being.
    Susan moved closer to Ivan and lowered her voice,  “Ivan this is not going to work, trust me.  We need to get back to Earth now!” She floated out of her seat and headed toward the hatch.  “I’ve got to get on O2.”
     
    Susan joined Jill and strapped on a portable oxygen tank and mask to begin the process of purging the nitrogen from her bloodstream to prevent the bends.  Susan always thought it was so non-intuitive that one needed to do this to avoid the bends in outer space.  She wasn’t deep-sea diving but the low pressure that was used in the space suits required the astronauts to purge their systems of nitrogen before sealing up the suit.  The consequences of not doing that could be debilitating pain and even death, just like a deep-sea diver who does not decompress before surfacing.
    Paul and Jerry assisted Susan and Jill as they were slowly inserted into their spacesuits.  The process went pretty much by the book with very little extraneous conversation.  Much care was taken to ensure that all pieces of the suits mated properly and there was the usual range of motion and flexibility.  Checking the communications, cooling and respiration systems to make sure that they held onto their