The Eye With Which The Universe Beholds Itself (Apollo Quartet) Read Online Free PDF Page B

have time to get his responses just right.
    He looks up at the Mission Timer, sees Houston’s first contact is about due to arrive, and he wonders where the time went. He’s still wearing his helmet, he doesn’t think he can remove it right now, and he’d only have to put it back on for the EVA. He’s got his microphone set to push-to-talk, so he waits for Capcom’s words to cross the Solar System to him…
Discovery, this is Houston. You got a room full of people cheering here. How does it feel to be the first man on Mars? Over.
It feels great, Houston. You know, I landed here, but it won’t count for me until I get to put my boot on the surface, and maybe leave a print like Buzz did on the Moon. It won’t last as long here, though—a dust storm will wipe it away in week or two. Over.
    And now another twenty-seven minutes for his words to cross interplanetary space to Earth, and Houston’s reply to fly back. But at least he mentioned Buzz Aldrin, at least he let Houston know that the Face is real.
So what’s it like on Mars, Discovery? Everybody here wants to know. I got all the guys, I got the press, I got the guys in the back room, they all want to know. Over.
Okay, I’m looking out the window. In front of the MM the ground is kind of flat and sandy, with small scattered rocks. It’s orangey-red, not the sort of colour you see back on Earth. I look up to the horizon and I can see a mesa about three miles away. And off to my right—that’s pretty much due north of my position—I can see another mesa. The sky is pale, a sort of pinkish colour at the horizon, probably from the dust, but it turns black real quick as you lift your eyes up.
    He steps back and sits down on the APS. He knows he’s not doing the landscape justice. Its desolation, the rocks steeped in loneliness, the distant banded hills, the ridges and chaotic terrain… He knows the terminology but he’s all too aware they’re insufficient, just jargon, incapable of communicating the sense of the Martian surface.
You be careful there, Discovery. You’re a long way from home. We really want to see Mars for ourselves, so take lots of photographs. And we got someone here wants to speak to you. Over.
Copy that. We’ve completed the Surface Checklist, so I’m about to get ready for my first EVA. Over.
    It isn’t going to take him half an hour to get ready for EVA—he already has his spacesuit on, though it isn’t pressurised. He needs only to put on his EVA gloves and MEVA, clip his PLSS to his back, and then swap connectors from the MM’s air supply to the backpack’s. But he waits because he wants to hear from Judy before he exits the MM. He raises a gloved finger to the picture of her on the control panel and presses it gently against the photographic paper. He thinks about how he’s going to handle the EVA. At least he doesn’t have to worry about television—they don’t have the bandwidth to send live pictures back, so he has only a Hasselblad 500 EL and a Maurer 16mm DAC.
     
Hi, Bradley. Everyone here is really excited you landed on Mars safely. I’m excited too. I know you’ve trained for this so long, and I know you’re going to make us all proud. Be careful for me, darling, and come home safely. Over.
Judy [pause] Judy, I’ll be fine here. You keep safe for me. Don’t let anyone make you do something if you don’t want to do it. I’ll be thinking of you all the time here. On Mars. I’ll speak to you again after my first EVA. Over.
    Elliott switches the O 2 from cabin to off, unplugs the connectors from the front of his spacesuit, and then plugs in the hoses from the PLSS. He backs into the PLSS, manages to get the straps over his shoulder and snaps the buckles into place. He fits the MEVA to his helmet, and then pulls on and locks his EVA gloves. After dumping the air in the cabin, he bends over and rotates the latch handle. The hatch pops off its seal and swings open. Turning about, he struggles down onto his knees and