Sci-Fi Short Story
Gas Station in the Sky II
Catching a Rock
This is part of a series of short stories describing an alternative timeline where humanity moves to a space-based economic model over the next 50 years. You can find the complete set here. I am adding more all the time.
The four-star General’s face was stern, “You promised me fifteen!”
The two men sat alone in the VIP box at the Falcon 9 launch. The sky was overcast, and the air had an uncharacteristic chill for the Cape in February. Quentin turned to the General, smiling, “I said fifteen within nine months, so I still have eight months to go. This one’s a Pathfinder mission — a shakedown test before we launch the rest. Don’t worry, Chance, I’m a man of my word.”
The countdown clock was frozen at T-minus two minutes.
A voice crackled through the loudspeaker and announced, “Range is now clear. Countdown will recommence shortly.”
“That’s good. I can’t wait to get out of this place to somewhere where they serve decent coffee.” Quentin complained as he held his mug disdainfully, adding, “By the way, how is the Chinese space plane situation, General?”
General Saltzman regarded Quentin carefully and slowly answered, “Looks like we outfoxed them by delaying our launch by a few weeks. But we are closely monitoring their ship — we’re sure it can be re-tasked for surveillance of our spaceplane.” The General stared out from the VIP box towards the Falcon 9 as white fumes hovered around the rocket’s body, and the countdown resumed. “How long do you think it will take them to get one of those lofted?” The General gestured towards the launch pad.
Quentin rubbed his chin and thought for a moment. “Well, Chance, your Guardians have helped to lock down everything pretty tight over the last month. But these version-one designs for the prospector, the fabs and the fuel depot have been in the open since 2021, so there’s a good chance the Chinese already have the blueprints. Assuming we prove the concept, I would guess we have eighteen months on the hardware side.”
Quentin waited for the rumble of the launch to subside as the Falcon 9 flawlessly climbed towards space, carrying his first asteroid prospecting and mining ship.
“But I doubt they will have the advanced AI to make it all work autonomously,” Quentin added with a chuckle as he craned his neck to watch the rocket disappear through the clouds.
Soon, the announcer’s voice boomed over the loudspeaker, “Thanks to our customer, Orbital Space Services, for trusting us with this morning’s mission. Thank you to Space Force, Range Safety, and the FAA for licensing today’s launch.”
The General turned and faced Quentin, extending his right hand, “Congratulations, Quentin. Now the fun really begins!”
Quentin entered the dimly lit control room. Several rows of his staff were huddled over their various workstations, with the flickering white glow from the screens illuminating their faces. Mugs of coffee and cans of energy drinks were haphazardly placed on the desk of each mission operator. A dull hum of low discussion filled the room as colleagues shared their thoughts and insights with their neighbours. He spotted the mission controller, overseeing the team, sitting at her station in the middle of the back row. She noticed Quentin and waved for him to come over.
At the front of the room, an enormous video screen showed a view from the mining probe launched just a week earlier.
Quentin stopped and gawked at the big screen, fascinated. This was HIS first spaceship. He’d been working on this project for several years. Still, the blindingly white object he saw on the screen, surrounded by the inky blackness of space, brought home the reality of the venture. He’d already invested several billion dollars, but this was his vision’s first “real-life” test.
On the top left corner of the big screen, “OSS Prospector-01: CAM 1 — FWD” flashed in blue, while at the bottom left, “MODE: Full Autonomous” was a steady green. On the right, three thumbnails were stacked on each other, showing the views from different forward-facing camera angles. A small grey sphere slowly receded away from the ship. An informational panel was overlaid next to the orb, which showed its relative velocity, distance, and diameter. Quentin realised the ball was the simulated asteroid target. It expanded gradually from the size of a fist to a basketball, finally increasing until the diameter on the information panel read “20.0m”.
Quentin made his way along the back row and bent over behind the mission controller, “So, Janice, we’re catching the beach ball today?” he whispered into her ear. The informational panel showed the spherical target was five hundred metres, directly in front of the ship — the AI had ever-so-slightly increased speed to match the target’s velocity.
“Yes, Sir,” Janice answered distractedly. She was concentrating on her readouts — everything was green as far as Quentin could see on her screen. Then Janice raised her voice to address the room, “OK, boys and girls; I have green lights across the board. Last chance if any of you have concerns.”
There was a murmur and then silence.
Janice spoke to the AI through her microphone, “Prospector 1, you are a go for capture.”
“MODE: Full Autonomous — Roger Control, go for rendezvous and capture” appeared in green on the bottom left of the big screen — confirming the AI understood the order.
At the current distance, the target was a tiny dot. But the information panel next to the object showed the ship was closing in on its prey. Soon, the twenty-metre diameter ball was distinctly visible.
On the top left corner of the big screen, “OSS Prospector-01: CAM 4 — VENTRAL” flashed in blue, while at the bottom left, “MODE: Full Autonomous — Commencing initial scan” was a steady green. The ball gradually came into view and then centred on the screen as the AI maneuvered the ship around the ball. Data from the scans appeared on the giant display, all showing that the target was inert and not worth mining. The AI put the “NO TARGET ORE DETECTED” assessment in red at the bottom of the object information panel.
Janice spoke softly into her microphone, “Roger that, Prospector 1, continue with capture.”
The caption at the bottom left of the screen changed and read, “MODE: Full Autonomous — Roger Control, commencing target capture”.
The big screen switched to the original forward-facing view, and the “beach ball” slowly moved into the centre of the display. Two white booms extended smoothly from the front of the ship. They resembled a pair of chopsticks, forming a “V” shape as they advanced past the target. The stacked thumbnail images on the right-hand side of the big display showed the picture of the target orb from both the booms’ perspectives. The AI used images and the LiDAR scanner to position the capture mechanism precisely.
The capture loop — a semi-flexible curved chord — stretched between the two booms. It formed a semi-circle with a plastic-like material being extruded from one side along its length. The capture loop swept over and around the target object, generating a plastic-like sphere that completely engulfed the simulated asteroid. It resembled a ball swathed in plastic kitchen wrap.
Everyone in the room was on their feet, cheering, hooting, fist-pumping, hugging and high-fiving each other. The message at the bottom of the screen read, “MODE: Full Autonomous — Capture completed — Yay!”.
The image showed a gas slightly inflating the plastic envelope, and the message at the bottom of the display changed to “Mode: Full Autonomous — Capture seal 100%”.
Quentin smiled, “Looks like our simulation of the wrapping material in zero-G was spot on! That, right there, was our key unknown. The successful wrapping makes the mining of volatiles in space possible. Well done!” He high-fived Janice.
The furrowed lines across Janice’s forehead had disappeared as she smiled, “Thanks, Mr Smith, but we’ll only really know in six weeks — when we do it on an asteroid for real!”
Prospector 1 was within sight of asteroid 2024-YB and closing fast. The rock resembled a twinkling star at a distance of one kilometre — it was tumbling in space — one moment it was bright, the next it was dark. The AI quickly closed in on the target and slowed the ship until it matched the pace of 2024-YB. The boulder was roughly forty-five metres in diameter and spinning slowly. It was a dirty grey colour with a dusty, gravelly texture, but it seemed solid, with no particles being thrown off the surface as it revolved.
A discussion broke out amongst the mission operators as to whether the wrapping material could withstand the spin rate during capture or if the asteroid would need to be de-spun first. In the meantime, the AI began the asteroid scanning run, with a close-up view of the surface appearing on the ventral camera. The analysis showed a high probability of frozen water or CO2 ice a few centimetres under the surface.
The mission controller spoke calmly into his microphone, “Engineering; what’s the story on the asteroid’s spin?”
A mission operator responded, “Control; the target’s spin rate is within tolerance. We recommend a Tango approach and capture.”
“Roger that, Engineering.” The mission controller watched the crusty grey boulder continue to turn, with its large-scale texture revealed in shadow and light on each revolution. “Prospector 1; you are a go for Tango approach and capture.”
The AI confirmed the order. The asteroid’s spin began to slow as Prospector 1 matched its pace in a kind of orbital dance. After a minute, the space rock appeared motionless on the big display.
The capture mechanism slowly extended from the ship, and after a few minutes, their first asteroid was wrapped in plastic.
The AI responded, “MODE: Full Autonomous — Capture completed”, and then added, “Commencing science sample extraction”. Once the sample was safely stowed in the probe, the AI began braking thrusts to slow the spin of the captured rock — they needed to conserve maneuvering fuel.
Lines appeared on the mission controller’s brow as he squinted at the numbers on his workstation, “Engineering; how’s it looking, fellas?” His voice betrayed his concern.
“Nominal, Control,” came the calm response from the Engineering operator.
The spaceship and the captured boulder slowed to a stop. The plastic encasing the rock seemed to move like a ripple across a pond, “Mode: Full Autonomous — Capture seal 100%”, the AI reported as it injected an inert gas to test the seal.
The whole control room broke into cheers.
The mission controller prepared to address the team, “Guys, I’m looking at green lights across all systems. Speak up now if any of you feel we need to hold off on mining.” The room became silent. “OK then, let’s go.” The mission controller spoke into his microphone, “Prospector 1, you are a go for the commencement of the mining sequence.”
The AI confirmed, “MODE: Full Autonomous — Roger Control, commencing mining sequence”. At that moment, the big screen went dark, and every workstation showed no data being returned. The room fell silent as every mission operator struggled to comprehend what had just happened. The mission controller stared in disbelief at his computer screen.
Prospector 1 had been destroyed.
Copyright ©2023 by Andrew Dart. All Rights Reserved.
Gas Station in the Sky III is here.
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