ABIS - DETONATION by preeder
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Description
In the early evening twilight, high above the Atlantic Ocean, the latest flight of NASA�s Hercules Super Booster has done disastrously wrong resulting in a blast which will see the loss of both the booster and its multi-million dollar ML Test Article payload.
As the booster explodes destroying both it and its payload the early evening twilight is replaced by the brilliance of cloudless summer�s day as over a thousand tons of rocket fuel, the fuel still remaining in the super booster�s tanks, explode.
Whilst the sound of the titanic explosion which also accompanies the blast cannot be heard on the ground many miles below, the sudden flash as the booster and payload explode can be clearly seen in the early evening sky.
In Mission Control rooms both in Houston, Texas and at the Kennedy Space Centre in Florida, the silence which follows the flash high in the sky, confirming for all the self destruction of the booster, and the abrupt and violent end of the flight could also be said to have created its own sound � it is the sound of silence.
In all the years that Robert L Carter has been the head of NASA this is the first time that a flight has been lost. Yes there have been various small set-backs, found and corrected flaws in design, which have been put right well before any launch took place, but this is the first time NASA has lost a flight, and lost it so publicly. Shock shows on the faces of many in the two Mission Control rooms. What can have gone so terribly wrong with this flight, when so many others before it have succeeded?
Carter is the first to recover from the shock as one would expect from the man who has been NASA�s leader and driving force for so many years. Picking up the microphone which will allow him to broadcast to all who have had any part what so ever to do with today�s flight he requests the immediate deployment of recovery forces to locate any wreckage from the blast in the estimated splashdown area and requests all technicians and engineers in both the Mission Control room in Houston, and at the Kennedy Space Centre in Florida to ensure all downloaded telemetry from both before and during the flight is saved so that it can be scrutinised during the investigations into the cause of the loss of the flight which he announces will start first thing on Monday morning.
As the engineers and technicians slowly one by one finish up what they have to do and leave for the weekend one person is finally left alone in Mission Control � Robert Carter. Before Carter can leave he knows he will have to report the destruction of the Hercules and it�s oh so valuable payload to the President. Only when this is done can Carter be said to be free to leave like so many others before him.
Whilst the official investigation into the loss of flight is now scheduled to start the following Monday morning, Carter has the feeling that not only he, but the many, many others who have worked on the Hercules Super Booster Project for so long will have already started their own un-official investigations into why the flight was lost well before then.
Here end the next series.
To be continued.
Comments (4)
neiwil
NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!... well I suppose we knew it was coming. In a way I am pleased you did this, so much progress without a mishap would not ring true.I trust we will get to the bottom of this soon and things will continue at a pace. ( Phil, I hope you and Robert Carter are very good friends because the men in dark suits and sunglasses are bound to find out....YOU did this!!!! :-) Have a good weekend mate.
crender Online Now!
awesome work!
adrie
Fantastic sci-fi space scene my friend, excellent work.
psyoshida
I didn't know it was coming I was as shocked as and disappointed as Robert Carter. Gripping story beautifully told. You are a great story teller and artist. A winning combination.