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"Capcom,
run that up," Glen said.
"All fuel cells are operating, but temperatures on all
three are climbing."
"DPS?"
"All five on-board computers are A-okay."
"Fido?"
"The RCS system is firing to keep Atlantis from tumbling.
We're losing helium pressure in the left OMS."
"Give some recommendation," Glen reached into his
pocket for a roll of antacid tablets.
"Flight, EECOM. The report of the bulkhead damage and
the rapid loss of cabin pressure adds up to a micrometeorite
strike."
"EECOM, how much time does Atlantis have?"
"Nineteen hours of lithium hydroxide."
"Okay," Glen tore away the foil and chewed a tablet.
"For the record, the crew is safe, and they have the
CargoHab as a lifeboat until the cabin is repressurized. What
next?"
Glen listened to the discussion on the flight directors' loop
and heard several voices discuss the situation. He strained
to hear them as he crunched another tablet.
Out of the sea of voices on the communications loop, Glen
perked up when he heard "Flight, FAO."
"Go, FAO."
"Flight, we think it will take him right at two hours
to patch the hole with the material list we have come up with.
Add in time to pressurize the cabin and the crew to prep for
landing, we think we can have them down in four hours."
"That long?" Glen asked.
"Yes, Flight."
"Uh, wait a second Flight. We're gonna have to wait on
the patch procedure," the EGIL controller interrupted
with a quivering voice.
"What?" Glen glared at the controller. "Shouldn't
we get it done immediately, so they can pressurize the cabin?"
"I think we need to do some repairs to the damaged pipes
near the impact hole before we patch it."
"You don't sound very sure."
"Flight, we need to clearly understand this fuel cell
temperature problem first or we might not have electricity."
Glen took a deep breath as listened to the communications
loop.
"EGIL. EECOM. It appears the Freon to water interchanger
got hit. Or, maybe just some pipes near it. The unit is located
behind the bulkhead where the impact occurred."
"That would explain the drop in water and Freon pressure."
"It looks like the debris didn't directly hit the interchanger.
It would be like a hole in a car radiator."
"The Freon to water interchanger is the single point
of failure on the shuttle. Its Achilles heel. It's where all
three fuel cells' cooling loops converge to dump heat to the
cargo bay doors."
"If we've lost the interchanger, all three fuel cells
will overheat in ninety minutes, but so far they're heating
up slowly."
Glen took notice when he heard his call sign, "Flight,
EGIL. It appears the debris impacted the ACTS Freon line one,
and WCLS water line one. We're lucky the interchanger didn't
get a direct hit. We won't have electricity in 70 minutes
here if he doesn't get the fuel cells taken care of. Cabin
repressurization will have to wait."
Glen's eyes were wide open. He could feel air underneath his
eyelids. "How are we going to fix the problem?"
He inhaled deeply and listened to a flurry of ideas on the
flight director's loop.
"The flash evaporator system has automatically kicked
in, and the fuel cell temperatures are still rising."
"We need to face the cargo bay away from the sun so the
loop two Freon radiator is cold soaked for maximum efficiency.
Next, Atlantis needs to shut down some computers. Power down
everything in the CargoHab except the lights."
"How many computers can we shut down?" Glen asked.
"Flight, DPS. We can shut down computers one, two, and
three. Number four can run the GNC software, and five can
run the backup flight software. Bruce can restring systems
onto the remaining computer."
"Capcom, run that up," Glen said. "Now what?"
"Bruce has to clamp the broken water pipes before he
begins patching the hole. We want to make sure ice doesn't
build up because it could bounce around and damage the patch
during deorbit."
"If we do all this, can they deorbit?"
"Yes, but we don't know if the patch he installs will
hold. If it leaks, we may have to look at deorbiting with
only Bruce at the controls, and the crew strapping themselves
down in the CargoHab."
Glen slowly inhaled, "Capcom, Flight. Pass that up to
Atlantis. Clamp the pipes, then patch the cabin." He
felt his knees quiver, sat down and took a sip of tepid coffee
from his cup. He heard a depressed voice boil out of the voices
on the audio loop.
"If we roll the shuttle so the tank faces away from the
sun, it won't make a difference."
Glen knew from the tone of the voices this could be more serious
than the cabin leak and the fuel cell problem. Glen choked
on his coffee when he heard a high-pitched voice, "Atlantis
can't get down!"
Glen looked over at the PROP console and saw the controller
pointing to a group of red blinking numbers on his display.
"Flight, PROP. We're going to have to call up the rescue
shuttle."
"Say again?" Glen asked in a low tone.
"Flight. It looks like we will have to abandon Atlantis.
We don't have enough helium for deorbit."
Glen tried to speak, but his mouth was dry as cotton and he
realized he had forgotten to swallow. He took a sip from his
coffee cup. As he brought the cup away from his mouth, he
glanced at the photo of his daughter. Damn. I am glad I didn't
pull strings to get her on board.
"For the record, remind me why the helium is important."
He gulped the remaining coffee. We'll need this clearly recorded
for the accident investigation that is sure to follow.
"Flight, PROP. Helium pushes the fuel out of the tanks
to the engine. It is similar to a fire extinguisher. Pressurized
gas pushes out the powder in the fire extinguisher. If there's
not enough gas pressure, you won't get enough powder to put
out the fire. On Atlantis, because there's not enough helium
to push the fuel out of the OMS tanks, she can't fire a deorbit
burn long enough."
"What can we do? Now?"
"There is some good news. Atlantis has enough helium
in the RCS system to keep from tumbling. She will be stable
enough to dock with a rescue shuttle."
Glen looked at the exit sign above the door. A cold wave of
panic crawled along his back to his neck. The thought of getting
up and running out the door did cross his mind. He looked
at his daughters' photo on the coffee cup, and then at the
image of the astronauts aboard the shuttle. Clearing his throat
and controlling the tone of his voice so it wouldn't betray
his growing despair, "There is nothing else you want
to try?"
"Flight, EECOM. Just call the rescue shuttle, and hurry."
Glen gripped his pencil so hard that he finally noticed the
tip of his finger going numb. "Are you absolutely sure?"
"Yes," PROP replied with a distinctively sharp emphasis.
"Okay," Glen ran his thumb over the photo of his
daughter on his cup. His other hand trembled as he pressed
the microphone button. "Atlantis, this is Flight."
# # #
Inside the CargoHab, Dan said to Ken, "This is serious
if Flight is bypassing Capcom to talk to us."
Bruce replied from his space suit. "Houston, this is
Atlantis. We copy. What's the status of the orbiter?"
"Debris punctured a helium tank in the OMS, and the cabin.
There is not enough helium for deorbit. A rescue mission plan
is in progress."
"Shit!" Ken whispered. "I mean, rats!"
"Translation please," Dr. Cobble asked the shuttle
pilot. "What'd Houston just say?"
"We're stuck up here. Atlantis can't deorbit. We are
going to have to wait for a rescue shuttle."
The crewmembers stared at one another with teary eyes.
"Oh, is that bad news?" Laney's voice trembled slightly
under the effects of morphine. "I feel sick. I want to
go home."
Amber wrapped her arms around her.
 
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