Jupiter Three

OK, so my boss Lisa says my web log design shows the creativity of a Martian kangaroo.  (For you terrestrials, no there aren’t any kangaroos on Mars).  I’ll try to pretty it up later, but for now, well, here it is.

My name is Derick Ryan, and today is my first day aboard the Jupiter Three.  This ship leaves Martian orbit at 20:00 hours tonight, next stop…

…no, not Jupiter; Europa, one of Jupiter’s moons.  I’ll tell you all about it later– it’s a long trip, and believe me we will have time!

Anyway, of the almost 500 of us on board this converted frigate, I was one of the 100 selected as part of the colonial lottery.  The first 400 something colonists are hand picked based on their skills, psych profiles, and political connections .  However, the administration always leaves 20% of the space open to us norms and assign those spaces based on two lotteries.  Seems there are plenty of “service jobs” that don’t require “unique skills”, and the administration believes that opening the selection process to norms is good PR.

I had tried to get assigned as one of the first 400; I am not a bad shuttle pilot.  Apparently they thought there were better pilots out there <wink> and they passed on my application.  I suspect it had something to do with what my university dean threatened to put in my “permanent record” my senior year.  I put my name into the hat for the lottery, and viola, here I am, Crewman Derick Ryan, assigned to the little diner called Messa Mesa! on the fourth level of this heap.  My boss, Lisa Collins says I am inept at best, but hey, come on Lisa, I know you love me!

Don’t let my carefree nature fool you– I am hyped for this trip!  Mars was getting small, and in the Jovian system the opportunities are endless!  (At least that’s what the brochures say.)  I won’t be as short order cook forever, and hope to be flying the friendly skies in no time.

Until then, if you get that urgent need for something greasy at 4AM, well, there’s no better grease than the grease at the Messa Mesa!  We’re right next to the secondary engine room.

If the hangover is any indication, the sendoff last night was a blast.  I remember seeing the shuttles through the view port.  I remember there was food, and dancing, and of course, drinks.  I think there was a girl.  I hope it was a girl.

We are on our way– all 500 of us.  Europa, here we come!

Now I am going back to bed.  My Bed.

I wouldn’t recommend the soup tonight.

OK, for the last couple of nights between taking orders and cleaning grills, I have been trying to draw a sketch of the Jupiter Three.  It reminded of me of something my father told me a long time ago: a computer drawing program will not make you an artist.  (The same applies to music by the way, a lesson I  learned at my mother’s expense.)

A description will have to suffice.  Picture if you will, a cigar.  In the middle of the cigar, perpendicular to its main axis, is a giant wheel with eight spokes.  Now paint it a metallic color, spin the wheel around the cigar,  and you get the idea.

The cigar houses the main engines, as well as the most of the cargo and shuttle bays. As a colony ship we carry a LOT of cargo– construction equipment and building materials mostly.

The the rim of the wheel is composed of four concentric wheels (levels), with the innermost wheel, level one, housing the command center, the sensitive electronic systems, and crew quarters.  Level two houses the science labs and medical facilities.  Level three houses the main quarters, entertainment rooms, dining facilities,exercise facilities…you get the idea.  The outermost level, level four…well that’s where I work and live if that gives you any idea of the types of things on level four.  It houses all the hydroponic labs, as well as machine shops, auxiliary engines, quarters for the norms, and a few other things.

As I am sure you know,  it is the spinning of the wheel around the cigar that provides some semblance of gravity on the occupied portions of the ship.  What you may not know is that there is an energy shield running in a cone like shape from the nose of the ship to the outer rim of the wheel.  The purpose of the shield is to deflect objects we might run into.  Imagine if you were to collide with a meteor, even one the size of a grape,  at the speeds we are traveling – not good for the ship.  The energy shield won’t stop it, but it does a rather nice job of bouncing it into a harmless direction.  (Harmless of course is relative.)

So that’s my home in the nutshell, at least for the foreseeable future. If I made it sound uninviting, than I did it a disservice – I love it here.  For all my joking, it’s quite large.  And I ask that you please remind me I said that in a few weeks.

Gotta go.  The special tonight is tuna dogs, so come on by!

The captain announced sad news from our sister ship, the TerraStar. There was an accident in one of her science labs, and two colonists were killed, another injured. A sad day for us all.

The TerraStar is our twin, the first of the two colony ships to leave for Jupiter. It departed Earth several months before us, and is due to reach Jupiter several months after we do. It carries the materials we need to build the decelerator gate, while the Jupiter Three carries the materials for the accelerator gate. The materials on the TerraStar won’t be needed until several months into our project, which is why the two ships are staggered.

Both Earth and Mars have their own accelerator/decelerator gates, which allow a more direct travel path between the planets at faster speeds. Of course, we couldn’t use the accelerator gate to travel to Jupiter, since there is no way to slow us down on the other side of the journey. Our engines would not have any way of slowing us down in time without a gate on the other side. The main focus for our engineers when we reach the Jovian system will be to get both gates operational. Once that is done, business will boom!

Of course, we also need to build facilities for food, fuel, and habitats, which is why the rest of us are along for the ride. Currently the only human habitation in the system is one research station orbiting Europa, so this will be the first real colonization effort since Earth sent twelve families to Mars over one hundred and fifty Earth years ago.

While very few of us know anyone on the TerraStar, the loss of anyone on this journey is felt deeply by all. We mourn the dead, grieve with their families, and offer prayers for the wounded.