Delta-v, page 3
“My good friend Richard Oberhaus, he said cave diving stripped away the impedimenta of life. Maybe that’s the same thing as meditation. I wouldn’t know.”
“The ‘impedimenta of life.’ I like that.” Joyce nodded appreciatively. “Well, if it’s ‘heightened reality’ you seek, I can deliver like no one else—and for what it’s worth, I can also pay you, not to mention providing a workplace with one hell of a view. . . .” With that, Joyce made a gesture, and a brilliant hologram of the Milky Way expanded in midair between them.
The lights dimmed, making the stars more vibrant.
The entire Milky Way glowed before Tighe, as though he was already floating out in space. Across from him stood the man who wanted to send him there.
However, Tighe wasn’t going to let himself be distracted by high-tech parlor tricks. “You really think humans make sense for asteroid mining?”
“If humanity is ever going to become a spacefaring species, we actually need to go to space—and not just to visit. That means establishing commerce there. Robots will help us, but they’re not the end goal. We need to expand human presence in our solar system—that’s the only way we get exponential growth.”
Tighe considered this. “Why start with asteroids? Why not the Moon?”
“Geopolitical and legal complications. Think about it: the Moon is heralded throughout history in human culture—in song, in poetry, in literature. No one is going to have an easy time setting up a mining industry on its surface. My advisers think it’s going to require years of legal wrangling before commercial Moon mining can profitably commence.”
Joyce dissolved the galaxy hologram with a wave of his hand. “Plus, certain near-Earth asteroids contain hundreds of millions of tons of water, iron, nitrogen, and ammonia. And can be reached with less energy than it takes to reach our own Moon. More to the point: some of those same asteroids present a deadly threat to humanity should they ever strike the Earth. Which means no one’s likely to sue to preserve them.”
“So you bring their resources where?”
“Most of the value of asteroid resources is in their trajectory—above Earth’s gravity well, and that’s where they should remain. It’s there, in cislunar space, that I plan to establish orbiting power-generation facilities, carbon-intensive industry, and an off-world commodity exchange—the beginning of an entire cislunar economy that could usher in the near-infinite growth that Dr. Korrapati described, even while alleviating climate change.”
Tighe looked around to realize that Dr. Korrapati had at some point discreetly made his exit. They were now alone.
“Mined resources could be returned from near-Earth asteroids to a lunar distant retrograde orbit at a lower delta-v than it would take to lift the same mass from our own Moon’s surface.”
Tighe interjected. “Delta-v? I don’t know what that is.”
“The Greek letter delta is a standard notation in mathematics for a change in value. Delta-v describes a change in velocity. All celestial objects are in motion—which means you either need to accelerate or decelerate to reach them. The higher the delta-v, the greater the energy—and the greater the expense. When it comes to commerce in space, J.T., delta-v means the difference between profitability and loss. In other words: delta-v means everything.”
Tighe could scarcely believe he was beginning to consider this offer. “Mr. Joyce—”
“Nathan.”
“Nathan, it took me years to learn how to dive caves down to 200 meters. I don’t know anything about space—my lack of knowledge could get other people killed.”
Joyce moved close to Tighe. “Our crews will be thoroughly trained. Your technical expertise in breathing mixtures and atmospheric pressure puts you ahead of most candidates—even ahead of many of the ex-astronauts.”
Tighe tried to think of more objections. Going into space had never even occurred to him—it was a child’s daydream. But the earthquake in Tian Xing had shaken apart every other aspect of his life. Why not his future, too? And yet, he suspected it was only a matter of time until they discovered he was not all they thought him to be.
Or what Richard Oberhaus believed Tighe to be.
After several more moments Tighe looked up. “You mentioned a signing bonus.”
“Twenty-five thousand US dollars—assuming you pass a basic physical. The money is yours to keep even if you don’t graduate from the training program. We pay all travel and lodging expenses.”
“How long is the training program?”
“Initial candidate selection lasts ninety days. Those selected will begin six months of rigorous training, followed by two weeks’ training in low Earth orbit. If I’m not mistaken, you have no expeditions lined up at the moment.”
Low Earth orbit. Tighe pondered other questions. “And if I change my mind?”
“You can keep the signing bonus. I consider it a cheap form of insurance against poor candidates. Better—and less costly—to discover them here on Earth.” Joyce sat on the arm of the sofa. “So what do you say, J.T.? If you’re really an explorer, this is the ultimate expedition.”
Tighe looked toward the darkened television screen. “The helmet-cam video from Tian Xing—I’d like a copy.”
“Of course. If anyone has a right to it, it’s you.”
Tighe took a deep breath. “I won’t pretend to know anything about business or space, but I’ve never turned down a challenging expedition. Count me in.”
Joyce smiled and shook Tighe’s hand. “You made the right choice. My people will stop by your bungalow with the paperwork tomorrow. In the meantime, go have fun tonight.” Joyce clapped him on the back and escorted him toward the office doors.
The odd encounter was ending the moment Joyce had gotten what he wanted. The double doors opened, and the white-jacketed butler was standing there waiting.
As Tighe exited, he noticed a strikingly attractive woman around his age with long black hair standing to the side of the doorway. A white-jacketed female butler stood alongside her. The woman studied Tighe with a penetrating gaze. He nodded, but she turned away to focus on Joyce, exchanging greetings.
Tighe guessed she must be some supermodel or celebrity. Such was Joyce’s life.
Tighe looked back as he followed the butler down the hall. Before the study doors closed, he noticed the woman glance back toward him as well.
CHAPTER 2
The Billionaire Whisperer
The United States Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies held its hearings in a high-ceilinged wood-and-marble-lined chamber in the Dirksen Senate Office Building in Washington, DC. At the head of the room was a raised semicircular wood-paneled desk sporting an array of nineteen leather chairs overlooking a long wooden table with a microphone. This table was backed by a modest gallery for reporters and government aides, while an aging digital camera was mounted like a heavy machine gun on a tripod aimed directly at those slated to give testimony.
Today its target was Erika Lisowski.
Three US senators sat, seemingly at random, among the nineteen chairs on the dais—except for the committee chairman, who sat at the very center. A gruff-looking man in his seventies, he rearranged papers and spoke into his microphone without looking up.
“Welcome, Ms. Lisowski. Would you please introduce yourself to the committee.”
“Yes, I am Erika Lisowski, PhD, program executive for emerging space at NASA headquarters here in Washington.”
“Ms. Lisowski, all of your testimony today will be made part of the hearing record. Let us proceed.”
The chairman donned reading glasses and studied a document in his hand. “As we examine the proposed NASA budget for fiscal year 2033, it’s our continued goal to eliminate waste and duplication in NASA programs, while preserving American interests in space and US national security.” He looked up. “Perhaps you can explain to us your role as program executive for . . .” He lost the thread.
“Program executive for emerging space. Of course. I’ve been tasked with conducting ongoing economic analysis of emerging private space companies—what’s been termed ‘NewSpace’—with an eye toward encouraging industry to invest in cislunar enterprise.”
“Cislunar? What is that?”
“It’s the region of space just beyond Earth’s atmosphere reaching out to a point about 65,000 kilometers past the Moon. You might consider it the local celestial neighborhood.”
“And what sort of ‘enterprise’ are you encouraging there?”
“A sustainable and growing space-based economy, which could create a more cost-effective framework to aid future NASA missions.”
“This space economy would be administered under the auspices of the United States?”
She hesitated. “Not specifically, Senator, although the US will no doubt play a major role. Any space economy would intersect with Earth-based international economic systems—like the one developing in Luxembourg. The traditional doctrinal term for this is ‘entanglement’—that is, creating a marketplace open to all that gives the community of nations a vested interest in its success.”
The younger senator off to the side leaned toward his microphone. “You said ‘new’ space. How is that different from ‘old’ space?”
“NewSpace is an unofficial term used to describe private space entrepreneurs that are commerce focused rather than government focused.”
The chairman asked, “Certainly the companies you engage with must be beholden in some degree to the US national interest.”
“No more so than commercial entities in Silicon Valley or Wall Street.”
“Then I find it difficult to see how this effort helps preserve American dominance in space.”
“Senator, I think we must acknowledge that absolute American dominance of outer space no longer exists. Launch technologies are rapidly advancing worldwide, and the number of national and commercial space participants is expanding drastically. As of 2031, the total number of operational satellites orbiting Earth is 14,312, of which only 1,004 belong to the United States. The vast majority of the remainder belong to private industry.”
The chairman was reading as he spoke. “Most of those companies are based in the US or its allies, correct?”
“At the moment, yes.”
“Then why, Ms. Lisowski, do we need a whole department at NASA to promote the private space industry? It sounds like it’s doing just fine on its own.”
“My role is not to ‘promote’ the private space industry but to encourage economic investment in technologies and capabilities that will boost NASA’s scientific and exploratory missions at a savings to the US taxpayer. If we are to reach other worlds—”
“Forgive me, but I’m not sure I share your faith that creating a marketplace ‘open to all’ in outer space will achieve geopolitical stability there. How do we know, Ms. Lisowski, that some foreign space company isn’t a front for placing a rival nation’s weapons in orbit?”
She considered his stern look. Lisowski knew the senator had formerly been an executive at a defense contractor, and prior to that had been an air force general. “I am not a defense analyst, Senator, but due to the velocities involved, literally everything in orbit is potentially a weapon. An errant bolt dropped by an astronaut during repairs could destroy an entire satellite. For this reason no nation would win any conflict in low Earth orbit. The wreckage from even modest hostilities would likely impact other satellites, creating clouds of lethal debris, which in turn would hit still more satellites. This could ultimately result in what’s been called the Kessler syndrome—where the area above Earth’s atmosphere becomes blanketed by debris that denies access to outer space to all of humanity for generations.”
“So is it your belief, then, that America should not assert its primacy in space?”
“What I’m saying, Senator, is that every single nation on Earth has a legitimate, vested interest in space, and developing international commerce there provides the greatest chance for a stable, peaceful future. The US should be a leader in that effort, but if we are not, other sovereign states will take up this role.”
The chairman and the other senators took notes. The female senator spoke briefly to an aide. In a moment the chairman looked up. “Let’s turn on the screen, please.”
A screen lowered, and a projector glowed from somewhere in the back. Suddenly an image appeared.
“Here’s a photo from an article in the June 2028 issue of Rolling Stone magazine. . . .”
The image showed several people gathered at what Lisowski immediately recognized as the Davos conference in Switzerland under the headline “The NewSpace Titans.” The photo showed a dozen luminaries holding drinks and talking against a backdrop of alpine scenery. It looked like an opulent affair. She recognized the image because she was in it—near the center. A red dot appeared on the face of the man standing next to her.
“The general public is fascinated by private space companies and the people behind them. Can you tell me who this is?”
“That is Nathan Joyce, Senator.”
“And who is Nathan Joyce?”
“He’s a tech billionaire and angel investor in NewSpace companies, CEO of both Catalyst Corporation and Asterisk Holdings.”
A dot appeared on the other side of her, highlighting the face of another man, this one of South Asian extraction. “And can you tell us who this person is?”
“Dr. Sankar Korrapati, an economist.”
“A Nobel Prize–winning economist. ‘Dr. Doom,’ I think some call him.”
A gentle chuckle spread through the gallery.
The dot then focused on Lisowski’s forehead—like a sniper’s mark. “And this person?”
“That’s me, Senator.”
“The article says that you introduced Dr. Korrapati to Mr. Joyce at Davos—that they’ve been thick as thieves ever since. Is that why they call you the Billionaire Whisperer, Ms. Lisowski?”
She considered the photo for a moment. “This article is clickbait. It was a purely random encounter. We were standing next to each other, and I made perfunctory introductions.”
“How did you know Dr. Korrapati?”
“I’d seen his acceptance speech in Stockholm.”
“So you attended both the Nobel Prize ceremony and the Davos conference?”
“I was invited to the Nobel ceremony, yes.”
“By whom?”
Lisowski hesitated. “The queen of Sweden.”
“The queen of Sweden? Well, you’re quite the jet-setter for a government bureaucrat.”
“Senator, in order to engage with NewSpace leaders, I need to be present in their world. These are not frugal people, and they do not enjoy coming to Washington—if they can help it.”
More chuckles from the gallery.
She pointed at the screen. “They do business in exotic locales, and that is where I must meet them.”
“That’s quite a job you have. And what has resulted from these ‘meetings’?”
“Over the last eight years NASA has initiated multibillion-dollar public-private partnerships in cislunar space, freeing up almost half of our budget for deep space projects—including the recent Moon landings. We’ve encouraged orbital industries like fiber-optic printing, pharmaceutical and metallurgic research, space tourism, nanosats, and commercial logistics for the Lunar Gateway, which, as a result, is now in a near rectilinear halo orbit around the Moon. We were able to facilitate those deals by speaking the language of entrepreneurs.”
“What do you think commercial competition for outer space looks like, from a global perspective?”
“Again, I would not frame outer space as a competition. We should view the establishment of a common market there as a goal of all humankind.”
“Not all nations share the same belief system as the United States, Ms. Lisowski. What do Chinese entrepreneurs, for example, bring to this ‘common goal’ of expanding into space?”
“The Chinese government exerts close control over their space startups, and as a result they move conservatively—avoiding major risks. Thus, no manned commercial launch systems as of yet.”
“And Russian space entrepreneurs?”
Lisowski considered the question. “I don’t think we’ll be seeing any private-sector space investment that the Kremlin doesn’t want—and right now they’ve got domestic budgetary problems that China has not solved for them.”
“What about European, Japanese, and Indian space startups?”
“The ESA continues to invest in unmanned probes, but Europe’s manned commercial space sector isn’t well developed. Japanese companies are developing amazing industrial robotics for use in space. India and New Zealand are doing commercial satellite launches, LEO, GEO, but I think their commercially oriented systems in deep space are a ways off.”
“So no manned commercial space systems overseas yet?”
She nodded. “The only individuals with the resources and the will to truly pursue commercial manned spaceflight right now are US or US-based entrepreneurs.”
“And among the US-based billionaires with the resources—what’s your assessment of their individual goals?”
Now everyone in the hearing room was listening intently—especially the only, and otherwise bored, journalist in attendance.
Lisowski took a sip of water from a glass on the table. She realized this was going to be tricky. A NASA employee couldn’t very well ignore questions at a Senate hearing, but she also had several confidentiality agreements to consider. “I’m not a psychologist, Senator.”
“You’ve gone native with these billionaires, so to speak, at great cost to the taxpayer. I expect you to have some insights on what drives them. Jack Macy, for example.”
“Mars. Macy is focused on humanity colonizing Mars—becoming a multiplanet species. Everything he does supports his proposed mission to Mars. Even his lunar aspirations are mostly as a staging area for Mars. He’d already have sent a ship to Mars if it weren’t for political resistance.”
