Critical Mass, page 38
“Activating coil sequence in three . . . two . . .”
And suddenly a white-hot slug of regolith shot out of the end of the barrel, arcing out over the horizon and up into the black sky.
“Good trajectory! We have a good trajectory on shot two-three-nine. Preparing shot two-four-zero . . . Fire.”
Another white-hot slug silently zipped over the horizon.
And another. And another.
Ecklund tried to smile, even as his eyes welled with tears.
She leaned down and kissed him on the forehead, holding his face close. “It’s been working. Just like you said it would.”
He shuddered and gripped her hand weakly. Unable to speak, but clearly wanting to.
She spoke softly to him, but Chindarkar could not help but hear. “So many things will now be possible, Robert.” She squeezed his hand and there was both joy and sadness in his eyes.
Chindarkar sensed his struggle for breath and felt herself welling up, too.
Holstad said, “Thank you for this gift.”
* * *
—
Ecklund died two days later.
Holstad spoke with his daughter back on Earth, to let her know that her father had passed—and also what he had achieved. Officials at NASA were “unable to confirm or deny” Holstad’s story to his family; however, when his daughter consented to cremation of Ecklund’s remains off-world, it seemed obvious that someone at NASA or in the government had had the decency to tell Ecklund’s family the truth, even if off the record.
The entire crew attended the funeral service in South Hab, and there were tears on many faces as they watched a mule spacecraft position Ecklund’s remains into the focal point of the solar furnace that powered Clarke Station itself. Wrapped in silvery material, his body burned with a blinding light. Chindarkar thought it a fitting tribute for a space pioneer to be consumed by the Sun.
Chindarkar, Jin Han, James Tighe (looking gaunt from traditional chemotherapy), and Sevastian Yakovlev stood nearby as Holstad took the floor before the gathered mourners, her lab’s seedlings the only “floral” arrangement available. Holstad had looked away when Tighe and Han offered their condolences, which was not surprising; Chindarkar had been present for their first conversation on Tighe’s return, when Holstad had looked him in the eye and said, “Robert was a beautiful human being, and now he is dead because you could not wait—not even a month—to continue your reckless adventure. There are nine billion people back on Earth facing the ravages of climate change, but all you want to do is rescue your two friends—who are probably already dead. You selfish bastard!”
Tighe had remained silent, and she had not said a word to either him or Jin since.
But none of that was discussed today. Today was a day of remembrance.
Holstad surveyed the crew—all of whom could truly begin their work because of the resources now coming up from the lunar surface. She let slip a smile and said, “I remember . . .” She paused to contain her emotions. “I remember when Bob first arrived on Clarke Station, and . . .” She pointed up to the H4 elevator landing above them. “. . . swung down like Tarzan to prove some point about physics.”
The mourners laughed and clapped.
“Or at least that’s what he claimed he was doing. He always put everything he had into his work. And now his work will bring life to countless others, far into the future.” She held up a small slip of paper. “I have gone over the chemical analysis of the lunar regolith.” She paused and again struggled to speak through her grief. “There is phosphorus contained within the cores we’ve processed—a third of a percent by mass.”
Once more the mourners applauded.
She turned to the AR screen displaying the immolation of Ecklund’s mortal remains. “And to this supply, with his family’s blessing, I will add Robert’s phosphorus as well. To go on and become future life. I think that he would approve.”
CHAPTER 33
A Going Concern
CLARKE STATION POPULATION: 25
DAYS TO RYUGU DEPARTURE: 802
RESOURCES LAUNCHED TO L2: 16,300 TONS
In March of 2040, billionaire Space Titan Jack Macy launched one of his massive Galleon reusable rockets—a ship named Let’s Be Friends—on a 3:1 resonance with the Moon, more or less precisely the same lunar cycler orbit the Rosette once occupied.
This meant—for good or ill—that Clarke Station was no longer isolated.
Jin Han was relieved to have a connection to Earth once more—to obtain much-needed parts, provisions, and crew. Nonetheless, concerns over Clarke Station security still kept him awake at night.
Galleon rockets were enormous Earth launch systems, 9 meters in diameter and 120 meters tall, not including their even bigger reusable booster. They could (theoretically) fit up to a hundred passengers, but had so far ferried only a few people back and forth to NASA’s lunar gateway and, on one memorable descent, to the lunar south pole. Galleon rockets were mostly used for uncrewed cargo shipments, and for this they were ideal—able to lift nearly a hundred tons into LEO. However, their lack of an escape system, combined with a retro-rocket-style landing, was as problematic for passengers returning to Earth as Kangaroo landers were on the Moon. Failure of one of its three surface engines on landing could spell doom for everyone on board.
However, since a lunar cycler never had to land, Galleons were well-suited to this purpose, and they had lots of interior space. Now that the Rosette was gone and a lunar mass-driver was producing a wealth of resources in deep space, Macy apparently saw his chance to take over cislunar transport and jumped on it. That meant Let’s Be Friends was swinging by L2 every twenty-eight days.
Since Catalyst and the CCE had no control over the vessel, in addition to providing transportation to Clarke Station personnel (for a price), Macy’s company was also selling seats to rich space tourists who wanted to take a lap around the Moon. So far these “guests” were few, and none of them had tried to board the transit craft during the exchange of Clarke Station crew at L2, but the image of armed “little green men” swarming by the dozen aboard a Galleon rocket headed toward Clarke Station was a constant concern. The only thing that protected Clarke Station was the sheer mass-on-orbit and propellant now available to the CCE—and that stockpile was growing every day.
The success of the mass-driver at Morra Base had changed everything with regard to Earth relations. Nations of the world were eager for discussions with Lukas Rochat, and the entire crew of Clarke Station was scrambling to make use of the new resources. Fresh teams were cycling in now.
Most of Sevastian Yakovlev’s Blue Team—the very first group to join Tighe, Chindarkar, and Jin up on Clarke Station—rotated back to Earth after their yearlong tour; this included the departure of trusted flight surgeon Elizabeth Josephson, chemist Sofia Boutros, solar sat expert Monica Balter, as well as both of the US Space Force observers. However, Yak and Ramón Marín stayed on and transitioned to Gold Team—meaning they, too, were now here for the duration.
Replacing Blue was Purple Team, a crew of seven, including a flight surgeon, chemists, and replacement international observers from the US and Australia.
Then in late March, Red Team also rotated back to Earth, their year up, causing the departure of still more familiar and trusted faces. The Chinese and Russian observers also departed in their own capsule.
In came Orange Team, which included new Chinese and Russian observers, another flight surgeon, biologists, astropreneurs, still more chemists, and new Clarke Station security operators.
Not long after the arrival of the new crew members, Jin floated in the gate compartment of Clarke Station, staring through a window of transparent aluminum that looked out onto a cathedral of piping, valves, and pressure vessels clustered along the non-spinning axis of the station. Next to him were the newly arrived international observers and the station’s carbonyl chemist, an American named Priscilla Voorhees.
Voorhees pointed. “This microgravity refinery is an expanded version of the design first proven by the Konstantin expedition to Ryugu.”
The Chinese observer said, “I notice the hull of Clarke Station remains mostly unfinished.”
Jin fielded the question. “We will be restarting construction soon, now that we have resources, and expect to have the hull ring completed before year end.”
The Russian observer gestured to the refinery. “My understanding is that moondust contains much oxygen. Is this not lost when the regolith cores become molten during their acceleration through the mass-driver?”
Voorhees took over again. “Lunar regolith does contain oxygen, but it’s tightly bound into oxides in minerals like ilmenite, volcanic glass, basalt, olivine, pyroxene—and not released when the rock is melted. Instead, we liberate this oxygen during the refining process, which begins by pulverizing the arriving cores—”
An EU observer interjected. “Pardon . . . The regolith that comes up from Morra Base—what is its composition?”
“Here . . .” Voorhees clicked through virtual UIs. “This is the average composition of the Morra Base regolith processed thus far . . .” She projected an augmented-reality table onto the commons layer:
Silicon dioxide (silica): 42.2%
Titanium dioxide: 7.8%
Aluminum oxide: 13.6%
Chromium oxide: 0.3%
Iron oxide: 15.3%
Manganese oxide: 0.2%
Magnesium oxide: 7.8%
Calcium oxide (quicklime): 11.9%
Sodium oxide: 0.47%
Potassium oxide: 0.16%
Phosphorus trioxide: 0.05%
Sulfur: 0.12%
Total mass: 99.9%
“Notice the oxides. That’s the oxygen we liberate. Of course, these compounds also have industrial uses on their own—for example, calcium oxide (or quicklime) is useful in wastewater treatment, glassmaking, and more. However, we put the regolith through molten oxide electrolysis, the FFC Cambridge method, gaseous carbonyl extraction, and other processes, leaving us with these pure elements . . .”
Another virtual screen appeared:
Oxygen: 44.46%
Silicon: 19.73%
Iron: 11.89%
Aluminum: 7.20%
Calcium: 8.50%
Magnesium: 4.70%
Titanium: 2.46%
Sodium: 0.35%
Chromium: 0.17%
Manganese: 0.15%
Potassium: 0.14%
Sulfur: 0.12%
Phosphorus: 0.03%
Total regolith mass: 99.90%
“As you can see, the cores we’ve been receiving are nearly 45 percent oxygen by mass, but also rich in silicon, iron, and aluminum. Given the 16,000 tons of regolith processed so far, we’ve been able to refine nearly 2,000 tons of pure iron. Twelve hundred tons of aluminum. Four hundred tons of titanium. Seventy-two hundred tons of oxygen. The availability of ample solar energy out here for the refining process is key.”
Jin knew the tonnage was orders of magnitude greater than what was coming up from the US and Chinese operations in Shackleton or Peary Craters—and the mass-driver was just getting started.
The Russian observer squinted at the image. “I cannot help but notice the total is not quite 100 percent. What of the other tenth percent?”
“Yes. The regolith contains trace amounts of other elements—a wide mix from meteor impacts, the solar wind, and so on, occurring at just a few parts per million.”
“I would be curious to see these.”
“Of course . . .” Voorhees clicked around virtual UIs until she produced another AR table. “Here’s a list. Note their industrial uses . . .”
Rare Earth Metals
Cerium (Ce)
0.0068%
oxidizer
Neodymium (Nd)
0.0066%
magnets, lasers
Dysprosium (Dy)
0.0031%
magnets, lasers
Lanthanum (La)
0.0026%
specialty glass, optics, electrodes
Gadolinium (Gd)
0.0025%
magnets, specialty optics, computer memory
Samarium (Sm)
0.0021%
magnets, lasers, neutron capture
Ytterbium (Yb)
0.0018%
infrared lasers, chemical reducer
Erbium (Er)
0.0016%
lasers, steel alloyed with vanadium
Terbium (Tb)
0.0005%
lasers and fluorescent lamps
Holmium (Ho)
0.0005%
lasers
Lutetium (Lu)
0.0003%
specialty glass, radiology equipment
Europium (Eu)
0.0002%
colored phosphors, lasers, mercury-vapor lamps
Other Elements
Chlorine (Cl)
0.00193%
medicines, computers, cell phones, refrigerants, solar panels
Barium (Ba)
0.02280%
magnet production, welding, fluorescent lamps
Tantalum (Ta)
0.00010%
capacitors, heat-resistant materials, prosthetics
Copper (Cu)
0.00051%
wiring, plumbing, motor parts
Selenium (Se)
0.00007%
fertilizers, glass production, solar cells, photoconductors
Scandium (Sc)
0.00760%
aluminum alloy, stadium lights, fertilizer
Hafnium (Hf)
0.00215%
microelectronics, high-temp shielding
Gallium (Ga)
0.00029%
smartphones, LEDs, solar panels, semiconductors
Cobalt (Co)
0.00290%
batteries, alloys
Zinc (Zn)
0.00029%
medical, DNA synthesis, batteries
Rubidium (Rb)
0.00057%
superthin batteries, ion propellent, plant growth, catalyst
Cesium (Cs)
0.00002%
atomic clocks, smartphones, infrared optics, lasers
Strontium (Sr)
0.01640%
Medicine, displays, alloys
Voorhees continued. “There are also some trace radioactive elements . . .”
Fissile Material
Thorium
0.0002%
Uranium
0.0001%
The Russian observer took a snapshot of this last table. “How much uranium would you say you have gathered thus far, Ms. Voorhees?”
“I expect it’s in the neighborhood of perhaps . . . ten kilos. Though, of course, there is no enrichment being done.”
“I see. Thank you.” The Russian observer turned to Jin. “This tour has been most illuminating.”
* * *
—
By now, the existence of Clarke Station was everywhere in the news media back on Earth. The space station beyond the Moon went from being a fringe theory and classified intelligence to a cause célèbre seemingly overnight. Outlets worldwide ran articles, photo spreads, and video segments.
And almost none of them agreed with one another.
Priya Chindarkar forwarded Jin a cover story from Chinese state media. Its headline read: “China Makes Bold Leap in Space.” Below it was a clear photo of Clarke Station, except that the international flags had been edited out, leaving only the CCP flag on its hull. The words “Clarke Station” had been replaced with Hanzi characters for Nónglì gōngdiàn—or lunar palace. The station was, it claimed, built from in situ resources mined in deep space by taikonauts.
The article was clearly aimed at a domestic Chinese audience and lionized Jin as the station’s captain, claiming he led the top secret construction project. It also claimed he’d renounced his corrupt billionaire father and that Jin had “refused his inheritance.” That he was “bravely charting the way” for China in space and also detailed how he led an all-Chinese crew back in 2033 to mine a distant asteroid.
