back.
“Well, the battery is almost dead! You will - ” Hicks was saying as another jolt of seismic energy rocks Eagle-2.
Directly in front of the rover a huge avalanche of ice and snow slides down one of the ice plumes, blocking the passage. Fedoseev stops and gazes at the pile of ice rubble, while an empty pit starts to eat away at his stomach. He realizes that Hicks was right and this was not a good idea.
Hicks announces the obvious into the com, “Well, that sucks! Hold tight.” As if Fedoseev was going anywhere.
“White-Bull-2, this is Hicks. Tucker are you still there?”
“Yes Eagle-2, this is Tucker, go ahead”
Hicks and Tucker had been conversing just a few minutes before, prepping for takeoff and rendezvous procedures.
“Mark, can you zoom in tight on the rover? Is there an alternate route Fedoseev can take, to get back here?” Hicks asks.
“I’ve got him in view now. Here, I’ll send you the video feed on channel 990.” Hicks looks at the aerial feed, while rubbing his temples.
After Tucker examines it, he gives his report; “It looks like the only route the rover could take, would be to back track for about 200 meters and head down that ravine. Then that ravine runs within 70 meters of where Eagle-2 is sitting.”
“Yeah, that’s about the only option.” Hicks responds with very little excitement in his voice. He continues, “But here’s the kicker, the rover’s battery is pretty much dead, at 6.8% power right now. I don’t think it will make it. I’m sure he can get down into the ravine just fine, but it will never make it back out.”
“Oh crap, that’s bad! I think either way he is walking then. He either climes over the avalanche rubble and walks back 500 meters, or he takes the rover down into the ravine and most likely walks back from wherever the rover dies. However, if it gets him even half of the way back, then that is probably less than 250 meters to walk.”
Hicks explains the options to Fedoseev, who opts to try the ravine with the rover; not relishing the idea of climbing over the avalanche. Plus, if he can manage to get the rover back, it wasn’t a wasted trip, as he would still have his samples.
Fedoseev turns the rover around and it slowly picks up speed, as he heads towards the edge of the ravine where he stops. As he looks forward, he can’t see the slope, so he stands up in the rover and peers over. The white blinding terrain is hard to gauge and he can’t really determine how steep it is. He sits down quickly, as he feels some shaking again, reminding him that he doesn’t have much time to ponder his decision. He slowly presses the accelerator and the front tires start to creep over the edge, then the rear tires start to make their way over as he feels the rover changing from horizontal, to more of a vertical orientation. All of a sudden, the rover isn’t so pokey any more, as it starts to race down the bumpy slope of the ravine.
As the rover speeds down the slope, Fedoseev hits the brakes in a panic. The tires lockup, but the rover doesn’t seem to slow down much. All of the sample buckets bounce up and down in the back, toppling over and spilling their contents. With the tires locked up the rover starts to spin sideways, so he releases the brake, which helps with the control, but it instantly picks up speed. He can see the bottom! It isn’t very flat however… more of a ‘V’ shape, as it instantly inclines back up. If he heads straight towards the bottom, he will crash for sure, so he banks the rover to the left; the buckets and samples all slam to the right side of the rear cargo bed. He reaches the bottom and then banks up the other side of the ravine, like a race car on an inclined turn. The buckets and samples now slam into the left side of the cargo bed. He hits the accelerator to take advantage of his momentum as the rover rocks back and forth, like a boat, on the alternating banks at the bottom.
He keeps his foot pegged on the accelerator, but the
“Well, the battery is almost dead! You will - ” Hicks was saying as another jolt of seismic energy rocks Eagle-2.
Directly in front of the rover a huge avalanche of ice and snow slides down one of the ice plumes, blocking the passage. Fedoseev stops and gazes at the pile of ice rubble, while an empty pit starts to eat away at his stomach. He realizes that Hicks was right and this was not a good idea.
Hicks announces the obvious into the com, “Well, that sucks! Hold tight.” As if Fedoseev was going anywhere.
“White-Bull-2, this is Hicks. Tucker are you still there?”
“Yes Eagle-2, this is Tucker, go ahead”
Hicks and Tucker had been conversing just a few minutes before, prepping for takeoff and rendezvous procedures.
“Mark, can you zoom in tight on the rover? Is there an alternate route Fedoseev can take, to get back here?” Hicks asks.
“I’ve got him in view now. Here, I’ll send you the video feed on channel 990.” Hicks looks at the aerial feed, while rubbing his temples.
After Tucker examines it, he gives his report; “It looks like the only route the rover could take, would be to back track for about 200 meters and head down that ravine. Then that ravine runs within 70 meters of where Eagle-2 is sitting.”
“Yeah, that’s about the only option.” Hicks responds with very little excitement in his voice. He continues, “But here’s the kicker, the rover’s battery is pretty much dead, at 6.8% power right now. I don’t think it will make it. I’m sure he can get down into the ravine just fine, but it will never make it back out.”
“Oh crap, that’s bad! I think either way he is walking then. He either climes over the avalanche rubble and walks back 500 meters, or he takes the rover down into the ravine and most likely walks back from wherever the rover dies. However, if it gets him even half of the way back, then that is probably less than 250 meters to walk.”
Hicks explains the options to Fedoseev, who opts to try the ravine with the rover; not relishing the idea of climbing over the avalanche. Plus, if he can manage to get the rover back, it wasn’t a wasted trip, as he would still have his samples.
Fedoseev turns the rover around and it slowly picks up speed, as he heads towards the edge of the ravine where he stops. As he looks forward, he can’t see the slope, so he stands up in the rover and peers over. The white blinding terrain is hard to gauge and he can’t really determine how steep it is. He sits down quickly, as he feels some shaking again, reminding him that he doesn’t have much time to ponder his decision. He slowly presses the accelerator and the front tires start to creep over the edge, then the rear tires start to make their way over as he feels the rover changing from horizontal, to more of a vertical orientation. All of a sudden, the rover isn’t so pokey any more, as it starts to race down the bumpy slope of the ravine.
As the rover speeds down the slope, Fedoseev hits the brakes in a panic. The tires lockup, but the rover doesn’t seem to slow down much. All of the sample buckets bounce up and down in the back, toppling over and spilling their contents. With the tires locked up the rover starts to spin sideways, so he releases the brake, which helps with the control, but it instantly picks up speed. He can see the bottom! It isn’t very flat however… more of a ‘V’ shape, as it instantly inclines back up. If he heads straight towards the bottom, he will crash for sure, so he banks the rover to the left; the buckets and samples all slam to the right side of the rear cargo bed. He reaches the bottom and then banks up the other side of the ravine, like a race car on an inclined turn. The buckets and samples now slam into the left side of the cargo bed. He hits the accelerator to take advantage of his momentum as the rover rocks back and forth, like a boat, on the alternating banks at the bottom.
He keeps his foot pegged on the accelerator, but the
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