Space Odyssey: Voyage to the Planets Page #5

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Surgeon?

Still getting a strong bio-sensory read-out.

(BLEEPING)

Flight, space assets and ground stations

are reporting flare activity.

- Which quadrant?

- Checking.

Do they have a class yet?

Predicting...S1 class.

Quadrant?

That's...

..west. Confirmed.

Might disrupt our com a little, that's all.

(MAN) Due to re-acquire signal in three hours.

(C0NTINU0US STATIC)

(STATIC WITH T0M'S V0ICE)

(L0UD STATIC

WITH T0M'S V0ICE UNDERNEATH)

Trajectory confirmed. Flight, we need

mid-course corrections for Jupiter.

But it's acceptable.

(STATIC C0NTINUES)

(TOM) Our dosimeters are mostly in the green.

John Pearson's edged into the amber.

Cameras had a tough time

and seven computers shut down.

Even with the hatches down, it felt a little

too close for comfort in here...but what a sight!

We saw rivers of plasma

beneath the photosphere.

We got an outstanding view

of the magnetic loop fields. It was incredible.

We also detected some sun quakes,

I guess triggered by that flare to the west.

We're glad to have missed

that little piece of weather!

(YVAN) Magnetic field generator offline.

Centrifuges online. 0.2.

0.5...full G.

The sun has accelerated Pegasus towards

Jupiter, the biggest planet in the solar system,

seven months and 470 million miles away.

(ALL) # Happy birthday to you

# Happy birthday to you

# Happy birthday, dear John

# Happy birthday to you #

(CHEERING)

I thought it was just a shaving rash,

but it's been around for, what, two weeks.

Eczema.

Before reaching Jupiter, Pegasus has

to run the gauntlet of the Asteroid Belt -

over a million rocks,

some the size of small moons.

Most are uncharted

and any one of them could end the mission.

(KLAX0N BLARES)

55 minutes.

- Do we need a correction?

- Yvan's running the numbers.

- What did Control say?

- We'll know in 38 minutes.

- How big is it?

- 224 billion tons.

It's gonna pass within one kilometre.

- Sounds like a course correction.

- Let's see what Control say.

Closest approach is 10km.

That's a completely reliable figure.

- Why the discrepancy?

- The alarm initiated after two locks on the target.

Not enough for a reliable projection. We based

ours on more data than they've got up there.

They get a fantastic fly-by

and we can steal some more science.

Consider the psychological effects

of throwing a close fly-by at them.

- They've done this a thousand times in sims!

- We need to get back to them, Flight.

Tell them to maintain course.

Pegasus Control, we've got a ''no trajectory

change'' on that alarm. Repeat ''no change''.

We've got a ''no trajectory change''

on that alarm. Repeat ''no...''

(RHYTHMIC BLEEPING)

(NINA) Got it.

(J0HN) It's a binary.

(Z0) How close is it gonna pass?

(YVAN) Main body, 4km long...

- How close? Yvan?

- 0ne kilometre.

- (YVAN SPEAKS RUSSIAN)

- Who says 10km, then?

- They've got more data.

- They're not staring at it in the face!

- Have we got time to run another simulation?

- (T0M) No!

- Aren't we gonna discuss this?

- We just did.

(BLEEPING INTENSIFIES)

(RAPID BLEEPS)

(RAPID BLEEPS)

- (BLEEPING INTENSIFIES)

- Here they come.

(YVAN) Better go out and check the paintwork!

(J0HN) Are we insured?

(Z0) Let's switch the com off for half an hour.

Let THEM sweat!

- (W0MAN) 15 kilometres...5 kilometres!

- (HUSHED GASPS)

I'll be damned. 920 metres.

- Would that be a completely reliable figure (?)

- (SH0CKED MURMURS)

Thank you for the fly-by. We got a good view.

- Incroyable!

- It was a C type binary.

We've named the twins Hubris and Catastrophe.

Let's hope they never head YOUR way.

(NINA) Airlock door is open.

(NARRATOR) This far from the sun,

the solar panels on Pegasus

become useless and need to be jettisoned.

One has jammed

and the crew will have to release it manually.

- (T0M) I've got a visual on you, Nina.

- It's so nice to stretch my legsI

- I was starting to feel like a sardine.

- We need to check for meteorite damage.

(YVAN) Hey, it's dark out here.

- Bloody tools!

- (NINA) Let me help. It's probably the battery.

Stand by.

(YVAN) I've got some meteorite impact

from our transit through the Asteroid Belt.

- (NINA) This is the last retention pin.

- Release.

(NINA) I feel like

we're pulling the wings off a butterfly.

(YVAN) Dead weight. They've done their job.

(ZO) We are 22 million miles from Jupiter.

She's visible with the naked eye.

You can see cloud bands,

but her magnetic field is way bigger.

Yvan, how big is Jupiter's magnetic field?

It's the largest object in the solar system. Bigger

than the sun. Stretches all the way to Saturn.

Why is it so dangerous?

Any charged particles that get trapped

in a magnetic field like that

get accelerated to lethal speeds.

Someone wants to know,

is it true you can hear Jupiter?

Yeah, it gives out radio waves.

(RHYTHMIC WH00SHING)

Jupiter FM.

Music while you cook.

(WH00SHING)

(V0LUME INCREASES)

(J0HN PANTING)

(BREATHLESS PANTING)

The radiation isn't as strong as the sun's,

but they'll be exposed a lot longer

so they'll need their magnetic shield again.

(INTERVIEWER) Could you expand on that?

How dangerous is it?

I'll feel a lot better

when they're on their way to Saturn.

(NARRATOR) Pegasus is approaching Jupiter

at 80km per second.

To begin the slowdown into orbit, she turns

her disk to Jupiter and fires her main engines.

To complete the brake, Pegasus

will crash into Jupiter's upper atmosphere,

using friction to slow down.

(TOM) We have ignition.

The G forces during this manoeuvre represent

the greatest physical stress for the astronauts

and formed the most critical part of their training.

(J0HN) G suits to inflate.

Slowing down to Jupiter orbit is

the most stress we'll get in the whole six years.

We've got a bet going for who passes out last.

(HIGH-PITCHED WHIRRING)

How you doing?

(J0HN) Tom's been disqualified.

He's taught himself this little trick.

He can faint with his eyes open.

It took us a while to work out how he took 15Gs.

Pegasus, you're due to enter Jovian atmosphere

in two minutes.

Looking at a maximum of 8G. Good luck, guys.

(TOM) 0.5G.

1G.

2G.

(YVAN) Going into free-flow position.

That's a continuing flow.

- (C0UGHS)

- Still rising.

4G.

Pressure rising.

This isn't right!

(TOM) 7G.

8G.

- 9GI

- That's impossible!

We're losing the shields.

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