Spacewalkers

Chapter 1 : Water and Grass

Earth date: January, the 1st ,2095
Registration Number: A.R 260891

“- Houston, here’s Matthews 2549, we are well out of the Gravitational fields, next destination, Mars.
- Well received Matthews 2549, safe journey, check in 5 hours, call if needed
- No worries, Matthews 2549 finish”
Eric cut the radio and began to draw circles on the cold glass. In front of him, billions of points, as bright as each other, engraved in this strange black matter. It is impressive to see what an explosion could have caused, 13 billion years ago.
Do we really know what’s the universe? Some people would say that everything is only dust of stars, big rolls, a big lamp in the middle with several bright points which are there "to decorate" this blackness. Some others would say that this blackness is the most interesting part of our universe because until now, we do not know what compose it. This dust of star is only the dead bodies of stars which were born, grew up and shone so hardly, until their last breath.
Stars, there are billions of them around us, and they allow to make this strange dark matter shine. These big rolls are the inhabitants of our galaxy, who are more complex and more beautiful than the last. The big lamp in the middle, it’s our star, the one who allows us to live, and whom we shall never thank enough.
We’re the crew of the Matthews 2549 shuttle, bound for Mars. We are 6 to have boarded: 3 women and 3 men, each of a different specialty but all in connection with “the life in the space”. We’re leaving for 3 years, to see if Mars is truly inhabitant for men. Human race have already been on Mars, in 2045: the crew had not stayed more than 3 days due to the lack of water and food.
You wonder who I am right? let me introduce myself:
Astronaut Anastasia Williams, 26 years old, aerospace engineer specialized in techno-chemistry in  space, has been working for NASA for more than 4 years now since I graduated from College. It is me who created the ship where we are at this moment and where we’re going to live for this three next years. There are with me astronauts Eric Gordon, James Selco, Alexander Carlton, Kelly Welsh, and Selena Mop. We do not really know each other’s. At 35 years old, Jamey is the oldest one of us and therefore the commander of the mission. Kelly, Alexander and I are from the same class, we went to college together but we know each other vaguely, while Selena is 2 years older than us. We all worked on this journey, but each one on a different part of the expedition, most of us never met until three monthes ago.
- “We left for soon 3 hours, can I press this beautiful creature?”
What was Alex talking about, is the big red button next to Selena: it deactivates gravity inside the spaceship. It was made to help astronaut to carry, to treat or still to repair heavy metals inside the spaceship, but of course, in gravity 0, we fly. Selena is engineer of repair and maintenance the components in gravity 0, she’s the only one who can repair the components and decide if we can press the big beautiful red button next to her head.
- Not until there’s stability in the gravitational constant, the shuttle detects a small disturbance not very far from us, we’re going to avoid at the moment.
- C’mon gravity 0, said Alex while approaching his hand to the button, you’re not going to annoy me now, let me press this little red…
- No! shouts Selena as she moves Alex hand away, You’re not going to kill us after 2 years of work, I think everyone here wants to walk on Mars, so shut up space botanist.
- She’s right Alex, relax man, you’re going to fly, we’re leaving for three years, remember?”
Eric was right, we’re leaving for three years, 1095 days, 1,576,800 minutes. Going on Mars is so exiting but there’s so many constraints in living on it: First of all, Mars is a 10 times less massive planet than the Earth and is not protected by a powerful magnetic field. The solar wind would blow there perpetually, affecting it little by little. Every second, it is only 100 g of dioxide carbon which would escape from it. The planet Mars would thus have dried up as one goes along, its residual water would have congealed in the form of ice in its basement. According to NASA, the period during which the appearance of life on Mars would have been able to occur is similar to that where life on Earth actually appeared. But on Mars, these favorable conditions did not last. The red planet would be only a vast icy and dry desert with a temperature of -60 °C on average and with an air equivalent to the pressure of the ground atmosphere at more than 20 000 meters in height today, but established by 96 % of carbon dioxide. You think it’s impossible right? A planet with an atmosphere that is almost inexistent, thick air and no liquid water could be habitable? We think it is, and we’re going to prove it and that’s the magic of science.
- “Guys, look outside, a supernova!”
Jamy has always been fascinated by celestial bodies since I met him, a year ago. Of course he is. James Selco knows quite celestial bodies on the fingertips. As astrologer, Mars has no secret for him and thanks to his knowledge, we can avoid huge disasters, at least it's the plan.
Our journey to land on Mars is going to take us 6 months. It may seem like a long time for you on Earth, but for the rest of us in space, it’s another story...
Do you know why the others didn't stay more than three days? As I said earlier, the lack of food and water is the cause. But that's what they had written in their official report, the truth is quite different. The lack of food and water isn't actually the most important reason. the hardest part of the mission is being, in the middle of nowhere. We're going to be so far from Earth that we won't see it anymore. So for 6 months, we were ordered by NASA to grow small green plants. Alexander, the botanist will do it for 6 months, so that we can breathe in the shuttle, and so that we can remember the Earth’s surface especially, the water and the grass.