Mars Probe.
"We're almost ready for the launch, Bernard," one of the technical crew reported.
Professor Bernard Quatermass nodded in response to the report while he took a deep breath as he studied the rocket on the launchpad. After five years of work and research, devising and researching new alloys and fuel formulas in order to build the casing of the experimental rocket and for the new fuels in order to afford a far less energy expending launch while working and expanding on their already formidable knowledge for astronomical surveying to develop a probe ship capable of surveying the red planet.
But Quatermass could not help but hope and dream this particular rocket launch would lead to the development of a whole fleet of survey rockets where they are launched into space. Uninhabited, controlled by computer, sent out to explore the solar system while they deployed a small series of satellites in order to transmit and receive information faster so the radio waves would not take years to be despatched as they passed deeper into the solar system.
The amount of data gathered would be phenomenal, and while Quatermass could dream he wondered just what a series of probe vessels would discover over a period of a few decades.
"Good. Estimated time for the countdown?" Quatermass asked as he mentally shook off the brief fantasy going through his mind as he focused on the present. Mars and Earth were coming into orbit after two whole years, which had given the British Rocket Group's team of engineers and scientists the perfect amount of time necessary to finalise their work.
The technician checked for a moment before he turned his head. "Another two hours; the reserve fuel tanks are being fuelled now, and last minute checks are being carried out."
Quatermass didn't like the thought of waiting another two hours, but he knew it was important. "What about the radioisotopic generators?"
"They're online."
"Good."
For the next two hours, Quatermass thought about the last few years. Ever since the incident in Hobb's Lane just on the eve of making a monumental discovery about the history of the human race, he had been struggling to continue his Rocket Group since the government backing had changed with a new administration. Yes, while rockets were important for the future and the government were more than aware of that, instead of using them for exploring space and expanding the realms of human knowledge of what was beyond the planet's gravitational pull and what every astronomy student knew from textbooks dating a hundred years or so back which didn't include any more discoveries, such as new planets that were too far away to be seen by telescopes, the government planned to make his work into the ultimate weapons without considering there was no such thing.
Quatermass had eventually realised there was no way around the problem, so he had decided to form a compromise with the government since he needed them. He would help them with their military research in placing rocket bases on the moon, even if it went against everything he stood for, but he knew it was hopeless because the government recalled the destructive power of the German missiles which had bombed London, and in return, he would be allowed to continue his non-hostile exploration research.
They had known he was too vital for their research given how he was one of the most foremost minds in rocketry within the United Kingdom. So they had accepted the compromise.
Quatermass hated himself for even thinking he would do such a thing, but he had sweetened the deal by saying there could be military bases on Mars, or in the asteroids. He hoped it did not come to that, one-day humanity would stop fighting each other, and dedicate themselves to something better… At least that was what was preached by the writer of Star Trek.
Six years ago, Bernard Quatermass had come up with the idea of a new long-range space probe craft. This ship would not be manned by anything except computers employing the latest in technology. It would also be self-sufficient and be powerful enough to travel further and further into space. This probe would carry enough satellites in order to transmit photographs and other scientific data back to Earth faster while it travelled further out into space.
Mars Probe was the prototype. The design for the probe was far from perfect, he knew that, but he was confident in the design of the probe ship to top the job while it transmitted photographs and vital information back to the BRG back on Earth in order to perfect the next generation of probes. And if the military or the government came out with a stupid observation claiming the probes were a waste of taxpayers money, he could claim that the technology could find its way into military spacecraft in case of a war, and he was testing it out. But he doubted it would go that far; the work he was doing with the military rockets might be against his better judgement and far from what he had wanted to do with the British Rocket Group, but he knew it was far in advance, so it was unlikely they'd bother him especially when he'd back up his findings by showing off the quality of the photographs the probe ship would transmit back to Earth before making its way back for analysis (he only hoped a similar mess with the disaster with Victor didn't happen again, but since the probe would be unmanned he could not see it happening).
When the probe was finally launched into space, Quatermass watched it leave with excitement and nerves; he was excited because this was the first time the British Rocket Group, which was smaller than what he had would have preferred it to be, had launched a probe of this power and sophistication into space. And as he watched it go he was nervous; he and his team had spent years calculating and recalculating every single aspect of the probe so its purpose was met.
But as he watched the probe become a flaming dot in the monitors, Quatermass let out a breath he hadn't known he'd been holding.
The Mars probe was out.
x
Over the next five weeks, Quatermass sat in his office smiled as he went through the pile of photographs taken from the probe. The probe ship was already gone from Earth as it was powered by its ion thrusters through space; it had already just dropped one of its satellites, and it was transmitting data continually when it was aligned with the probe. It was a weakness in the system, making it clear the only way to correct it was with more satellites dropped into space, but when they were aligned, the information flow was enormous. It would take time for the probe to reach Mars, but when it orbited the red planet and photographed the surface, it would answer many questions about the planet and hopefully give more people room for debate.
The military team weren't as enthusiastic as the scientific unit in the group, but Quatermass had ignored them. In a few weeks, the probe would be travelling further around Mars before returning before the two worlds weren't orbiting close to one another.
In other worlds, all was well in his world.
