John Vornholt's Mars Novel

I’ve always been curious about Mars, our closest planetary neighbor.  When I was growing up, I remember reading and watching lots of stories set there.  At the time, given NASA’s successful moon missions, Mars seemed the next target for exploration.  In my recent study of the Mercury missions, when America’s first seven astronauts were interviewed on the topic, they also espoused this belief.  Some of them even hoped to participate in such missions.  Sadly, humans have yet to travel there, but Science Fiction writers have never stopped writing about Mars.  Gregory Benford, Kim Stanley Robinson, Greg Bear, Dan Simmons, Larry Niven, Philip K. Dick: the list could go on and on.  Let’s face it: until you’ve written a Mars novel, you’re not a real SF writer.

Okay, maybe that’s overstating matters, but Mars remains arguably the most popular setting for a SF novel not set on Earth.  I was certainly pleased when John Vornholt begins his novel Voices, the first tie-in to the popular 1990s TV series Babylon 5, on the red planet.  The two people we meet there are telepaths, members of Psi Corps.  Despite his imminent meeting with Mr. Bester, the top Psi Cop (and perhaps the most powerful person in Psi Corps), Harriman Gray’s thoughts keep returning to Earth's most important space station, Babylon 5.  On his recent visit there, he met Commander Susan Ivanova, who, due to events in her past, has a strong aversion to Psi Corps.  Yet she intrigues him, and Harriman can’t help wondering if, were he to return there, he might not find some way to change her mind about Psi Corps, and hence give him a chance.

Once Mr. Bester arrives, the two take a monorail to the Royal Tharsis Lodge, where an important conference for telepaths will shortly take place.  Life is difficult on Mars, and there are separatists who, like the early American colonists, argue that Earth wields too much control over their lives.  But their political views are not on Harriman’s mind as he gazes out the windows during their ride.  Instead, he muses: “The angry red planet didn’t look so angry when it was crisscrossed with monorail tubes, prefabricated dwellings, and shielded domes.  It looked like a giant gerbil habitat on a dusty parking lot.”  His thoughts return to the present when the monorail screeches to a halt, and with his telepathic abilities, he soon realizes that a bomb has just detonated in the Royal Tharsis Lodge, and over twenty people have died.  After Mr. Bester secures the monorail, the top Psi Cop turns to Harriman and remarks that perhaps Mars isn’t the best place to hold their conference anymore.  As Bester doesn’t want to hold it on Earth, another possible venue leaps readily to Harriman’s mind.  “How about Babylon 5?” he says.

Sadly, we never really get to know Harriman Gray better.  John Vornholt uses him to get the action going, before whisking readers off to Babylon 5.  Fans of the TV series, who know Susan Ivanova’s past, will recognize that Harriman’s hopes are overly optimistic, that she could never fully give herself to anyone from Psi Corps.  Or at least, she couldn’t after the events of Season Two have played out.  But this is a view formed through hindsight, as the novel was published in March 1995, during the second season of the show, and the action takes place between episodes #1 “Points of Departure” and #8 “A Race Through Dark Places.”  While I loved Babylon 5, it never occurred to me at the time to read the tie-in novels.  After all, the show was on every week, and series creator J. Michael Straczynski had planned out the entire five-year run.  (Amazingly, he ended up writing 92 out of the series’ 110 episodes, in addition to serving as its executive producer).  So I guess I figured that reading those novels was unnecessary back then.

Today, Babylon 5 seems largely forgotten, but back in the 1990s, the Science Fiction community held a real fervor for the show.  I was a part of it, just another viewer captivated by the series’ spell.  It’s been a long time since those heady days when I looked forward to a new Babylon 5 episode each week, when I eagerly anticipated the revelations and developments that each new show might bring.  Perhaps that explains why, like Harriman Gray in Voices, I find my thoughts returning to Babylon 5, not just anxious to relive the known stories, but also to experience some new adventures.

In any case, I’m grateful to John Vornholt for returning me to the milieu of Babylon 5 for a brand new adventure.  Even if his novel is twenty years old, it’s new to me.  Despite his having written over sixty-five novels, he’s also new to me.  I find this oversight on my part surprising, as it seems he’s also an author of note in the Science Fiction community.  After all, he wrote a novel about Mars, didn’t he?

Dragon Dave

Related Internet Links

A short biography on John Vornholt 

Honoring the Mercury Seven

Everyone remembers Neil Armstrong.  Everyone remembers what he said on the moon: “One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.”  But how many remember Alan Shepherd, Gus Grissom, or the rest of the Mercury Seven who made Apollo 11 possible?

According to Tom Wolfe in The Right Stuff, America’s first astronauts were larger than life men, test pilots like Tom Cruise’s character Pete “Maverick” Mitchell in the movie Top Gun.  Yet once they joined Project Mercury, they were grounded, and when they rebelled, and insisted that they be allowed to fly, the older, less capable planes they occasionally piloted couldn’t deliver the same thrills as the latest fighter jets.  Thus, they sated their “Need for speed” on the highway, in the fastest sports cars they could get their hands on.

All of them had fine careers to look forward to in their respective branches of the military.  Yet they gave those up, and for what?  To sit in a capsule and be shot into space?  Their fellow test pilots couldn’t understand their reasoning.  The engineers behind Project Mercury hadn’t believed pilots were necessary.  They had envisioned engineers sitting in those capsules, monitoring computerized systems, and providing medical information from all the sensors attached to their bodies.  Of the twenty-six Mercury flights, only six carried astronauts.  The rest were either computer controlled, or guided by the chimpanzees Ham and Enos, who had been conditioned to press all the right controls at the right times, and did so.  Imagine the ribbing the astronauts received from their former comrades.  “Yeah, congratulations on that mission of yours.  Did you enjoy it as much as the monkeys?”

None of these men ever resumed the aviation careers they had previously enjoyed.  For Alan Shepherd and Gus Grissom, their fifteen minutes of fame were literally fifteen minutes locked inside a capsule, as their Redstone rockets lacked the power to launch them into orbit.  John Glenn and Scott Carpenter reached orbit on the newer Atlas rockets, and got five-hour flights, while Wally Schirra followed them with nine hours in space.  Of all the Mercury flights, only Gordon Cooper got the most in return for all the potential flight-time he could have gotten had he stayed in the Air Force, as he logged thirty-four hours before his capsule returned to Earth. 

Poor Deke Slayton didn’t even get to fly in a Mercury mission.  Instead, NASA grounded him for medical reasons.

On the day we visited Space View Park in Titusville, Florida, what struck me was all that these seven men gave up to become America’s first seven astronauts.  Certainly, the Mercury missions made no sense to their peers.  After NASA’s initial presentations, virtually all the candidates agreed that the missions represented a divergence from the military careers each had built up to that point.  As Gus Grissom shares in We Seven, after NASA selected him, he asked himself, “Now what in hell do you want to get up on that thing for?”  A few sentences later, he answers himself.  “If my country decided that I was one of the better qualified people for this new mission, then I was proud and happy to help out.”

As my wife and I stood before the Project Mercury memorial, only one other person joined us: an older gentleman, with a cellphone pressed to his ear, leaned against one of the bronze plaques and discussed shipment schedules for his business.  After pausing before each of the other plaques, we left to visit the Gemini and Apollo memorials.  Later, as we headed back to the car, I decided to return, once last time, to the gleaming, silver Mercury 7 symbol.  Two young people now stood before it, and a third stood behind a camera set upon a tripod.  I listened as the young man and woman spoke, introduced the statue, and spoke about the men who had risked their lives, and their careers, to pilot those cramped, experimental capsules. 

Alan Shepherd.  Gus Grissom.  John Glenn.  Scott Carpenter.  Wally Schirra.  Gordon Cooper.  Deke Slayton.  You helped guide NASA's early efforts.  You proved man could survive the launch and reentry processes, and that he could survive beyond Earth's atmosphere.  You inspired a president and a nation, which made Apollo 11 possible.  Without your insistence on making space capsules completely controllable by the pilot, Apollo 13 might have turned out differently. Because of you, America eventually invested in a space shuttle program, and convinced the world to build an International Space Station.  If man ever sets foot on Mars, part of the credit will be yours.  

I will never forget the sacrifices you made for all of us.

Dragon Dave  

The U. S. Space Walk of Fame Museum

While researching things to do in Florida, I discovered a museum dedicated to the Russian space program.  My heart beat faster: we would be staying in St. Pete Beach, on the outskirts of St. Petersburg.  We could go there!  Then came the crushing realization that the museum was located in St. Petersburg, Russia, not St. Petersburg, Florida. 

While I’m fascinated, amazed, and proud of all of America’s accomplishments in space, I’m also fascinated by the Russian efforts.  Their country sent men into space before we did.  In response to their efforts, America switched over from the Air Force space plane programs (such as the X-1, X-2, and X-15) to NASA’s space capsules for the Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo programs.  Then we discarded the capsule concept--in part because we always splashed down in the middle of the ocean, which necessitated huge sea-going recovery efforts--and reverted to the space plane idea for the Space Shuttle program.  Now we’ve discarded the space plane concept, and are reverting to the space capsule for Project Orion.  Meanwhile, the Russians have operated space capsules continuously since Yuri Gagarin became the first man in space.  Unlike ours, their capsules can actually land, which saves on Naval recovery efforts.  And while America built Skylab (and then let it burn up in the atmosphere), the Russians operated space stations continuously from the early 1970s, until the construction of the International Space Station. 

While experimentation is good, every time America decides to retool our equipment and operations necessitates a break in our space program.  While we’re doing this rebuilding and redirecting process again, our astronauts are hitching rides up to the ISS in Russian capsules, which according to officials at Kennedy Space Center costs us over sixty million dollars per astronaut.  Meanwhile, the Russians have persisted with the concepts and programs that worked for them, and thereby saved themselves long breaks and costly retooling efforts.

At any rate, my Internet search bore fruit when I discovered The U. S. Space Walk of Fame Museum.  Operated by volunteers in a modest office building in Titusville, Florida, it houses a wealth of information, equipment, and paraphernalia covering the American space program.  There’s a simulated control room where children (of all ages) can get an idea of all the equipment and duties associated with a rocket launch.  There are displays of the rockets that launched Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo.  A visitor can page through booklets, see spacesuits, posters, models, and collectible memorabilia.  I cannot even begin to describe everything packed into the tiny building.  On the morning my wife and I visited, we had the museum to ourselves.  Thus we had time to page through the photo albums, reports and manuals, and photograph the displays for future perusal. 

Believe it or not, there’s even a small area dedicated to the Russian space program!

The U. S. Space Walk of Fame Museum may not be the high-gloss production of Kennedy Space Center, but if you’re interested in seeing a wealth of informative and fun displays in a low-key atmosphere, be sure to check it out.  Not only is it less expensive than a day at Kennedy Space Center (although that’s a fun place too), it’ll save you thousands of dollars on a trip to Russia. 

Dragon Dave 

Related Dragon Cache entries

Understanding Kimi Raikkonen: Part 6

Related Internet Links

U. S. Space Walk of Fame Museum

Russian Cosmonaut Museum

Everybody’s Comin’ to Kennedy Space Center

Guests line up for photographs outside
Kennedy Space Center's new entrance.

There’s a place that celebrates mankind’s greatest feats, and champions all we’ve yet to accomplish.  That place is Kennedy Space Center in Florida, and if you haven’t come here yet, you're really missing out.

Some hot new rides of the future.

When it comes to space flight, there’s so much history to celebrate.  Audacious engineers, who designed powerful rockets like the Redstone, Atlas, and the Titan.  Brave pilots, who climbed into the tiny Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo capsules, and blasted into orbit and beyond.  Designers who took the original rocket planes like the X-1 and the X-15, and transformed them into the Space Shuttle.  What’s next you ask?  How about more trips to the Moon and Mars aboard the Orion capsule, or flights high above the Earth aboard the Lynx Mk. II from XCor Aerospace, and the Sierra Nevada Corporations’ Dream Chaser?

"No, honestly, I'm not makin' the rabbit ears this time."

Not enough, you say?  Well then, why not learn about NASA’s robots?  They fly through space, and tell us about other planets we could visit.  There’re some on Mars right now, such as the rover Curiosity, helping us to prepare for manned missions there.  Some are as cute and amiable as they come.  You never know: you’re next best friend might just be a robot.

When this baby goes boom, you'll hear it.

Still not enough?  Wait, there’s more!  You can hop on a bus and see the launch pads for the moon missions and the Space Shuttles.  You could get an in depth look of the biggest rocket ever ignited, the Saturn V.  You can see all sorts of informative and entertaining programs on current space efforts, such as the International Space Station.  You can watch IMAX 3-D movies.  You'll learn about NASA’s programs, as well as those of the Russians.  You can even touch a moon rock!

"Nice to meet you too, Mr. Spaceman."

Still not convinced?  Bored with static displays like you find in museums?  Think the latest Hollywood productions make NASA’s movies pale by comparison?  Well, how about the opportunity to meet a spaceman? 

I asked Wendy Lawrence all kinds of questions,
and she answered them all!

You can even talk to a real life astronaut, such as Wendy Lawrence, who flew on four Space Shuttle missions!

"Why don't you two stand next to the
Shuttle Launch Experience?"

People travel here from all over the world, because there’s so much to see and do here.  Visitors come from all walks of life, because the hopes and dreams of space exploration unite mankind.  So if you’ve not yet visited Kennedy Space Center, the question surely must not be if, but when you’ll visit.  ‘Cause like I said, everybody’s comin’ to Kennedy Space Center.  Why miss out on a great thing like that?

And now, for the commercial...

Dragon Dave

Related Dragon Cache entries
Understanding Kimi Raikkonen: Part 6

Related Internet Links

Kennedy Space Center

Astronaut Wendy Lawrence’s biography

Understanding Kimi Raikkonen: Part 6

"What happens in Monaco,
doesn't necessarily stay in Monaco."

In The Right Stuff, author Tom Wolfe calls Chuck Yeager a “natural-born stick ‘n’ rudder man.”  After serving as a combat pilot in World War II, Yeager was trained as a test pilot, and eventually selected for the X-1 project.  This project represented one of aviation’s far-flung goals: the chance to break the sound barrier.  Many pilots and aeronautical experts worried that the increased buffeting and turbulence that rocked planes as they neared Mach 1 would prove insurmountable.  Yeager wanted to prove them wrong.

The X-1 trials were conducted at Muroc, which would later become Edwards Air Force Base.   But then it was just a runway in the desert, along with a few shacks and tents.  The only nearby amenity was Pancho’s Fly Inn, where the airmen indulged in part of the “Flying & Drinking and Drinking & Driving” mentality of military test pilots.  Two nights before his big flight, after knocking back a few drinks, he and his wife saddled up two of Pancho’s horses and went for a moonlight ride.  With a test pilot’s intent of demonstrating that “the right stuff” applied to all aspects of one’s life, he rode at full gallop through the Joshua trees. 

Then his horse hit a gate.

The next day, he slunk off base to a civilian doctor, who taped up his two broken ribs.  The day of the X-1 test, the pain was no less intense.  After determining that he could do everything but close his canopy unassisted, Yeager confided in his flight engineer, who fashioned a makeshift lever from a broom handle.  He rode up in the B-29 until the launch plane reached the proper altitude.  Then he climbed out through the bomb bay, down a ladder into the X-1, hooked up his oxygen, radio, and earphones, and strapped on his helmet.  With his new wooden tool, he closed the cockpit.  After he told the crew he was ready, the B-29 released the X-1, and Yeager lit up the rocket engines.  He made it through the buffeting, and pushed through the sound barrier to reach Mach 1.05.

Similarly, the seven Mercury astronauts believed in blowing off steam after a hard day’s work.  Through their friendship with Jim Rothman, a Florida car dealer who had won the 1960 Indianapolis 500, most of them ended up with brand new Corvettes.  Wally Schirra got a Maserati, and Scott Carpenter a Shelby Cobra.  (John Glenn alone seemed immune to the allure of sports cars).  After knocking back a few drinks, the boys unleashed their cars along the dark highways.  They never worried whether their performances could measure up with those of professional racecar drivers.  They had “the right stuff,” after all!

Much has been made of Kimi Raikkonen’s tendency to let loose after a race, or to celebrate an especially sweet victory.  While I would never condone Drinking & Driving, or public displays of drunkenness, everything we do in life induces a certain amount of stress.  Whether it is a job of our choosing, or an obligation forced upon us, our bodies, minds, and spirits cannot handle unlimited stress.  We must find activities and ways to release that stress.  We should also acknowledge that those who face greater trials than us, and who strive for greater goals, also endure greater levels of stress.  To paraphrase Mark Shepherd, the character who runs the mining operation on Io in the Sci-Fi movie “Outland,” “these people work hard, and then they play hard.” 

But instead of ending this series on Kimi Raikkonen by attempting to justify one aspect of his psyche, I’d rather focus on what he is not known for.  He doesn’t have a reputation for excessive blocking, or knocking his fellow competitors off the track.  He doesn't go public with details of his salary negotiations.  He's never put sensitive team information online.  If his team has done something that the FIA (F1's governing body) might find questionable, he doesn’t threaten to inform on them unless the team meets his demands.  Nor does he have a history of demanding number one status within a team, or playing Machiavellian games with his teammates.  

Kimi Raikkonen may not interact with his engineers the way other drivers do.  As Peter Sauber once said, “He demands, to the point of arrogance, to get his own way.”  He also has a reputation for partying a little too hard.  Some could argue that he might be a multiple world champion had he conducted himself differently.  But statistic and records are not the sole determinate of one's greatness.  For some people, life isn't just about winning: it's also about what they won't do in order to win.

Dragon Dave

Related Internet Links

More about Kimi Raikkonen

X-1 Facts & Photos