Stranded -The Martian

Chapter 5

*Back on Earth*

"The nation was blessed to have Mark and Lucy serving in our space program. While their loss will be deeply felt... the men and women of NASA will soldier forth... onward and upward in the mission of their agency. By doing so, they honor the legacy Mark and Lucy are leaving behind... and they ensure their sacrifice will not be in vain." Teddy Sanders said during the memorial for Mark and Lucy.

"I need you to authorize my satellite time." Vincent Kapoor told Teddy.
"It's not gonna happen." Teddy replied
"We're funded for five Ares missions. I think I can get Congress to authorize a sixth." Vincent responded.
"No." Teddy said sternly.
"Ares 3 evac'd after 18 sols. There's half a mission worth of supplies up there. I can sell it at a fraction of the cost of a normal mission... and all I have to know is what's left of our assets." Vincent almost pleaded with Teddy.
"You're not the only one who needs satellite time. We've got the Ares 4 supply missions coming up. We should be focusing on the Schiaparelli Crater." Teddy stated.
"Okay, we got 12 satellites up there. Surely we can spare a few hours..." Vincent started but was interrupted by Teddy,
"It's not about the satellite time, Vince. We're a public domain organization. We need to be transparent on this."
"Okay." Vincent said.
"The second we point the satellites at the Hab... I broadcast pictures of Lucy Brooks and Mark Watney's dead bodies to the world." Teddy added.
"You're afraid of a PR problem?" Vincent asked in almost disbelief.
"Of course I'm afraid of a PR problem. Another mission? Congress won't reimburse us for a paper clip... if I put a dead astronaut on the front page of The Washington Post." Teddy argued.
"They are not going anywhere, Teddy. I mean, they are not... They are not gonna decompose, you know. They are gonna be up there forever." Vincent insisted.
"Meteorology estimates that they will be covered in sand... from normal weather activity within a year." Teddy said.
"We can't wait a year." Vincent admitted.
"We got work to do. Ares 5 won't even launch for five years. We have plenty of time." Teddy informed Vincent.
"Okay. Okay. Okay, consider this. Right now, the world's on our side. Sympathy for the Watney family and the Brooks family. Ares 6 could bring their bodies home. Now, we don't say that's the purpose of the mission... but we make it clear that that would be a part of it. We frame it that way. More support from Congress. But not if we wait a year. We wait a year, nobody gives a shit." Vincent declared.

"Vincent Kapoor?" Mindy Park spoke to herself as she received a message from Vincent with some coordinates on it for her to check for him,"Acidalia Planitia. What?"
"Hi. Security? This is Mindy Park in SatCon. I need the emergency contact for Vincent Kapoor. Yes, him. Yes, it's an emergency!" Mindy quickly phoned for Vincent as she found that the Hab had changed since the day the crew evacuated and Lucy and Mark 'died'.
"How sure?" Teddy asked as he stared at the screen which had the coordinates on it.
"100%." Vincent answered.
"You've got to be shitting me." Annie Montrose interjected.
"Prove it to me." Teddy said.
"For a start... the solar panels have been cleaned." Vincent pointed out.
"They could have been cleaned by wind." Teddy stated as Vincent looked at him with disbelief.
"Back it up. Look at Rover 2. According to the logs, Commander Lewis took it out on Sol 17... plugged it into the Hab to recharge. It's been moved." Vincent convinced.
"She could have forgotten to log the move."Teddy said.

"No,not likely." Mindy stated.

"Why don't we just ask Lewis? Let's get on CAPCOM and ask her directly right now." Annie advised.
"No. No. If Watney and Brooks are really alive, we don't want the Ares 3 crew to know." Teddy told them.
"How can you not tell them?" Annie asked in disbelief.
"They have another 10 months on their trip home. Space travel is dangerous. They need to be alert and undistracted." Teddy commented.

"But they already think they are dead." Annie challenged.
"And they'd be devastated to find out they left them there alive." Vincent said.

"I'm sorry, but you have not thought this through. What are we gonna say? 'Dear America... remember the astronauts we killed and had a really nice funeral for? Turns out they are alive and we left them on Mars. Our bad. Sincerely, NASA.' Do you realize the shitstorm that is about to hit us?" Annie argued.
"How are we going to handle the public?" Teddy asked.
"Legally, we have 24 hours to release these pictures." Annie responded.
"We release a statement with them. We don't want people working it out on their own." Teddy ordered.
"Yes, sir." Annie sighed in defeat.
"But if my math is right, they are going to starve to death long before we can help them." Teddy acknowledged.
"Can you imagine what they are going through up there? They are 50 million miles away from home. They think they are totally alone. They think we gave up on them. What does that do to a person, psychologically? What the hell are they thinking right now?"Vincent questioned.