“THERE—THAT’S THEM! It really only took them two hours after takeoff to get here,” Luis remarked. He was looking through an observation window in the ceiling with binoculars. “Their orbiter looks exactly like that old Gemini module. Japan’s made some progress.”
“It might look the same, but that orbiter’s designed to be reused even after reentry,” the captain said. “It can lose a heatshield tile and still have no problem when it hits the ocean. Don’t take them lightly. They’re using next-gen technology compared to us.” He called to Norman who was waiting in the air lock. “Mangosteen is three klicks below us. You finish your breathing?”
“I’m ready to go whenever.”
“Well don’t until they grab hold of our RMA. You don’t want to take a blast from a thruster.”
“I know, I know.”
Just then, a childlike voice came in over the transmitter. It was a girl, speaking English with a Japanese accent.
“Space shuttle Atlantis, this is SSA orbiter Mangosteen. We have visual contact with your ship, over.”
“Mangosteen, this is Atlantis. We read you loud and clear. Make your approach whenever you’re ready.”
“Roger. We should be finished with our rendezvous sequence in four minutes.”
When they finished their apogee thrust, the two ships were in stable orbit a kilometer apart from each other.
“Sequence complete. Looks like I was only about a hundred meters or so off.”
“That’s pretty good.”
“Don’t congratulate me until I nail this docking procedure.”
Yukari switched the RCS to manual mode and lowered their nose slightly. Now they could see the shuttle in their forward porthole. The shuttle was flying in a sideways orbit, its nose pointed straight toward Earth. Above the wings, the payload bay doors were open, the silver heat exchange panels glittering in the sunlight. Yukari spotted what must’ve been the Orpheus lodged between them.
Akane gave a little squeal despite herself. “Wow! What a beautiful ship.”
“Yeah, and that’s a whole kilometer away. It’s pretty big.” Yukari pressed the button on her maneuvering joystick. She felt a sensation like her seat pushing her from behind. “Mission control, this is Mangosteen. I’m beginning docking under manual control.”
“Hoi, Mangosteen. Roger. NASA was worried you might hit them with some hydrazine. Show them how good you are, Yukari.”
“Let’s not forget that they’re the ones who messed up here.”
“I’ll be sure to remind Kinoshita of that. Okay, I’m switching you to a shared channel. No more Japanese.”
“Roger.”
Akane switched the channel on their transmitter. “Atlantis, this is Mangosteen. We are three hundred meters away and approaching.”
“Roger, Mangosteen. Can you see our RMA?”
“Very well, thanks.”
The remote manipulation arm was extended out straight from near the nose of the shuttle like the mast on a sailing ship.
The Mangosteen had its own smaller RMA. They would use theirs to grab the tip of the shuttle’s arm, pass down a rope, and they’d be docked.
“See how they extended their RMA all the way out? They don’t trust us.”
“I was wondering if that’s what it meant.”
“They don’t want us blasting their precious shuttle with our thrusters. Either that, or they’re afraid I’m going to run into them. Wimps.”
“Well, as long as you’re sure we can pull this off.”
“What, now you don’t trust me, either?”
Akane shook her head. “I’m the one who’s going to be operating our RMA while you pilot.”
“No problem, Akane. The real RMA’s just like the simulator. You stretch it out and grab when the moment comes. Don’t think about it too much, just do it.”
“Stretch it out and grab,” Akane repeated to herself. “Okay.”
They were almost on top of the shuttle now. Yukari fired several short blasts, bringing their orbiter into position close to the tip of the shuttle’s RMA and stopping it there.
“Nice job, Mangosteen. We won’t have to do anything at this rate.”
That would be the shuttle’s RMA operator. He would have been standing by to chase after them with his arm if they had missed.
“Thanks,” Yukari replied. “Time to shake hands.”
Akane grabbed the RMA joystick with her right hand. Her left hand rested on the mode selector. The folded arm inside their nose cone extended, reaching forward. In all, Mangosteen’s arm was only 2.4 meters long—far shorter than the shuttle’s fifteen-meter arm, but more agile for it.
The two fingers on the arm approached their target, a flat panel attached to the shuttle’s RMA.
“That’s right, a little more.”
Because their orbiter was so small, just moving the RMA had the effect of moving their ship slightly in the opposite direction. Akane, however, was giving a textbook performance, keeping the arm motion lateral so that any reverse momentum would pass directly through the orbiter’s center of gravity to avoid producing spin.
“Think I should grab it now?”
“Go for it!”
She pressed the button, and the metal fingers closed precisely on their target.
“I did it!” Akane pressed the button down further. “And…it’s locked on.”
“Great stuff! Atlantis, we have your RMA. We’re preparing to exit the orbiter.”
“Excellent work. I’ll admit, we didn’t expect it to go this smoothly.”
There are benefits to being small and agile, Yukari thought.
The two girls removed their harnesses and put on the backpacks stored in the backs of their seats. The backpacks—each only the size of a daypack—contained a small life-support system and transmitter. After attaching cables to their suits, they were ready.
Yukari spent an extra moment carefully rechecking all of Akane’s gear.
“This is another one of those moments of truth. Be relaxed, but cautious; quick, but not rushed.”
“Okay.”
“Also, there’ll be plenty of time for gazing at Earth later so don’t do it now. Once you’re outside, orient yourself to the shuttle. Think of us as being above the shuttle, like a pennant flying on a flagpole. Once you’re outside, try not to spin around if you can avoid it. It’s very easy to get disoriented.”
“Okay.”
The two attached Kevlar fiber lifelines and lowered their airtight visors on their helmets.
“Com test.”
“Loud and clear.”
Yukari ejected the air from the orbiter and opened the hatch. “Here we go.”
“Right behind you.”