Yves Giraud - Kahnu

The jeep soon left the two vehicles go on alone, and the convoy eventually arrived at the launch pad.

“So, this is it, ein?”

François, his head tilted back, was standing outside the SUV. They were stopped right at the end of the ramp leading to the launch tower. Only a few dozen meters away from him, the Mars First One rocket, MF1 for short, was towering above him and Dedrick. In a few hours, they would both be strapped inside the cockpit, along with Vera and Sabrina, ready to finally begin their journey to Mars.

“Yep! This is the real thing,” replied Lars, looking up at the impressive machine. “She’s beautiful, isn’t she?” he said, with a radiant smile.

“It’s big!” said Vera, stepping out of the vehicle.

“That’s what she said,” echoed the Frenchman.

“Oh, stop it, François. You’re such an idiot at times,” shushed him Sabrina.

The beautiful outer-casing of the enormous rocket, its black and white glossy paint shining in the bright mid-afternoon sun, was protecting one of the most brilliantly engineered pieces of machinery on the planet. Securely anchored down to the gigantic platform below, “la fusee sans frontiere,” as François had called it, was standing proud and tall, majestic in its awesome grandeur, its nose aimed straight at the skies, as if ready to depart at any moment. Two tall scaffolds encircling the giant were occupied by twenty or so workers, busy at various tasks on different levels. Automatic valves were randomly releasing steam and smoke out of pipes and hoses connected along the frame.

“Follow me, please,” Lars said, as he walked toward the small building to their left, the four astronauts of team one in tow.

After passing through a few doors and security check points, the five of them finally walked into the main control room of the small dwelling.

“This is where the last checks on the rocket are performed, before the ground crew leaves the platform. At T-minus two hours, fifty minutes, the ship will be filled with propellant, water, and oxygen. Once that stage is performed, at about T-minus forty minutes, you will be brought by a van to the foot of the tower, along with four crew technicians. After they have securely seated and strapped you all in your seats, they will close the hatch, come back down to the platform, and once mission control confirms all systems are a go, will head back to ground control at T-minus ten minutes, at the latest. That’s where I’ll be, witnessing your last moments on Earth, and your trip to the new world. Exciting! You will soon be flying to Mars. I envy you!” finished Lars with a tinge of regret.

“Wow! That doesn’t leave much room for error,” said François.

“You are right, but we have anticipated most scenarios, and are well prepared. We have several emergency vehicles on standby, as well as two large helicopters. Once the fuel has been dispensed, the least amount of time the ship stays on the ground the better. There are several good reasons for that, but we don’t have time to go into it right now.”

None of them said anything else. They were feeling both exhilarated and a bit scared, so close to the imposing machine, but the four astronauts also felt confident about their own role in the success of the mission, and that was what mattered most.

“Let’s go to the top, shall we?”

A few minutes later, the exterior elevator transporting the five of them arrived at level four, the top level of the right scaffold. Lars opened the door, and they followed him across the bridge.

“This is the door to your living quarters for the next six months. I believe you are quite familiar with it by now. I want you all to see the real capsule for yourselves. It’s identical to the one you have trained in for the past three years, but this is the real thing. It’s gonna be your new home now, and if everything goes as planned, it will be for a very long time.”

“ I didn’t see Lars as a sensitive man, but I could swear the CEO is about to cry ,” thought Dedrick.

Team One was, strapped, secured and ready. They had all confirmed it multiple times. Over ten years had passed since that first day of training. They had prepared for this mission as much as any other astronaut would have. They knew their jobs inside out and had prepared for any scenarios the experts had thought of. At the same time, everyone knew the risks were countless, and a certain amount of nervousness was understandable, especially now, minutes from lift off.

For Vera, the fear was compounded with the disheartening news that Cathy had recently become engaged to Bruce, her steady boyfriend of the last six years, and that she wouldn’t be there for her sister’s wedding next year. She missed her terribly. Her mother would have been proud of her younger sibling. If there was an afterlife, she hoped she was watching over her.

“ I hope you’re proud of me too, mom ,” she thought.

Even François, who loved to play the role of the calm and charismatic Frenchman, and whose phlegmatic personality always gave the impression he was in control of the situation, was now feeling the angst and nervousness of the anticipated ignition. “ Takeoff and landing; If we make it through those, we’re OK. Of course, we got to hope all goes well during the flight too. It’s going to get old real fast with the four of us in here too. Six months… Why did I get myself into this again? ” The challenges ahead were hard to imagine, but that was what made it all worth it. A man had once said: “Don’t live lost in the past, and don’t dwell long on the present. Always move towards the future for there you’ll find all your answers.”

The world was looking at them. They had a job to do and François hoped he was up to the task.

Vera was strapped tightly in her seat, her eyes glued on the dozens of switches and gauges filling the control panel above her, but she wasn’t really looking at them. She was four minutes away from leaving Earth forever, and every cell in her body was trying to resolve the unbridgeable gap between her euphoric feeling of excitement, and her growing fear at the realization the next few minutes would be some of the most dangerous she would ever live.

Of course, they all understood the risks. They were aware of the countless dangers and innumerable variables that could play a catastrophic role in the outcome of their brave undertaking. Some would call that being foolish or irresponsible. Better yet, some would say they were complete idiots for taking such risks, but others would call them heroes, true explorers, frontier breakers to be admired and envied. Being a hero wasn’t a goal for any of them, even if the public attention they had all received in the last few years had made them famous despite themselves.

To a lot of people around the globe, they were the new “Apollo Nine” of their time, and all the human pride and wonder that had followed the first Moon landing, were back in full force.

Either way, Dedrick Sokolov, Vera Via, François Menardais, and Sabrina Lazano were finally about to enter the history books, and in the process, so was the entire world, for this was truly going to expand the range of man’s reach in the solar system. If the mission was successful, humanity would have begun its first step towards space colonization.

“T-minus 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, lift off!”

The fantastic roar of the enormous rocket engines came along with the powerful vibration from down below. In an instant, the nine-hundred-ton vessel pushed its enormous weight off the ground and began rising, exerting its tremendous G-Force build up on the four astronauts, pressing their bodies uncomfortably against the back of their upward facing seats.