Harry Season 2
Monday March 24, 2003
Building 16, Johnson Space Center – Houston, Texas
Harry looked back over the data. It might not have been the tile he found – the shuttle did have twenty-one thousand of them. The tile also had mass and a location number, so he knew where it had started on the orbiter itself, and how much it weighed. Tracking gave them relatively solid information as to the orbiter’s location when the anomaly occurred.
Harry’s job was to try to understand whether it had fallen farther than it should have if only gravity and the orbiter’s velocity had acted on it. If it exceeded the distance physics said its mass and velocity should have carried it, that was information that might help to understand what had acted upon the orbiter.
The information had ancillary uses – the most important of which was to confirm the size of the estimated debris field.
It was so very tedious and important all at the same time.
Everything seemed about right, as closely as he could calculate it by hand, but letting the data spend the night churning in the supercomputer was the only way they’d know for sure. He saved the data out to a floppy and started shutting down his area for the night.
He decided that eleven hours in front of a computer was more than anyone should be expected to pay attention to stuff on this level, while carrying the certainty that he’d try it with a new part tomorrow.
Ah well…at least some time at home with Stephanie would fall in between.
*****
Monday March 24, 2003
Midtown Park Place – Houston, Texas
Stephanie’s backside was more than pleasing to watch as she made her way into the bathroom. They were still very much newlyweds, and Harry wasn’t afraid to lie there and enjoy the turn his life had taken. It didn’t take long to decide he was better off to get up and make some dinner.
If he was to have any hope of coming back to bed before he went to sleep tonight…
There were a lot of reasons to love Stephanie, but his favorite was that she’d eat macaroni and cheese with hot dogs in it while wearing a plunging black negligee like it was filet mignon and truly enjoy it. She asked him about his day, laughing when he told her his ‘bad joke of the day.’ Evidently, there was a fine line between comforting her for her bad day and sex on the kitchen table, but, as the saying went, there were worse problems to have.
Harry spent the next few hours paying bills and catching up on some paperwork, and Stephanie made out her grocery list for tomorrow. Before either knew it, the time had come for a shower and bed again – to sleep, this time.
The peace of the evening stood in stark contrast to the morning that followed. It wasn’t that either of them hated their job – quite the contrary, actually. They just preferred each other’s company to a day of cubicles, workmates, and deadlines.
Knowing that tomorrow night was just a day away brought a lot of comfort, though.
*****
Tuesday March 25, 2003
Building 16, Johnson Space Center – Houston, Texas
“I don’t mean to be rude, Sir, but that’s a waste of time. The computer’s more than capable of modeling the trajectory of the debris. Everything is matching up almost perfectly. She came apart, Steve. She didn’t really explode.”
“We’re NASA, Harry. We test everything.”
Harry shook his head in frustration. He knew there wasn’t any way to get out of this. “What do you want simulated?”
“You were working on a tile, weren’t you? That’d be as good as anything.”
“We’ll have to scale it.”
“Of course we will. Columbia was roughly sixty-five thousand feed at Mach two-point-five. We just need a positive result, Harry – your debris needs to land where your computer simulation says it will.”
“A wind tunnel is our best choice. If we model and suspend a release mechanism, we can use the wind to simulate what would have been the orbiter’s re-entry velocity. I suppose it’s just hitting the target from there.”
“Harry, you know it’s okay if you miss, right? This is science, after all.”
“I did the science when I created the simulation program, Sir. This is proof of concept, but…whatever you call it, I hit the mark and I’m good?”
Steve smiled. “You’re good either way, Harry. If you hit the mark, you’ll be a miracle worker.”
Harry’s arms made a thump of finality on the arms of his chair. “I guess I could learn to live with that.”
“It’s a program, Harry. It might seem trivial to you, but it’s a program. Get me a proposal ASAP. You’ll have whatever resources you need to make this happen.”
“Roger that.”
*****
Tuesday March 25, 2003
Building 16, Johnson Space Center – Houston, Texas
In principle, the operation specification was pretty easy. The only real engineering would be creating a release mechanism for the tile. Everything else was just math and execution. Steve had indicated he wanted to be as full scale as possible, so the big tunnel at Ames was really the only choice. They wanted to see the tile arc – there was more chance for error the farther it fell.
Harry knew the answer was to design at least one more tile – something lighter than a HRSI. It needed the wind to carry it comparatively unpredictably. Even in wind, a ceramic tile wasn’t going to go far from the point of release.
If multiple tiles hit the computer-predicted point of impact regularly with at least two samples, it should prove once and for all that the math behind the debris model was sound. Harry knew how important even a little project like this was, but still felt like a kid that had been given extra homework for misbehaving in school.
He realized he’d been overthinking the release mechanism for the tile. His earliest ideas were to simulate the underside of the orbiter, packing a bunch of tiles into a ‘sheet’ and creating an ‘ejector’ mechanism. All indications were the HRSI tiles merely fell off when the substructure holding them failed. The statistical difference would have been laughable – there were better places to spend NASA’S time and money.
The absolute first order of business was to requisition tiles. Harry started at twenty-five. That gave him five iterations for design and testing, plus enough samples to be significant for the experiment. From there, he looked up the specifications to start on the design of a ‘variation’ tile. A suspension and release mechanism was really the only other challenge, but the more he thought about it, the more realized he already knew what to do.
*****
Tuesday March 25, 2003
Machine Shop 3, Johnson Space Center – Houston, Texas
“What do you want!”
“How about some service, you grumpy old bastard!” Harry shouted back.
“You got anything worth doing?”
Harry took a few more steps and found the owner of the voice in his office with his feet kicked up on his desk watching his favorite soap opera on a small TV with rabbit ears. Harry knew the drill – he took the chair in the corner and waited for the next commercial. He watched patiently while some impossibly beautiful peroxide-blonde bemoaned her lot in life while strolling about her poorly lit mansion.
“What d’ya got?” The stout little man asked.
“I need a four-jaw retainer with a quick release mechanism. Something I can suspend.”
His attention didn’t seem to waver from the laundry detergent commercial. “What are we retaining?”
“Shuttle tile. Call it a max of twenty pounds, to be safe.”
“Remote release, I assume?”
“That’d be best. We have to work the project in a wind tunnel.”
“So, you have the dimensions?”
Harry nodded. “Sure. They’re uniform.”
The compact man kicked his feet off of his desk with surprising agility and jumped to his feet. “All right, let’s do this.”
“Lloyd, I don’t need it right now, I just needed to know if it was something you could build.”
“The best way to find out is to have a go at it.” His mustache twisted into a grin. “Or are you going to sit there all day long watching soapies?”
*****
Wednesday March 26, 2003
Machine Shop 3, Johnson Space Center – Houston, Texas
Stephanie sounded worried. “You never came home, but did you sleep anywhere?”
“We were on a roll.”
“Well, as a member of the Human Resources team, I need to chastise you for disobeying the guideline on active hours per workday. However, as your wife, I need to ask you if you want me to bring you clean clothes?”
“Nah, I’ll be all right. Do you want to meet for lunch in the cafeteria?”
“I’ve got a late meeting. Can you survive until one-thirty without starving to death?”
“It’ll be tough. See you then.”
“Love you.”
“Love you too.” Harry said as he hung up the phone.
“If you’re all done with the smoochie-woochie, do you want to have a look at this?” Lloyd shouted. “I think we’ve got it hammered.”
“Harry, this looks perfect,” Steve Kress said. He was obviously impressed. “I dropped the project yesterday, and you’re already done?”
“We still need to make an alternate-mass HRSI, but sideways of that, we’re ready to start testing. I don’t have any results to support the model yet.”
“How much time do you need? A few days?” Steve asked.
“Hours,” Lloyd said from the other side of the bench.
“I’d like you at Ames to start testing Monday morning. Can you do it? I’ll get you the wind tunnel time.”
“I need to take Lloyd with me.” Harry said.
“They’ll have machinists, Harry.”
“Who says I want to travel with you, anyway?” Lloyd snapped.
“We’re here because he’s the best,” Harry said. “I need him.”
Steve looked at Lloyd, who just laughed. “I’ll go along in case you need your nappie changed.”
*****
Sunday March 30, 2003
Holiday Inn Express – Mountain View, California
“What the hell is that smell?” Harry asked.
Lloyd smiled proudly. “I can do that any time I want to.”
“I didn’t know they even still made liverwurst sandwiches.” Harry smiled in spite of himself. He pulled the rental car up to the main entrance of their hotel.
“The sky’s the limit on the company dollar,” Lloyd said before cutting loose a profound belch.
“Have you traveled for NASA much?”
“More than I care to. I have enough of my own work. No sense in gathering up other people’s.”
“Sounds like there are stories there.”
Lloyd smiled. “I’ll need more liverwurst if we’re going to delve into my sordid past.”
Harry lay awake listening to Lloyd snoring merrily away in the other queen bed thinking a little about everything.
He knew Steve had given him a big opportunity, even if he was traveling with a man that could test the patience of the Pope himself. Bringing Lloyd had been his decision, and he still believed it was the right choice.
Lloyd saw solutions like most people saw a television screen. The way around a problem just came to him.
Easily.
His thoughts moved on to Stephanie, where they stayed until Lloyd’s nasal gymnastics yielded to the need for sleep. She brought him the same comfort at home that Lloyd brought to the project – she made him feel like any solution to any problem they might encounter needed only to be thought up.
All in all, Harry felt pretty comfortable with life…except for the hotel bed.
Monday March 31, 2003
Supersonic Wind Tunnel Test Facility, Ames Research Center – Mountain View, CA
“I can’t believe it’s been this easy,” Harry said, looking up at the simulation apparatus hanging from the roof of the wind tunnel. Five matching blocks of wood were scattered in a meter-wide radius circle not far behind them on the tunnel’s floor.
“Why would it have been hard?” Lloyd asked. “You’re throwing wood blocks on the floor.”
“Would you have guessed where they were going to hit?”
“The floor was a given, Harry.” Lloyd laughed. “Reset for the test articles?”
Harry shook his head. “Let’s do it in the morning. The big show’s not scheduled until Friday anyway.“
Lloyd let out an ear-splitting belch accompanied by a tremendous grin. “It’s beer-thirty. You coming?”
Harry leaned against the lamppost outside of Banger’s, a restaurant reputed to have the hottest sausages, strongest stout, and best waitresses’ legs in the entire city. Truth be told, it had all been a little excessive for him – catching a little air had been a welcome respite.
“The truth is, I’m scared,” Harry said into his cellular phone.
“There’s no reason to be scared,” Stephanie said. “Just because things are going the way you predicted just means you’ve done your work correctly, Harry.
“I just don’t want to foul this up.”
“So what if you do?” His wife asked. “You expect too much of yourself – far more than anyone else does, or anyone even has a right to.
Harry was so frustrated he was nearing tears, and he didn’t even understand why.
“You’re only expected to do your best all of the time, Harry. I promise you, the rest will take care of itself.”
*****
Tuesday April 1, 2003
Supersonic Wind Tunnel Test Facility, Ames Research Center – Mountain View, CA
“It’s almost worse.”
“Are you kidding me? Do you know how much money we could make with this thing? It’s like you can predict the future!” Lloyd was all smiles.
“Chaos theory says there should be more variation than this.” Harry rubbed his eyes tiredly. “Pick a variation.”
“Parson, it’s good.”
“Pick a variation, Lloyd,” Harry whispered.
Lloyd let out another liverwurst-laden belch. “Quarter-mass, thirty-seven degree rotated profile, two-hundred and seventy- tree miles per hour.”
“We don’t have a quarter-mass test article,” Harry said.
Lloyd smiled. “Yes we do. Who do you think you’re working with?”
Harry shook his head. “Launch force?”
Lloyd shrugged as he set off to rig the final test. “Two-thirty kilopascals.”
Harry set about inputting the variables into his laptop. The computer crunched on his program for about four minutes, which was an eternity in technological terms. Harry then studied the chart to determine the ninety-five percent probability range and transferred the data to his notepad. The process of transferring the data to spatial coordinates on the floor had become simple. Harry was done about the same time Lloyd had reset the test article release mechanism.
It wasn’t lost on him that they were working alone because Lloyd had run off all of the Ames technicians, but the truth was Lloyd was more than capable of holding up their end as well as his own.
Once they joined back up in the control room, there wasn’t much left to do there than regulate a few controls and then execute the test sequence.
The tile landed dead-center in the circle Harry had mapped out on the floor before skidding to a stop against the wall in the howling wind.
“I can call the landing, but I can’t call the skid.”
Lloyd raised his hand, which Harry happily high-fived.
*****
Monday April 7, 2003
Building 16, Johnson Space Center – Houston, Texas
“Please come in, Harry. Have a seat.” Steve Kress was all smiles. It never completely relieved Harry’s tension when he was called to the boss’ office, but it did seem to help a little.
Harry settled into the visitor’s chair across from his supervisor. “Thank you, Sir.”
“Harry, I read through your report over the weekend. Your result definitely confirms your model. You accomplished this in record time with a minuscule expenditure. I asked for a result, and you delivered beyond all expectation.”
“Thank you, Sir.”
“You’re not in trouble, Harry,” Steve said. “We do, however, need to have a conversation. I think it’s a good one, but it needs to happen.”
“Okay…”
“You have been with NASA for three months now, and, frankly, you’ve just peaked. This project, as well as you executed it, is officially the biggest project you’ll be allowed to do with your present credentials. It’s just the way of things.” Steve was smiling, so Harry knew it couldn’t be all bad news, but he was confused.
“So I’m…fired?”
“Absolutely not. You are, however, going to find yourself severely under-utilized very soon at the rate you’re going, and I don’t want to see that happen.” Steve slid a blue folder across his desk. “This is information about our Education Assistance Plan, Harry. It’s time for you to go to Grad School.”
Harry was slow catching up. “What should I study?”
“Frankly, anything,” Steve said. “It’s a credential – the degree is the important part. With that said, hard science, aeronautical engineering, and orbital physics would be our preference.”
“Okay…”
Steve smiled warmly. “I suspect I’ve given you plenty to think about. The summer application deadlines aren’t far off. Go think about it.”
Harry nodded as he stood.
“And, Harry? Nicely done.”
*****
Monday April 7, 2003
Texas A&M University – College Station, Texas
There was no use in delaying once a decision had been made. Harry wasn’t interested in having his career peak at the ripe old age of twenty-three, and he wasn’t ready to leave NASA to find a new challenge. Grad school felt like his only choice. The drive had been about an hour and thirty minutes – he imagined making it daily, or even weekly. Thinking about the time it would keep him from Stephanie wasn’t appealing. Money wasn’t such a big deal, but…
Stephanie…
Getting married on the spur of the moment had been the best decision he could ever imagine. She doted on him, and he loved her more than anything. They were also a young couple – securing a better future for them at the cost of a year or so wasn’t a bad idea.
Harry was a scientist, not a sports fan. The rivalry between A&M and University of Texas meant nothing to him, regardless of the fact that he’d invested four years of his life and not just a few dollars with the one. Changing schools for graduate work was the norm anyway.
He asked the first person he saw where the administration building was and started the same walk he’d made about five years ago. He somehow felt a lot older than the students surrounding him. At least on some level, he understood it was the difference between age and experience.
As soon as he had the course guide and application information, he turned for his car. He had to get home to his wife.
*****
Monday April 7, 2003
Midtown Park Place – Houston, Texas
“Where, pray tell, have you been?”
Harry smiled at his wife. “We haven’t been married long enough for you to tell I’ve been up to something just by looking at me.”
She smiled right back. “Evidently, I have.”
“College Station.”
“A and M? What were you doing up there?” Stephanie asked.
“I was picking up admission materials.”
“It’s about time!”
Harry was shocked. “That’s not the answer I was expecting.”
“I may be your wife, but I’m also in Human Resources. You were kind of lucky to get the spot in the first place, Harry. You know what you’re surrounded by – to make it anywhere, you’re going to have to work at it.”
“It’s going to be that – it’s no short hop back and forth. Weekends will be shot.”
“Stop whining. It’ll only be a few years.” She was enjoying needling him.
“So, what are you going to do while I’m all tied up?”
“Maybe I’ll find someone to tie me up.” The look she gave him was lava between them.
“Maybe you already have someone to tie you up.”
“Maybe you should stop whining and do something.”
“That was…”
“The only thing I could do to shut you up,” Stephanie laughed.
“I was-“
“Being a sissy,” Stephanie said. “You’re going to have to work to take what you want.”
He kissed her. “I thought I put in a pretty good day.”
“For a warmup.”
Pulling her further into his arms, he whispered, “A man’s work is never done around here, is it?”
*****
Tuesday April 8, 2003
Building 16, Johnson Space Center – Houston, Texas
“Harry, thanks for coming. You doing all right today?” Steve Kress looked nervous.
“Fine Steve, how about yourself?”
“Well, that’s an interesting question. You know you did fabulous work on the tile project, right?”
“I’m glad people were happy,” Harry said hesitantly.
“Harry, they want to keep you attached to the shuttle investigation. That operation is based at the Cape. NASA is transferring you, and there’s nothing I can do about it.”
Harry’s eyes went wide. “Oh.”
“NASA is going to take care of you, Harry. They’ll take care of the moving expenses, deal with your house here, and your salary will be adjusted upward for the area’s cost of living.”
“Okay…”
“I don’t want to lose you, Harry, but your success put eyes on you.”
“When do I go?”
“Finish out the week here. NASA will give you two paid weeks to get moved.”
“Okay,” Harry said as he stood. “Is it all right if I go let my wife know?”
“She works here?”
“She’s over in HR.”
Steve nodded. “I didn’t know that. Please do - they’ll have arrangements to make for her as well.“
“Thanks for the opportunity,” Harry said as he stood and shook his supervisor’s hand.
“Thanks for making such great use of it.”
Harry set off down the hallway knowing only that the certainty he’d found in his future yesterday felt like it was completely gone today.
Maybe that was the way of things.
There was only one way to find out.
