Chapter 306 - 299: Why Won’t the Hatch Open?_1

"Wow, since the Atlantis spacecraft, we haven’t tried going to space on an American rocket again."

Andreas Mogensen, a Danish astronaut, was the deputy commander among the nine people on this ISS launch mission, with American astronaut Stephen Bowen piloting the spacecraft.

hours ago, John delivered his inauguration speech, and now there were only 10 minutes left until Dream Chaser was to be launched.

Among the crew of nine for this mission were also two Russian astronauts. RKA actually didn’t want them to come, but launching the Union Spaceship themselves would be too expensive, so they complied with economic forces.

Most of the launch mission was to be broadcast live, which was noteworthy as nine people aboard a spacecraft is the largest single crew since Firm Spacecraft, save for Atlantis Number.

However, the interior of Dream Chaser was not as spacious as Firm, and the spacing between seats was a bit tight.

Yuri Jerkoff touched the inner wall of Dream Chaser and whispered to the astronaut from the UK beside him:

"Half a year ago, I visited China with Director Borisov and saw the real Unity. It’s much more spacious than Dream Chaser, and the interior materials also seemed more substantial. I’m genuinely worried that this damn thing will exile us into space."

The UK astronaut, on his first trip to space, asked nervously:

"I’ve heard that China’s New Yuan spacecraft come in all sizes, big and small, so they should be able to rescue us, right?"

German astronaut Matthias Maurer, who was sitting in the front row, turned and said sternly with an expressionless face:

"David, now is not the time to talk about that. Over four million people are watching us."

"..."

In the comment section on YouTube, a stream of comments flew by, most praising Dream Chaser, and some with many instances of the abbreviation "H2."

The CEO of Nevada Mountain Company, Eamon, was extremely excited at this moment because John’s aide Pio had just contacted him. They promised some rewards if the launch of Dream Chaser was successful, a nod from the boss.

Because of this, Eamon strongly demanded that SpaceX provide a brand-new Falcon 9 for the mission, insisting that the prestige aspect had to be perfect.

"...three, two, one, started!"

Nine Merlin 1D engines ignited one after another. Stephen Bowen looked through the porthole, but all he saw was the fairing instead of the blue sky, inevitably making one feel a little regretful.

Yuri Jerkoff was seated in the last row, right next to the docking port of Dream Chaser, where he could feel the rocket’s vibrations most intensely.

Comparing it in his mind to the Union Spaceship, although Dream Chaser carried nine people amid its 15 tons, it felt more spacious since it lacked an orbital module and a large service module. The seats were slightly smaller to reduce weight, missing that tightly but solidly packed sensation.

Damn it, why do the Americans always get to have everything first? Where’s Russia’s spacecraft?

Yuri fought against the G-forces while cursively blaming the oligarchs and corrupt officials back home. By the time he had ranted internally, Falcon 9’s first stage had already separated, and as the second stage ignited, the fairing jettisoned, allowing sunlight to stream over the horizon and into Dream Chaser’s windows.

David, the UK astronaut, who had been praying with his hands crossed, now opened his eyes to admire the awe-inspiring beauty of space.

In the channel, Stephen Bowen let out a jubilant yell:

"we are coming baby! (We are coming, baby!)"

Of course, even though his role was commander and pilot, for most of the time, Dream Chaser didn’t require manual control.

The nine astronauts successfully passed through the atmosphere and reached orbit, and they were set to dock with the International Space Station in about 2 hours and 40 minutes.

Back at Cape Canaveral, Falcon 9’s first stage also successfully landed on a sea barge. Musk and Eamon high-fived to celebrate.

...

"Yuri, keep an eye on the crosshairs for me."

"I’m watching. You should correct 3 degrees towards the upper right."

As Stephen Bowen aligned Dream Chaser with Tranquility’s node module for docking, it took a little time to adjust, but they were roughly on the same line, and the next step was manual docking.

This has little to do with technology, America somewhat prefers manual control, but the astronauts, having undergone rigorous training, are clearly trustworthy.

Stephen calmly adjusted the joystick, with Yuri announcing the activation of the optical auxiliary observation window closest to the docking port to assist him. In just a few minutes, Stephen felt it was almost right and then gently pressed the nitrogen release button.

With a "click," Tranquility’s docking port captured the Dream Chaser. The next step was to open the gate of the docking port.

"How’s the air pressure?"

At this moment, inside Tranquility at the International Space Station, Robert Tsoi, Island Country Astronaut, and Russian Astronaut Yuri Jongka were there to welcome them.

Yuri Jongka: "Pressure is balanced, I’ll open the hatch."

As he said this, he grabbed the handle on Tranquility’s side of the door, twisted it a few times, and then gave it a gentle tug.

The door did not open.

Yuri Jongka tried pulling harder but got no response; he looked up at the hatch status indicator: green, indicating it could be opened.

Stephen Bowen: "Hey buddy, what are you doing?"

Yuri Jongka turned to Robert Tsoi:

"Robert, come and take a look at what’s going on."

Robert Tsoi: "?"

The two huddled before the hatch to investigate, but couldn’t find anything abnormal; all instruments were functioning normally, but the door just wouldn’t open.

Separated by a pressure bulkhead, they exchanged information about the air pressure in their respective compartments, which were essentially the same—it shouldn’t be an atmospheric pressure issue.

Inside Dream Chaser, Yuri Jerkoff had a bad feeling.

"Stephen, should we try to disengage?"

...

"Dream Chaser cancels docking mission, expected to return in 10 hours."

"Breaking! Suspected malfunction at Dream Chaser’s docking port."

"NACA spokesperson: Dream Chaser has successfully completed a docking, do not spread rumors."

"Lin Ju: Pioneer Number and Firm Spacecraft are on standby, ready to launch within 24 hours, willing to perform rescue unconditionally."

"Abe Space Agency: Mecca will lend a hand at no charge."

Under ground control, the two astronauts inside Tranquility’s node cabin put on their spacesuits as a precaution and also closed the gates leading inward, while all crew members of Dream Chaser also donned their helmets.

Stephen Bowen maneuvered Dream Chaser to reattempt docking twice, finally confirming there was a problem with Dream Chaser’s docking port—the hatch seemed to be jammed and wouldn’t open.

This was problematic.

At the time, to reduce the launch mass to 15 tons, Dream Chaser had eliminated the fuselage hatch design; both docking and astronaut transfer were performed through the docking port at the tail. If this became jammed, the nine astronauts could not exit at all.

Firstly, if the docking port was faulty, then even with a successful redocking, it wouldn’t be possible to carry out the astronaut replacement mission; Dream Chaser would have to return to the ground first.

But what if the tail hatch malfunctioned upon re-entry into the atmosphere? Could they risk it?

Even with rescue, the astronauts couldn’t get out!

Lockheed Martin, responsible for manufacturing the docking port, was currently having someone fly to the command center to guide the astronauts in troubleshooting, at least to figure out what exactly the problem was before developing a solution.

In these chaotic two hours, the news spread quickly. Although the outside world still did not know what exactly had happened, one thing was for sure: Dream Chaser had definitely taken a tumble!