Solar Express (6 page)

One very good reason for an observatory like COFAR.
Not that the Moon's shield against a large CME was anywhere near as effective as Earth's, but COFAR had deployable shields … and a live human to repair damage.

From what Alayna had discovered, the very few so-called regular mini-granulations had been dismissed as artifacts of the space between the “normal” semiregular granulations and the multi-fractal mini-granulations … or possibly as some sort of shape created by the interacting flux lines of adjacent granulations.

Because the magnetic Reynolds number of solar plasma was so high, that allowed the possibility of magnetic structures of a few meters, not that even COFAR could detect something that small, but the possibility certainly was consistent with the observations of mini-granulations, and possibly far smaller magnetic structures … the only problem being that a high Reynolds number usually signified turbulent flow and instability, and the multi-fractal mini-granulations didn't appear to have a significant difference in stability from regular granulations, possibly, Alayna thought, because the instability was manifested in the fractal shape rather than in a shorter duration? But then, wouldn't a “regular shaped” mini-granulation exist for a longer period, rather than a shorter one?

There had even been one study showing that the small number of “regular” mini-granulations was simply the mathematical result of the huge number of observations. In short, the study postulated that, occasionally, the fractal mini-granulations and larger granulations would interact in a way that left a regular “space” between them. Not only did Alayna have her doubts about that, but she was working on a line of research that might further investigate the mini-granulations—not that they were actually “mini,” since most of those observed and recorded had the equivalent of an “effective diameter” of six hundred kilometers, although virtually none were actually even close to circular. Of course, she had chosen to look into the mini-granulations at the time of a solar minimum, but she had no idea how that might affect her work, even if earlier studies had suggested “quiet sun” areas were more suitable for such study.
But the phases of the solar cycle don't always coincide with the opportunity to do research.

A faint chime announced another incoming message, from Harris at Lunara Mining. It was short.

The Noram inspectors will be leaving here at about 1200 UTC with the pack train. The train will wait for their return. Enjoy their company.

The “pack train” was an AI-guided series of lunar rollers from the Lunara base that carried supplies for Daedalus Base. Almost half a century ago, Lunara had built a maglev from their base to the south polar terminal of the lunar elevator. Alayna wasn't so sure that the charges from others using the maglev weren't the difference between Lunara's making a profit and barely breaking even.

Alayna immediately replied.

Thanks for the heads-up. Please let me know if they're delayed. Let's hope the train doesn't have to wait here too long.

Surprisingly, there was an immediate response.

Better you than us.

Alayna smiled.

She was glad she'd inspected the quarters the day before. They were spartan, but clean, and everything was laid out.

She glanced at the displays again, then asked Marcel, “Have we had any response from the IAU on that anomaly?”

“No, Dr. Wong-Grant. We have not.”

“Do you have any thoughts on what it might be?” Although Alayna suspected that the anomaly was most likely a comet, she wanted Marcel's assessment, even as she wondered, far from the first time, if AIs actually had “thoughts.”

“It's unlikely to be an asteroid or a body in a regular orbit at that distance from the sun. Jupiter's gravity would have swept it away long ago. That suggests a cometary orbit, but the light composition doesn't come close to matching any known comet, and the observations suggest that its temperature is close to that of a solid body.”

“A solid body in a long-period cometary orbit—a burned-out remnant of a cometary nucleus? Maybe a sungrazer with a metallic…” She broke off. Silver and silicates hadn't ever shown up as the principal elements of any comet or asteroid, but the lack of heat strongly suggested that it was just a lump of something. As one early scientist was reputed to have said, “Not only is the universe stranger than we imagine—it is stranger than we can imagine.”
Eddington … or was it Haldane?
Alayna shrugged. Either way, it was likely true. “The IAU should have notified us if it's something already discovered, shouldn't they?”

“It could be that someone else, or several others, discovered it at the same time. Or it could be that the IAU is waiting for more reports from us or others.”

Alayna nodded. The IAU would do what it would do. Before she started studying what was coming in from the Solar Institute's programmed observations, she took a moment to call up Chris's latest message and read through it again, and not just to see what he had observed about the Noram IG's inspection team.

Alayna—

I'm parked here at Lunar Low Orbit for the next two days, maybe longer, waiting for a high priority cargo of some sort. Deposited the passengers on the LL Orbit Station, and while I'm waiting for two returning VIPs and some sort of high priority cargo, thought I'd send off a message.

My passengers were rather closemouthed about what they will be doing and where they might be visiting. That alone would suggest that anyone they do visit should be rather cautious. These days, it looks like caution is the watchword, especially since the Sinese report of a successful orbit change of an iceberg asteroid toward Mars.

That part of the message bothered Alayna, because changing the orbits of large chunks of ice or rock carried implications that went far beyond science, astronomy, or astrophysics. But while she worried, she couldn't do much about it. Her eyes went back to the message.

Since you're not likely to read much of
Observations
soon, or not until you've been sunside for a while, there's another passage you might find interesting. I'll even include it here.

In politics, looking at the big picture is the most convenient way to avoid getting bogged down in annoying little details, like the facts. That's why politicians always talk in generalities, such as “balancing the budget” or “obtaining justice under law” or “maintaining meaningful employment,” when they really mean “massive spending cuts in programs advocated by my opponents,” or “creating a religious loophole for my largest contributor,” or “keeping open a redundant and wasteful government facility in my district.”

Alayna couldn't help but smile. At the same time, she didn't want the citation/quotation thing to become one-sided. Then she smiled. She had just the right book from which to send back her own citations … but that would have to wait. She needed to see if what the Solar Institute was doing dovetailed with what she had in mind. If not … there was a block of time, almost an hour, available tomorrow morning where she could insert her own program and follow up on what she'd begun during the last lunar day on Farside. Once she had an observational baseline, then she could use the many small segments of unleased observational time that often occurred, as well as piggyback on observations of the solar latitudes she was studying.

After several minutes of examining the Institute's program and observations, she shook her head. All the focus there was on the chromosphere, and what she needed were specific spectro-polarimeter studies of the base of the photosphere, where the magnetic flux lines created the solar granulations.

With that, she turned to refining the observational program she had worked out.

At 1223 UTC, she got another message from Lunara, even shorter than the earlier one.

Pack train left with passengers and cargo at 1219.

She sent back a pleasant thank-you and went back to work.

At 1611 UTC, Marcel announced, “The lead roller has entered the supply tunnel. ETA at the supply lock is 1623.”

“Thank you.” Alayna stretched, then made a last survey of all the monitors before rising. She needed to change into an undersuit because she'd have to use the exosuit to unload the supplies, given that the supply tunnel—really just a big covered and radiation-insulated trench—was unpressurized. She voice-locked the control center before heading down to the lower level and the supply lock.

By 1641, all three of her visitors were inside the suit locker room adjoining the supply lock. Alayna was wearing her undersuit, and her suit was hanging before her locker, ready to don, once she finished with her welcoming duties.

She had concentrated when they introduced themselves in order to remember their full names—Antoine Deveau, Geoffrey Hart, and Dominique Perez—because no one had sent her anything on who the inspectors actually were. When she could get away from them gracefully, or maybe after they retired to sleep, she wanted to see if there was any information in the databases.

Alayna offered what she hoped was a warm and welcoming smile. “I'm Dr. Alayna Wong-Grant, the duty astrophysicist and general technician here at COFAR. Once you finish unsuiting, I'll show you to your quarters, and to the galley, if you're so inclined. While you're settling yourselves, I'll need to unload the pack train. After that we can eat, or I can show you around the station.”

The shorter man frowned. “We're supposed to…?”

“If you trust my cooking, I can fix something, but I'll need to unload the train first.” One of the reasons Alayna wanted and needed to do that was because Harris or someone at Lunara usually threw in some fresh vegetables or fruits from the hydroponics and minifarm at the mining facility, but the insulation on that section of the cargo bin wasn't especially good at keeping things from freezing if they were left too long, and the melons she often received, in particular, were far less edible after being frozen solid.

“It's a one-person station, Geoffrey,” said Dominque Perez mildly.

“Just be careful with the pressure cooker or the pressure kettle if you want tea.”

“There's not an autochef?” asked Deveau.

“The center has been maintained, but not updated with anything that draws more power. We still operate off the original solar array. Individual panels and assemblies have been replaced, of course, and the Foundation has upgraded the power storage capabilities.”

Alayna felt like an old-fashioned tour guide as she led the three from the suit locker room. “There aren't any steps here, just ramps. The idea behind that was to be able to wheel anything anywhere, but the station is fairly well designed, and there's never been much need to move much of any mass inside. Outside, yes. There are four unoccupied rooms here. Each has two bunks. My room is the end one, closest to the hatch up to the operational levels.”

Hart offered a puzzled expression. “Space for ten people?”

“A larger crew was required to build the facility, and it didn't take that much more effort to factor in the extra quarters once all the power supplies were in place…” Alayna gestured. “The showers and facilities are across the hall…”

Once she had them on the upper level, she quickly pointed out the laboratory, the technical support space—the workroom, really—and the hatch to the control center. With an apologetic smile, she said, “I'll leave you to clean up, rest, or whatever. I need to unload the supplies.” She did not quite flee.

She also made certain that she was linked to Marcel before she stepped out of the receiving lock.

More than an hour and a half passed before Alayna finished unloading the supply train and stowing the various items, although she did take the fresh produce off first and lock it into the station. Then came space-polymer-wrapped containers of various sizes and shape. She did note that there were not any large packages, nothing resembling antenna film … and with only two lengths of replacement film left, more would certainly be needed.
Although … it might not be required for years … or it could be tomorrow.

She had sent a message to Foundation Operations about the possible shortage when she had discovered it after the repairs, not in time for replacements likely even to be found or ordered. Before she had sent it, she'd checked the message logs, and her predecessor had made a similar observation over a year ago. That bothered her. Was the Foundation that strapped for funds? Or wasn't anyone making the antenna film anymore?

When she finally unsuited and returned to the upper level of the station, the three were seated at one of the two tables in the room adjoining the galley.

“Do you need something to eat?” Alayna really didn't feel like fixing food for others, but she felt that was clearly expected.

“Antoine managed to find some pasta and various other items. We've eaten,” said Geoffrey Hart.

Alayna could have added what he hadn't spoken, something to the effect of “if one can call that eating.”

“What were you doing?” asked Dominque Perez.

“Unloading and storing—roughly—what was on the supply train. It wasn't quite a full load. Usually, the train arrives a few days before the night line. They didn't want to send it twice. So they loaded it with what was ready.”

“The timing is designed so that the solar cells can power the train?” Perez's words were not quite a question.

“It can run on stored power, but it's more efficient with solar power, and it's also to make sure that it doesn't interfere with nighttime observations any more than necessary. Those are usually the most important.”
The ones that bring the Foundation the most revenue.
Dr. Braun had been most emphatic about that.

Alayna definitely had the feeling that the next few days would be long, and that was all she needed after the sleep she'd lost during the last lunar day, both to the repairs, the subsequent cleanup, and making sure that the station was as clean and in as good a condition as possible for the Noram inspectors.