THE VISITOR

3 First Mission

This was it. Our first space junk disposal mission. We strapped ourselves in tightly, cleared our departure and Yuri applied thrusters to take us a kilometre away from the space station.

I'd already done the necessary work to vector us into the proximity of target one. After the checks were made, Yuri asked for a go to change orbits.

'Wait two minutes from my mark and you have a go,' came the voice of Gerald, our European Space Agency mission control director for the day. A few seconds later he said, 'Mark.'

We waited the two minutes so that we'd be in the correct position for target one, then Yuri said, 'Firing on four, three, two, one, fire.'

Relativity played havoc with our senses. Instead of looking out of the front of the ship, we were now on our backs looking upwards through the same window. All the effect of the thrust coming from behind. Weird.

Although the jet was slowing us in the higher orbit, as we fell, we gained velocity. Essential, so that when we were in the same orbit as target one, we'd be doing a similar speed.

I counted down our distance to orbit. Yuri stopped the engine.

'Okay,' I said shortly afterwards. 'Orbit achieved.'

Yuri leaned over and we checked the instruments together. Correct altitude. Correct speed.

'Gerald, orbit confirmed,' he announced.

'Rotate us, Yuri,' I said.

The craft swung through one hundred and eighty degrees.

'Go for adjustment burn,' said Gerald.

The timing of the adjustment burn was calculated to leave target one behind us but catching up. Our new orbit was slightly out of the plane of the débris, so it wouldn't accidentally run into us. At the correct moment, Yuri fired the engine.

'Orientation correct,' I said after just a couple of seconds and he cut power. Apart from a few hums and clicks, we were in silence once more.

Radar showed target one ten kilometres behind us, we turned through one hundred eighty degrees to watch the target approach. It was catching us at forty kph.

As the object closed on our position, Yuri fired thrusters to match speed and orbit.

It was now off to our left and the gap closing much more slowly. Yuri applied thrusters to make final adjustments and there it was, sitting right beside us, only ten metres away. Such a thrill to have found this object in the vastness of space.

'We're beside it, Gerald,' I said. It was astonishing to be looking at a real satellite after all of the simulations.

'Copy that. Well done, guys. Excellent.'

'You wouldn't say that if you saw it.'

'What's the problem?' asked Gerald.

'It's spinning and tumbling.'

'Ah yes, I see it on your video feed.'

Target one was almost a cube, about the size of a domestic washing machine, with part of one solar array attached. The spin must have caused the solar array to tear apart. The other array was missing, assuming it had two originally. Most did.

'It is one of ours,' said Yuri.

'Typical Russian, staking a claim without proof,' I joked.

'Ha, I show. Top right on face coming around... now!' And there, clearly visible, were the red letters CCCP.

'Oh yes. Do you think it has any fuel on it?'

'No. Seems old. Maybe Breshnev era. I not recognise from list.'