0097 07 25 HOLDING, GRAND BAHAMA.
0097 07 29 Scoop MC, we are sorry to say we confirm Kennedy observations, Repeat, we confirm Kennedy observations of systems malfunction. Our data are on the trunk to Houston. Can they be routed to you as well. station.
0097 07 34 NO, WE WILL WAIT FOR HOUSTON'S PRINTOUT. THEY HAVE LARGER PREDICTIVE BANKING UNITS.
0097 07 36 Scoop MC, Houston has the Bahama Data. It is going through the Dispar Program. Give us ten seconds.
0097 07 47 Scoop MC, this is Houston. The Dispar Program confirms systems malfunction. Your vehicle is now in unstable orbit with increased transit time of zero point three seconds per unit of arc. We are analyzing orbital parameters at this time. Is there anything further you wish as interpreted data.
0097 07 59 NO, HOUSTON. SOUNDS LIKE YOU'RE DOING BEAUTIFULLY.
0097 08 10 Sorry, Scoop. Bad break.
0097 08 18 GET US THE DECAY RATIOS AS SOON AS POSSIBLE. COMMAND WISHES TO MAKE A DECISION ON INSTRUMENTATION TAKEDOWN WITHIN THE NEXT TWO ORBITS.
0097 08 32 Understand, Scoop. Our condolences here.
0097 11 35 Scoop, Houston Projection Group has confirmed orbital instability and decay ratios are now being passed by the data trunk to your station.
0097 11 44 HOW DO THEY LOOK, HOUSTON.
0097 11 51 Bad.
0097 11 59 NOT UNDERSTOOD. PLEASE REPEAT.
0097 12 07 Bad: B as in broken, A as in awful, D as in dropping.
0097 12 15 HOUSTON, DO YOU HAVE A CAUSATION. THAT SATELLITE HAS BEEN IN EXCELLENT ORBIT FOR NEARLY ONE HUNDRED HOURS. WHAT HAPPENED TO IT.
0097 12 29 Beats us. We wonder about collision. There is a good wobble component to the new orbit.
0097 12 44 HOUSTON, OUR COMPUTERS ARE WORKING THROUGH THE TRANSMITTED DATA. WE AGREE A COLLISION. HAVE YOU GUYS GOT SOMETHING IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD.
0097 13 01 Air Force Skywatch confirms our report that we have nothing around your baby, Scoop.
0097 13 50 HOUSTON, OUR COMPUTERS ARE READING THIS AS A RANDOM EVENT. PROBABILITIES GREATER THAN ZERO POINT SEVEN NINE.
0097 15 00 We can add nothing. Looks reasonable. Are you going to bring it down.
0097 15 15 WE ARE HOLDING ON THAT DECISION, HOUSTON. WE WILL NOTIFY AS SOON AS IT IS MADE.
0097 17 54 HOUSTON, OUR COMMAND GROUP HAS RAISED THE QUESTION OF WHETHER*************************.
0097 17 59 [reply from Houston deleted]
0097 18 43 [Scoop query to Houston deleted]
0097 19 03 [reply from Houston deleted]
0097 19 11 AGREE, HOUSTON. WE WILL MAKE OUR DECISION AS SOON AS WE HAVE FINAL CONFIRMATION OF ORBITAL SHUTDOWN FROM SYDNEY. IS THIS ACCEPTABLE.
0097 19 50 Perfectly, Scoop. We are standing by.
0097 24 32 HOUSTON, WE ARE REWORKING OUR DATA AND NO LONGER CONSIDER THAT********IS LIKELY.
0097 24 39 Roger, Scoop.
0097 29 13 HOUSTON, WE ARE STANDING BY FOR SYDNEY.
0097 34 54 Scoop Mission Control, this is Sydney Station. We have just followed the passby of your vehicle. Our initial readings confirm a prolonged transit time. It is quite striking at this time.
0097 35 12 THANK YOU, SYDNEY.
0097 35 22 Bit of nasty luck, Scoop. Sorry.
0097 39 02 THIS IS SCOOP MISSION CONTROL TO ALL STATIONS. OUR COMPUTERS HAVE JUST CALCULATED THE ORBITAL DECAY FOR THE VEHICLE AND WE FIND IT TO BE COMING DOWN AS A PLUS FOUR. STANDBY FOR THE FINAL DECISION AS TO WHEN WE WILL BRING IT DOWN.
Hall said, "What about the deleted passages?"
"Major Manchek at Vandenberg told me," Stone said, "that they had to do with the Russian craft in the area. The two stations eventually concluded that the Russians had not, either accidentally or purposely, brought down the Scoop satellite. No one has since suggested differently."
They nodded.
"It's tempting," Stone said. "The Air Force maintains a watchdog facility in Kentucky that tracks all satellites in earth orbit. It has a dual function, both to follow old satellites known to be in orbit and to track new ones. There are twelve satellites in orbit at this time that cannot be accounted for; in other words, they are not ours, and are not the result of announced Soviet launches. It is thought that some of these represent navigation satellites for Soviet submarines. Others are presumed to be spy satellites. But the important thing is that Russian or not, there are a hell of a lot of satellites up there. As of last Friday, the Air Force reported five hundred and eighty-seven orbiting bodies around the earth. This includes some old, nonfunctioning satellites from the American Explorer series and the Russian Sputnik series. It also includes boosters and final stages-- anything in stable orbit large enough to reflect back a radar beam."
"That's a lot of satellites."
"Yes, and there are probably many more. The Air Force thinks there is a lot of junk out there-- nuts, bolts, scraps of metal-- all in more or less stable orbit. No orbit, as you know, is completely stable. Without frequent corrections, any satellite will eventually decay out and spiral down to earth, burning up in the atmosphere. But that may be years, even decades, after the launch. In any event, the Air Force estimates that the total number of individual orbiting objects could be anything up to seventy-five thousand."
"So a collision with a piece of junk is possible."
"Yes. Possible."
"How about a meteor?"
"That is the other possibility, and the one Vandenberg favors. A random event, most likely a meteor."
"Any showers these days?"
"None, apparently. But that does not rule out a meteor collision."
Leavitt cleared his throat. "There is still another possibility."
Stone frowned. He knew that Leavitt was imaginative, and that this trait was both a strength and a defect. At times, Leavitt could be startling and exciting; at others, merely irritating. "It's rather farfetched," Stone said, "to postulate debris from some extragalactic source other than--"