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Rodent fiction
Jul. 12th, 2007 11:35 pmMoonBase was fully staffed, about 100 people; there were no plans to turn it into a colony. Even with the regular shuttles towing asteriods back for water and metal, to supply MoonBase and the orbital stations, it was still more money and trouble than it was worth to try to enlarge MoonBase to hold more people or to start growing food. The orbital stations were easy - enlarging them did not require digging up moonrock, and was, architecturally and engineering-wise, easier than building any large building on a planet in gravity. MarsBase was smaller - fewer than 50 researchers there, in part because the longer trip (almost 18 months) was only feasible for a few Families - a commitment of 3 years round-trip travel in close quarters, plus 5 years on base, was more than many could stand. Bigger ships going there would make it feasible for Squirrels and Chinchillas to go there without losing their sanity en route - but, for the amount of money a spacious spaceship would cost, people would want more results than just another few Rodents on Mars.
Now Titan, there's another story. There had already been two fly-by surveys of Titan, the first by a truly heroic pair of Guinea Pigs, shuttle pilots who committed to the trip and started out when they were only 6, making the 16-year round trip (plus 2 months in orbit around Titan) and returning to Earth aged, but with valuable information. Both those heroes were dead now, but before they died, they had lived to see a team of three Beavers start out; the longer-lived Beavers had made the 8-year trip to Titan, orbited for 2 months, touched down and stayed on the surface another 2 months, and were now in the 2nd year of their trip home. The Beavers were not as prolific at reporting as the Guinea Pigs had been - they were a taciturn Family overall - but their recordings and photographs were great, and the small satellite they had left in orbit and "weather beacon" they had left on the surface would continue to send back information, so that the next trip would start out with far more up-to-date information than this trip had.
Two things occurred to Keek'k. First, that to make that trip tolerable, hibernation would be a real help - and that meant getting the Hamsters to buy in. They were the Family with the most experience at hibernation, and were doing research on it - one of the eastern Myo Families' many research projects aimed at extending their shorter lives. If a Mouse-or-Rat or a Hamster could live more than the usual 10-11 years, they could participate more fully in projects the whole world was undertaking; right now, they spent most of their efforts on the biological sciences, and viewed the other Families to the west with some suspicion, as if the Squirrels were deliberately trying to distract them from their research by proposing other projects. The Hamsters were already somewhat interested, thanks to their participation in the Chinchilla Contests, which gave them far more contact with the west and with other Families than most of the Myos had.
Keek'k's second thought was that a trip to Titan that involved hibernation, and then allowed the travellers to return home with years of life ahead of them to talk and write about their experiences, teach others, have a full life of family and career, would be an excellent stepping stone for an interstellar trip.
Now Titan, there's another story. There had already been two fly-by surveys of Titan, the first by a truly heroic pair of Guinea Pigs, shuttle pilots who committed to the trip and started out when they were only 6, making the 16-year round trip (plus 2 months in orbit around Titan) and returning to Earth aged, but with valuable information. Both those heroes were dead now, but before they died, they had lived to see a team of three Beavers start out; the longer-lived Beavers had made the 8-year trip to Titan, orbited for 2 months, touched down and stayed on the surface another 2 months, and were now in the 2nd year of their trip home. The Beavers were not as prolific at reporting as the Guinea Pigs had been - they were a taciturn Family overall - but their recordings and photographs were great, and the small satellite they had left in orbit and "weather beacon" they had left on the surface would continue to send back information, so that the next trip would start out with far more up-to-date information than this trip had.
Two things occurred to Keek'k. First, that to make that trip tolerable, hibernation would be a real help - and that meant getting the Hamsters to buy in. They were the Family with the most experience at hibernation, and were doing research on it - one of the eastern Myo Families' many research projects aimed at extending their shorter lives. If a Mouse-or-Rat or a Hamster could live more than the usual 10-11 years, they could participate more fully in projects the whole world was undertaking; right now, they spent most of their efforts on the biological sciences, and viewed the other Families to the west with some suspicion, as if the Squirrels were deliberately trying to distract them from their research by proposing other projects. The Hamsters were already somewhat interested, thanks to their participation in the Chinchilla Contests, which gave them far more contact with the west and with other Families than most of the Myos had.
Keek'k's second thought was that a trip to Titan that involved hibernation, and then allowed the travellers to return home with years of life ahead of them to talk and write about their experiences, teach others, have a full life of family and career, would be an excellent stepping stone for an interstellar trip.
