The Proxima Nexus: The Second World, #5

By Doug Cook

In The Proxima Nexus, the fifth book of the Second World Series, Earth and Mars are recovering from impacts of Shiva debris. The Perseus Mission has reached planet Thelus in the Proxima Centauri star system using the faster-than-light X-drive system technology mined from a Thelud artifact. The artifact, The Box, was found by Sofi and Alex Ivanov in an extinct comet. Hoping to find the mysterious Thelud on their home planet, our travelers discover that the Thelud have abandoned Thelus and emigrated to another star system and the planet Inphos.

 

Stella Ivanov-Weidman and her brother Andrei Ivanov play a pivotal role, along with the CASSI AI system, in mining more Thelud technology from an artifact known as The Monolith. As their settlement grows, they decide to split into three groups. One group is to take advanced Thelud technology back to Mars, one group is to stay and further explore Thelus, and the third group is to follow the Thelud to Inphos using a new ship they have constructed with more advanced Thelud technology. What truths will they discover about the mysterious Thelud when they finally reach Inphos?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Doug Cook
• Release date: Apr 10, 2024
• ISBN: 9798223171447

Doug Cook

Doug Cook is retired from a thirty-four year career as a petroleum geophysicist. He is now dedicated to writing, astronomy, and climate change awareness. Doug participated in ten years of deep-water submersible studies on chemosynthetic communities of life in the Gulf of Mexico . These extremophile organisms relate to Doug's passion for astrogeology and exobiology. He is a member American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG), Chair AAPG Astrogeology Committee, Society of Exploration Geophysicists (SEG), Vice President Colorado Springs Astronomical Society, member of the Planetary Society, National Space Society, Explore Mars, and Adjunct Astronomy Professor PPCC. He has two daughters and lives in Colorado with his wife Elizabeth.

Book preview

SYNOPSIS

In The Proxima Nexus, the fifth book of the Second World Series, Earth and Mars are recovering from impacts of Shiva debris. The Perseus Mission has reached planet Thelus in the Proxima Centauri star system using the faster-than-light X-drive system technology mined from a Thelud artifact. The artifact, The Box, was found by Sofi and Alex Ivanov in an extinct comet. Hoping to find the mysterious Thelud on their home planet, our travelers discover that the Thelud have abandoned Thelus and emigrated to another star system and the planet Inphos.

Stella Ivanov-Weidman and her brother Andrei Ivanov play a pivotal role, along with the CASSI AI system, in mining more Thelud technology from an artifact known as The Monolith. As their settlement grows, they decide to split into three groups. One group is to take advanced Thelud technology back to Mars, one group is to stay and further explore Thelus, and the third group is to follow the Thelud to Inphos using a new ship they have constructed with more advanced Thelud technology. What truths will they discover about the mysterious Thelud when they finally reach Inphos?

The Proxima Nexus

Doug Cook

This book is dedicated to my parents, Charlie and Bonnie, whose love and encouragement still light my path and to our newborn granddaughter Mavia, our new little warrior queen.

COPYRIGHT © 2024

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

Douglas J. Cook

Colorado Springs, CO

Cover image: Author designed AI image created on DreamPress AI.

Introduction

Maybe we’re on Mars because of the magnificent science that can be done there — the gates of the wonder world are opening in our time. Maybe we’re on Mars because we have to be, because there’s a deep nomadic impulse built into us by the evolutionary process — we come, after all, from hunter-gatherers, and for 99.9% of our tenure on Earth we’ve been wanderers. And the next place to wander to is Mars. But whatever the reason you’re on Mars is, I’m glad you’re there. And I wish I was with you.

Carl Sagan, Cosmos

In this Introduction, I take the license to revisit news and state-of-the-art technology of themes that are woven into each book of the Second World book series: climate change on Earth from human activity, human space exploration, and the advancement towards the settlement of the Moon, Mars, and the solar system.

What better inspiration for writing the next book in the Second World book series? As I write this, I have just come in from a great tour of the solar system and Apollo Moon landing history. It was a great night for seeing planets (Venus, Saturn, and Jupiter) and the Apollo 11, 15, and 17 landing sites with the Moon at 1st quarter. Yes, you can see the landing sites with a modest telescope. I just took a tour with my Dob telescope. I’m Psyched! Last week, I viewed the Neptune opposition in Bortle 1 skies at Starry Meadows. My challenge quest was to view Triton, Neptune’s largest moon. Yes, I saw it! It’s a doppelganger for Pluto as a captured Kuiper Belt object.

My mantra since attending my first Humans to Mars (H2M) Summit in 2016 has been, On to Mars in 2033! Earth-Mars oppositions and launch windows to Mars occur every 26 months. The 2033 Earth-Mars opposition is at a close distance and offers the best foreseeable launch window to send humans to Mars with the shortest transit times. I have had this dream in mind as I have written each book of The Second World book series.

Another take away from the 2016 H2M, was from Bill Gerstenmaier, NASA Associate Administrator for Human Exploration and Operations Directorate, HEOMOD, from 2005 to 2019. He professed that NASA was serious about eventually sending human crews to Mars but NASA was struggling with the question to sell the idea. Why Mars? NASA was more urgently struggling with redeveloping human launch capability and had just dropped the focus to send humans to an asteroid before attempting Mars. Gerstenmaier has pursued the progressive path to get humans to Mars. He is now Vice President of Build and Flight Reliability at SpaceX.

Why Mars?¹ Explore Mars, Humans to Mars Summit 2021

Over 100,000 attendees for the virtual summit including viewers of recorded events. I transcribed he following:

Janet Ivey— Janet’s Planet and President of Explore Mars—

"I’ve said for a long time as both a lover of art and science that we must make it our mission to honor creative thought as the birthplace of every scientific advancement that has ever been and ever will be. Art and wonder and exploration- a chance to do its most profound and scientific good. Why Mars? I believe in team human. Each of us, biochemically, are ferociously cosmic. We were designed to seek and to push the boundaries of everything we know. What we innovate to thrive on Mars will benefit life and sustainability here on Earth and elsewhere. We will learn that there is no great divide in humanity. When we go to Mars, then we will be a multi-planetary species. Then we will all have learned how to be the best of crewmates on this mote of dust suspended in the sunbeam- and on Mars. I live with his expectation of seeing my students living this in full reality. That’s my answer to Why Mars."

Mat Kaplan, Spokesperson for The Planetary Society —

Bill Nye says humans are tasked with two great questions: Where do we come from? And- Are we alone? Going to Mars may help us answer those questions.

James B. Garvin, NASA's Chief Scientist from October 2004 - September 2005 and is known for his foundational work in NASA's Mars exploration programs. —

"Why Mars now? We are in the midst of an absolute revolution of understanding Mars. The scientific exploration of Mars of the last 25 years has opened that frontier. We’re roving, flying, driving, drilling, sampling, and measuring Mars right now as we speak. With robots like Perseverance [rover] and her partner, Ingenuity, giving drone scapes with tools can begin to answer the questions about whether or not Mars has ever been alive. Because of these robotic emissaries and digital data, the Mars we see today is even better than we had hoped. There’s even an underground Mars that we need to study. [There are] defined records of ancient ices. Science and engineering have given us the tools to make Mars ours. We can change from being robotic digital exploration, with cycles of time delay command loops, to being there in person in real time to explore. That’s the opportunity that we have. I say, Mars here we come!

"Imagine touching Mars today! Mars has already sent his or her messengers to us [as meteorites]. And just like Buzz touched the moon, we saw a new timeframe for the evolution of our solar system overnight from the Apollo Moon rocks [they returned]. We went from an Earth centric view to a new view of the universe. Those Mars rocks that have been delivered to us by Mother Nature’s magic, that is Mars meteorites landing on Earth, are already calling to us. They are the messengers of we know what Mars could be. Look at what we’re seeing in them. Scientists from around the world are [writing] the record books of Mars and it’s all good. We are seeing what historically was a habitable time on Mars. It’s a special time to ask are we alone. I think we’re ready to go to Mars. It’s just a matter of Let’s do it!"

Dr. Greg Chavers, Deputy Associate Administrator (DAA) for Systems Engineering and Integration (SE&I) in NASA’s Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate (HEO). In this role, Chavers is charged with implementing directorate-level strategies that are responsive to national priorities and NASA’s vision for human spaceflight. —

Why do we say need to send people to Mars? Why can’t we just send robots? Thanks to our robotic explorers we’ve made many discoveries, human explorers have the benefit of intuition, rapid decision-making, and dexterity that are unmatched by robots. Humans don’t need a Command Loop Cycle to complete tasks. Human curiosity drives new discovery. The most advanced robot cannot replace human understanding and emotion behind new discoveries. Not just the facts but the cumulative meaning behind those discoveries. Humans are intuitive and can make rapid decisions as they take in new information. We can improvise when things don’t go as planned. For instance, if there are adjustments that need to be made, human astronauts can do that in real time. What could take years for a robot to accomplish on Mars, a human can complete an hours. Mars is the closest to Earth to being in habitable. It has daylight cycles and seasons similar to Earth. It has terrain- cliffs, valleys, and dunes similar to Earth. Mars has abundant natural resources that can be used: Ice for water and oxygen, carbon dioxide for propellants, and sunlight. NASA‘s long-term goal is to expand human presence into the solar system. Sending humans to the Moon and onto Mars is the next natural step to get there. This is America’s Moon to Mars exploration approach.

Dr. Kavya K. Manyapu is an Indian–American aerospace engineer. She is part of the Boeing team that developed the CST-100 Starliner spacecraft. She developed a fabric for self-cleaning space suits that uses carbon nanotubes to repel dust for use in future lunar and Mars missions.

Why does it take tragedy for us to solve a problem? Why does it take tragedy to address human survival? Why does it take tragedy for us to come together to transcend our boundaries? Why Mars? Mars, because of its rich destination for scientific discovery, a driver for technological advancement, and a platform to really push our understanding of what we are capable of accomplishing together. Mars, because it would mean to really understand human survival to sustain life on another planet, and not to just survive, but to thrive. Learning to utilize resources on another planet could help us solve some of the most pressing problems on Earth for the survival of our species. Mars, to expand human consciousness from a personal identity to global or even cosmic identity. Mars, because it would require international cooperation to make us a multiplanetary species.

Aaron Shepard, NASA Langley Space Assembly Robotics—

"Half of the research published in Nature was published by scientists who were inspired by the Apollo Moon landings. Mars is the next step, the next generation. How many lives will that save in the future? Exploration is entrained in our DNA. That is how we survive. That’s how we evolved. We did not stay in one place. We grew. Traveling to Mars enables us to be more truly human than we could be otherwise. Space was just this thing that I saw on TV. The moment it came alive and became real to me was at Humans to Mars in 2018, at the cocktail party event. Sitting next to me, three feet away, was Buzz Aldrin. I could look into this man’s eyes and see the fact that he went to the Moon and back again. I heard him talk about it, and it goes from just being this historic grainy footage, to becoming real and powerful! When we go to Mars, it’s not just about going to Mars, it’s about bringing people back and communicating what they saw and felt- to make it real and connect back with humanity in that way. We are humans and we are built to connect in that way. Going to Mars allows us to be more human than we’ve ever been before."

Humans to Mars 2018 cocktail reception. Aaron Shepard seated after his encounter with Buzz Aldrin, standing right. (Author photo)

Explore Mars Position²:

Core Reasons: Human exploration on the surface of Mars will:

• Be a catalyst for American innovation and discovery and inspire students to study science, mathematics, engineering, and technology (STEM fields),

• Advance American leadership in space, and

• Help us understand who we are, where we came from, and where we can go.

1. Discovery and Scientific Knowledge: Mars is the most scientifically interesting location in our solar system that humans can reach in the foreseeable future. Most experts agree that it will probably take human explorers to determine whether there ever was or even still is life on Mars and to conduct many other scientific investigations that are not possible with robots alone. This endeavor will dramatically expand human knowledge and stimulate education.

2. Inspiration and Innovation: Space exploration – particularly Mars exploration is widely recognized to be one of the most effective ways to inspire students to become interested in STEM education, and it is also a well-known driver of technology and innovation. Mars-focused STEM programs and simulations around the country have informed and inspired millions of students.

3. Prosperity and National Morale: Apart from national prestige, morale is essential for a nation’s growth and prosperity. It also elevates the human spirit and strengthens the economy. Mars provides this, and more. As a result, Mars holds a special place in the public consciousness: As seen in recent public opinion polls and in popular culture, Mars excites the public, particularly young people. Mars will be their legacy.

4. Security and Diplomacy: While Mars missions will not be run by the military, many of the capabilities required to achieve these missions have potential security applications. In addition, an ambitious and strong space program can be one of our most effective diplomatic tools, as people around the world look at our space program with awe and appreciation.

5. Advancement and Expansion of Humanity: The human exploration of Mars is the most significant and achievable goal in space within the next several decades. Can humans establish a permanent presence on another planet? Mars offers a potential for self-sufficiency that simply does not exist elsewhere in our solar system.

6. To Understand Earth: Mars is the planet in our solar system that is most similar to Earth. Mars used to be a warm and wet planet like Earth, when Mars had a much thicker atmosphere than it does today. What happened to Mars, and could the same thing happen on Earth? Our analysis of what could happen to the Earth cannot be based on just one data point – that of the Earth. We must study Mars to learn about our home planet.

Artemis Program: Return Humans to the Moon

My premise for getting humans to Mars, in the first two books of this series, adopted the Mars Direct approach of engineer author Robert Zubrin. This bold proposition envisions getting humans to Mars, bypassing a program to return humans to the Moon. NASA has now embarked on a slower, more pragmatic plan to use the Moon as a closer training ground to establish a human settlement before sending crews to Mars.

We are proud of the accomplishments and science achieved with the exploration of the Moon by Apollo crews culminating in 1972 with Apollo 17, over fifty years ago. No time since has offered so much promise for crews to return to explore the Moon and deep space. In 2017, the President signed Space Directive 1 that calls for a United States led return to the Moon followed by human missions to Mars. The Vice President, as Chair of the National Space Council, called for a human return to the Moon by 2024 to pave the way for sending humans to Mars. The intent was to have a sustained presence on the Moon by 2028 in preparation for sending a crew to Mars by the mid-2030s.

NASA has embarked on this path with the Artemis Lunar Program. Artemis will land the first woman and next man on the Moon near its South Pole. Landing is now scheduled on the Artemis 3 mission no sooner than 2025.

2024 was not a goal that was really technically feasible, remarked NASA Administrator Bill Nelson during a news conference on January 8, 2024. We are [now] estimating no earlier than 2025.

Regarding the competition between U.S. companies, Nelson emphasized that the need for a budget increase is influenced by international competition from China. We are facing a very aggressive and good Chinese space program, Nelson said. The Chinese space program is increasingly capable of landing Chinese taikonauts [on the moon] much earlier than originally expected.

Nelson highlighted China's recent achievements, such as launching the first module for its new Tiangong space station into orbit, sending astronauts to stay aboard that station, conducting ongoing robotic lunar missions, and more.

We have every reason to believe that we have a competitor, a very aggressive competitor, in the Chinese going back to the moon with taikonauts [China’s astronauts], Nelson stated. And it's the position of NASA, and I believe the United States government, that we want to be there first, back on the moon after over a half-century.

Lunar In-Situ Resource Utilization (ISRU)

A permanent lunar settlement will require water and propellants in quantities of mass that would be prohibitively expensive to lift from Earth. Supporting the settlement with in situ water ice resources will be critically necessary.

Water may have been deposited on the Moon over geologic time by bombardment of water-bearing comets, asteroids, meteoroids, or by protons of the solar wind impacting oxygen-bearing minerals. It is estimated that between 100 million and 1 billion metric tons of lunar water ice exist near each lunar pole. Water ice is unlikely to be present in the form of thick, pure ice deposits, but more likely as interstitial ice and coatings on regolith soil grains. The presence of water has been gleaned by remote sensing with concentrations especially promising in permanently shadowed craters near the Moon’s South Pole. NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) Lunar Explorer Neutron Detector (LEND) instrument detects the presence of hydrogen by sensing neutrons released from the moon’s soils.

Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) measurements indicate that Cabeus, Shoemaker and Faustini craters near the Moon’s South Pole should have substantial interstitial subsurface ice. Image credit: NASA.

Assuming it is possible to mine icy regolith in bulk, the water would be extracted and electrolyzed to hydrogen and oxygen to be used as rocket bi-propellant or other chemical production processes.

In-situ resource utilization (ISRU) will play a vital role in a future human mission to Mars. Like many other operations, ISRU activities will be tested and developed on the Moon, building the required knowledge to implement new capabilities that will be necessary to overcome the challenges of a human mission to Mars.

NASA has selected four companies (Lunar Outpost of Golden, Colorado; Masten Space Systems of Mojave, California; ispace Europe of Luxembourg; and ispace Japan of Tokyo) to develop equipment and demonstrate extracting resources from the lunar surface and then selling them back to NASA. Other ice extraction missions are highlighted below.

Robotic Exploration paves the way for Artemis.

Polar Resources Ice Mining Experiment-1 (PRIME-1) is a NASA lunar project, expected to launch and land on the Moon, no sooner than March 2024, as the first robotic mission of the Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) in support the crewed Artemis Program. The probe will land near the lunar South Pole on a ridge not far from Shackleton crater, a location expected to be rich in subsurface ice deposits.

It will be the first on-site resource utilization demonstration on the Moon, robotically drilling to analyze for ice from below the surface. Two components make up PRIME-1, on the Nova-C IM-2 commercial lunar lander:

The Regolith and Ice Drill for Exploring New Terrain (TRIDENT) will drill up to three feet deep, extracting lunar soil regolith up to the surface. A mass spectrometer (MSolo) will analyze the drill cuttings for water and other chemical compounds from multiple depths.

Nova-C IM-2 commercial lunar lander to be launched to near the Moon’s South Pole no sooner than February 2024. Image credit: Intuitive Machines.

VIPER is a planned robotic NASA lunar rover that will prospect for natural lunar resources, especially water ice, within a permanently shadowed region near the lunar south pole. NASA image.

VIPER (Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover) is a planned NASA, golf cart sized, robotic lunar rover that will prospect for natural lunar resources. The focus will be on water ice within a permanently shadowed region on the western edge of Nobile crater near the lunar South Pole. The VIPER mission is also part of CLPS. Launch is expected no earlier than November 2024. The mission contract was awarded to Astrobotic Technology with instrumentation and drill package, TRIDENT, provided by Honeybee Robotics.

The Neutron Spectrometer System (NSS), will detect sub-surface water from a distance, then VIPER will stop at that location and use the 3 feet long TRIDENT drill to obtain samples to be analyzed for ice by two onboard spectrometers.

The VIPER rover is planned to explore across several kilometers, collecting data on different kinds of soil environments in complete darkness, partial, and constant sunlight. Once it enters a permanently shadowed site, it will operate on battery power and will not be able to recharge with its solar array until it returns to a sunlit area. Its mission operation is planned for 100 days.

As we look forward to the human settlement of Mars, we will depend on ISRU for support. A promising settlement site, the Arcadia Planitia area of Mars, shows many surface bulges from widespread subsurface ice pingos similar to permafrost areas on Earth. Nearby areas show near-surface glacial ice flows. The presence of ice is corroborated by Mars Odyssey probe’s gamma ray spectrometer. The pervasive shallow ice in Arcadia Planitia qualifies this mid-latitude area as a proposed site for a base for sustained human presence using ISRU. This was the premise for the second book in this series, Arcadia Mars.

The Artemis Program Progresses

For launch hardware, the Artemis Program employs traditional contract partners such as Aerojet Rocketdyne, Northrup Grumman, Boeing, and Lockheed Martin, international partners, such as the European Space Agency (ESA), and other industry partners such as SpaceX and Blue Origin.

SpaceX has been sending crews to the ISS on Falcon 9 rockets and Crew Dragon capsules since November 2020. Dragon Crew 4 arrived at ISS on April 27, 2022 carrying Artemis astronaut geologist Dr. Jessica Watkins. A SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket will carry the Artemis VIPER lunar rover to the Moon no earlier than November 2023. The Falcon boosters and Dragon capsules are fully reusable. To date, Falcon boosters have successfully landed 269 times. Most boosters have flown multiple missions, with a record of 19 missions by the same booster.

SpaceX Dragon Capsule.

Visual comparison of the size and payload to LEO capacity of heavy lift vehicles. Falcon Heavy and SLS are in service. Starship is in development awaiting its maiden orbital test. The space shuttle and Apollo Saturn V are retired. Credit: BBC

The Space Launch System (SLS) is an American, super heavy-lift, expendable launch vehicle. It has been under development by NASA since the retirement of the Space Shuttle in 2011. SLS is designed to be the workhorse for Artemis human missions to the Moon and do heavy lifting to build settlement infrastructure. Eventually, settlements will include habitats, nuclear power systems, and a new generation of lunar rover for human exploration.

The first uncrewed launch, Artemis I, launched November 16, 2022 and returned to Earth December 11, 2022. Artemis I sent the Orion module to orbit the Moon and test the capsule’s reentry heatshield on its return to Earth. Artemis II, will follow no sooner that November 2024, with a crew orbiting the Moon.

The SLS system carries the Orion crew capsule with a crew of four, but it does not include a lunar lander. Artemis III is planned for 2025 to deliver an Orion crew to lunar orbit to transfer to a landing system to land near the Moon’s South Pole. This will be the first human Moon landing since Apollo 17 in 1972.

NASA has chosen the SpaceX Starship to be the Human Landing System (HLS) for the first and second Artemis lunar landings. The Starship and its Super Heavy booster will be reusable. Other HLS systems are under development by Blue Origin and Dynetics to add diversity to the Artemis program.

The Lockheed Martin Orion Crew Capsule with European Service Module, provided by ESA, launch to the Moon in this artist rendering. Image Credit: NASA

Three lunar Human Landing Systems under development. NASA has chosen the SpaceX Starship to be the Human Landing System (HLS) for the first and second Artemis lunar landings. Image credit: NASA.

SpaceX is rapidly developing its huge Starship at its Starbase in Boca Chica, Texas. Initially, Starship prototypes were launched without the Super Heavy booster to test aerodynamics and landing capability. There were six launches from August 2020 to May 2021 with some failures and valuable learnings at each attempt. Testing culminated in a successful soft landing of Starship SN15. Starship SN24 and Booster BN7 were static fire tested and stacked for an orbital launch test described below. Booster and Starship are to be fated to soft ocean landings in this initial test flight. Soft landing returns to Boca Chica on future orbital flights will demonstrate reusability.

Starship SN15 Launch test May 15, 2021 with a soft powered landing similar to planned landing on the Moon. Image credit: SpaceX

On June 15, 2022, an FAA environmental assessment provisionally cleared the way for orbital test flights of Starship. However, due to restrictions, the long-term future of its Boca Chica, Texas Starbase may be limited to development and testing. SpaceX is rapidly developing a Starship launch complex at the historic Kennedy Space Center Pad 39A, next to its Falcon launch tower. This will likely be the focal point for Starship operations for the long-term, including missions to the Moon and to Mars.

Starship/Super Heavy will be the most powerful rocket ever launched, ultimately being capable of sending payloads of 150 MT to deep space. Variants will carry crew, cargo, or propellant. Producing 17 million pounds of thrust, the 394 feet (120 meter) tall Starship/Super Heavy will be the most powerful rocket ever flown when it finally lifts off from Boca Chica.

A Starship variant without heatshield tiles and maneuvering flaps, is being developed for the Artemis Program HLS Moon Lander. The Starship HLS will have landing legs and use mid-ship Super Draco thrusters for a soft landing without tearing up the lunar surface.

An orbiting Lunar Gateway system is also under development for Artemis. The Gateway will have a habitation module, airlock, and a Power and Propulsion Element (PPE). The Lunar Gateway will be a small, lunar orbiting space station to provide a staging base for lunar crews to transfer from Orion to an HLS to land on the Moon. The Orion capsule returns crews back to Earth atmospheric entry returning from lunar space at 25,000 mph (40,000 kph).

An orbiting Lunar Gateway system is under development for Artemis. Image Credit: NASA

SLS and Starship Prepare for Uncrewed Maiden Launches

Indeed, it is an exciting time in the history of human space flight. All eyes were on the NASA Space Launch System and SpaceX Starship/Super Heavy Booster for anticipated uncrewed maiden launches in 2022. Both vehicles are more powerful than the Apollo Saturn V rocket that last took a crew to the Moon in 1972 with Apollo 17 and astrogeologist Harrison Schmitt.

On March 17, 2022, NASA’s first Space Launch System moon rocket, the Artemis 1 SLS emerged from the same Vehicle