Scarecrow  

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Dear Susannah

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On more than one occasion I have found myself sharing a viewport with Tanya Samoone. I think you would like her, Susannah, so different from the pushy career women in the Agency, the empty-wombed matrons so keen on pursuing a career in lieu of the children they will never have, the motherhood they will never experience.

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Our conversations range from our respective childhoods all the way to the possible outcomes of this mission.  With Galileo we are using a technology which is being stretched to its very limit in order to achieve the mission objectives. Our mechanical host is not just a spaceship of course. It’s the ultimate multi-purpose vehicle, combining the functions of laboratory, engineering workshop, research station, storehouse, observatory, arboretum, glass house and social centre - all housed within these narrow bulkhead; and all subject to the process of entropy, which is just another way of saying things are starting to look a little worn.

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Everything on Galileo is a bit rusty, a bit second hand. In sartorial terms, Galileo is a scarecrow, a raggedy man, though no less loved for that. Maybe it’s the damp, or the poor lighting, or the cold, or maybe the fact that she's been patched together from spare parts and left overs, but Galileo is frayed. If there was ever a sheen of newness about the place that's gone forever now. Galileo won't be getting a refit, if she ever does, until we get back to Earth. And whatever's onboard has to last until we get back, be it equipment or supplies. That includes the crew. Fixed, repaired and upgraded on the way if need be but what you see is all there is. We can't refuel or re supply along the way. It’s quite a feeling, knowing that we are a world unto ourselves. We will get there with what we've got onboard.

 

Or not at all.

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See also: https://www.facebook.com/thescreamingplanet