G.O.L.F.

 

The helicopter neared the Gulf Orbital Launch Facility. The helicopter circled the complex to they could get a good look at whole facility. The pilot received permission to land on the northern landing pad and they lightly touched down.

 

Attendants rushed out and scooped up their bags and proceeded inside. Carl and John followed and went to the control room. Carl introduced John to the staff. He received a status from the director then followed him to the dining hall for lunch.

 

Carl spoke into John’s ear as they walked. “Don’t embarrass me and make me regret bringing you along.”

 

John just grinned. “This is going to be fun, just like old times.”

 

Javelin

After filling up their trays, they sat down at a table and started to discuss the afternoon test.

“How are the boilers performing?” Carl asked.

The Director of Operations, Allen Schmit replied. “All of them are operating normally. We had a problem with the desalination unit, but our Israeli desal expert fixed it. We can provide enough pure water to run around the clock and then some. The steam turbines are nominal and providing plenty of power to run this entire base. We are good to go and ready to test the steam flow to the cannon and see if all of the sequential valves needed to control the cannon, work at the right time.”

“When is that test scheduled?” Carl asked.

“Two o’clock, if you are ready to observe. We have a dummy shot loaded into the barrel and the instrumentation has all checked out. The boilers are warmed up and ready for final heat before firing. We are good to go if you are ready.”

“Two o’clock it is. We will get settled into our rooms and meet in you in the control room just before two.”

John quipped, “We got a plan! Let’s see the big whoosh.”

Carl shook his head again.

Carl and John arrived on schedule. The technical staff we busy counting down the final sequence for firing. Each station called out their status. Boilers, Control, and Data Acquisition were all working normally. They checked with meteorology and radar to make sure they had a clear firing range. All cameras were functioning and recording.

All clear and working.

Carl nodded to the Director and said. “Fire it.”

The Director lifted the safety cover and pushed the button.

There was a howl then a roar and a high velocity burst of steam exited the barrel. The dummy projectile was concealed by the steam cloud as it flew down range. It showed up on radar as it flew before it fell into the sea.

The control room broke into cheers and people slapping each other on their backs. The test firing was a success. The high-speed data acquisition recorded every second of the firing and the flight of the projectile. Big smiles everywhere.

They met in a nearby conference room and second by second, they reviewed all of the data. The boilers were at temperature and the control valves fired in sequence and on time. The data acquisition gathered all of the data from the cannon and the projectile. It seemed like a miracle that everything worked right the first time. Their simulator had predicted the flight accurately.

Carl thought to himself, “This is why I design for simplicity. Less stuff, less stuff to go wrong.”

John spoke out, “What’s next?”

Carl replied, “We tell NASA to release the dog.”

“What?” John said.

“We tell NASA to launch “Old Shep,” our space tug, into orbit. There is no point in launching Javelins into space without someone to herd them to the space station.”

Carl announced to the entire room “Good job everyone! I am amazed and proud of what you have accomplished. Excellent job! You guys nailed it!”

Cheers broke everywhere, again. The party that night was huge.