All Hands On Deck

It has been three days since we’ve had any communication from Earth. This didn’t concern us, for the first few hours; we’ve been cut off from the Deep Space Network before, but we’d always be connected again by the time we woke up the next morning. But after twelve hours, the astronauts had determined that repairing our satellite—our connection to the DSN—wasn’t going to be a quick fix. In fact, our astronauts were talking about replacing the satellite entirely, after surveying the satellite during their spacewalk and beholding the damage inflicted. A mistake in navigation led to us testing our limits and flying a bit too near an asteroid belt, where a collision between two asteroids spent debris flying towards our ship.

Because of the disconnection, I had two hours of free time. Normally I would have been attending a machine learning course offered through a virtual session with a university on Earth, but without access to the DSN, I wasn’t able to attend my online classes. So I headed early to Dr. Phalen’s lab, where I interned every day after lunch. As the head software engineer aboard the Vestigo, he was always undertaking some project or another, meaning that there was always something for me to do. Recently I’d been keeping myself busy programming robots, ranging from AI helpers to bionic limbs. I relished the business, the feeling of having a challenge beneath my fingers, and appreciated the experiences it offered.

I slipped into the room to find Dr. Phalen and several professionals standing around a table, discussing behind slick pairs of AR glasses. I recognized a few of them: Melly Jackson, Allen García, the top minds in engineering above the Vestigo. I hesitated, unsure of whether or not I should interrupt them, before Dr. Phalen noticed me and beckoned me over. “Liese, you’re early.”

“Yeah, my machine learning class is off. The DSN’s down.”

“Ah, that’s right. The connection problems have messed with our schedules quite a bit, too.” Dr. Phalen gestured towards the professionals around him. “I was just talking to a few representatives from the engineering department about what we could do about this. The astronauts are willing to do another spacewalk, but I proposed robotic servicing to assemble the new satellite while minimizing human error. So much depends on the DSN that we want to waste as little time as possible.”

“Right.” As someone who’d spent nearly her entire lifetime on her ship, I’d seen the impact of the Deep Space Network on my community: though of course we could still survive without it in a worst-case scenario, we relied on the DSN to keep ourselves updated on current events of our home planet, learn about new technologies and scientific innovations that have arisen after our departure, seek advice from professionals down on Earth, and so much more. “Is there anything I can do to help? I’m certainly going to have spare time on my hands.”

“Excellent,” said Dr. Phalen. “We’re going to need as many hands—human and robotic—as we can get.”

—

I spent the next few days immersed in augmented reality. The AR glasses, though slightly worn, rested comfortably on the bridge of my nose. They were in impressive condition considering how long we’ve had them on the ship. We brought them onto the Vestigo fourteen years ago and are supposed to be using them for six more. I’d been using these same glasses in the elementary robotics courses and chemistry labs from years ago, and I dreamed to use them again to navigate deep space and train for extravehicular activity.

What I was doing today wasn’t too far away from my dreams, though. I may not have been training to be an astronaut just yet but I was still in space, putting together a computer-aided design of the robotic arm to assist the engineers with the design of the physical model. Dr. Jackson, head of mechanical engineering, assisted me with the CAD, pointing out the functions of the hardware incorporated in the design. “The engine will be powered on a hydraulic drive system,” she explained, “fast and robust. A servomechanism on the end effector—the ‘hand,’ you could consider it—will allow the robotic arm to transition between the different tools it’ll be using to install the satellite.”

I nodded, grabbing a servo motor from the virtual inventory in front of us. This inventory was comprised of 3D-modeled robotic parts representing what we actually had in stock aboard the Vestigo, though their virtual representations were much more well-maintained than their physical counterparts. Because of the limited storage space and resource availability on the ship, a lot of these parts were reused from previous projects.

My stomach swooped as I navigated to the arm-in-progress before us. Through augmented reality, I could look at it from any angle, though rotating too quickly in virtual space still made me sick. Because I was physically surrounded by oxygen from the security of a Vestigo sofa, I didn’t need a space pod or any special equipment to experience the dark void. But even though it was a simulation, the feeling of floating amidst nothing at all sent my stomach pitching, and the absence of a tether and a space suit did nothing to ease my nerves.

“Is there a way to program these parts to simulate how they’d move in the physical world?” I ask, attaching the servo to the robotic arm.

“Not with this program, I believe. The CAD software only serves to assist with design, but I agree—it would be immensely helpful to be able to code these parts to simulate how they would behave.”

I pressed my lips together in concentration, lifting my hand in the physical world to my glasses and pressing a small button in the frame. The graphical simulation around me faded to transparency, code and console messages taking its place. I looked around at the STEP-files specifying the CAD components and pulled up a virtual keyboard, thoughts churning. This was all code, after all. All software. And software I could work with.

“Liese?”

“Give me a few hours,” I told Dr. Jackson. “I might be able to rig something up.”

—

I overestimated my abilities. Writing a program to interact with the 3D models took three all-nighters longer and dozens of coffee mugs more than I thought it would, but what I didn’t overestimate was my dedication. As I told Dr. Phalen, I had the free time. Attending our classes was optional at this point, though encouraged—what really mattered wasn’t that we were taking tests but rather that we were applying our skills in the real world, which is what I was doing, and so I sent a message to my teachers to explain.

By the end of the week, I stumbled, exhausted, into Dr. Phalen’s lab to show him my work. The augmented reality program looked essentially the CAD environment I’d worked in before, but I’d figured out a way to connect the robot controller code to the CAD simulation to animate the parts and replicate how they would move when I inputted code into the console.

“You programmed this yourself?” Dr. Phalen watched, impressed, as I commanded the robotic arm to drill into the virtual spaceship’s walls.

“I had some help from a friend who works in animation,” I said, “and I talked with a friend who studies physics to calibrate the calculations I used to simulate the motion of the parts. But yeah, the bulk of it was done independently.” I smiled, rubbing my left eye. “And I’m exhausted.”

“Rightfully so. I can tell how much work you put into this, Liese.” Dr. Phalen turned towards me, a beam creeping over his face. “I can’t thank you enough, really. You didn’t have to do this yet you did it anyways. I can’t tell you how helpful this will be to our engineers.”

Turning back to the simulation, we stood in silence for a few minutes as I programmed the arm to perform several more simple tasks. In the middle of retrieving a motor from the inventory, however, a segment of the metal case protecting the robotic arm floated right off of the machine, gliding towards us like debris in a video game gone astray and exposing the wiring beneath it. I burst out laughing at the sight, and Dr. Phalen joined in.

“It still has a few bugs, of course,” I grinned, swatting away the debris and shutting down the program. We both found ourselves in Dr. Phalen’s lab again, augmented reality dissolving into our physical environment. “I’ll definitely continue to develop—”

A yawn stretched over my mouth before I could finish the sentence and Dr. Phalen chuckled. “Get some sleep, Liese,” he said. “You deserve it.”

“And you know how much I want to.”

“I sure do. You look exhausted.” Dr. Phalen nodded in approval, sliding the AR glasses from his face. “Thank you, again, for doing this. You really didn’t have to—”

“No, thank you,” I corrected him. “Thank you for all the opportunities you’ve given me. I’ve honestly learned so much since I started working for you and after this project, I’m even more eager to continue with the internship—”

“Oh, I don’t think you’re going to be an intern anymore, after this.” “Sorry?”

Shocked, my eyes darted to Dr. Phalen’s face, but I found his eyes sparkling with pride and not the disapproval I anticipated. “I think it’s time for you to be more than just an intern, Liese. We could really use another software engineer—welcome to the team.”

Engineer's Note:

Aboard the Vestigo, receiving hands-on experience and training will be even more important than it already is on solid Earth with limited resources on board. To develop my education system, I used my current schooling experience as a foundation and explored the benefits and drawbacks.

Realizing that my most influential learning experiences have come from extracurriculars instead of a physical classroom setting, I decided to integrate hands-on activities and experiences as thoroughly as possible in my system. Youth aboard the Vestigo will be exposed to mind-stimulating games and activities to sharpen their problem-solving skills early on. Their first memories will involve working through puzzles or poring over books and, most importantly, having fun in the process of learning.

Elementary-aged students will attend classes in core subjects dedicated to applying their knowledge in the real world instead of simply taking notes and completing exams, applying their knowledge further outside of school participating in extracurriculars like robotics, horticulture, labs, and debate instead of doing busywork. Secondary school students are allowed more freedom over course choices so that they can select courses most relevant to their career paths, and they will participate in apprenticeships and internships in which they work closely with professionals in a career path of their choice to tackle advanced and professional knowledge. From here they can fully transition into the workforce while still having the option to take higher-level classes, which will continue to be available to anyone regardless of age or experience.

Because of the limited amount of human resources available on the Vestigo, education and extracurriculars will be facilitated by professionals who have other areas of expertise outside of education. Furthermore, students and professionals on the Vestigo will be able to communicate with professionals on Earth through the Deep Space Network (DSN), which uses radio antennas located around the globe and on orbiting satellites to transmit signals to spacecraft. The DSN will be key to keeping the residents of the Vestigo updated on current events and scientific and technological advancements on Earth and will ensure that higher-level education will not be limited by a lack of resources on board. Finally, virtual and augmented reality will enable gaining experience without requiring excessive resources, for instance by allowing students to practice mechanical engineering skills or conduct scientific experiments. Virtual reality will also allow apprentices and interns to train for tasks that may be difficult or even dangerous to perform without prior experience, such as spacewalks.

The education system of the Vestigo will be highly flexible and responsive to input from the Vestigo’s inhabitants. A panel of professionals will work closely with psychologists, communicate with the inhabitants of the Vestigo, and investigate changes in education on Earth via the DSN to expand on the efficiency of the Vestigo’s education system. Furthermore, the education system is tailored to accommodate diverse learning styles, so one’s individual learning experience will have been adapted to suit their own educational needs.

Annotated Bibliography

Cantieri, J. (2017, December 14). Fixing satellites in space. Retrieved from http://www.astronomy.com/news/2017/12/fixing-satellites-in-space
This source provided detail on how NASA fixes satellites in space, including with robotic arms which forms the basis of my story.

Dodge, K. (2017, January 20). 15 Degree Paths for Out-of-This-World Careers in Space Exploration. Retrieved from https://www.degreequery.com/15-degree-paths-world-careers-space-exploration/
This list of careers essential to space exploration helped me figure out which career paths and courses would be most relevant aboard the Vestigo.

Dunbar, B. (2015, May 12). What Is a Spacewalk? Retrieved from https://www.nasa.gov/audience/forstudents/k-4/stories/nasa-knows/what-is-a-spacewalk-k4.html
As spacewalks and extravehicular activity will be an essential skill to learn on the Vestigo, I researched how astronauts train for spacewalks to help develop my education and training system.

Henny, C. (2016, May 24). 9 Things That Will Shape The Future Of Education: What Learning Will Look Like In 20 Years? Retrieved from https://elearningindustry.com/9-things-shape-future-of-education- learning-20-years
This source was a good starting point to gather inspiration on what I can incorporate into the Vestigo's education system.

NASA. (n.d.). About the Deep Space Network. Retrieved January 23, 2020, from https://deepspace.jpl.nasa.gov/about/
I wanted the people aboard the Vestigo to be able to communicate with Earth, so I searched up how NASA communicates with its spacecraft and read up on the Deep Space Network which is detailed here.

RobotWorx. (n.d.). What Are The Main Parts Of An Industrial Robot? Retrieved January 29, 2020, from https://www.robots.com/faq/what-are-the-main-parts-of-an-industrial-robot
I modeled the robotic arm used by the Vestigo’s engineers after the industrial robotic arms used in factories today, and used this source to get background on the components of these robotic arms.

Space Foundation. (n.d.). Components of a Satellite. Retrieved January 25, 2020, from https://www.spacefoundation.org/space_brief/satellite-components/
This source gave me background information on the components of a satellite.