Terminal Compromise, Winn Schwartau [sight word books txt] 📗

at NASA.

@COMPMEMO “CHRISTA MCAULIFFE AND THE CHALLENGER WELCOME THE CREW

OF THE SPACE SHUTTLE COLUMBIA.”

“We have a go for auto sequence start. Columbia’s forward comput-

ers now taking over primary control of critical vehicle functions

through lift-off.”

T-MINUS 30 SECONDS AND COUNTING

“What the hell is that?” Mission Specialist Hawkins said to the

technician who was monitoring the auto-correlation noise reduc-

tion systems needed to communicate with the astronauts once in

space.

TWENTY NINE

“What?” Sam Broadbent took off his earpiece.

TWENTY EIGHT

“Look at that.” Hawkins pointed at the central monitor.

TWENTY SEVEN

“What does that mean, it’s not in the book?”

TWENTY SIX

“I dunno. No chances though.” Hawkins switched his intercom

selector to ‘ALL’, meaning that everyone on line, including the

Mission Control Director would hear.

TWENTY FIVE

“We have an anomaly here . . .” Hawkins said into his mouthpiece.

TWENTY FOUR

“Specify anomaly, comm,” The dry voice returned. Hawkins wasn’t

quite sure how to respond. The practice runs had not covered

this eventuality.

TWENTY THREE

“Look up at Video 6. Switching over.” Hawkins tried to remain

unflustered.

TWENTY TWO

“Copy comm. Do you contain?”

TWENTY ONE

“Negative Mission Control. It’s an override.” Hawkins answered.

TWENTY – FIRING SEQUENCE NOMINAL

The voice of Mission Control annoyed Hawkins for the first time

in his 8 years at NASA.

“Confirm and update.”

NINETEEN

Hawkins blew his cool. “Look at the goddamned monitor for Chris-

sakes. Just look!” He yelled into the intercom.

EIGHTEEN

“Holy . . .who’s . . .please confirm, local analysis,” the sober

voice sounded concerned for the first time.

SEVENTEEN

“Confirmed anomaly.” “Confirmed.” “Confirmed.” “Confirmed.”

The votes streamed in.

SIXTEEN

“We have a confirm . . .”

T-MINUS 15 SECONDS AND COUNTING.

TEN

“We have a go for main engine start.”

SEVEN

SIX

FIVE

“We have a main engine start . . .we have a cut off.”

“Columbia, we have a monitor anomaly, holding at T-minus 5.”

“That’s a Roger, Houston,” the commander of Space Shuttle Colum-

bia responded calmly.

“We have a manual abort override. Columbia’s on board computers

confirm the cut-off. Can you verify, Columbia?”

“That’s a Roger.”

The huge block letter message continued to blaze across the

monitors. Craig Volker spoke rapidly into his master intercom

system. “Cut network feed. Cut direct feed. Cut now! Now!” All

TV networks suddenly lost their signal that was routed through

NASA’s huge video switches. NASA’s own satellite feed was simul-

taneously cut as well. If NASA didn’t want it going to the public

it didn’t get sent.

CNN got the first interview with NASA officials.

“What caused today’s flight to be aborted?”

“We detected a slight leak in the fuel tanks. We believe that

the sensors were faulty, that there was no leak, but we felt in

the interest of safety it would be best to abort the mission.

Orbital alignment is not critical and we can attempt a relaunch

within 2 weeks. When we know more we will make further informa-

tion available.” The NASA spokesman left abruptly.

The CNN newsman continued. “According to NASA, a malfunctioning

fuel monitor was the cause of today’s aborted shuttle launch.

However, several seconds before the announced abort, our video

signal was cut by NASA. Here is a replay of that countdown

again.”

CNN technicians replayed one of their video tapes. The video

monitors within Mission Control were not clear on the replay. But

the audio was. “Look at the goddamned monitor for Chrissakes.

Just look.” Then the video went dead.

*

Steve Billings received an urgent message on his computer’s E-

Mail when he got home from classes. All it said was

PHONE HOME

He dialed NEMO directly this time.

<<<<<>>>>>

He chose CONVERSATION PIT from the menu. La Creme was there,

alone and probably waiting.

What’s the panic?

YOU DON’T KNOW? <>

Just finished exams . . .been locked up in student hell . . .

NASA ABORT . . .SHUTTLE WENT TO SHIT. <>

So? More Beckel fuel problems I s’pose.

UH . . .UH. NOT THIS TIME. NASA GOT AN INVITATION. <>

From aliens? SETI finally came through?

NOPE. FROM CHRISTA MCAULIFFE. <>

Right.

SERIOUS. SHE WELCOMED THE CREW OF COLUMBIA. <>

Get real . . .

I AM. CHECK OUT CNN. THEY RECONSTRUCTED THE VIDEO SIGNAL BEFORE

NASA SHUT THE FEED DOWN. THE MONITORS HAD A GREETING FROM CHRIS-

TA. ABORTED THE DAMN MISSION. <>

I don’t get it.

NEITHER DO I. BUT, DON’T YOU PLAY AROUND IN NASA COMPUTERS?

<>

Sure I do. Poke and Play. I’m not alone.

AND REPROGRAM THE LAUNCH COMPUTERS? <>

Never. It’s against the Code.

I KNOW THAT, BUT DO YOU? <>

What are getting at?

OK GOOD BUDDY . . .STRAIGHT SHOOTING. DID YOU GO IN AND PUT SOME

MESSAGES ON MISSION CONTROL COMPUTERS? <>

Fuck, no. You know better than that.

I HOPED YOU’D SAY THAT. <>

Hey . . .thanks for the vote of confidence.

NO OFFENSE DUDE. HADDA ASK. THEN IF YOU DIDN’T WHO DID?

<>

I don’t know. That’s sick.

NO SHIT SHERLOCK. NASA’S ONE PISSED OFF PUPPY. THEY HAVEN’T

GONE PUBLIC YET, BUT THE MEDIA’S GOT IT PEGGED THAT HACKERS ARE

RESPONSIBLE. WE MAY HAVE TO LOCK IT UP.

Damn. Better get clean.

YOU LEAVE TRACKS?

Nah. They’re security is for shit. No nothing. Besides, I get

in as SYSOP. I can erase my own tracks.

BETTER BE SURE.

I’m not going back, not for a while.

THERE’S GONNA BE SOME SERIOUS HEAT ON THIS.

Can’t blame ‘em. What d’you suggest? I’m clean, really.

BELIEVE YOU GUY. I DO. BUT WILL THEY?

I hope so . . .

* Friday, November 15 New York City Times NASA SCRUBS MISSION: HACKERS AT PLAY? by Scott Mason

NASA canceled the liftoff of the space shuttle Columbia yester-

day, only 15 seconds prior to liftoff. Delays in the troubled

shuttle program are nothing new. It seems that just about every-

thing that can go wrong has gone wrong in the last few years.

We watch fuel tanks leak, backup computers go bad, life support

systems malfunction and suffer through a complete range of incom-

prehensible defects in the multi-billion dollar space program.

We got to the moon in one piece, but the politics of the Shuttle

Program is overwhelming.

Remember what Senator John Glenn said during his historic 3 orbit

mission in the early days of the Mercury Program. “It worries me

some. To think that I’m flying around up here in a machine built

by the lowest bidder.”

At the time, when the space program had the support of the coun-

try from the guidance of the young Kennedy and from the fear of

the Soviet lead, Glenn’s comment was meant to alleviate the

tension. Successfully, at that. But since the Apollo fire and

the Challenger disaster, and an all too wide array of constant

technical problems, political will is waning. The entire space

program suffers as a result.

Yesterday’s aborted launch echoes of further bungling. While the

management of NASA is undergoing critical review, and executive

replacements seem imminent, the new breed will have to live with

past mistakes for some time. Unfortunately, most Americans no

longer watch space launches, and those that do tune out once the

astronauts are out of camera range. The Space Program suffers

from external malaise as well as internal confusion.

That is, until yesterday.

In an unprecedented move, seconds after the countdown was halted,

NASA cut its feeds to the networks and all 4 channels were left

with the omnipresent long lens view of the space shuttle sitting

idle on its launch pad. In a prepared statement, NASA blamed the

aborted flight on yet another leak from the massive and explo-

sive 355,000 gallon fuel tanks. In what will clearly become

another public relations fiasco, NASA lied to us again. It

appears that NASA’s computers were invaded.

CNN cooped the other three networks by applying advanced digital

reconstruction to a few frames of video. Before NASA cut the

feed, CNN was receiving pictures of the monitor walls from Mis-

sion Control in Houston, Texas. Normally those banks of video

monitors contain critical flight information, telemetry, orbital

paths and other data to insure the safety of the crew and machin-

ery.

Yesterday, though, the video monitors carried a message to the

nation:

CHRISTA MCAULIFFE AND THE CHALLENGER WELCOME THE CREW OF THE

SPACE SHUTTLE COLUMBIA.

This was the message that NASA tried to hide from America.

Despite the hallucinations of fringe groups who are prophesizing

imminent contact with an alien civilization, this message was not

from a large black monolith on the Moon or from the Red Spot on

Jupiter. A Star Baby will not be born.

The threatening words came from a deranged group of computer

hackers who thought it would be great sport to endanger the lives

of our astronauts, waste millions of taxpayer dollars, retard

military space missions and make a mockery of NASA. After con-

fronted with the undisputed evidence that CNN presented to NASA

officials within hours of the attempted launch, the following

statement was issued:

“The Space Shuttle Columbia flight performing a military mission,

was aborted 5 seconds prior to lift-off. First reports indicated

that the reason was a minor leak in a fuel line. Subsequent

analysis showed, though, that the Side Band Communications Moni-

toring System displayed remote entry anomalies inconsistent with

program launch sequence. Automatic