Fort Mars

They’re singing my praises back home
Everyone knows my name
An ordinary hard-working boy made good

 

It’s been a long journey
A hard row to hoe

 

Who said that?

 

It wasn’t so bad at first

 

Always the same niggles
You know
When people are thrown together

 

Little things

 

Then they started to whittle us down

 

Near-Earth Logistics
Easy life
Three weeks

 

Project stand-up
In-flight checks
Deep-flight provisions
Sayonara

 

Transit Team
Six of us
Old salts

 

Eight months in a bean can
You begin to notice transmission lag
Get on each other’s nerves a little

 

It’s ok
We trained for that
Team-work is our résumé
Our selves subsumed to the mission

 

They’re good guys

 

Then injection
“You’re on your own, John”
Me and myself in the hot-seat
Mars Lander + 1

 

It takes some trust in robotics

 

First human in the environment

 

First to touch down

 

Even the Moon boys had company
Know what I mean?
What happens to me happens to you, too, Buzz

 

But it’s all about payload
And sustainment

 

The guys upstairs wanted robots
Like the ones that set up the base

 

Minimal human risk
Minimal political risk

 

Yet it was politicians who sent me here

 

Humankind

 

Excuse me

 

They’re killing each other on Earth
But we gotta get a human on Mars

 

And here I am

 

Next one's a woman

 

Valentina
A Russian
Arrives in three months time

 

She's already on her way

 

Elena three months later

 

Jeez, I hope they get along

 

That’ll be me gone
On the first manned launch from the surface

 

We flew a few drones
Which were intercepted ok

 

It’ll be fine
The techies have it all down

 

So
I suppose I’d better start earning my pay

 

See y’all soon