The further Adventures of Winne(‘Bago) 1
“Houston, we have a problem….”
“Ahh, ‘Bago 1’ could you please repeat that???
“Roger Houston, I repeat, we do have a problem”
“What do you mean, ‘We have a problem’, you just left here! Please hold this for Command, they’re gonna wanna hear this one! ‘We have a problem’…. Sheesh! who do you think you are? Tom Hanks and Jim Lovell? Ha-Ha-Ha!
“Hey guys! Get a load of this one!”
(Me covering the mic so I can talk just to Paula) “I knew it was a bad idea to call back to base!”
“Ok, ‘Bago 1′, please explain this one!
“Roger CapCom, We were proceeding on course and on time. All systems were ‘Go’, no indications of any issues. About 80 miles out and still in our initial ‘burn’ to leave orbit we encountered some of the same glitches that initially aborted some of the previous missions. We thought that these ‘issues’ had ben addressed, but while gliding through the Lehigh Valley, about 2/3 of the way to our first rendezvous and course correction, we had multiple warning lights.”
“Roger that ‘Bago 1′, the boys in the lab suggest that you attempt a return to base, the only good thing here is that you won’t need to go all the way to the moon to slingshot around it in order to make it back here like they did back with Apollo 13. The experts agree that an “All Stop” is in order, then fire your retrorockets and take the same course back here. They will be waiting with the portable computer so that the ‘Hard Codes’, that will still be there, can be analyzed and a recommended course of action will be put in place.”
Well folks, as they say …. You can’t make this stuff up.
It turns out that there are several “Codes” that come up when those pesky Check Engine lights come on and they are not specific enough to drill down to the exact cause. In this case it was still all part of that after-treatment of the exhaust. We made it back to Base and turned it over to the boys in the lab. They felt that they had it this time. In all fairness to them, the probable offending parts had previously checked out and were within the parameters of working correctly.
Anyway, Paula and I then went back the way we had just come. We figured that we would spend the night with her cousin anyway as it had already been planned (and the alternative was a night at the repair facility) Today we went back to Base and picked up ‘Bago 1’ and then went back down (3rd time now!) the way we had just come from.
This report is being written in Staunton, Virginia (over 300 miles away) and so far we have not had to call back to Houston and repeat that dreaded phrase!