Kronos capturing mission

> Today, we all make history. For the first time, man will set foot on an asteroid. A Soviet cosonaut on an American ship, wearing a suit manufactured by private company. This is the fruit of our Mars alliance.
>
> Roscosmos director Lenara Catiche, Season 4, Episode 1, "Glasnost"

> Today, we take the next step towards a self-sustaining Mars colony.
>
> NASA administrator Eli Hobson, Season 4, Episode 1, "Glasnost"

The **Kronos capturing mission** was a joint mission by the Mars-7 Alliance and Helios Aerospace to capture the asteroid XF Kronos for mining it back in Mars orbit.

## History

### First steps

The Mars-7 Alliance detected the asteroid XF Kronos and planned to use it to mine resources which would help build a self sustaining Mars colony. Before the mission, Ed Baldwin and Grigory Kuznetsov played a game of cards to determine who would be the first man to make contact with an asteroid. Kuzetsov won after pulling a pair of Queens.

Kuznetsov eventually made his way out of *Ranger 1* as the Roscosmos and NASA mission controls celebrate their joint accomplishments. As Kuznetsov approached the asteroid, he relished the moment, slowly gliding his hand against the surface before stepping foot on Kronos.

### Capture mission

After Kuznetsov's moment, other astronauts made their way out and began the anchoring process and connecting cables to a truss for *Ranger-1* to connect to. After the cables were connected and secured, *Ranger 1* connecetd with the truss and soon after, ignited the thrusters and began towing the asteroid toward Mars orbit. However, as the acceleration began, the cables slowly began to loosen up, causing the asteroid to begin wobble. Baldwin tried to compensate but the wobble increasingly got worse.

### Tragedy

Kuznetsov volunteered to re-tension the cables, despite the orders from Happy Valley commander George Peters not to. Space worker Tom Parker agrees to help, not willing to give up the bonus if they eject the asteroid. As the two reach the truss, things got worse as the truss crushed a leg of Kuznetsov and a part of a truss which broke loose impaled Parker. Baldwin attempts to rescue Kuznetsov but the latter realized there was a puncture in his suit and already losing oxygen. Kuznetsov reminds Baldwin to consider the safety of his team and pleads with Baldwin to leave him. After some hesitation, Baldwin bid farewell to his friend before ejecting *Ranger 1* from the asteroid, leaving Kuznetsov and Kronos to drift off.

### Aftermath

Following the events, Commander Peters was relieved of his duties as Happy Valley commander, being later replaced by Danielle Poole. The M-7 Asteroid Capture Program was stopped upon further investigation on what went wrong on the mission.

After Margo Madison got her hands on the Soviet incident report, she noted there was a manufacturing error with the anchor bolts that were designed and built by Roscosmos. The anchor bolts didn't meet specifcations due to a conversion error which Kirill Semenov tried to cover up but later took accountability for it once confronted on it by Irina Morozova. Due to this, Semenov was fired from Roscosmos and taken away by the KGB infront of his team.

## Gallery

Approaching the asteroidFirst man on an asteroidAnchoring the asteroid*Ranger 1* dockedRe-tensioning the cables
## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 *For All Mankind* TV Series - Season 4, Episode 1: "Glasnost"
2. ↑ *For All Mankind* TV Series - Season 4, Episode 4: "House Divided"