Goldilocks capturing mission

*This article is about the asteroid capturing mission. For the asteroid itself, see Goldilocks. For the episode with the same name, see Goldilocks (episode).*

## General Information

### Participants

* M-7 Alliance
* Helios Aerospace
* Group of conspirators (secretly)

### Result

**Partial success*** Goldilocks captured
* Asteroid in Martian Orbit instead of Earth's

The **Goldilocks capturing mission** was a joint mission by the Mars-7 Alliance and Helios Aerospace in 2003 to capture the asteroid Goldilocks for mining it in Martian orbit. Due to the exorbitant costs of the mining operations projected by Helios operative Aleida Rosales, the M-7 members at their 2003 summit in LeningradW decided to direct the asteroid towards Earth instead. Unbeknownst to everyone else, Dev Ayesa and a team of conspirators then aimed to direct it into Martian orbit anyway. The conspirators would be successful, leading to Goldilocks being placed in permanent Martian orbit.

## History

### Discovery

In 2003, the Thomas Paine Space Telescope picked up images of an unknown object in the vicinity of Jupiter, which was believed to be an asteroid decayed from a Jovian trojan orbit. The object got the designation "2003LC" and further studies revealed it was redirected to the inner Solar System, coming in on a Mars-crossing orbit. It was believed to have an estimated 70,000 metric tons of IridiumW, valued at $20 trillion. Because of this, 2003LC was nicknamed the "Goldilocks" asteroid. While economists believed it could lead to an economic boom, others were skeptical as the breakthrough in Helium-3 led to the loss of many jobs.Soviet President Korzhenko also questioned the legitimacy of the discovery, believing the Soviet Union the only reliable source of Iridium.

### Planning

The value of the asteroid leads to plans to capture it and bring it into Martian orbit, as had been planned with the ill fated XF Kronos capture. After President Gore makes a faux pas and takes responsibility for discovering the asteroid, Roscosmos director Irina Morozova organises a summit between the Mars-7 members and Helios Aerospace in Leningrad, to organise the capture and divide the estimated profits. After Helios engineer Aleida Rosales reveals that the costs will reach $2 trillion, and the profits will likely not be seen for 30-40 years, NASA administrator Eli Hobson instead proposes for the asteroid to be redirected to Earth orbit, where the costs will be much lower and the wait time will be 5 years instead. To ensure that the equations necessary for this change in plans are complete, Morozova lets former NASA engineer and defector Margo Madison reveal herself as having survived the Johnson Space Center bombing in 1995, so that she can work with Aleida on the problem. Despite misgivings between the two, a solution is found.

### Problems on Mars

After the change in plans, Helios Workers on Mars who would have benefited financially from the asteroid mining in Martian orbit, go on strike in order to fight for increased pay, increased safety and for Goldilocks to be mined in Martian orbit. After ESA astronaut Nick Jennings is killed when attempting to restart the fuel refining generators at Happy Valley by bypassing a safety regulator, the strike is ended, after Helios CEO Dev Ayesa offers a deal worth over $1 million to each worker and increased safety standards, although Golidlocks will still be mined in Earth orbit. Only 5 Helios workers, including Ed Baldwin and Samantha Massey hold out on the deal.

### Redirection mission

As part of the redirection of Goldilocks to Earth, M-7 and Helios plan to utilise *Ranger* to push the asteroid towards Mars and utilise it for a gravity assistedW redirection towards Earth. By pushing the asteroid towards Mars with a series of small correction burns, before finally utilising a 20 minute burn, they will be able to redirect it. To ensure that the calculations are correct, they will send the orders from Happy Valley's Ops-Comm room to *Ranger* through a discriminator box on board the ship.

### Capture

The capture of Goldilocks is successful, resulting in the asteroid being pulled towards Mars for the planned gravity assist.

### Asteroid theft

*See also: Ghost Ops*
Unbeknownst to M-7 and the majority of Helios workers, Dev Ayesa instead wishes to capture Goldilocks in Martian orbit, in order to force it to be mined in Martian orbit, helping to create a sustainable Martian colony. He recruits Ed Baldwin, Samantha Massey and the other Helios workers who had held out on the initial deal to help him with his plan. He discovers that by burning for 25 minutes instead of 20, the asteroid will instead be trapped in a permanent Martian orbit. To ensure the plan succeeds, the team has to build their own Ops-Comm room using hardware smuggled from *Phoenix* by Miles Dale, while also having Massey who will be on *Ranger* as part of the crew, swap out the discriminator box for one of their own, which she manages to do by sabotaging the original box.

After Miles is tortured by KGB and CIA agents Timur Avilov and Mike Bishop. The location of Ghost Ops is discovered. This leads to the other conspirators hiding in the North Korean sector of the base, under the command of Lee Jung-Gil. Utilizing the S-Band transmitter in the sector, they are able to communicate with Park Chui Moo, the science officer on the mission. Park is able to pass a communication device to Massey, opening communications between Dev and Massey. Massey then undertakes a EVA to open the engine override, which is located on the outside of the ship. Massey is successful in this endeavour, although has to subdue crew member Palmer James to do so.

On Earth, after former Roscosmos director and love interest of Margo, Sergei Nikulov is killed. Margo and Aleida work to ensure that the plot succeeds. Believing it to be a way to honor his legacy, by ensuring continued Martian investment. Their work ensures that the engines continue to burn, despite other engineers aiming to shutdown the nuclear reactors on *Ranger* to starve the engines of fuel. These combined actions result in Goldilocks falling into permanent Martian orbit.

### Aftermath

Due to Margo's actions, her diplomatic immunity is renounced and she is arrested by the FBI on her previous treason charges. By 2012 mining outposts are set up on the asteroids surface, including Kuznetsov Station.

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 *For All Mankind* TV Series - Season 4, Episode 5: "Goldilocks"
2. ↑ *For All Mankind* TV Series - Season 4, Episode 6: "Leningrad"
3. ↑ *For All Mankind* TV Series - Season 4, Episode 7: "Crossing The Line"
4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 *For All Mankind* TV Series - Season 4, Episode 8: "Legacy"
5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 *For All Mankind* TV Series - Season 4, Episode 9: "Brazil"
6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 *For All Mankind* TV Series - Season 4, Episode 10: "Perestroika"