"If I Let Go I'd Die"

TODAY'S author has a background in aerospace engineering, which explains a lot about . . .

"Tethers."

By William Ledbetter (born 1961; Wikipedia HERE; ISFDb HERE; and Homepage HERE).

First appearance: Baen.com, November 2016.

Reprints page (ISFDb HERE).

Short short story (7 pages as a PDF).

Online at the Baen Free Library (HERE).

(Parental caution: Strong language.)

   "He would try to kill me in some way that wouldn't breach my suit and waste my precious gas supply."

FOR many reasons, all of them blindingly obvious, walking in space is no stroll in the park. One careless mistake can be fatal—and that just applies to accidents. But when something potentially fatal is caused, you've got a whole new situation, in this case one that adds a new dimension to hanging by a thread . . .

Principal characters:

~ Hartman ("I guess you broke the record. Congratulations."), Hartman's dad ("You're a pretty sharp kid. You must have got that from your mother."), and Sievert ("Are you too nervous to talk, techie? Do you clench your teeth tight to keep them from chattering?").

References:

- "geosynchronous orbit":

  "A geosynchronous orbit (sometimes abbreviated GSO) is an Earth-centered orbit with an orbital period that matches Earth's rotation on its axis, 23 hours, 56 minutes, and 4 seconds (one sidereal day). The synchronization of rotation and orbital period means that, for an observer on Earth's surface, an object in geosynchronous orbit returns to exactly the same position in the sky after a period of one sidereal day. Over the course of a day, the object's position in the sky may remain still or trace out a path, typically in a figure-8 form, whose precise characteristics depend on the orbit's inclination and eccentricity. A circular geosynchronous orbit has a constant altitude of 35,786 km (22,236 mi)." (Wikipedia HERE.)

- "we made quite a nice bolo":

  "Space tethers are long cables which can be used for propulsion, momentum exchange, stabilization and attitude control, or maintaining the relative positions of the components of a large, dispersed satellite/spacecraft sensor system. Depending on the mission objectives and altitude, spaceflight using this form of spacecraft propulsion is theorized to be significantly less expensive than spaceflight using rocket engines." (Wikipedia HERE.)

- Someone named universe1701 has collected a list of 19 "Best Stranded in Space Movies" on the IMDb (HERE).

- Equally determined adversaries can be found in Miles J. Breuer's "The Puzzle Duel" (HERE), Fritz Leiber's "Moon Duel" (HERE), and Poul Anderson's "Out of the Iron Womb" (HERE).

The bottom line:

Unless otherwise noted, all bibliographical data are derived from The FictionMags Index created by William G. Contento & edited by Phil Stephensen-Payne.

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