Astronaut Kendrick Harvey closed the hood on the rover and stared out over the desolate landscape. The moon was an amazing place. It had been his home for over six months, and he was fifty kilometers from base.
He was afraid it would be his grave.
“Houston, the battery ruptured. It leaked all over.”
Lunar dust was really the worst. Like tiny razor blades. Somehow, the battery compartment was full of the devil dust.
“Copy, Rover 1. We're going around the room.”
Harvey frowned. He couldn't walk fifty kilometers and get back without running out of air. But could the quantum supercomputers, nicknamed Eigenweasels, help him?
“Houston, what about power beaming?”
“Rover 1, how do you mean? With no battery to charge, what would that do?”
“Use the Eigenweasels to aim the beam to hit my solar panel continuously as I drive. The solar panel isn't enough to run the motor, unless you oversaturate it. I'll bypass the battery and you can tune the power level to be exactly how much I need to drive.”
“Rover 1, The satellites aren't stationary. It'll have to accommodate the change in inclination and you'll only be able to operate while it's in line of sight.”
“Houston, can the Eigenweasels do all of that? Your programmers are always bragging that they can simulate things live. Well, simulate this, and optimize it live.”
Harvey waited in silence. CAPCOM did not reply immediately. This was a big ask. No one had ever tried anything like this before. Aiming a satellite to shoot a tight beam of power at a moving solar panel while keeping the amperage constant…
“Rover 1, this is Houston. The programmers are confident. I'd call them giddy. While they program it up, I have some instructions for you from the electrical team. This is not going to be simple.”
Two hours later, Harvey eased his foot onto the accelerator and smiled as the rover began to roll him back to base.