Orbital Mechanic’s Report

Day 1: Welcome Back to the Grind

It is the start of my six-month rotation aboard Delta Horizon, and the station feels exactly as I left it—massive, cold, and one system failure away from chaos. My bunk seems smaller, and the food printer in the galley has already started glitching. A fine beginning.

First shift was routine maintenance on the oxygen recycling arrays. Mostly recalibrations and diagnostic sweeps, nothing critical. The manifolds in Section B3 are showing their age, though. I flagged them for replacement, but given our current supply backlog, it will probably be ignored.

Pace looked beautiful through the observation port today. Its blue and green oceans shimmered beneath the cloud layers, a reminder of how fragile life really is when you are surrounded by nothing but machinery and a vacuum.

Day 3: A Wrench in the Works

Halfway through the shift, we got a pressure drop alert in one of the fuel transfer lines at Docking Bay Six. A micrometeorite had punctured an external pipe. The automated systems sealed it off before we lost too much helium three, but it was close.

Repairs meant a spacewalk. I have done enough EVAs to know they never get easier. You hang there in silence, four hundred kilometers above the planet, with nothing between you and eternity but a tether and a suit. Still, there is a strange peace in that emptiness.

The damage was minor—a few cracks and one clean puncture. A quick weld and some new shielding panels took care of it. But as I floated there, I could not shake the thought of how fragile this outpost really is. One larger impact, and the entire station could unravel in seconds.

Day 5: The Supply Problem

We are running low on critical components. Power couplings, coolant filters, and even simple circuit boards are in short supply. The last shuttle from Pace was delayed again, grounded by high-altitude storms. Command insists it will arrive within two days. Until then, we patch, pray, and hope nothing else fails.

The coolant system for the reactor core worries me most. It is stable for now, but the backup pumps are nearing the end of their cycle. If those fail, the core temperature will climb fast. That is not a scenario anyone wants to see play out.

Dinner tonight was rehydrated vegetable stew. Again. Someone needs to fix the flavor calibration on the galley printer before mutiny sets in.

Day 6: Crisis Averted

This morning started with alarms. A small coolant leak in the reactor core escalated before we could isolate the source. The temperature readings spiked, and for a moment I thought we were losing containment. The vibration through the deck was real, not imagination.

Three of us spent an hour crawling through the reactor housing, tracing the leak to a failed secondary pump. Coolant had flooded the maintenance hatch. We sealed it with a spare valve and rerouted the flow, but the reactor will remain at reduced efficiency until replacements arrive.

Once the adrenaline faded, all that remained was exhaustion and the chemical burn of coolant fumes in my hair. Reactor emergencies take a toll that no simulator can prepare you for. I hope I never see another one.

Day 8: Life Between the Bolts

Today was calm, the kind of day that keeps you sane out here. Routine work, no emergencies. I spent most of the shift in the hydroponics bay repairing a faulty water filtration line. The plants are the only green on this station, and their oxygen output keeps us breathing. It is easy to forget how much we rely on them.

The crew’s morale is holding, though tension simmers whenever supplies run short. Tonight’s zero-gravity soccer match in the recreation module helped break it. I even managed to score, though my crash into the bulkhead was less than graceful. Worth it.

Day 10: The Shuttle Arrives

Relief finally came this morning. The supply shuttle docked without issue, and the entire station seemed to relax at once. We had the new coolant pumps installed before midday, bringing the reactor back to full capacity. The hum of the core at normal resonance is a sound I did not realize I had missed.

The shipment also included fresh food packs, replacement tools, and personal items. Someone even thought to include coffee—a rare luxury this far from home. I claimed a bag before the officers could get to it. Small victories matter up here.

Day 12: The Quiet Moments

Some days fade into routine, but the quiet moments have their own kind of gravity. After my shift, I stood at the observation deck and watched Pace drift beneath us, its atmosphere glowing faintly in the sunlight. From up here, every storm and ocean swirl looks like a living painting.

Life on Delta Horizon is relentless, but it means something. Every calibration, every repair, every tightened bolt keeps two hundred people alive. It is not glory or adventure. It is maintenance, survival, and pride in the work that holds it all together.

End Log

Location: Delta Horizon Station, Orbiting Planet Pace
Position: Senior Mechanic, Deck Twelve Maintenance Division
Technician ID: Vance Ortega
Log Period: Week One of Rotation