Lois & Clark Forums Forums Fan Fiction Fanfic Challenge Lois Lane, (sp)ace reporter

You know that scene in the pilot where Lois is in the shuttle (that should start in the next few minutes) finds the bomb etc.
But what if Lois and Clark were wrong and everything was totally okay with the shuttle, so the start was a success - and Lois is still on board of the colonialis shuttle?
What will Lois do and how will she and Clark handle the situation? Will Clark decide to come to her rescue? So many questions...

Clark would need to rescue the shuttle, with Lois on board they won't have enough fuel to reach the station.

I can't find the link, but know this was discussed on these boards in the past couple of years. As I recall, there were concerns expressed about not only the low fuel, but also supplies including food, water and oxygen being in short supply with an added passenger. I think there was also mention of how the added weight of an additional person might throw off the flight path of the shuttle, so it might miss its target or need a course correction using additional fuel. And there was concern that Lois's seat wasn't designed to be used during lift-off, so she might not have survived.

The not enough fuel is silly. They had what 50 passengers plus cargo. You don't have a system with 0 margin for fuel. Since weight really matters maybe only 5-10% but not 0. Same with food and water. Actually fuel cells make water so you usually have a surplus.

In a non rated seat Lois might black out for a minute at peak G force, but not take any damage.

That was a very flimsy seat, Lois might experience more that a little damage.

dcarson is mostly right. The craft would have more fuel than the minimum required for one trip, and her added weight wouldn't make that big a difference. Same with food and water - the designers would plan in a fudge factor of at least 15% in case the trip took longer or some of the food was spoiled for some reason.

The seat, though, is a big problem. Fighter pilots in World War 2 might experience a 4.5G force in a powerful and agile plane in a max turn. A lot of them would lose blood flow to their brains and "gray out" in that situation. Astronauts can experience up to nine G force during liftoff. That's survivable only with an acceleration couch and a padded flight suit. Lois would have exerted a max force of about a thousand pounds on that jump seat, and because she was sitting up she would have suffered spinal damage and impact injuries similar to a fall from a three-story building when the jump seat collapsed.

If Superman had flown up to rescue her after the shuttle achieved orbit, it's likely he would have returned carrying Lois in a body bag. So, in retrospect, she's lucky Luthor tried to blow up the shuttle.

A Saturn V peaked at under 4G. This launcher is designed for civilians including medical patients. I'd expect 3G max and that not for very long.

Ok, going back to the original post. Assuming triple redundancy, and that Lois did not jump in without checking the water, she stowaways on the flight, there are no problems with the flight, she arrives at the space colony, not in LEO of course, rather in the L5 point,

Now she’s stuck, at least for a while, Superman has not had his debut rescue, and Clark is without Lois,

So what happens to the events of season one?