The short answer is...
"Well, I figured that they'd want to get rid of me once they knew I was there, so they'd send me back down on the next crew exchange flight."That, I think, would be typical Lois reasoning. Of course, it shows blissful ignorance of the reality of spaceflight, even at the advanced level shown in the series.
It also assumes that the lab module she's on
gets to
Prometheus, and that will be less likely since the ship is carrying an extra passenger. I would
hope that the EPRAD guys have enough reserve fuel and manoeuvring propellant to cope with the unexpected additional mass, but I'd want to see the figures to be certain. Most definitely, the planned trajectory will be off by a small amount, and that can have big effects in space -- even LEO.
And then there's the additional food, water and oxygen she's consuming while she's on the station, not to mention the person who will have to be bumped from the return trip in order for her to get down, and the food, etc., that person will consume while waiting to get back to Earth, and the
mess Lois has made of the crew schedule, with all its implications for the research program... And then there's the would-be astronaut who won't get into space at all due to Lois' presence -- oh, they're going to
hate her at EPRAD!
Someone should give Lois a copy of Algys Budry's (? -- I think; also sp?)
The Cold Equations and insist she read it; she'll think twice before doing the stowaway act again. Or she would if she didn't have Clark to rely on...
Phil
