The form arrived at the Space Traffic Authority’s front desk a little after two in the afternoon.
Yoshida opened the envelope and stood frozen for three seconds.
The header read: Orbital Change Permit (Retroactive Filing). Under Object Modified: “Dimorphos (asteroid).” Under Method of Modification: “Struck with a spacecraft.” Under Magnitude of Change: “Approximately 33 minutes reduced.”
He read it again, top to bottom, just to be sure.
Retroactive was the problem. Under agency regulations, any orbital modification required advance application and written approval before the change was made. “I didn’t think rocks needed a permit” was not an acceptable defense. Rocks, moons, whatever — if you’re moving it, you file first.
Yoshida reached into his drawer. Two stamps: Accepted and Return.
He glanced at the Reason for Modification field.
— Because it would be bad if a meteorite hit Earth.
That’s what it said.
He stood there for a moment, stamp in hand, and looked out the window. Clear sky. Somewhere out there, in a universe now running on a slightly adjusted timetable, that change was doing its job. You couldn’t see any of it from here.
He pressed the Return stamp to the upper right corner of the form.
With the next submission, he planned to include a guidance note on how to properly state a reason. “Because it would be bad” was insufficient justification, he would write. Please be more specific.