1
The spaceship New Hope, piloted by a two-person crew of the International Return to the Moon Initiative, has just entered a low lunar orbit.
“So, here we are. The first and easiest stage of the trip is over. Orbit achieved. You can breathe again, Ellie. Holding your breath has that effect, you know... Do it for too long, it could kill you,” joked Julius to his second pilot, Dr. Ellie Johnson from NASA, and gave a broad smile.
Captain Julius Cousteau, the first pilot representing the European Space Agency and captain of the mission, reduced the thrust for the main engine on the control panel, and after a while, making sure he was able to achieve the planned flight trajectory, turned off the engine. Now the ship would coast using its own momentum, correcting its trajectory only from time to time using its thrusters. Besides, the autopilot would manage this task perfectly - that’s what it was designed for, after all.
“I did not doubt that we’d make it in one piece,” replied Ellie. “Although I was a little nervous. Planes or flight simulators are one thing. Reality and knowing that only a thin steel sheet separates us from space, hmmm, that’s a different story”.
Prior to joining NASA and volunteering for the space missions program, Ellie had attained a Ph.D. in psychology and nuclear physics. She was also an accomplished pilot of turboprop aircraft so traveling at greater speeds was not anything foreign to her. The first flight to the Moon in 60 years, however, is slightly different from a trip in the atmosphere. First of all – turbulence. Or the lack thereof. What they sometimes show in science-fiction movies is a bunch of nonsense. There’s always a lot of shaking in the movies. But in reality, aside from the overloads generated by the rocket engine at the other end of the spaceship, and only when it is turned on, the flight itself is smooth. No turbulence whatsoever. You can’t feel a thing. Second: the knowledge that, until now, only a dozen or so people have been here in all of human history. Not to mention, they were all men. Also, the fact that at every second, millions of small rocks, if not more, are racing through the solar system at unbelievable speeds, and each one of them, should the trajectory of their flight cross paths with New Hope’s orbit, could mean a catastrophe and a rather unpleasant death.
“You don’t say!” said Julius, winking.
“Indeed,” replied Ellie. “Thankfully, New Hope was put together in the States, not on the Old Continent, so I wasn’t worried that we’d fall apart halfway,” she joked.
Cousteau and Ellie would often banter among themselves. The perpetual competitiveness between the two agencies must have carried over on-board, too. Luckily, this kind of competition had a motivational effect on everyone, allowing them to achieve more, faster, and better. Nothing could be more motivating than wanting to show that one’s own space agency has, at least, just as much of an impact as the other.
“We can unfasten our seat belts and stretch our legs,” said Julius. “The landing is planned for tomorrow morning at eight. There’s nothing left for us to do now,” said the captain unfastening his safety belts, which held his body firmly to the chair. Now, as the spaceship was moving in orbit only inertially, which meant that technically it was falling to the target surface, only at a somewhat slower speed than it was able to fall before the Moon’s curvature, they had found themselves in microgravity conditions. Weightlessness only seems fun at first glance. In reality, in zero-gravity conditions, even the simplest activities become exceptionally more difficult, like having to drink everything through a straw and being careful not to spill even a drop of liquid because it would fly off and stick to some surface, what’s worse, falling under some pushbutton and causing a short circuit. Or like in dealing with physiological needs. If you think that doing number one or two at a campsite in strong winds is a challenge, try repeating these here, only into a plastic tube, and knowing that the sucking effect on the other side is not caused by little pumps but by an unyielding void, which could kill you at a moment’s notice. Oh, no. Once we land on the Moon’s surface, I won’t miss microgravity, thought Julius.
“Now we just have to rest, eat something, and prepare mentally for tomorrow’s stage. I know it won’t be easy, but try to get some sleep, Ellie,” asked Julius, albeit in a slightly condescending tone of voice.
“Oh, okay, dad,” Ellie blurted out, laughing. “I’ll eat and go rest. We still have 8 hours until we have to get back to the cockpit and get through all the checks before starting the landing maneuver, so I’m sure I’ll be able to get a moment of sleep. Don’t worry, I’ll be all set tomorrow,” she replied, now entirely serious.
At fifty-three years old, Julius was older than Ellie by almost eighteen years. Quite an age difference; enough to guarantee an endless supply of jokes and mischievous retorts both from the employees of the service on the ground and his flight companion: from elderly and old-timer humor through dad, granddad, and a few others. Of course, Ellie had enormous respect for the main pilot, and she allowed herself to joke this way only when she was sure that it won’t be taken the wrong way. That was the case now.
Julius smiled leniently at his younger colleague’s provocation.
“In the last 2 days, we’ve managed to travel more than 200 thousand miles. That’s almost as much as 8 circles around Earth at the equator,” he said. “I know I’m noticeably older than you and you probably think fatigue doesn’t concern you yet. Not as much as me, obviously – I’m an old guy, you know – but we’ve done a great, hard job so far. And even though it may seem like you don’t feel the fatigue now, during a mission like this, along with some high stress, it tends to creep up on you. At my age, you just know how to recognize it faster and understand when to slow down.”
“Dinner and off to bed you go, young lady!” he said in a serious tone. “That’s an order,” then winked at Ellie to emphasize that the argument of his older age could work both ways.
“An important task awaits us tomorrow. Humanity, represented by two humble individuals like us, will once again mark its presence on a space object other than our home planet,” said Cousteau, now very serious. “We can’t afford to make any mistakes. The success of our mission determines not only the future of the combined space program but also whether and how quickly our species can spread all the stones from one basket around various planets. You know,” said Julius jokingly again, “it’s best to be safe than sorry.”
“Yeah, I know…,” said Ellie. “I’ll eat something light and I’m off to my hammock. I’m aware of what tomorrow’s landing means. And I won’t let myself make the smallest mistake. It’s a promise,” the second pilot replied.
“Goodnight,” said the captain warmly and smiled. “We’re finally returning to the Moon. Everybody at home will be keeping their fingers crossed. Let’s not disappoint them.” he said. “I’ll stay here a while longer; I’ve still got a few things to check, but don’t wait for me. Good work today!”
“Thank you, Captain. Goodnight to you, too,” said Ellie. She turned and headed toward the residential section of the craft. “Tomorrow will certainly be a big day,” she said over her shoulder, floating through the lock chamber to the connector with the second spacecraft module.
