now seeing just how large and how small they can be. The more the shuttle sinks the bigger the craters get. New ones continually come into view within the larger ones, which in turn get larger as smaller ones come into view inside them. It’s almost as if the moon is carbonated with craters, massive ones.
“We’re fortunate today,” the pilot announces; “our flight path takes us over the eastern edge of the majestic crater Tycho, across the Descartes Highlands where we’ll fly almost directly over the site of the Apollo 16 landing, and onto touch down on the edge of the Sea of Tranquility at the site of the Apollo Dome, where Apollo 11 landed one hundred years ago today,” the pilot added with a hint of pride in his voice.
The shuttle glides over Tycho, one of the few craters you can sometimes see from Earth with the naked eye. What a jaw dropping view to be directly over it at an elevation so low you almost feel like you’re in it. Its central peak is casting vivid shadows. Tycho’s impact ray system, easily visible from Earth, ironically disappears as you close in on the surface of the moon. When you zoom in on something, you tend to lose the bigger picture.
Suddenly an electrical surging sound is heard, then complete silence. Almost all lights on the shuttle shut off, leaving only a few emergency lights on in its cabin. There is a sudden look of fear on Nikki’s face as she looks frantically out her window, wondering if this sudden loss of lighting and engine power is normal.
The shuttle continues to rapidly glide over the lunar surface. Meanwhile, the shuttle’s captain is on the radio, calling in the shuttle’s predicament to Moondock to central command.
“Mayday! This is media shuttle zero-three-nine. We’ve lost complete electrical power. Now attempting to restart engines.”
“Media zero-three-nine, this is Moondock control. Can you switch to auxiliary power?”
“Negative Moondock, both main & auxiliary malfunctioning,” the captain answers. “We’ve lost stabilizers and cannot correct our sink rate.”
“Media zero-three-nine, continue to attempt engine reboot and stand by,” the Moondock dispatcher replies.
The powerless shuttle clears Tycho and glides over the rugged highlands, unable to slow, or even adjust its orbit. Still with no word of what is happening, Nikki presses her intercom to ask what’s going on, but the intercom is part of the electrical system and is also malfunctioning. She gets no reply from the captain or co-pilot, who are both frantically trying to reboot the system.
Nikki looks out her window and sees the rugged lunar surface racing beneath her. She can see that the shuttle is descending and is now realizing that it isn’t under control. In a moment of desperation, she calls Cedric.
Still sitting in the park, Cedric sees through his sunglasses that Nikki’s calling him. He answers the call.
“How’s it going?” he asks, oblivious to Nikki’s predicament. There is a delay of a little more than a second, but Nikki’s hears Cedric.
“Cedric,” she says frantically; “something’s wrong with this shuttle and I’m really scared.”
“What do you mean?” Cedric asks. “Are you okay?”
“I don’t think so, no,” Nikki answers; “we’ve lost power and I can see the mountains getting closer,” she says now in tears. “We’re going too fast!”
“Listen to me,” Cedric answers; “listen to my voice,” he says, trying to calm her down. “It’s going to be okay,” he tells her. “Everything will be okay.”
Nikki calms down a little, but has a deeply saddened look on her
“We’re fortunate today,” the pilot announces; “our flight path takes us over the eastern edge of the majestic crater Tycho, across the Descartes Highlands where we’ll fly almost directly over the site of the Apollo 16 landing, and onto touch down on the edge of the Sea of Tranquility at the site of the Apollo Dome, where Apollo 11 landed one hundred years ago today,” the pilot added with a hint of pride in his voice.
The shuttle glides over Tycho, one of the few craters you can sometimes see from Earth with the naked eye. What a jaw dropping view to be directly over it at an elevation so low you almost feel like you’re in it. Its central peak is casting vivid shadows. Tycho’s impact ray system, easily visible from Earth, ironically disappears as you close in on the surface of the moon. When you zoom in on something, you tend to lose the bigger picture.
Suddenly an electrical surging sound is heard, then complete silence. Almost all lights on the shuttle shut off, leaving only a few emergency lights on in its cabin. There is a sudden look of fear on Nikki’s face as she looks frantically out her window, wondering if this sudden loss of lighting and engine power is normal.
The shuttle continues to rapidly glide over the lunar surface. Meanwhile, the shuttle’s captain is on the radio, calling in the shuttle’s predicament to Moondock to central command.
“Mayday! This is media shuttle zero-three-nine. We’ve lost complete electrical power. Now attempting to restart engines.”
“Media zero-three-nine, this is Moondock control. Can you switch to auxiliary power?”
“Negative Moondock, both main & auxiliary malfunctioning,” the captain answers. “We’ve lost stabilizers and cannot correct our sink rate.”
“Media zero-three-nine, continue to attempt engine reboot and stand by,” the Moondock dispatcher replies.
The powerless shuttle clears Tycho and glides over the rugged highlands, unable to slow, or even adjust its orbit. Still with no word of what is happening, Nikki presses her intercom to ask what’s going on, but the intercom is part of the electrical system and is also malfunctioning. She gets no reply from the captain or co-pilot, who are both frantically trying to reboot the system.
Nikki looks out her window and sees the rugged lunar surface racing beneath her. She can see that the shuttle is descending and is now realizing that it isn’t under control. In a moment of desperation, she calls Cedric.
Still sitting in the park, Cedric sees through his sunglasses that Nikki’s calling him. He answers the call.
“How’s it going?” he asks, oblivious to Nikki’s predicament. There is a delay of a little more than a second, but Nikki’s hears Cedric.
“Cedric,” she says frantically; “something’s wrong with this shuttle and I’m really scared.”
“What do you mean?” Cedric asks. “Are you okay?”
“I don’t think so, no,” Nikki answers; “we’ve lost power and I can see the mountains getting closer,” she says now in tears. “We’re going too fast!”
“Listen to me,” Cedric answers; “listen to my voice,” he says, trying to calm her down. “It’s going to be okay,” he tells her. “Everything will be okay.”
Nikki calms down a little, but has a deeply saddened look on her
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