Back on the top of the asteroid, Ricky, Todd, and Scoota had their Duct tape ropes secured to their spacesuits. The other end was secured to space junk.
Ricky watched while Todd and Scoota installed the boom onto some space junk per the instructions on the placard near the boom crank.
With the pulley, rope, and hook, the end of the boom was extended over the edge of the asteroid, and it was a clear shot down.
They also moved the three engines closer to the rear of the asteroid. The provided ropes were installed on the engines.
Todd connected the hook of the boom to the first engine.
“I need help installing the engines,” Scoota told the boys.
Todd and Ricky looked at each other to see who would volunteer.
“I think you should go,” Ricky told Todd.
Todd looked at the engines and then at the rear of the asteroid. He suddenly looked unsure of himself. “What if I mess this up? Just like I did in Space Camp,” Todd said nervously.
“I’m not good at putting things together. You are. And so what you had a tough time in Space Camp. I know you can pull this off,” Ricky said.
Todd still looked highly nervous for a few seconds. He thought about everything that had happened. He got brave again when he saw Earth down below.
Todd patted Ricky on his shoulder. “We don’t have a choice. I’ll do it.”
Ricky patted Todd on his shoulder.
“Let’s finish this mission,” Scoota said.
Ricky handed Scoota the toolbox.
Scoota wrapped the belt of the toolbox around his waist with the special belt attached.
Todd and Scoota walked and climbed over space junk to the asteroid's edge.
The two climbed down the rear of the asteroid with Duct tape rope trailing.
Ricky looked at the edge of the asteroid. Todd and Scoota were out of sight.
He looked around. He suddenly felt so alone, like he was the only human left in the universe.
Ricky waited for twenty minutes.
“Okay, Ricky, you can pass down the first engine,” Todd said over the intercom.
Ricky walked over to the crank of the boom. He read the instructions on the placard.
He used the “Lower” hand crank and cranked the rope and hook down.
He grabbed the engine with “1” marked on it.
He connected the boom hook to the hook of the engine rope.
He used the “Extend Boom” hand crank and cranked the boom until it extended over the asteroid's edge. The engine now had a clear path downward.
He hand-cranked the “Lower” crank, and the engine lowered down the rear of the asteroid. The engine was soon out of sight while Ricky continued cranking the engine downward.
At the middle of the rear of the asteroid, the engine slowly lowered to Todd and Scoota, who clung onto space junk.
Todd grabbed the engine. “We have it, Ricky,” Todd said from the radio net.
Todd and Scoota read the placard on the engine that contained the installation instructions.
Scoota opened up the toolbox and removed two special wrenches.
At the top of the asteroid, Ricky waited on a piece of space junk. He stared at the Moon and wondered what had happened to the three astronauts. His eyes welled up at the thought that they would be lost forever.
At the rear of the asteroid, Todd held the rocket engine in place while Scoota used the special wrench and installed it on a piece of space junk with the specialized hardware.
Down at Earth in the Oval Office of the White House, President Barnaby sipped some hot cocoa with marshmallows while he sat at his desk. He looked at his phone and waited for it to ring with some updated news. He silently prayed for some good news for once.
At Todd’s home, Tater, Lilly, and Christina sat on the couch and watched the TV.
“There are no updates about our stowaway boys and the asteroid,” Biff reported from the newsroom.
Tater, Lilly, and Christina looked worried to death. Lilly sobbed, and Tater comforted her.
Christina turned away to hide that her eyes welled up, worried about her brother.
At Ricky’s home, Louie and Rose sat on the couch and stared at Biff on the TV. They looked worried about the lack of news updates about the boys.
At Lucy’s home, she sat with Betty on the floor in front of the TV. They looked worried about the lack of news updates about the boys.
At Buster’s home, Buster and Rocky crouched down by his bedroom window. They stared out his bedroom window and stared at the sky. They looked scared to death of another fireball coming after them.
Over at the Space Spy Agency Peek A Boo We See You room, Johnson sat at his console and watched over his radar screen. The screen showed the “Asteroid 19, 587 Miles Per Hour - 175 Miles From Earth – Not Long Until Death And Destruction” message.
“Wilbur, the asteroid is one hundred and seventy- five miles away,” Johnson screamed out.
Wilbur ran to Johnson’s console with his bottle of Maalox, and he quickly stared at the radar screen. He took a big gulp of Maalox while he grabbed the phone on the console and made a call.
In Richard’s office at NASA Headquarters, Richard twiddled his thumbs while waiting for some news.
His desk phone rang, and he quickly answered. “Richard here.”
“It’s Wilbur. We’re showing the asteroid is one hundred and seventy-five miles away.”
“Any indication on where my lost astronauts might be at this moment?” Richard asked over the phone.
“No, sir, we still don’t know where they are. Sorry,” Wilbur replied from the phone.
Richard hung up the phone and looked worried sick.
Upon the Moon, an antenna with a satellite dish poked up from a mountain peak. The satellite dish turned and pointed at Earth.
Inside the Moon, there was a control cave inside the mountain. There was a large console with a radar screen and numerous high-tech computers, and tons of gauges, knobs, dials, and switches. In that control cave, the Man in the Moon stood behind Taa and Raa while adjusting their console's radio portion.
“We got a lock-in on the earthlings,” Taa told the Man in the Moon.
“Good, let me know as soon as they safely arrive home,” the Man in the Moon said.
“Yes, sir,” Taa replied.
The Man in the Moon left the control cave.
At the rear of the asteroid, Todd removed the hook from the engine.
At the top of the asteroid, things were going great with installing the engines.
“We need the second engine,” Todd told Ricky.
Ricky got up and used the “Raise” hand crank and raised the rope, and hook back up to the top of the asteroid.
He used the “Boom Retract” hand crank and moved the rope and hook back to him. The rope and hook soon arrived back to Ricky, and he immediately connected the hook to the second engine.
“Engine number two is on its way,” Ricky told them from the intercom.
At the rear of the asteroid, Todd and Scoota looked up and noticed the second engine slowly being lowered.
Ten minutes later, the engine arrived.
Todd held the second engine in place while Scoota used the special wrench and hardware and installed it on a piece of space junk.
At the top of the asteroid, Ricky waited another twenty minutes.
“We need the last engine,” Todd told Ricky from the radio net.
Ricky hand-cranked the “Lower” crank and lowered the third engine down the rear of the asteroid.
At the rear of the asteroid, Todd and Scoota dangled from a piece of space junk. They both looked at their boots and saw Earth below.
“If my calculations are correct, I believe the earth is getting closer. I’m thinking this asteroid is slowly falling out of its orbit,” Scoota said.
Todd looked at Earth below his boots and saw Florida. His eyes welled up, missing home. He even missed his sister Christina.
“Well, let’s hurry up and get this thing out of here,” Todd replied, knowing he’ll never see home again.
They both looked up and saw the third engine five feet above their heads.
Todd grabbed the engine. “We got it, Ricky,” he said from his intercom.
Todd held the engine while Scoota used the special wrench and hardware and installed it to some space junk.
Back down on Earth in Memphis, Tennessee, out in front of a TV store, a large crowd gathered at the windows and watched the TVs. They watched the Disaster Channel, which showed a picture of the Earth with the “Asteroid To Impact Earth Soon” message.
The “No Update Available” message also appeared on the screen.
Peter Peabody, a nerdy scientist around sixty years old, appeared on the Disaster Channel. “Okay, viewers, in case you’re wondering what will happen. Here’s the scenario. First, there will be an initial blast with an estimated force of millions of tons of TNT when the asteroid smacks into the Earth,” Peabody said on the Disaster Channel.
People looked stunned by the realization that they would soon be extinct.
In Madrid, Spain, out in front of a TV store, a large crowd gathered at the windows and watched the TVs. They watched the Disaster Channel, which showed a picture of the Earth with the “Asteroid To Impact Earth Soon” message.
The “No Update Available” message also appeared while they watched Peabody give his lecture. “Then there could be large fires started by the intense shock wave. Then there will be trillions of tons of dust, gases, and water vapor thrown into the atmosphere. Then many enormous tidal waves will be started. Then a chain reaction of Earthquakes and volcanic action will start and cause very high winds,” Peabody said from the Disaster Channel.
People looked stunned by the realization that they would soon be extinct.
In Singapore, out in front of a TV store, a large crowd gathered at the windows and watched the TVs. They watched the Disaster Channel, which showed a picture of the Earth with the “Asteroid To Impact Earth Soon” message.
The “No Update Available” message appeared while they watched Peabody give his lecture. “These high winds will carry the cloud of debris over large distances by the high winds. Meaning we will die just like what the dinosaurs did millions of years ago,” Peabody said from the Disaster Channel, then walked away.
People looked stunned by the realization that they would soon be extinct.
On the top of the asteroid, Ricky waited by the connector end of the cable.
“We’re ready for the cable,” Todd said from the radio net.
Ricky connected the hook to the connector of the cable. He hand-cranked and extended the boom out over the edge of the asteroid. He cranked the cable downward toward Todd.
At the rear of the asteroid, Todd waited by the first engine. He looked upward and saw the cable while the connector slowly moved down toward him.
He grabbed the connector. “I got it,” Todd told Ricky into the radio net.
Todd connected the cable to the electrical connector to the electrical panel of the first engine.
Scoota climbed up to the engine. He opened up the electrical panel on the engine and removed a smaller cable with a connector.
He climbed down to the second engine with that connector in hand.
He routed the wire and connector to the electrical panel on that engine.
He mated the connector to the connector on the panel.
Todd and Scoota moved over to the third engine.
At the top of the asteroid, Ricky waited on a piece of space junk and stared out at outer space. I wonder if Scoota’s home planet is one of those stars? Ricky thought to himself.
“We’re done and on our way back up,” Todd told Ricky from the intercom.
In the Magellan capsule way off in space between Earth and the Moon, Jake, Lance, and Clint were still out cold in their seats while the capsule zoomed back toward Earth.
At the rear of the asteroid, Todd and Scoota looked proud of their accomplishment.
“Let’s go back up,” Scoota told Todd.
They climbed up the piece of space junk like they were rock wall climbing.