It was morning down at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
A Globemaster Air Force jet landed at the end of the runway. The jet brought the Space Buggy. Technicians at a secret NASA location worked long hours assembling the Space Buggy.
The Space Buggy was offloaded from the C-17 and transported into the Rocket Assembly Building with a security escort and NASAs Black Hawk helicopter watching from four hundred feet above.
Inside the Rocket Assembly Building, thirty technicians feverishly worked to assemble the Magellan 5 rocket. This building was called the RAB by the workers at the space center.
Hours later, they installed the newly developed Space Buggy into the Payload Stage Module of the Magellan rocket.
The Space Buggy had two front bucket seats and a rear bench seat. It was once a VW Dune Buggy from the 1960s but modified by JPL.
Above the rear seat was a roll bar containing a large wire reel. The reel had a hand crank to make it easier to unreel the cable up in space.
The buggy also had a cargo bed with the three small ion rocket engines secured inside with bungee cords. The buggy still resembled the old VW dune buggy but was now a super high-tech buggy.
The Payload Stage Module of the Magellan rocket had a door installed on the side. This allowed the Space Buggy to be driven out while in space.
Technicians worked on assembling the rest of the rocket. This included an adapter to the nose of the capsule. This adapter would dock to the old Apollo Lunar Module, allowing entrance into it.
The kids finished breakfast at Space Camp. They went to the logistics office, receiving their blue astronaut's flight suits. The kids had sparkles in their eyes when they put on those blue suits.
Afterward, they went into one of the training rooms.
They all sat by the 1/6 gravity chair, which simulated walking on the Moon. It's called the 1/6 gravity because it simulates the Moon's gravitational pull, which is 1/6th that of Earth's.
Cindy and Jack watched while the kids took turns. This simulated three different movements; the bunny hop, the side-to-side, and the slow-motion jog.
Cassandra got in the chair. She was arrogant and cocky while she performed the three movements.
The other kids took turns while they got in the chair and performed their movements.
Ricky got in the chair and did an excellent job with the three movements. He got out, and Todd got in the chair. He did a fantastic job and looked proud, and started to feel like an astronaut.
Later that morning, Cindy and Jack had the kids out in the yard for model rocket time.
Cindy and Jack watched while the kids placed the final touches on their model rockets. It was now time to launch them into the sky.
"Okay, Todd, you can launch your rocket first," Cindy instructed.
Todd walked over and got his rocket ready on the launcher.
"I want to be first!" Cassandra protested and stomped her feet, showing everybody it was all about her.
Cindy and Jack looked at Cassandra and knew her Senator was powerful. He was part owner of Space Camp, and Cassandra attended for free.
"Okay, Cassandra, you can go first," Cindy said.
Todd walked back to the kids, disappointed he couldn't show off first.
She strutted up with her Quest Aerospace Space Shuttle Intrepid model rocket. She got it ready on the launcher.
She launched her model rocket.
The kids clapped, watching her rocket soar high into the sky.
Cassandra looked proud and strutted back to the kids.
"Okay, Ricky, you can go next," Jack said.
Ricky walked up with his Wizard Flying rocket and got it ready. He launched his model rocket.
All the kids clapped, watching his rocket soar into the sky.
"Todd, you can go next," Cindy said.
He strutted his Big Daddy rocket over. He knew he would be the best launch. He got it ready and then launched it.
It rose fifteen feet in the air. It made a sudden sharp downward turn and raced after the kids.
The kids scattered in fear as Todd's Big Daddy rocket flew inches over their heads.
His rocket smashed into a nearby oak tree.
Todd looked depressed over this failure. He sat down, arms crossed, staring at the ground.
At the Kennedy Space Center, the Magellan rocket was on top of the Mobile Launcher. After leaving the RAB hour ago, the crawler-transporter inched down gravel tracks to the launch pad. The Magellan Mobile Launcher was like the Apollo-era launcher platform.
The crawler made the slow crawling turn to the left to go to LC-39B. It couldn't go to LC-39A since that belonged to SpaceX.
Back at Space Camp, Cindy and Jack had all the kids in a room with a 52-inch High Definition TV. It was a closed- circuit TV, and they watched the Magellan rocket inch down the gravel path heading to LC-39B.
"Miss Deon," Cassandra said, raising her hand in the air.
"Yes, Cassandra," Cindy said.
"It would behoove us to get a tour of the launch tower after the Magellan arrives at the pad," Cassandra offered.
All the eyes of the kids lit up with the thought of getting close to an actual rocket.
"I'm sorry, Cassandra. But NASA won't allow such a tour," Jack said, and Cindy nodded in agreement.
The kids got disappointed.
Cassandra looked determined to win this battle.
Two hours have passed. Rusty and Howie, two technicians, pushed a cart containing a metal box. They went from their van to the elevators at the surface of the launch pad.
They passed by the security guard checkpoint. They pushed the cart to the elevators at the base of the launch tower.
They got inside the first available elevator.
They rode the elevator up to the 400 Foot Level of the tower.
They got off the elevator and pushed the cart down the gantry to the capsule to the White Room.
They entered the White Room and opened up the metal box. They removed a stool. They removed a black box. Then they removed R1D1, a prototype Robot, which looks somewhat like R2D2 but with small arms and legs.
Rusty crawled through the capsule hatch.
Howie grabbed R1D1 and handed it to Rusty through the hatch.
Howie crawled through the capsule hatch with the stool.
Rusty and Howie opened up a cabinet door inside the capsule. The door had slits to allow air to circulate inside the space. Its purpose was to secure small payloads. They secured the stool, black box, and then R1D1 inside that cabinet.
They left the capsule satisfied that they had completed the final part of the mission. But they forgot to lock the cabinet door. It was a missed step in the procedure.
It was later that day at Space Camp. The kids sat in a training class. Cindy and Jack were teaching ground processing and launch countdown procedures.
The lesson was over. It was test time. Jack handed out the test papers, and they had one hour.
Jack and Cindy walked around the classroom and monitored the kids while taking their tests.
Two hours had passed. Jack and Cindy graded the tests. And, of course, Cassandra had a perfect test score. Ricky had the second-highest test score. Poor Todd had the lowest test score, which made him sink deeper into the depression.
Later that night at Space Camp, Todd lay on his dorm bed and stared at the ceiling. He sucked at being an astronaut, which weighed heavy on his mind.
Ricky noticed and felt sorry for his buddy. He tried to cheer him up. Todd wanted to be alone.
In Cassandra's private dorm room, she made a call to her father on her cell phone.
"Hey, sweetie, how's Space Camp?" Mickey replied from her cell phone.
"Good daddy, but they won't allow us to see the new Magellan at the launch pad," she said.
"That's too bad, darling," Mickey responded.
"But daddy. I want to see the Magellan rocket at the launch tower. I must see the new rocket. Thus, you must call NASA and demand that we see the new rocket," she cried out in her usual spoiled tone.
"I don't know, honey," Mickey said.
"You must! You must! You must!" she cried out, throwing her standard a temper tantrum. She started to sob into her cell phone.
"Okay, darling. Daddy will take care of you," Mickey said.
Cassandra disconnected her phone call and sat down on her bed. She smiled as she knew she had her father wrapped around her little finger. She loved having all this power over her daddy.
In Boston, Massachusetts, Mickey sat at his desk in his den. He made a cell phone call to Richard Burrows, the NASA Administrator. Richard and Mickey were also old- school buddies back at Harvard. They remained close friends helping NASA get funding for the Magellan program.
"Hello Richard, it's Mickey," he said.
"Hey, Mickey. How can I help you?" Richard replied from the cell phone.
"Cassandra's down at the Space Camp outside Kennedy. I would like you to get her space camp class a tour of the launch tower since the Magellan arrived," he said.
“That shouldn't be a problem," Richard replied. Mickey was relieved.
It was the next day at Space Camp. The kids were back in the training room. Today they would experience the multi-axis trainer. This simulated the disorientation an astronaut would experience during reentry into the Earth's atmosphere.
Cassandra went first on the multi-axis trainer. Jack operated the trainer, and Cindy monitored. Cassandra finished and did a great job.
It was Ricky's turn, and he did great.
He got out, and Todd stood up as he was next. They high-fived each other then Todd got strapped inside the trainer.
The multi-axis trainer spun around. Todd smiled while it spun as he was finally doing great. Something felt weird inside his stomach. He looked upset as he knew what would happen next. He vomited.
Ricky, the kids, Jack, and Cindy, scrambled to dodge the splatter of Todd's vomit that bombarded the floor.
Jack rushed over and hit the stop button. The multi- axis stopped spinning and came to a halt.
Jack got Todd out of the trainer. Todd staggered and looked upset over getting sick. He fell to the floor and wanted to cry.
Back at the Kennedy Landing Site, three Javelin jets landed on runway 36.
They taxied over to the hangar and parked. Astronauts Jake Quinn, Lance McMillan, and Clint Powell climbed out of the jets. They were former military jet pilots.
NASA personnel greeted the astronauts and walked them over to a parked Astro van.
The astronauts got inside the van with the NASA personnel, and the van drove away.
Back at Space Camp, the kids worked on computers. Cindy and Jack walked around and monitored the kids.
Next to Todd sat a kid typing on his keyboard. On the kid's monitor was a computer-simulated Magellan V rocket at the launch pad. The rocket's main engines fired, and it lifted off the pad. The word "Liftoff" appeared across the kid's computer screen. The kid puffed out his chest.
Ricky sat on the other side of Todd.
Ricky typed on his keyboard. On his monitor was a computer-simulated Magellan V rocket at the launch pad.
The rocket's main engines fired, and it lifted off the pad. The word "Liftoff" appeared across his screen. Ricky puffed out his chest.
Todd looked confident while he typed on his keyboard. On his monitor was a computer-simulated Magellan V rocket at the launch pad. The words "Launch Abort" with alarm appeared across his screen. It came with an annoying buzzing alarm.
All eyes in the room were on Todd's computer after hearing his monitor alarm.
Todd got depressed for failing at launching the rocket.
A woman entered the room and walked over to Cindy and Jack. She whispered, and Cindy and Jack looked shocked at what she told them.
Cindy and Jack walked to the front of the room. "I have some great news. NASA informed us they authorized a tour of the launch tower tomorrow morning," Cindy said with a huge grin.
The class erupted in cheers overseeing a real rocket.
Cassandra stood up. "Thank you all. It was a pleasure to call daddy to set this up," she said. She bowed to show off that she had made this trip possible.
Cindy and Jack rolled their eyes as they were sick of Cassandra's arrogant attitude. But they knew they had to accept it or lose their jobs.
It was later that night in the dorm at Space Camp. Todd and Ricky stood by their beds at the far end of the room. A depressed Todd stared out the window where the full Moon was visible in the night sky.
Ricky sat on his bed watching Todd with concern in his eyes.
"I'm lousy as an astronaut!" Todd said, fighting back his tears.
"Don't worry. You had a rocky start," Rickey said to comfort him. Ricky thought for a second, then chuckled. "No pun intended."
Todd glanced at Ricky. From the window, the asteroid moved across the bottom half of the Moon, blocking it out of view. Neither Todd nor Ricky noticed the asteroid.
"Lucy will never like me now."
"You'll cheer up when we get a tour of the launch pad and get to see the Magellan rocket tomorrow," said Ricky. “An actual rocket!”
Todd glanced back out the window.
Ricky placed his arm around Todd's shoulder. They both looked out the window at the Moon.
Meanwhile, back at the Space Spy Agency Peek A Boo We See You room, Johnson monitored his radar screen.
Wilbur walked up to Johnson with his Maalox bottle in hand. "Have things changed?" he asked.
"Appears to be the same."
"Good," Wilbur said, then reached up and picked up the red phone.
"Richard, there's no change with that asteroid," Wilbur said, then hung up the phone.
Wilbur walked away without taking a sip of his Maalox.
In the Oval Office of the White House, President Barnaby sat at his desk and watched a West Wing TV rerun. His phone rang, and he picked up the receiver.
"The President," he said into his phone.
"Mister President, no change with the asteroid. The Magellan five rocket is ready to launch," Richard said over the phone.
"Thanks, Richard," President Barnaby replied, then hung up the phone.
He returned to his TV show.
Inside the Lunar Module above Earth, Scoota was in a panic. He tried to understand why his Lunar Module wasn't responding to his controls.
He had panels removed.
He looked inside them for any anomalies. Everything appeared normal.
He pressed buttons on the console and then sat down in his seat. He saw an "Engine Out" message flashing on a console screen.
He sat back down and pondered how to handle this emergency. He looked at his Space Pad, and he hesitated, as he hated to ask for help. He knew he didn't have any choice, so he pressed some buttons on his Space Pad.
"Come in, Senior Space Knight Tockka. This is Junior Grade Space Knight Scoota," he said into his Space Pad.
The hologram of Senior Space Knight Tockka appeared, and he was an older man with shiny silver hair. "Yes, Scoota," Tockka said.
“Ah, sir, I'm in trouble and in dire need of help," Scoota said to the hologram.
"What now?" Tockka replied as this sounded like a familiar event.
“Well, sir, I recently bought this old used Earthling spacecraft. I decided to take it for a quick spin around a few galaxies."
"And then what?" Tockka said and rolled his eyes while he crossed his arms to hear his story.
"When I started my orbit around Earth, I smacked into some of their space junk. And now my controls won't work, and my engine quit," Scoota said.
"Okay. I'll send a rescue craft. We'll be there in a week," Tockka replied. "Don't go anywhere," he said, then chuckled. His hologram disappeared.
Scoota sank lower in his seat. "I'll never make full Space Knight now," he said and wanted to cry while he reinstalled the panels.