Being Noah by Cheryl Hardy

Author:Cheryl Hardy [Hardy, Cheryl]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: WordFire Press

Chapter Eighteen

As our van approached the Challenger Learning Center, I was impressed with how the angular building looked like something from the future. Employees brought wet gear out to the van and we dashed through the pouring rain to get inside. Still, my black tennis shoes filled with water, so I was squishy for a while. On the walls of the cool-looking indoors, I saw posters from various space events, including the Challenger disaster. I wanted to stop to read all the information on them.

“Can I stay in here and read the posters?” I asked Mrs. Stein.

“I know how much you want to know everything. But we have to complete our mission first,” she said, chuckling.

We were hustled into a room by our guide, a commander. The room was designed to look like a NASA mission control center. Everything looked like metal. There were computer stations everywhere, and some kind of box we were told would simulate how it would feel if we had no gravity. I thought that sounded like fun.

“Can I get into the simulator?” I asked the commander.

“Sure. When you complete your mission, you can take turns with your classmates,” he replied.

The instructor, Commander Magie, guided each of us to our job locations. He told us what to expect. He said Orion, the spacecraft, had picked up a load of supplies from the International Space Station to transport to Mars.

“We are going to pretend the year is 2076. There is already a habitat set up on Mars. The purpose of our mission is to bring supplies to the astronauts already on Mars,” Commander Magie instructed.

“Sir, my shoes are still wet. I’ve heard that if I am wet and I touch electric stuff, I could get shocked.” I said to him.

“That won’t happen here. Everything is grounded,” he said, smiling.

Each of us was given a white lab coat with a space traveler patch on it to wear. Half of us went to the Mission Control center, including me. The other half, including Sean, boarded a simulated Orion spacecraft.

After a simulated noisy liftoff of the Orion spacecraft, communications between Mission Control, called Mars Base 1, and those on the ship became super important. Also, there were reports from a Rover on Mars about weather details.

“There is a huge dust storm flowing in from the East. You’ll only have one hour to unload your cargo before you need to be indoors,” warned a commanding voice coming from the Rover.

Each of us had a script for our job. My job was to sit at the communications post and report important details between Mission Control and the spacecraft. Much detailed information passed between Mission Control and the spaceship. We were almost at the end of the mission when a problem developed.

“From Mission Control to the spacecraft.” I made my voice sound urgent and announced. “We’ve detected a decrease in the bio-humidity of the craft. All crew members are instructed to touch the black bar along the left side of your craft in case of an emergency.

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