My stomach rumbled continuously, I was so hungry. GROWL. I couldn’t stand it any longer. “Sir, I-“He interrupted, “Miss Barker, I was just about to announce that it’s time for lunch.” I leaned back into my chair and sighed.



After lunch we went over the details of our trip. The man told us his name was Barry Millen. “Your journey will mean a lot to this country, so please, let’s try to get the job done.” I was bored out of my mind. I wanted to leave as soon as possible.

We were to depart late that afternoon, a little after 4:00 pm. We planned to return in three weeks. This was going to be the trip of a lifetime. We were going to Outer space, to see the Universe.

The Space Shuttle was enormous. It was 250 feet tall and weighed nearly 170,000 pounds. I exhaled. “Do you work around here, Miss?” I turned around. A very tan man stood behind me. He was very tall and lean, and had dark brown hair. I could tell that he lived here. “Me? No. I’m an astronaut here; I arrived this morning,” I answered him. “’You here to train?” he asked. “No, actually, I trained in Houston, but I went home to Chicago to see my mom before the trip. My name’s Karrie Barker.” He studied me some more, then said, “I’m Hart. I work around here and I’ll be piloting the DAWN from the control center.” The DAWN was the shuttle I was taking. I could tell by his face that he already knew that, so I said, “My flight is at 4:10. I should be getting ready.” “Have a good trip,” said Hart. “Thanks,” I replied.


I rushed to my room and got into my high-tech space-suit. I only need to put on the outer layer when I’m boarding the shuttle. I grabbed my bags and ran out the door.


I could see a crowd forming at the feet of the DAWN. I bit my lip and found Mr. Millen. “Are you ready?” he asked. “I think so,” I said. “Then goodbye and good luck.” “Thanks, I’m going to need that.” He showed me to the back entry of the huge shuttle. He said, “Put your stuff in that room over there for now. When you board again, you’ll take it upstairs and you’ll put it in the closet in your room.” Then he told me to put on my big, heavy white suit and to be ready for blast-off in 25 minutes.


As I walked out on the boardwalk, I was surprised at how many people were cheering for us. The other astronauts were already there.











I was getting nervous again. My mouth was dry. I was clearly in a state of panic. But the is no backing out now, I told myself. I could do this. The other astronauts didn’t look nervous, but they had already been on at least one space trip already. I was the new one; the baby. I’m going to have to stand up for myself, I thought.


The crowd was being herded back, away from the shuttle. It was 4 minutes and 37 seconds till blast-off. We were told to go back into the shuttle and buckle ourselves to the special seats. I was having a hard time buckling myself, my fingers were so sweaty.


2 minutes and 13 seconds. I was finally buckled. Then I remembered. My stuff! I unbuckled as quickly as I could, which, thankfully, was a lot easier than buckling. I rushed back down, grabbed my stuff and threw them into the closet in my room. Then I rushed back into my seat. I had about 24 seconds to buckle myself. I finally succeeded. The count-down was about to begin.


“Ten, nine, eight…..”


My stomach, oh my stomach.


“Seven, six………”


What if…….What if……..


“Five!”


“Four!”


“Three!”


“Two!”


“One!”


“BLASTOFF!!!”


No going back, I must face my fear.