PROJECT CODE NAME: T6

LEADING SCIENTIST: Dr. Anson Lee

MAIN SCIENTISTS: Dr. Craig Cutting, Dr. Hayley Healer, Dr. Sally Staybright, Dr. Seymour Spacey, and Dr. Claire Bunsen-Burner

CHIEF ENGINEER: John Brown

REPORT:

Dr. Seymour Spacey was working away in the laboratory. I was with him and together we worked. Tests had shown that if we were to land on Venus, we need extremely powerful material to stop the ship and people turn into fried crisp. Claire’s working at full capacity to find the right material for the spacesuits while Seymour and I were working on the rocket. I’d made a testing chamber that was linked to a PC that had a special radio link to a satellite in Venus’ orbit. Seymour was testing the armor that lines old spaceships. We’d loaded one into the testing chamber and I’d locked Venus’ temperature into the PC. Then the testing chamber’s inside should be like Venus. I’d activate it….. FRIZZAP!!!! There was a pretty explosion. Now the testing chamber’s inside had been fried and the machine had broken down. The armor had also turned into molten metal. Oh well, time for some fixing.

***

This morning I just finished fixing the testing chamber. Seymour had taken a sample of chemicals and a spacesuit prototype from Claire. I’d loaded it into the testing chamber and time to lock in the temperature. BOOM!!!!! The computer was fired but still working. And STARS ABOVE!!!! The spacesuit was intact!!!! GREAT!!!!

***

This morning Seymour and I had the solution! We’d just added bits of atoms to titanium to and make it strong!!!! I was loading it into the testing chamber. BOOM!!! The testing chamber I fired but the armor was intact!!!!!

***

This morning I went to see how Craig and Hayley were doing about the hibernation systems. They’d created a hibernation system that was successfully working. I’d also installed an automatic system called Nimrod to monitor the hibernation so everybody could hibernate.

***

Today I was watching over John Brown and his team of British Engineers from an observation deck. They were top engineers that built the Deep Space monitor 790 who ventured out of this solar system. But unfortunately the controller was an idiot and he made a typing mistake, causing the monitor to explode. They’d got the designs and were working on the nuclear engine. Everybody had to wear protective suits because there’s high gamma radiation here. Seymour had spent the night doing astronomical calculations working out the path. All the equipment John’s engineers got to put their hands of were state-of-the-art. I’d checked everything. The cover story of a rocket to going to Mars was good enough and was only quarter true. Right now we and the scientists didn’t have much to do so we passed the time by drinking coffee. I would soon have to go to the rocket. Tomorrow was the day when we launch.


***

Today was the day!!! We launched at midnight so we got to sleep the rest of the day. The entire Mission Control was a flurry of activity – all the controllers were testing all the state-of-the-art equipment. A Mercedes-Benz S-class ferried us to the launch site, Klow, Syldavia. Patrol helicopters illuminated the sky with floodlights. Soon all of us were safely inside the rocket.

“Mission Control is ready.

Helicopters are moving back. Stand by for blast off.”

Then, after two seconds, “Mission Control has locked coordinates. Blast Off will generate automatically.”

After five minutes, “please strap yourselves into the back beds. Blast Off in ten seconds.”
We climbed into the back beds and pulled the safety belts across and strapped it in.

“10..9..8..7..6..5..4..3..2..1 – BLAST OFF!!!!!” BOOM!!! The engines roared into life. Plasma was blasted out of the engines. The rocket was forced upward at 1,000 mph. The surrounding cars and trucks were reduced to ashes. X-FLRG 6 blasted in to the sky. It went past the atmosphere at unbelievable speed. Everybody in the rocket soon awoke after passing out. I unstrapped myself and fiddled with the computer. After some desperate typing, the computer revealed that we were at 90K. The thermometer showed that the outside was at -270 ℃. Heart in mouth, Seymour inserted 3 keys into three keyholes in the control panel. He quickly turned them. X-FLR 6’s nuclear reactor took over and the auxiliary engine stopped. Then he pulled a few levers back. X-FLRG 6’s engine blasted a fireball out. The reactor’s temperature grew to 2,000 ℃. The speed increased to 20,000 mph.

***

Relaxing, Seymour glugged down a plastic cup of coffee. But troubles were about to start. When we were sipping Vodka from metal mugs and about to have some chocolates, a warning horn sounded, the emergency alarm. I immediately dropped my mug and crossed to the control panel. A meter showed that micro-meteors were penetrating the solar panels. Then a computer monitor showed that power was leaking. I quickly pulled the keys out of the panel and slowed the power leak down. Then I made contact with Mission Control.

“Hello. Hello. This is Mission Control. I repeat. This is Mission Control,” blared out of the speakers.

“Hello. This is X-FLRG 6. We have a problem. Micro-meteors have penetrated the panels, causing power almost to shut down. We will have to send Seymour Spacey out for a complete refit. The panels are damaged beyond repairs and our plan is to loosen the panels, attach dynamite explosives, set to explode in an hour, and let them float into space. Then we attach new panels,” I replied.

Then, suddenly, there was a blackout. Immediately we snatched halogen flashlights and welding machines to repair the ship. Meanwhile, Seymour dressed into his spacesuit. All of us had trained for 4 years in NASA, and we were faster than lightning. Craig Cutting rushed to the bank of controls that were controlling the open and close of the door and removed the bolts from the panel. Then he opened the panel so he would set work. Sally Staybright ripped a control panel from the wall to reveal the wires. Then she soldered different wires together to link up power. I was in charge of the hardest mission of all: restart the nuclear reactor. I put on a bio-suit and gripped the welding machine. I slid my card into the scanner to unlock the door. Soon I was inside the nuclear reactor, at jumble of pipes. I expertly started welding the pipes that were loose together. Then I secured the pipes with a wrench. Suddenly Hayley Healer’s voice sounded into the room.



“Dr. Lee!!! The temperature is 1,000 ℃!!! If it reaches 2,000 ℃, your bio-suit will melt along with you!!!”

I reached for the pipes that pumped liquid helium. I grabbed my wrench and loosened them, spilling liquid helium all around the reactor. Then I leaked 100 liters of liquid helium into the reactor. My bio-suit was an amazing piece of technology, but if I stayed here any longer it wouldn’t be able to save me. I opened the hatch, stepped outside, and closed it again in two seconds. I ripped of my smoking bio-suit and threw it away. Then I inserted keys into keyholes in the wall and turned them. The metal bar immediately went fallen and the ship started to move. But if we had to switch on the lights, only Seymour could help us. Seymour, dressed in a spacesuit, quietly opened the hatch to reveal space. Linking his spacesuit to the ship with a cable, he stepped into space. Then he pushed himself along the ship until he could spot the panels. The panels were a mess. Half of them had cracks and even one had a bit ripped of it. Using his wrench to loosen the bolts, he unattached the panels. Then he attached the dynamite chargers. Suddenly Craig’s voice screamed in his ears.

“Red alarm!!! Asteroids are coming your way!!!”

Three seconds after Craig spoke asteroids slammed into the ship. Seymour struggled to survive. An asteroid had pinned his cable to the ship, causing him to be pinned to the ship. He was a sitting duck. Inside a safety bank in the ship, I watched as the asteroid pinned Seymour. I would save him. I stepped into the Alpha pad and blasted out. I aimed the white-hot laser at the steel cable. I fired. The laser melted through the cable and Seymour was free. Seymour immediately charged the panels.S miling, I switched on the lights. Minutes later Seymour was relaxing in a bed sipping hot sweet tea with a packet of Ibuprofen at his side.

***

“He is going to all right,” said Hayley. “His heartbeat is normal, his breathing is normal and everything is normal.”

Suddenly an alarm sounded. “Speed is 15,000 mph!!! Increasing fast!! Your speed is now 18,100 mph!!! Adonis is heading!!” blasted out of the speakers.

Seymour leapt out of bed and ran to a locker. He unlocked the door with a key that hang beside it and swung it open. Then he grabbed a thin metal box and crossed to the control deck. He slid the box into a slot and swung the handles on two metal boxes nearby. Soon the long range telescope coughed into life. Adonis was speeding towards the rocket at 19,000 mph. A second later X-FLRG 6 would be destroyed. Seymour flicked a row of switches. Automatically the rocket swerved and narrowly missed Adonis. Then he inserted a card into a slot to activate automatic pilot.

***

After everything was fine, we set to work. Claire Bunsen-Burner went to the chemistry lab and switched on the Bunsen burner. Then she placed liquid helium over it for an experiment. Suddenly the engines stopped. I raced to the nuclear reactor and checked it. Liquid helium had frozen the reactor. I put on a bio-suit and raced into the room. First I shut down nuclear power. Then I flicked the switch that controlled the opening and closing of the emergency grate. Liquid helium went out of the reactor. At split second later the temperature was at 550 ℃. I stepped out of the room and flung of my bio-suit. Then I swung the handles. The speed increased to 10,000 mph.
Then Craig’s voice ran out, “Mars is in sight. Stand by.”

I twisted the handle and the side rockets turned. “Speed 1,500 mph, Burn out.” “AE-35 unit has burned out. Still operational but will need extra energy.”

I stepped to the deck. The scientists were huddled around the monitor, all drinking Vodka. I snatched a mug and joined them.
“We are ninety K above Mars. If we land and go, we will be wasting time. We will land and send our probe out. All of us into the beds!!!” I shouted.

We strapped ourselves into the beds. One minute later there was a large boom.

“Contact made.”

We broke free of the straps and put on spacesuits. Hayley rushed to the control panel and slid the card she was holding into a slot. The AE-35 unit exploded. Hayley stumbled backward from shock.
“The override cord has burned out before,” I explained. I then opened a box to reveal a probe inside. “This will replace the AE-35 unit.”

Seymour grabbed the unit and a wrench and stepped towards the door. I quickly inserted a thin metal bar into a slot. The door swung open and Seymour stepped out. Seymour walked to the AE-35 unit’s clamp. He loosened the bolts and fitted the AE-35 unit. Suddenly Craig’s voice ran into my ear.

“Martian!!”

Seymour looked and gasped. A giant Mole like creature was coming!! I immediately flicked a row of switches and white-hot laser beams hit the creature. Seymour leapt into the rocket and we blasted off. Suddenly a voice blared out of the speakers.

“Moscow orders that we must ignore on the planets and focus on Europa.”

I slid the hypersonic card into a slot. BOOM!!! The speed increased to 900,000 mph in a second. Soon we were zooming past planes. One hour later we were nearing Jupiter. I ejected the hypersonic card out of its slot.