HQ, Mission Accomplished
Ten... The ship‘s engines spark on. “Let's do this…”
Nine... “Hurry up!”
Eight... "Just be patient." He says to himself.
Seven... He sucks in a gasp of breath to keep himself calm.
Six... With a boom, the engines come to life.
Ignition sequence start…
Three... "Come on!"
Two... His head grows light with adrenaline.
One... Thoughts were far from possible now.
Ignition…
We have liftoff…
“Houston, we have cleared the tower.”
“Altitude and velocity right on the line.”
“Brace yourself, boys!” Two explosive booms of the Saturn V losing a chunk shake the entire ship underneath him, forcing his head into the seat behind him. Another announcement of check rings through his ear, then another boom and detached section falls to be burned up in the Earth’s atmosphere. The heavy helmet protecting his head smashes into the padded seat behind him yet again, making him cringe slightly. Slowly, the restraints of his buckle seem to loosen up - not violently, but as if he were floating upwards. Yet another boom, this one not as loud as the other two. It tells him that the LEM has detached. “Houston, getting set for transposition and docking.”
“Roger that.”
“We’re going to start pitching around. Everything looks good, over.”
“Aligned. Thrusting forward. One hundred feet. Forty feet. Twenty feet. Ten.” The sound of metal hitting metal is a relief. “Retracting and… Houston, we have hard dock.”
“Copy that, Eleven.”
Neil Armstrong takes off his helmet and unbuckles the restraints. A quick look of out the plexiglas window tells that he is indeed in space. The idea itself of being in space is unheard of, yet it wasn’t the first time he’d been in space. It was simply something people thought to be impossible, and still it had been done many times before. Humans were supposed to be forever bound to their home, their Earth, with no alternative. This was seemingly one of the many tacit laws of life. That law seemed to be broken so easily.
Neil takes a breath in, holds it while he stands up, and let it out as he regains his balance on the floors, which completely lack the familiar safety grip of gravity. He carelessly hits his head on the panel of buttons above him. With his covered hands, he rubs the spot where he knew a bump would soon grow; it was only a matter of time. Time…
“How long is it gonna be until we get there, Mike?” Michael Collins, the pilot, scratches his head and turns around in his chair to look towards Edwin.
“Four days sounds about right. What do you think, Buzz?” Edwin Aldrin, informally known as ’Buzz’, ponders the question for a few moments in silence, or what would have been silence had the ship not echoed with an ambient humming.
He shrugs. “Hopefully soon. This dehydrated food is pretty bad.” In his hand is a sickly colored orange tube of what was supposed to be… “Applesauce.” Buzz reads the label quietly to himself. “My ass…” Then he rips the plastic seal open with his jaw and swallows a gulp, then shudders and lets out a loud, displeased groan.
Neil rolls his eyes. “It isn’t that bad.” The tube in Buzz’s hand is floating away towards Neil’s face ever so slowly.
“So… what exactly are we supposed to be doing?” Buzz says amidst slurps of so-called applesauce. Truth be told, Neil didn’t truly know either, aside from the fact to show those damned Russians who’s boss. That couldn’t be the only reason; it’s such a huge expense of supplies and manpower! Mike stops pressing buttons and twists around in his chair to answer the question while resting his left palm against his face.
“I’m only going say this once, okay?” Buzz and Neil nod in unison. “You two really should have been paying attention. Alright, It isn’t about the Russians. We’re looking for someone - or… rather something.” Neil’s jaw falls to the floor as Buzz raises an eyebrow, having been the skeptic. “You’re gonna think I’m crazy, and I can fully understand that, but it’s - she’s a… pony.”
Buzz bursts into laughter. “You’re kidding, right? That isn’t possible. It‘s the freakin‘ moon!” He waves an arm out towards the direction where he suspects the moon is, and with the sleeve of his other arm, wipes away a tear in the corner of his eye. “That’s really cute, Mike. Sorry to break it to you, but nothing can live there!” A scoff leaves his lips. “Dumbass.” He whispers, barely audible by his partners. Mike frowns down at Buzz. “Sorry, it’s just that -”
The ship shakes violently seemingly without reason, cutting off Buzz’s apology. “What was that?” Neil calls out.
“Just the ship adjusting to the lack of gravity.” Mike messes with a few buttons, and sure enough the ship levels out. “Get used to it. It‘s gonna’ happen a few more times.”
Neil takes another look out the window. Behind it he sees Earth, or at least he was told was Earth. It looks way too small! How could that thing possibly be Earth? It seemed that he so easily escaped the grip of the planet. How? It didn’t make much sense to him at all. His daydreaming is disturbed by a blur of black. Or maybe it was blue? Perhaps cobalt? Neil couldn’t really tell the difference. It wasn’t there for more than a fraction of a second, but it was enough time to be seen. Nonetheless, he falls backwards onto what would’ve been his ass, had there been gravity. Instead he makes a noise that didn’t sound entirely human, but instead much more like a surprised chimpanzee. As he floats backwards, he rubs his eyes lightly with his gloved hand and shakes his head. “Did you guys see that?” He follows the question with an index finger pointed at the window.
“Hmm?” Mike turns around in his chair. “See what?”
Buzz looks Neil square in the eye. “See what? You goin’ loony on us? Hah! Get it,” He jabs Mike in the midsection with his elbow. “Loony? Like the moon?” Mike’s face was insensibly blank. “Fine then, forget you.”
“Neil, maybe you ought to go take a nap? Buzz and I will wake you up if we need you.” The thought of a nap was a welcoming one, and come to think of it, didn’t seem like a bad idea. After all, he had been through an awful lot for one day: it’s not every day that somebody goes into outer space.
Neil walks back to his chair and ties himself down with all of the restraints he could find under his seat. Nobody wants to wake up floating around the ship. The pressurized suit itself was only for show when they left Earth, and Neil could have taken it off a while ago, but something about it filled him with a sense of pride. When they’d all left the atmosphere, Buzz and Mike had already stripped themselves of their heavy suits and were relaxing in their jumpsuit-like standard regulation clothing. Neil begins to take off the suit to finally rid himself of the labor of lugging around that damned outfit.
Getting comfortable in the seat was a pain, and falling asleep was even harder with all of the ambient beeping, but eventually Neil manages to drift off into sleep. His rest was not a refreshing one - it was plagued with nightmares. Darkness reigned over his dreams as a figure makes its self clear through the shroud of blackness. “Why dost thou wish to visit our moon?” The voice asks. Neil looks around and quickly realizes that he is alone, and that he's in perfect lucidity with the dream - to the point where he can feel the goose bumps on his skin.
He shouts back into the void in a cracked and shaky voice, feigning bravery as best he can. “Who are you?”
“We are the moon. We are the stars. We are the night.”
The void around him gave way to a silhouette of what looks like to be a horse, yet it has wings, which were fully extended, and it seems to have a large pointed horn protruding from it‘s head. The voice of Mike echoed in his head “She’s a… pony.”
The eyes of the pony glowed in a shade of crimson not unlike that of blood. “We do not like to repeat ourselves. Answer the question, mortal.” The voice booms outward, shaking Neil to his core.
Neil stumbles over his words as he tries to form a sentence. “I… we, my team and I,” Neil clarifies. “Were sent to the moon by our kind.”
The creature tilts its neck questioningly, the blood red of its eyes dimming down slightly to a less hostile hue. “Our mission is to secure the moon, and…” Neil racked his mind for the correct word. “Befriend any possible inhabitants, though we doubt there will be any.” The creature begins to form through the darkness as it slowly trots towards him; its eyes are rimmed in a beautiful aqua color. Neil finds himself lost in those beautiful orbs before the creature speaks again.
“Didst thou sayest… to befriend?” The pony asks in a much friendlier tone. Neil nods, his eyes squinting to make out more of the mysterious entity’s features. Its coat is a dark blue that seems to melt into the darkness around them. “We have decided that we shall welcome you to our self-made prison.” Neil could’ve sworn that he heard her say, “It would be nice to finally have some company.” But he wasn’t certain.
The metal floor embraces Neil’s forehead as the rest of him lightly floats in the air. A soft growl emanates from his larynx as he hears hushed laughter come from his side. “Nice one, Neil.” Mike reaches down to help Neil back to his feet. He was met with a light shove. “What’s your problem, man?”
“Sorry, I just… nightmare.” was all he could think of saying. His stomach growls at the sudden change of posture when he stands up.
Floating towards the small collection of cabinets, the confused astronaut couldn’t help but think about his dream while looking for an at least somewhat appetizing tube of food. He ends up settling for a tube of off-brown tube labeled ‘Chocolate Pudding’. “Huh. Not half bad! Buzz, you should try some of this!” An exhausted, baggy eyed astronaut lazily glides over to him.
“That’s nice…” Buzz sits back down in his seat and pulls the buckle around his waist. “You’re up.” An index finger points towards Neil’s chest, “You too!” the second hand mimics the first’s action, except it was pointed towards Mike. Mike eyes Neil and inspects him from afar: his eyes were droopy, his hair a mess, and his skin a pale pasty white. Clearly Neil wasn‘t entirely himself, but Mike didn’t look much better either. Nobody really did.
“Hey, uhm…” Neil couldn’t think of how to strike up a conversation about the weird dream that he’d had. “Remember what‘cha said about that thing on the moon?” Mike’s eyes shot open to stare at Neil. “Well, I, um, kind of, sorta’…” he begins to trail off.
“You kind of sort of what, Neil? Spit it out!” and spit it out he did, with incredible speed, Neil retold the nightmare in great length to Mike, whom sat silently and eagerly listened.
“, And how did you know anyways, huh? I’m pretty sure that they didn’t say anything to us about a moon-pony horse thing with wings!” Mike’s palm meets his forehead with an audible smack. “And a horn!” Neil adds.
“Neil… do me a favor and take a deep breath. Slow down, and just think.” The seat squeaks underneath Mike. “You - you actually believed what I said, eh?” Neil nods in response. “Good, because it’s all true. I need you to know that if there’s ever been a time that you should trust me, it’s now.” Fear struck Neil, working it’s way down his spine in the form of a chill that branched off to every nerve of his being. The realization that something was alive on the moon struck him as an impossibility, but Mike has no reason to lie to him, that he knew. He’d known him long enough to know that Mike didn’t lie about anything unless it was menial, or for someone’s well being
“Now, I know Buzz doesn’t believe me, and that’s fine, but please don’t stress yourself out about it. She’s harmless, kind, and above all else, friendly.“
“Yeah, right,” Neil retorts sarcastically “she looked as if she was about to kill me! How do you know all this, hmm?” The previous statement set off Neil’s inner detective.
“I just do, okay?” Not good enough, thought Neil. He shot Mike daggers, which he could practically feel.
“Okay, okay, just stop that look, you’re creeping me out.” They each take their seats at the cockpit, and wait for the other to begin. It was Neil who finally caved in.
“As you were saying, how do you know… her.”
“A few days ago, I was getting these… dreams. Much like the one you had, only they were much more pleasant. Over time, we told each other who we were and about ourselves; think of it as being friends.”
“And?”
“And nothing. That’s it, it’s that simple,” Mike shakes his head. “You’ve just got to trust me on this one. Now please… chill out and get to work.”
Neil didn’t know what to think, that is if he even could. A half-unicorn, half-pegasus, pony thing on the moon. The moon! That is obscene! The rest of the day was rather uneventful, the only interesting happening being Neil’s compulsive daydreaming and long sessions of silent thought. The time came when Buzz woke up, and Mike patted Neil on the shoulder before reclining back in his chair. Neil didn’t know if he should ask Buzz about that dream or not.
“Neil.”
“What?” Neil was stolen from his thoughts yet again.
“I said, what do you think about that B.S. that Mike told us?”
“Oh, I – uhm… don’t know.” Buzz shoots him a glare.
“What do you mean, ‘I don’t know’. It’s not possible! Please don’t tell me you actually believe him.”
“I don’t know what to believe anymore.” Good response, Neil thought. That seemed to shut Buzz up.
-----
‘What if that… thing really is there?’ The thought began to cripple him from the inside out, his palms got sweaty and he began to shake in fear. ‘What if she… No, that’s stupid. Just take a deep breath.’ Inhale. Exh-CHOKE. The window, which Neil had been absentmindedly staring out of, gave way to her face; she waves at him and then dissipates into the darkness of space, which gives way to stars light-years away. “Buzz!”
Buzz turns around and gives Neil a glare before asking, “What? Jeez, you sound like you’ve seen a ghost or somethin’.” Oh, how right he didn’t know he was.
“You seriously did not just see that?” Neil points his arm towards the window. Buzz shrugs, and then shakes his head to say no.
“You’ve really gotta chill out, there’s nothing there.” Buzz extended his arm towards Neil. “Here, just eat something. I promise you’ll feel better.” The tube had a small label that reads ‘Peaches’. Why the hell not, it won’t kill me, Neil thought.
It wasn’t bad per se, a tad bit too sweet for his taste, but edible nonetheless. “Better?” Buzz asks, to which Neil nods. “Now then… don’t freak out again. Nothing is there, and honestly you’re creeping me out. It won’t be too long until we make contact, you’ll be the first man to step on the moon, and then all three of us will go home. There is going to be only three of us, got that?” Neil reluctantly nods; he just wanted Buzz to shut up. Who the hell was he to say whether or not something existed?
Buttons being pressed, among many other devices being switched on and off were the only sounds coming from the cockpit of the ship. Mike had woken up, and said, “If you guys want, you can go get some sleep. I’ll be okay for the meantime.” Mike patted Neil on the shoulder and whispered in his ear, “You’re up.” He practically pulled Neil out of his seat and took his place there. “Thanks for keeping the seat warm for me, buddy.” Mike says jokingly before striking up a conversation with Buzz.
Oddly enough, Neil was able to sink into the world of unconsciousness easily regardless of his fears of the dark blue mare from his dreams and the extremely uncomfortable seat. “Thine comrade hath told us of thy fear. Please know that it is in vain. We mean thee no harm,” Neil took a breath to begin a response, but the pony continued speaking in that soothing and innocent voice of hers. “We do welcome you to our less than humble abode, I shall be waiting for thee when thy contraption lands on my moon.”
“What is your name?” Neil asks, uncertain whether or not he was justified in asking.
She stares at him before blinking and says, “We bid thee call us Luna. How about thee, Human.”
“My name is Neil.”
-----
Neil wakes up without fear and entirely ready for the day ahead of him. Buzz is sound asleep in his seat, though he was moving around quite a lot. His face was contorting as he makes odd noises. Neil thought about waking him up but decided against it: Buzz was a whiny bitch when he didn’t get enough sleep, and an even bigger one when he wakes up. The sound of buttons being pressed told him that Mike was still awake when he floated towards the ship’s cockpit. “Hey,” Neil pats him on the shoulder; Mike turns around and smiles to Neil.
“How is she?” he asks.
“At least she isn’t terrifying anymore… Thanks.”
The dust cloud ahead of them moves out of the way as they cut through it. The moon is in clear sight. “Wow.” The trio of astronauts sigh in awe.
“Morning, Buzz.” Neil says. He looked even worse than he had the day prior, the bags under his eyes having gone from a light pink to a very dark purple. “Sleep well?” A jab in the gut was Neil’s answer. He chuckles to himself as he tries to ignore the sharp pain in his midsection.
“Are you all still talking about the stupid freakin’ moon-horse?”
“Pony.” Mike corrects. “And yes, as a matter of fact we are. Care to join us?” Buzz lets out an exasperated groan and floats over to the cupboards to find breakfast, or what he had decided was breakfast. It is awful difficult to tell what time it is in space, even if you have a clock. For all they knew, and cared, it could possibly be three-oh-seven in the morning back on earth and it wouldn’t make a difference when they ate or slept.
“How long until we make contact?” Neil asks. Mike rubs his stubble and hums to himself.
“An hour or two?” Neil nods in acknowledgement.
Buzz takes his seat in the comfortable vinyl chair and watches out of the plexiglas window to Earth’s moon ahead of them. The grey surface is covered in craters so deep they seem to go on forever. The curvature is covered in a darkness that seems to recede, as they get closer to it. No sign of her yet. Neil was somewhat relieved that he would be the first one off of the ship; it would be nice to finally get off of it.
The beeping of the buttons seems to go silent as every noise was deafened under the sound of his own heartbeat in his throat. “It’s now or never.” Buzz nods, and then the two men travel through the small opening from the Colombia into the Eagle, and close the hatch behind them. “Undocking.”
“Roger, Eagle. Colombia is standing by. We are go.”
The heavy suit reminds Neil that he’s extremely vulnerable on the surface of the moon, but he still carries on, disregarding his thoughts and carrying on with the mission at hand. The onboard guidance system kicks in, but seconds later begins to lead them towards a steep, football field sized crater covered with boulders. Neil notices it and wraps his fingers around the over-ride joystick. “We can’t land there. I’m taking a detour, do you copy, Houston?”
“Houston copies. Keep an eye on your fuel levels, Eagle, over.” After taking a deep breath and steeling himself, Neil begins to move the ship away from the crater.
Buzz guides Neil down, calling out directions and how far they are from the surface. “Sixty seconds of fuel. Too right.” Excruciating seconds pass as the entire world holds their breath. Buzz calls out, “Forty feet down, two and a half… pickin’ up some dust. More forward, you’re driftin’ to the right a little.” He looks to Neil and smiles. “Contact light! Okay, engine stop.”
“Houston, uh, Tranquility Base here. The Eagle has landed.”
"Roger, Twan - Tranquility, we copy you on the ground. You got a bunch of guys about to turn blue. We're breathing again. Thanks a lot."
The hatch opens, Neil slowly climbs out onto the ladder. He looks down and announces, “The surface appears to be very, very fine grained as you get close to it, it’s like almost like a powder – it’s very fine.”
Another deep breath and he says, “I’m gonna’ step off the LEM now.” Who would’ve thought that the first thing that Neil thought would become so famous. Neil hops off of the bottom rung of the ladder and says, “That's one small step for a man; one giant leap for mankind.” The flag in his hand stabs into the ground of the dusty rock multiple times until it finally sticks deep into the powdery surface. The headset around his ear beeps to congratulate the three crew members of Apollo 11 on a successful landing; the woops and cheers echoing in the background make Neil smile through the helmet and forget about his anxiety for a moment.
"Hello, Neil and Buzz? I'm talking to you by telephone from the oval room at the white house and this certainly has to be the most historic telephone call ever made. I just can’t tell you how proud we all are of what you-." The call cuts out for a second in a hiss of static. "For every American, this has to be the proudest day of our lives, and for people all over the world, I am sure they too join with America in recognizing what an immense feat this is. Because of what you have done, the heavens have become a part of mans world, and as you talk to us from the Sea of Tranquility, it inspires us to redouble our efforts to bring peace and tranquility to Earth. For one priceless moment in the whole history of man, all the people on this Earth are truly one: one in their pride in what you have done, and one in our prayers that you will return safely to Earth."
“Thank you, Mister President. It’s a great honor and privilege for us to be here representing not only the United States, but all the nations of the world with common interest in the vision for the future. It’s been an honor for us to participate today.”
“And thank you very much. And I look forward, and all of us look forward to seeing you on the Hornet on Thursday.”
“I look forward to that very much, Sir.” Neil and Buzz both salute the flag ahead of them.
Neil turns around and hears Luna’s voice call to him, almost as if it was in his head. Perhaps telepathy? Neil wasn’t sure. “Find us so that we may leave this forsaken rock.” It’s rather difficult to sprint when there is no gravity, so instead, after nearly getting stuck facedown, Neil begins hopping around, which he finds to be much easier. There was a small dust cloud ahead of him; through it cut a bright blue light that called to him like a siren. Neil found the pony lying down inside of a crater, her dust covered hooves tucked under her seeking some sort of comfort in warmth. Behind her, laying on its side in many pieces was a small probe that Neil knew as the Luna 9 – a Soviet invention.
She moves one of the pieces, which is shrouded in some kind of azure aura, back into it and inspects that it’s still in one piece. As she turns to face Neil, her face lights up with a smile. She stands up and begins to gallop towards the suited astronaut. The lack of gravity doesn’t seem to affect her as much. Luna reaches her hooves around Neil’s leg in an odd sort of hug. Neil reaches his arm behind her neck as best he can and scratches her ear lightly with his gloved hand and gently runs his hand through her mane. “We apologize for having to speak to thee like this, but sound does not travel properly out here. Allow us to look presentable so that we may leave proper.” With that, she trots back to the crater and slips her hooves into shining glass slippers. Neil watches in awe as she levitates a dark crown behind her horn and ties a chest piece around her neck, the marking on it similar to that on her rump.
“Houston, we’re coming home.”
------
A/N: My sincerest apologies for my half-assed first attempt at the chapter with doing next to no research beforehand. I hope this is more accurate to the actual moon landing.
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I haven't even read the story yet, but the cover picture....that was worth visiting this page.
I've got a hunch this story will be just as good.
will read later..
Damn it... Stop reading my MIND! I totally had this EXACT idea like a week ago...
Good job, my only complaint is I wish it was more than a one-shot.
This looks interesting, but it's 6:23 AM and I woke up at 11:00 AM... How am I still awake?
I shall read this in the morning! Or afternoon...
Celestia will be pissed.
Someone needs to write a follow up for this. Hell, it might even be me who writes it.
That was rather enjoyable. The language at parts was a little iffy but otherwise it was great!
Not the best it could be. I'm not sure how to say it other then it could be 'more' and just leave it at that.
Would certainly be worth reading if you continue it though.
Just...Just...Just TAKE IT ALL! TAKE ALL MY LIKES! TAKE ALL MY FAVORITES! EVEN TAKE MY MOUSTACHE! HERE! TAKE IT!
Honestly, really good fic!
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807403>>807456>>807512
Well, I just got some new software that's called Dragon dictate. I'm actually using it right now to type out this comment, which makes writing a lot easier, and I need to test it more extensively on something. I will put some thought into it after brainstorming for a little, but honestly at the moment I'm out of ideas, and I'm kind of tired - being up all night tends to do that.
bronies.memebase.com/2012/04/30/my-little-pony-friendship-is-magic-brony-nasa-is-just-a-cover/
There were a couple of errors, like Micheal Collins didnt actually go on the moons surface, or that the quote Neil said was "one small step for a man"
I laugh at the description, school didn't tell me shit about the moon landing (Apollo 11 is assumed to be the mentioned one). Too bad for them I taught myself.
images.wikia.com/icarly/images/a/aa/Th_clapping.gif
Good show! I came for the picture stayed for the plot.
I enjoyed the story, but I feel a little offended that you made Neil sound so nervous at the beginning. The way the opening SHOULD have gone would be:
Ten...
Yeah!
Hell yeah!
Fuck yeah!
WOOOOOOOOOOO!!
Nine...
Eight...
...
...
...
Lift off...
Maybe you could show the debriefing of all four travelers on the space craft? (I can just picture Luna sitting happy as can be on the receiving end of an interview room simply because she would have people to talk to and take an interest in her.)
Yes.
All of my yes.
Liked and faved.
Stuff I'm too lazy to explain:
>he still fells it nonetheless.
>Neil rolls his eyes. “It isn’t [if]that bad.”
>which he was only doing to look busy
>I’m only gonna’ say this once, okay?
>as a figure makes it’s self clear
You seem to have a problem with tenses:
>Neil looks around and realizes that he was alone
>Its coat is a dark blue that seemed to melt into the darkness
>The metal floor embraced Neil’s forehead as the rest of him lightly floats in the air
>and an even bigger one when he was woken up
i1.kym-cdn.com/entries/icons/original/000/008/549/If%20you%20know%20what%20I%20mean..png
807614 Not sure if slow clapper, or spam…
810647
Slow clapper.
This story was genius.
811058 a.deviantart.net/avatars/i/k/ikrplz.png
811131 I have no idea what that meme is referring to, due to my lack of text vocabulary.
811139
thumbhost.eu/thumb-5699_areyoufuckingkiddingme.jpg
811207
No I am not fucking kidding you.
811468 a.deviantart.net/avatars/o/k/okayfaceplz.png
811530 Can you tell me what IKR means, though?
811557 Google is your friend
810647 The issues with the tenses would be because the story was initially in the past tense, but I decided to change it to present tense because I thought it made the story feel more authentic, which it really needs because it's actually just a blatant slap in the face to the entire Apollo 11 mission, and the crew members. I'm certain that Buzz isn't a prick, and that Neil wasn't as terrified at liftoff.
Thanks for the corrections.
812482 a.deviantart.net/avatars/n/p/npplz.gif
807392>>807392 will read now
813510 i just did, it was just 11pm, and i had school the next day and had to wake up at 630am
, loved it btw
813530 good *rubs hands together* goooooooooooood...
SEXAY!
/Astronauts used to zero-g
/Trained extensively how to use shuttle
/They were geniuses not stoned hippies
/Took four days to get to moon
/Inaccuracies makes me rage so hard.
/Still good story
/Damn you
Ah man, I really like the idea, its just...
Some of my family worked for NASA, my dad actually even applied to be an astronaut, but his eyesight got him rejected. Consequently, I know so much about the space race and spaaaaaace. And the innaccuracy just makes me want to scream and rant, I'm sorry. I made a whole list of the innaccuracies, but I decided not to be a prick and I'm holding it.
This had so much I like, but I'm such a geek when it comes to NASA I just... GAH
I really wanted to enjoy this, I really did, but the guys and definitely the spacecraft were just not like they are in real life and its so innaccurate.
I really really wanted to like this.
921008
Hey, your not the only one, and I'm pretty sure that I know less about the Space Race than you do. To really be honest, only the fact that the premise (and that cover) are awesome is the only reason I'm not giving this a thumbs down. Research was clearly not done in this story. For one thing, the spacecraft was definitively not a shuttle. Shuttles only came into use in the 1980's. I also don't even know if the word cool was being used around then, not to mention a few other things I can't quite recall, though I'm sure I would if I read through it again.
I am intending to read the other chapters, but man, this really needs some work.
OK, brilliant story, loving it, really...but as an avid space geek, aspiring Aerospace Engineer and Apollo 13 being my all-time favourite movie the inaccuracies in this were so glaring and really spoiling it for me
1) Neil was the Mission Commander, not Michael Coilins
2) "A footstep behind Buzz and Neil" A footstep? In zero gravity, really?
3) They were in a space no bigger than 2 phonebooths...they would not have had the seemingly roomy amount of space you describe here, particularly the sleeping compartment and the "wall of cabinets" you described. It sounds like they're on the flight deck of Enterprise
4) You describe Neil like he's never been into space before. He was a space veteran, having been an X-15 Pilot and on Gemini 8
5) The Saturn V launch vehicle was composed of 3 stages. There would have been a jarring deceleration then resumed acceleration between stages 1 and 2, then again between stages 2 and 3. It would not have been the smooth 8 minutes of acceleration described
6)They would have entered a parking orbit around Earth for a couple of hours before the TLI (Trans-Lunar Interjection) "Burn" to the moon. They would have entered a similar parking orbit around the moon before making the Lunar Descent
7) The Apollo Spacecraft was composed of 2 separate vehicles: The main Command/Service Module and the Lunar Module. They would have had to dock with the separately stored Lunar Module after leaving Earth orbit, and then only the Lunar Module would have had to undock with the Astronauts aboard for the Lunar Descent. The Command Module would have stayed in Parking Orbit
8) Only 2 Astronauts would descend to the Lunar Surface. Mike would've stayed aboard the Command Module
*Pants heavily*
Sorry, had to get that off my chest. I'll keep reading though, regardless of the inaccuracies
Yeah, I need to agree with Vectored Thrust.
This looks really rushed, and research is very important with historical stuff. My biggest beef is that you skipped the best part: The launch and Earth orbit. Seriously, Nothing would be more awesome than an in depth description of all that. Another thing is that Houston seems to have nothing to say until they reach the moon. They spent three or four days just heading to the moon. Mission Control has a lot of things for them to do in that time.
I recommend a massive overhaul, simply because you've already gotten this far and I don't think anyone will make anything better.
Mostly accurate, but you left out a part of the moon landing: Armstrong almost crashed into several boulders, and only landed with a mere 25 seconds of fuel left.
Also, there was no Luna-9.