Spike+Goes+to+the+Moon

__Spike on the Moon__

Spike had been studying Space. He had learnt the the Sun was a burning ball of gas much bigger than the Earth. He had learnt that the stars were suns and that they could be different colours. He had learnt the Moon had no light of its own. It merely reflected the Sun’s light.

One clear evening he decided to go out of doors and see what he could see. First he saw that the sky was covered with a blanket of stars. As he looked further he noticed a crescent moon shining brightly in the western quarter of the night sky. To Spike it looked like a giant glowing, yellow banana. The sight filled him with joy and desire. As he turned to go back in-doors he decided that this banana was meant for him.

The next day as he looked in the newspaper. We saw an article about a New Zealand rocket that was to be launched the following week from an island off the coast of Auckland. Spike had a plan.

He packed his bag with bananas and rode his skateboard to the station. He got a ticket for the train and travelled to Auckland. When he got to Auckland he took a taxi from the station to the ferry terminal. He found a ferry going to Great Barrier Island. On the island he hired a quadbike and explored the island until he found the rocket site.

The rocket was scheduled to take off the next day, but only to travel to the edge of the Earth’s atmosphere, not to the Moon. Spike climbed onto the roof of the control room and slid down the chimney. Next he found the flight computer and made a few adjustments. Now the rocket was programmed to land on the moon. Spike knew it would need more fuel. He went to the launchpad and topped up the fuel tank.

Now he had to work out how to get on board the rocket. He looked around and found a container of goods waiting to be loaded. He pulled out a big box of souvenir models. He emptied the box and hide the models in some bushes. He poked some breathing wholes in the end of the empty box, tipped in his remaining bananas, pushed the box back into the container, climbed in and lowered the lid down over himself. He was suddenly very tired.

When Spike woke up he heard a loud speaker announcing 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, zero, red, blast off. He felt a rumbling sensation, then a downward pressure on his body. It felt like he was going up in a high speed lift, his stomach seemed to be left behind him. He tried to sit up but the thrust of the rocket pinned him down. He lay back and waited for this part of the trip to be over.

Sometime later the pressure seemed to ease off and he was able to sit up. He pushed up the lid of his box, climbed out of the container and looked about him. As this was an unmanned mission there were no portholes in the fuselage. He looked around and found the flight computer. He turned on the monitor and saw a display tracking the path of his flight. He had left the Earth’s atmosphere and would soon be on the moon.

He felt the retro rockets fire. The rocket rumbled and vibrated. With a shudder it came to a halt. The rocket had landed on the moon. Now how was Spike to get out of the rocket. He returned to the monitor and pushed a few keys on the control panel. Eventually a display came up which said ‘Onboard Controls’, he pushed the key for ‘open airlock’.

There was a clunk and a door slide open. He stepped through the door and the door slide closed again. In the bay in front of him were a range of spacesuits. He chose one his size and put it on. He pushed another control panel and the outside door opened. Spike looked out at the surface of the moon. He stepped down the ladder. One small step for bear, one giant stride for bearkind.

Now he was here, the moon seemed nothing like a banana. The surface was grey and dusty, not yellow or even green. How could it be so different up close? Neither could he see any mountains, rivers, lakes or plants of any kind, but there was what looked like the rim of a crater in the distance. He had a quick look then returned to the rocket. The door closed behind him.

Spike took off his spacesuit in the airlock and returned to the controlroom. He checked the monitor. The visual display ways showing that his rocket was now being prepared for departure. He would have time to eat a few bananas before take off. As he peeled the bananas the skins just floated around him in the air. He wondered whether bananas would one day grow on the moon.

He got back in his box, pulled down the lid and waited. He was soon fast asleep. He woke up when he felt his box being lifted out of the spaceship, but kept quiet. As his box was carried through the entrance, he heard one of the crew muttering. He had just slipped on a banana skin. Later that night Spike managed to get out his box, get out of the storage bunker, find a quadbike and get back to the ferry terminal.

The next day he was back in Wellington, eating a banana and watching the news with Mr du. A scientist was being interviewed about the space flight. Everyone was mystified why the spaceship had changed course so unexpectedly and how banana skins had gotten into the control room of the spaceship.