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Choose Your Own Adventure: Mission to NeptuneLoading...
Anxious, I sit in this gigantic, pointed rocket waiting for Mission Control to start the final countdown to launch. I felt so excited as the cramped, metal lift ascended: that same feeling as riding my favourite rollercoaster before the big drop. The reassuring clunk of my seat harness made me feel both safe and terrified about what I was embarking on.
I am headed to Neptune, where no astronaut has ever attempted to visit before. The more I think about it, the crazier it seems. I am looking for signs of life on the frozen, swirling gases of the faraway planet. Mission control have spent years preparing for this mission, calculating fuel, Oxygen and food supplies for a journey longer than any other.
I am startled from my thoughts by the familiar crackle of a communication from the control centre.
Your Co Pilot has been taken ill. We have 2 possible replacements. Who do you choose?
Who do you choose? Click on the photo of your Copilot!
Fellow pilot, I am Bobby, a fully trained Engineer, I have experience of fixing the Space Station and space walking. I have never been on a real mission before. Choose me.
I am cosmonaut Jeff, I have never been into space before but I am a good boy. I follow instructions, wag my tail and am great at fetch. Choose me!
You chose Jeff......
There is an eerie silence after Jeff has boarded the gleaming rocket and we both wait for the countdown. I count in my head along with the computer generated voice coming through the radio from the ground below.
"5, 4, 3, 2..." teeth gritted and fists clenched I wait for the final number and the roaring whoosh of the boosters firing. But instead a wailing siren fills the air like a fire alarm only louder and at a higher pitch. I look frantically to the side and see Jeff, he is gnawing and tugging at the oxygen tubes! A sad and deflated voice cuts through the siren and says "Mission Aborted. Bad boy Jeff, Bad Boy!" My adventure is over before it really began. Jeff forgot his favourite chew toy, Mr Froggy and he always chews when he is nervous. Better luck next time.
"5, 4, 3, 2..." teeth gritted and fists clenched I wait for the final number and the roaring whoosh of the boosters firing. But instead a wailing siren fills the air like a fire alarm only louder and at a higher pitch. I look frantically to the side and see Jeff, he is gnawing and tugging at the oxygen tubes! A sad and deflated voice cuts through the siren and says "Mission Aborted. Bad boy Jeff, Bad Boy!" My adventure is over before it really began. Jeff forgot his favourite chew toy, Mr Froggy and he always chews when he is nervous. Better luck next time.
Click Earth to go back and choose again
You chose Bobby......
Bobby gives me a toothy grin as we wait in silence for the countdown to begin. I know I have made the right choice of copilot, I think Bobby is going to be a fantastic help to me during the mission. The booming countdown fills the air and as I hear the words "Blast Off",the warmth and vibrations of this rocket ship propelling into the unknown rise up through my body like the rising sun.
We are cruising now, the earth shrinking behind us in the watery sky, like a bath bomb fizzing to nothing. Mouth open, I watch the spectacular scenery slowly scroll across the window frame, like an ever changing work of art.
We are cruising now, the earth shrinking behind us in the watery sky, like a bath bomb fizzing to nothing. Mouth open, I watch the spectacular scenery slowly scroll across the window frame, like an ever changing work of art.
