To the Moon!
To the Moon! To the Moon! Paul, Wendy, and Tom were riding home on the bus with their science class. The class was studying gravity and the moon, and they had spent the whole day at the Science Museum with their teacher, Mr. Richards. Paul hadn't really understood gravity. How could you be weightless? "I wish we could go to the moon!" Wendy exclaimed. Tom nodded in agreement. What would it be like, Paul wondered, if all of them really could go to the moon? He yawned. It was a long ride bac
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To the Moon!
To the Moon!
Paul, Wendy, and Tom were riding home on the bus with their science class.The class was studying gravity and the moon,and they had spent the whole day at the Science Museum with their teacher, Mr. Richards.Paul hadn't really understood gravity. How could you be weightless?
"I wish we could go to the moon!" Wendy exclaimed. Tom nodded in agreement.
What would it be like, Paul wondered, if all of them really could go to the moon?
He yawned. It was a long ride back to school.
Suddenly, Wendy started shaking Paul to awaken him."Come on, we're here!" she cried. "We're at the spaceport and we're going to the moon!"
Paul blinked hard. Was this a dream?He pinched himself, but when he looked up, he saw a spaceport!
"We've all been chosen to go to the moon!" Tom said."Isn't that great? Shh, let's listen. The pilot's going to explain our trip now."
A man in a blue uniform strode to the front of the room."Welcome, moon travelers!" he said."I'm Pilot Jeffries. The first part of your trip is similar to flying in an airplane.You strap in with these two seat belts, which make an "X" on your chest."The screen zoomed in on a man strapped to a padded chair."Then things get a little tricky," the pilot continued, chuckling.
Everything inside the spaceport loomed before Paul's eyes. It all looked so scary.
Paul swallowed so loudly he was sure his friends could hear.He wasn't sure he wanted to go to the moon! Was it safe?The pilot continued to describe what would happen on their trip to the moon.
"You look as though you'd rather be somewhere else," Wendy taunted. "You aren't scared, are you?"
"He said, 'things get tricky.'" Paul's voice wavered.
"That doesn't scare you?" "That sounds exciting!" Tom said.
"When you're told to get back to your seats,make sure you strap yourself in for our landing," the pilot finished his instructions. "OK, it's time to go!"
Most of the students cheered, but Paul was silent.If this was a dream, wasn't it time for him to wake up?
Summoning up his courage, Paul got in line behind Wendy.Any minute, he told himself, he'd wake up!
As the students began following Pilot Jeffries to the boarding platform, Paul staggered and stumbled.Luckily, Tom was right behind him, pushing him forward.Pilot Jeffries suddenly tapped Paul's shoulder.
"Have you ever flown before, son?" he asked.
"Once, and I got sick," Paul replied.
"Well, we certainly don't want that to happen on this flight!" Pilot Jeffries grinned.He looked through a small black bag at his side.He finally pulled out a small patch.He removed the backing and placed the patch behind Paul's ear.
"This will help," said Pilot Jeffries."Nerves inside your ear tell your brain which way you're moving.Sometimes, what those nerves tell your brain and what your eyes see are two different things. That's when you get sick!"
The students were led into a plane hangar.It was bigger than ten football fields!It was also filled with many different planes.Paul and Tom were drawn to a plane much smaller than the rest.It looked like the runt of the litter! "What's this plane?" Tom asked.
"Meet Spaceship One!" said Pilot Jeffries."It was the first ship to leave Earth's atmosphere piloted by a civilian.If not for this ship, space travel would still be something only the government could do."
The students' space plane was outside the hangar.It was much larger than Spaceship One.
"Let's go!" Wendy said excitedly. Paul slowly trudged behind her. He wasn't sure about this.The cabin was as big as the inside of an airplane but with fewer seats. The chairs looked comfortable.Covering each seat was mesh netting made of strong, elastic threads.
"I call the window seat," Wendy said, just as she plopped herself down.
