The Next Stop

This is for the Vocal "Sky's the Limit" Challenge that you can read about below.

Original image By NASA

The Apollo 11 mission emblem was designed by Collins, who wanted a symbol for "peaceful lunar landing by the United States". At Lovell's suggestion, he chose the bald eagle, the national bird of the United States, as the symbol. Tom Wilson, a simulator instructor, suggested an olive branch in its beak to represent their peaceful mission. Collins added a lunar background with the Earth in the distance. The sunlight in the image was coming from the wrong direction; the shadow should have been in the lower part of the Earth instead of the left. Aldrin, Armstrong and Collins decided the Eagle and the Moon would be in their natural colors, and decided on a blue and gold border. Armstrong was concerned that "eleven" would not be understood by non-English speakers, so they went with "Apollo 11",and they decided not to put their names on the patch, so it would "be representative of everyone who had worked toward a lunar landing".

The prompt for the story is:

Write a story that takes place entirely in flight.

It also takes inspiration from my story "1957" which you can read about below.

I find it almost amusing how one inspiration can lead to another and that I can pick up on that. This got me wondering what went through the minds of Michael Collins, Buzz Aldrin and Neil Armstrong as they blasted off on Apollo 11 to become the first men to land on the Moon. This is a prime example of a fiction based on a very true story. It is a sort of chat fiction but is just the thoughts of the astronauts while in flight.

The music is "Go" from Public Service Broadcasting's "The Race For Space". This includes dialogue from the Apollo 11 Flight.

The Next Stop

Apollo 11 left Earth, and the next stop would be the Moon, the first time any man would land on a non-terrestrial body. The Moon is 384,400 km from Earth

Neil Armstrong: "That was scary, I thought I was being crushed, I didn't think we would ever get out of Earth's gravitational pull, but we're out now and on our way"

Michael Collins: "Whoa, that was bad, but feeling a bit better now, can't let the others know I was scared, we need to be strong for each other here. I know my family were watching the launch and I want them to be proud of me, and i want the whole of the American nation, well the whole world, to be proud of us"

Buzz Aldrin:"I managed to sleep, well rest my eyes through the launch. I hope Neil and Michael were OK. I just feel a little weird knowing we are speeding towards another celestial body, and the only support we have is radio contact with Houston. If we break down, that is it, there is no breakdown truck that can come for us, it's all in our hands and our vehicle. That really is it. I hope to God that everything works and we all keep calm and strong for each other"

Neil Armstrong: "out here everything is so quiet, but we are safe in this capsule, but outside is the vacuum of space. It just amazes me that the teams have managed to put together this flight. My only bother is when we go round the back of the Moon and we lose radio contact but that has been factored in. I am thinking of my family and I know they and thinking of me and praying for my success"

Michael Collins: "I know we will be part of history, the teams back on Earth have our backs and everyone wants us to succeed. They are watching this on televisions and big screens and waiting for us to step out onto the surface of The Moon and plant our flag. My family are watching this and though they want to see us on The Moon, more than anything they want us back home safe"

Buzz Aldrin:"This is the most important thing that I have done in my life, the most important thing we have done in our lives. This is not just for America, this is for the whole of humnanity and will be the start of seeing Space as a new frontier, which hopefully we can explore peacefully and maybe even meet and work with new civilizations. I am looking forward to landing on The Moon, but more than that I am looking forward to returning and being back with my family."

Concluding Addendum

This is just a fictional account of what went through the minds of the astronauts on Apollo 11 on their journey to The Moon.

I hope you have enjoyed it.