Artemis Inspired Space Stories
It’s been half a century since our country sent a manned mission to the moon. For older members, as children, we saw photos of moon landings and watched as rockets blasted into the sky, but then there was a long dry period. Many of our younger members were tuned into that experience for the first time. Those early flights inspired a host of television shows and movies.
This month’s challenge was:
Internalize your thoughts and form them into either a memoir, a reflective essay, or a fictional story inspired by the activities, news, and photos about the recent Artemis mission. Up to 1,000 words.
SWW received 3 entries for this month’s contest
Not Forgetting
by Sam Moorman
Candlelit in frosty sky
engines Whoosh!
Bird boss flies!
Oh, ride the fiery–
Boom!
–rocket hearse
Below firecracker sky
tears foam o-ring eyes
chars sizzle sea
Seven wayward challengers
escape gravity, orbit destiny
in graveyard space
What’s left to do?
by Reza Ghadimi
I am a child of the earth
Born and raised by the creator
Lived many places
Jungle, Sahara, house and lean-to
Wondered if asked all the questions and
Have anything left to do.
Sought a vocation to do some good
Studied hard and tested when due
In all kinds of places I took it to task
All sorts of maladies I saw and woe
Injuries from wars, violence, domestic and remote
Calmed many a viciousness and hoped
For nothing else to do.
Looking at the earth from many angles
Above clouds, under the sea, darkness of caves
Calm of the woods, silence of deserts, and now watching
My brethren, look down from space
At our small blue globe in amazement and wonder
Yet here on earth, all who should care the most
Doggedly tearing the very fabric, obliviously
As all the rest of us, fearfully lost for what to do.
Now in the ripe age of eight decades and counting
I sit on the porch of time and muse
All that was won and prospects lost
The many “could have dones” only if so
Such and such, but and where were different
And I ponder what more is left for me to do?
The Gibralter Assignment
by R.M. Kern
United Planets Historical Research Foundation
Temporal Irrelevance Mission Engineering Commission
Sol-date: 06212322
To: Operating Supervisor, TIME Commission
From: Temporal Special Agent Francis Rose
Re: Planet Earth – Gibraltar Assignment Report
As per the request received from the Planetary Geological Commission, My trainee, Lt. Tandy, and I took the Temporal Orbital Observation Bubble (TOOB) back five million years to observe activities related to the Zanclean deluge, a flood theorized to have filled the Mediterranean Basin 5.33 million years ago and which may have been responsible for dynamic cultural, evolutionary, and philosophical transformations in the development of sentient life on Earth. This was to clarify points as to what caused the flood as recorded in many ancient documents.
During the the Mediterranean was severed from the and partly dried up. Previously two theories were postulated explaining the opening of the Gibraltar straits and subsequent filling/flooding of the Mediterranean basin.
- Erosion of the isthmus due to tectonic activity
- Impact from a large meteor.
As directed, we hovered the TOOB at a mile above Gibraltar on the south side of what was destined to become the straits. It took several jumps of decreasing spans of years to finally come close to the exact moment. Once we were certain it would happen within a couple weeks we remained on station and took turns monitoring the surface.
High resolution photos taken over the long weeks leading up to the event minutely examine relevant geological areas, including some islands no longer in existence and the unique flora and fauna of the western edges of continents now known as Europe and Africa.
On day 40 of our assignment, we encountered something not anticipated. Lt. Tandy’s implant malfunctioned causing her hormone levels to accelerate to an uncommon high. As the only other human being in existence for the next few million years she requested my assistance in reducing the stress caused by the malfunction.
As you are aware, the TOOB was originally designed to be used in case an asteroid of unusual size headed to earth was deemed likely to cause a cataclysmic annihilation event, and as such it carries photon torpedoes strong enough to vaporize a chunk of space debris greater than 10 miles in diameter.
As Lt. Tandy and I were engaged in a personal, yet medically necessary activity, we were unaware of physically reclining across the control panel. In fact, the subsequent sudden, violent movement of the TOOB initially seemed to be related to repositioning of the human form as it is extracted from the model XSAldren Thermoweave galactic model uniform.
It was a few minutes later that we realized the sensation was a recoil which accompanied the release of a photon torpedo as it exited the TOOB. Naturally the missile followed the path sited by team as we monitored the thin ridge of land connecting what is now Europe to Africa.
Before we were able to regain vertical positioning, a truly remarkable and aesthetically inspiring upsurge of land blossomed into the lower atmosphere. We noted that the waters of the Atlantic engendered a magnificent waterfall as they rushed eastward, and the sun on the spray created what is the first triple rainbow this specialist has ever encountered. Lt. Tandy commented on the magnificent afterglow.
As the geological effects on the ocean floor and surrounding topography is virtually identical to a meteor impact, I recommend that this be listed as the official cause of the creation of the Gibraltar strait.