The best and worst destination
Chapter 2
In the middle of the space, the service module turns 180 degrees into the lunar module, the service module must dock with the Lunar module and pull it out. After turning the service module by 180 degrees, three commanders are still together: Commander Neil Armstrong, Command Module Pilot Michael Collins, and of course, me.
“We are coming through the Lunar Orbit Insertion”, I said, passing through the second TV transmission.
Suddenly an anomalous situation happens to us. While everything seems to be perfectly fine, something happens to the communication control. The crack sound begins to interrupt the communication between us and the mission control in the US, the stumble and satirical sound of something break through the communication tools.
“We lose the signal”, I said while facing the others two astronauts.
“Hey, can you hear me!” said Charles Duke, who is staying in the mission control in the US.
“Hey! Hey! Hey!!!” I respond, but he didn’t hear it.
“It..Will..Be..Fine..Just..Come..To..The…Other..Side..And..The…Signal…Will..Come..Back…Again”, said Charles Duke with a crack sound coming through.
Going around the others side, the signal comes back again.
“Hey! Hey! Can you hear me now?!” said the guy in the mission control.
I respond to him, ‘Yes sir!’.
We are preparing to go downwards to the Moon’s surface.
“We are ready!” My partner and I spoke.
We get into the lunar module and get ready to land on the Moon, Collins stays behind and continues to orbit the Moon simultaneously.
The Lunar module extends it’s legs. After we checked everything, the Lunar module separated from the command module and service module. The LM needs to get to a safe distance before firing the descent engine. The engine fires up for 30 seconds – making the lunar module closer to the surface. In the LM, two astronauts were having a conversation.
“How would you feel if you are the first person to step on the Moon?” I asked my partner.
“Yeah, I would be very proud of myself, and I promise to keep that moment inside my heart”, he answered.
“How would you feel then?” He asked me. “I would be very relief because...”, I got interrupted by something.
“Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep.”, the sound of the alarm of the fuel - louder and louder. The red color appears around the corner inside the LM. I looked at the fuel screen. I was shocked.
“Oh No no no no no no no, we only have 5% fuel left!” I begin to stampede; I start to lose control of the LM. My hands begin to shake and suddenly rotates the controller to the right.
“Hey!!!!, calm down Buzz, Focus!!” My partner warned me.
“I..I..I am so sorry, I just.. I just can’t control my hand”, I replied.
“Hey, Buzz, calm down, everything will be alright, we can handle this”, said Neil.
“Okay, I’ll try”, I replied.
I try to calm myself and carefully manipulate my controller so that nothing goes wrong again. I slowly lower the level of the spacecraft, going down to 50 thousand feet above the surface.
“50 thousand feet”, I said.
“Fire up!” My partner said.
“60 seconds”, said Mr. Charles Duke, the capsule communicator
“Forward, forward!” I shout.
“Thirty seconds”, announced Capcom.
“Drift right”, I said.
Less than 20 seconds left. ‘Contact light!’ I said confidently. The spacecraft touched the surface safely. At that moment, the thing that I have been worried about for a long time has gone by now, I feel so relieved after getting that off my chest.
Now, it's time to step down the ladder and to get our golden trophies - the moment that everyone is watching through the TV transmission. "That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind", Neil said. With the sound of the ladder pinned on the surface, I was watching him stepping gently on the cover: the dust starts to flow around his feet, the soil starts to dip toward the opposite side, the footprints gradually appear from the ground.
Then, I followed him, my footprints moderately appear as I walk through the surface, holding a light, smooth and thin flag. Until we found a suitable spot, the victory is in the US' hands. The flag was pinned as a symbol of a 'real victory’. As I pin the flag, a small hole begins to emerge. I heard the sound of rotating the flag to fit into the hole. Neil contentedly did the Kangaroo jumps like a kid. Even though the helmet is covering his face, I know that inside he is smiling complacently.