Previous Challenge Entry (Level 4 – Masters)
Topic: FAMILY VACATION (07/30/15)
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TITLE: Pluto's Heart | Previous Challenge Entry
By Beth LaBuff
08/06/15 -
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Every earth resident knew of the Apollo lunar missions. Only five people were privy to a classified project called Mayflower II. Its fifty year mission was to boldly go where no earthling had gone before, to create a self-sustaining colony on the planet Pluto. In 1969, while all eyes were affixed on the lunar landing, the Mayflower II, a modest spaceship, abandoned earth’s gravity on its ten year journey toward the far margin of our solar system. The mission remains classified until 2019. At that time, it is hoped that Pluto will once again be awarded the title “planet.” The recent designation “dwarf planet” had cast a penumbra over the entire mission.
My family and I, with our dog Mickey, planned an excursion to the famed area visible on planetary photos, to Pluto’s Heart. We wanted to hike and to camp out under the moons and stars. A school holiday was proclaimed for the impending event that became known as “the bypass.” The highlight of our 2015 (by earth reckoning) vacation trip would be to view the New Horizons space probe as it passed by, to literally view its “bypass” from Pluto’s Heart.
Earth was a place on which I’d never stepped foot. I am a second generation Plutonian. My first breath was taken in our humble home just north of Pluto’s geological feature, the Whale’s Tail. So, I failed to understand the enthusiasm over this earth probe. But, there was euphoria among the elders within our community, even more excitement than when Mrs. Xenon made a birthday cake for Mr. Xenon’s 70th birthday party. She failed to adequately blend the ingredients and Mr. Xenon broke his dentures on a piece of granite in the marble cake.
We’d packed for a week’s stay at Pluto’s Heart. Each night I located as many of Pluto’s five moons as were visible. Then, I watched as Neptune trekked across the starry expanse, and when I tired, I slumbered under the shadow of Charon.
As a hobby, I charted the lunar phases for all of Pluto’s five moons. Charon, the largest, was my favorite. Charon and Pluto perform a binary do-si-do as they rotate around each other.
The fourth night of our vacation, when moon Charon was full, I heard a strange intermittent rapping on our clear domed tent. It created an arrhythmic beat as we camped on Pluto’s Heart. Mickey whined; the rapping distressed him. Then, the next morning, I found someone, or something, had traipsed nearby leaving footprints across Pluto’s Heart.
Relieved that the full moon had passed, we continued our adventures. We harvested ice in the equatorial ice mountains about 1,000 meters above the dwarf planet’s surface. Ice from that altitude has a glossy consistency and makes the best smoothies, just in time for Mr. Xenon’s 71st birthday party.
The last night of our vacation was spectacular. Due to the classified nature of the Mayflower II project, our family stayed concealed within the crevices and chambers of Pluto’s Heart when the New Horizons passed by. I’ve got to admit, watching that hurtling object streak by gave me palpitations. This was our finest hour, our one chance. My parents were particularly moved. Mickey howled, I believed in solidarity to our cause.
And now, our vacation has ended, school has resumed, and Charon wanes. As we await 2019, I can only hope that the data and images sent by New Horizons to earth will cast our dwarf planet in a favorable light, that Pluto will again be granted the lofty status of “planet.”
*fiction
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