Space!
Rocket Ships! Lasers! Aliens! This is the story that goes along with my album ‘Space!’ made for Creative Audio Semester 1, 2018.
My Creative Audio project is based on the tale of a team of fearless astronauts embarking on a journey across the universe. With the goal of exploring and searching for new life beyond the Milky Way. Jumping between planets shooting past stars, Operation 2001 is the first mission of its kind after scientists and engineers finally made long distance space travel possible with the discovery of warp speed.
Launch Countdown sequence begins at 0600 hours on the 2nd of April, year 2968 at the Kennedy Space Centre. Mission Commander Scott, Electro-Engineer Wilcox and Science Officer Stanley prepare to make the journey of a lifetime to voyage far across the Galaxy. Saying goodbye to their families was the hardest decision each of the astronauts had to make. A twenty year exploration. They are in it for the long run.
The time is 05:55 in the morning - 5 minutes before ignition. The astronauts are ready. They are prepared. They’ve been waiting for this moment their entire lives. All three have shared the same dream that is about to become a reality. Shooting through stars and exploring new planets to try find life beyond the stars to find out who or what else is out there.
The clock strikes 6AM, and countdown has now officially been initiated. 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, LIFT OFF!!!! The jets ignite the fuel, and the ground shakes violently. The USS Callister erupts with a deafening explosion and shoots into the sky. The people of Earth farewells their greatest heroes, waiting eagerly for their return.
Flight 11:13 04/02/68 Operation 2001′s first stop is planet BRF-31C, a small green speck located just outside the milky way. The journey will take six years to get there, and it’s only been 5 hours since launch. Our astronauts are eager for adventure and can’t wait to explore the planet. Soaring through the milky way, faster than light speed, Scott, Wilcox and Stanley spend their time researching and documenting their journey to let the citizens of Earth see what they see.
13:50 10/14/73 Each day as the USS Callister draws closer and closer to the small green speck, however the astronauts keep experiencing more and more turbulence than originally calculated. Wilcox continually manages to stabilize the cooling system, which seemed to have been the main problem, so the turbulence has been as minimal as possible to try avoid potential anxiety episodes from the crew. The voyage had not been as stable and undisturbed as they thought. They are on track with only three more months of travel until touchdown, and the crew could not be happier. The journey has proven to have felt much longer than they anticipated but they are excited they’re almost there. The small green speck draws near and the hopes are high for discovering life on the planet. A clear atmosphere can be seen with vast oceans and endless land masses, BRF-31C is looking promising.
Explore 15:35 12/24/73 The USS Challenger finally begins entering the atmosphere, but have received no attempt at communication from the planet, so the astronauts can only hope they see signs of life when they reach the ground. It is Christmas Eve, and the astronauts couldn’t have wished for a better Christmas Day than being able to explore a new planet for the first time. They arrive with extreme caution for what might be afoot. With potentially hazardous conditions or life threatening gases, Science Officer Stanley is on top duty to determine whether BRF-31C is safe for his crew.
The landing is stuck, and the astronauts are finally able to touch solid ground for the first time in their six year voyage. Now is where the fun begins and our heroes get to look around. The air is determined to be safe to breathe, and the ground safe to touch. They all leave the Callister to look around and experience the new planet for the first time. Immediately they feel a calm, warm breeze. The atmosphere is rich and full of oxygen. There are tall purple things that look like trees around, but no creatures or animals to be seen. There are rivers that run green water and there is a light mist around that breathes a colour of pale red. Everything was quickly tested by science officer Stanley to be safe to the crew. three hours passed, and with caution, they searched among brush and through the red mist to find evidence of sentient forms of life but have so far been unsuccessful. The crew will spend the next year studying the environment and experiencing life on the new planet in hopes of eventually finding what they came here to find.
10:04 07/03/74 Six months passed, and there is still no evidence of sentient life. No mammals, no amphibians, and not even any insects had been found. This stop has seemingly been a failure, and when all hope seemed lost, the astronauts felt the ground shake. THUD! THUD! THUD! Footsteps? An eruption? The ground began to shake faster. THUD! THUD! THUD! THUD! THUD! Was there something running towards the spaceship? Suddenly, a huge creature picked up Stanley with its mouth and swallowed him whole! A terrified Scott and Wilcox dropped everything and ran towards the Callister. They had to make an emergency takeoff to bring their data and samples back to Earth. The huge creature had big eyes, big teeth and feet bigger than a school bus. The huge creature is on their tail and is close behind. An escape is necessary. Running as fast as they can, they make it back to the spaceship and ignite the engine. WHOOOOSH!! The Callister begins its takeoff sequence and rises into the air. The huge creature manages to slash at the back of the ship and takes out engine 1! The Callister manages to keep flight, and takes off into the sky.
MAYDAY Coming to terms with what had just happened, the remaining crew mourn the loss of science officer Stanley. Six months without signs of life, then suddenly the one sentient being they come across devours a third of the crew. It was unbelievable. The radar must of not been able to detect the creature. Alas, the commander and engineer had other problems to worry about: flying with only 2/3 of their engines remaining did not look promising. Fortunately there were no breaches to the hull of the ship, however fuel was now looking scarce from the creature managing to rupture a gas tank.
From here, they could either continue with their mission to the next planet in hopes of being able to find resources to make repairs, which would take about a year to get there, or they could risk attempting to get back to Earth and call the mission a failure. The journey back to Earth would of taken 6 years to get back, however, with only two engines remaining and insufficient fuel, may not be able to even make it back. Mission Commander Scott and Electro-Engineer unanimously agreed to continue with Operation 2001 without their fallen comrade. They knew what they had signed up for before they left, and they didn’t want to let Stanley die in vain. The success of the mission now depended on what or who they find on the next planet.
