The Mission To Mars

• Sebastian Heffernan, Grade 8
• Short Story
• 2020

10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, 0… Lift-off! The powerful red flames of the rocket burned into the ground, propelling it upwards. It seemed as if everyone watching was holding their breath. The first mission to Mars was officially underway. The red stripes going around the rocket in an ‘S’ shape seemed as if they were glowing. The three astronauts inside were not in the present moment, however. They were thinking of their families and friends that they were leaving behind. They may not ever be able to see them in the flesh again. The trip was not guaranteed to be two ways, as the technology for reusable rockets had not yet been fully developed.

The rocket hit the atmosphere, leaving a trail of bright fire burning behind it. Gravity slowly but surely became non-existent. After a few days, they passed the moon. It was shining a grand white light, with large craters in its surface from all of the meteors and comets that had hit it thousands of years ago. The next object that they would encounter would be Phobos, one of Mars’s two moons in orbit around it. That would be in 186 days, so until then they had the emptiness of space to comfort them.

A month in, the crew had done countless scientific experiments and played many rounds of cards. Inside the ship, there was not much else to do in the rocket. It was a small space, with just a few rooms consisting of the control room, the kitchen, gym and sleeping bays. The food was not only kept in storage the entire trip, as it would not last the entire journey but was mostly grown out of a genetically enhanced bio station. The astronauts missed earth, but still needed to continue the mission to set up the base for the research station on mars.

125 days later, Mars was in view. An end was in sight for their long journey at last. The crew took photos of the red planet, with both of its moons on either side of it, casting dark shadows onto its surface. Eventually, it was time to land the rocket. Blasting the engine up, the crew skillfully piloted it down, lifting vast amounts of dust from the ground. There was a loud thud when they landed. They suited up in their spacesuits and admired the view. They had traveled through the darkness of space for 132 days, and were far away from the people they loved most. Base camp would take the team two weeks to build, but it was now time to exit the ship for the first time. As they put their first foot on the red dust they knew they were home.