The Space Mission Gone Bad

He liked the view, he just looked at the stars and The Moon and just wondered what did he do to deserve this? Than it was silent. But all of a sudden Joe heard a noise like air escaping from somewhere. It sounded like air was coming out of the station. He thought a micrometeorite must of made a hole in the side of the station unless somthing in the station made the hole.

After that it was all crazy, everything was going wrong.

Joe exclaimed, “Mission control Houston we have a problem might be a small hole in the Station!”

Joe headed to the Crew Return Vehicle and got strapped in.Joe cried,”Why is this happening?” But he got over it quickly and started the vehicle up and undocked. He was just about to start it’s rockets but seen that there was not enough fuel to make it home. So he called mission control and said, “Mission control Houston I don’t have enough fuel to make it back.” Mission Control said, “can you make it anywhere?” “This is Mission Control Houston, Joe get to the Crew Return Vehicle and head to Kazakhstan. ”  

Joe replied, “I can’t make it, the best I can do is make it into the atmosphere, and I will come in to hot and burn up!”

“Well don’t do that!”“I was not planning on it! So what should I do?”“I would stay where you are and put on your EVA suit and try to put something on the hole to make it last for now.”Mission control whispered to someone nearby, “I told you this would happen with a 26 year old Space Station!”

The voice replied, “We didn’t think that there would be a crew onboard when it happened!”

“The station was supposed to be deorbited in 2016 but then president Obama made it go this long.”“Well we need to figure out a way to get Joe home!” The two continued to figure out a way to get Joe home.

But then they realized know one really knew he was up there, besides him. So could they just leave him? But then they remembered that he needed to be saved he had a family. It’s not like he lived with his family, they thought. Did his family even like him anyway? His family new this is a risky business, but they still said he could go and have his dream flight.  As they continued arguing back and forth they finally decided to save him. They just did not know how.

Back in space Joe was scared worried and thinking of how to make it back to Earth. Joe went on EVA and got some duct tape he tried to just think where he heard the air coming out. He looked everywhere he could not find it. He was just there he floated high above the planet looking down over Texas just wondering what they were thinking at mission control. He Just floated there for a minute and just remembered his wife and kids and just thought about them thinking this could go either way. He knew as did his family that he may not come back home. He found the hole after a few hours and many sunrises and sunsets.

When he got inside he tried to called the Chinese Space Station and asked to see if they had a spacecraft that he could use to get back home, because his did not have the fuel to make it home. He couldn’t understand anything they were saying, he was trying to translate with the books they gave him but he just couldn’t.

So without knowing what they were saying he tried to head over to them. He knew it would be risky them not knowing what he said. Maybe they thought he was going to hurt them. He ran out of gas very quickly, but this time it was worse. He couldn’t go anywhere and didn’t know where he was. He was almost there he tried to make it but he was stuck. He called back to the station, he couldn’t reach their line. Houston called back and told him not to worry that they would get it figured out.

Joe then started panicking more, he was now yelling, “What are we going to do?”Houston replied the, “First flight of the new Dream Chaser that they have been working on since 2013 was making it’s first flight it could come pick him up and bring him back home.”

Joe thought that it was a splendid idea, but how would they know where he was? He pointed out his spot in space, and they figured out how to rendezvous with him. The first flight had payload specialist Victor J. Glover, mission specialist Daniel T. Barry and Pilot Susan J. Helms. They launched so that they could get to Joe and bring him home.

Joe hadn’t heard the news but when he found out he was going to be saved he would be so astonished. The Dream Chaser launched at 11:34 Am to catch Joe and bring him home. The flight up as a bit shaky the mission was not just to save Joe the main goal of the mission was to conduct science and see if the Dream Chaser could perform like the Space Shuttle did. Houston told Joe a day before the launch so when they launched Joe was happy he knew he was going home. they rendezvous with him and they opened the hatch and Joe was so happy to see the crew he gave each one a hug. He was so happy he was going home! They still had a mission to do though so they would not be going home for a few days. They did their work testing plants and some fish to see how zero gravity affected them. Joe tried to help, but they told him to relax it was their mission. Joe was understanding but there was so much he wanted to do, he couldn’t just float there and watch them do all the work. He still tried to help when they were all sleeping Joe got up looked out the window and finished all the science. They woke up and told Joe he should of done that. So soon after that the mission was over and they came back to Earth.

As the Spacecraft reentered the Atmosphere Joe was happy, he was returning home. The crew looked over at Joe and he was smiling he was so happy he could see his wife and kids again. The craft touched down and Joe was exhausted he was glad to be home.

When he got back, he felt it was really awkward for his feet to be touching the ground. Everyone in the spacecraft was taken out and brought in the center. They did testing to make sure that he was ok to be back on Earth. He was able to leave a few days later. He was looking around for some familiar faces, he couldn’t find any. Not even his family, so maybe they really didn’t care about him? Everyone was congratulating Joe, and happy he was back. Joe honestly didn't care, what he cared about was his family. But where were they? Why weren’t they here? Maybe they were still coming? Maybe they did not know he landed? Did they even remember he was up there? They should've remember he was up there, or they must not of cared.

Joe then quickly pushed through the crowd of people with anger, rushing to his car. When opening the door, he pushed it back with anger so hard it came back and hit him. Joes was upset, how couldn’t they have showed up, it was my own wife an kids! There he sat all alone in his rusty old red car, just devastated. He grabbed his keys, and started the engine hearing that sweet sound of the motor. Joe grasped his sweaty hands to the steering wheel and took off without a care in the world.

Once he got to his destination Joe had taken a deep breath. He turned his head to the right of him, there she was. Joe’s wife and two kids, he couldn’t believe they had found someone else. Delilah was holding another mans hand, Joe couldn’t take it. He got out of the car his face was flushed with anger getting his face redder. He slammed the door and walked up to there house, without knocking he walked right in!

You think it was easy for me to spend 1 year away from you?!” she shot back. “No but I had to do this for work!” “For 5 seconds can you just forget about work! You had kids, you never even paid attention to them! How do you think this was for them?” Delilah was sobbing, she had tears running down her cheeks. Her hair was all over the place, some of it was yet from all the tears.

“They knew what I did they knew I had to go, so did you so why would you do this to me?” Without hesitation Delilah quickly mumbled something, Joe didn’t hear her. She kept on going, even if Joe couldn’t hear her. Then within a matter of time, she started raging. Delilah couldn’t take it, she was furious! “I NEVER WANTED THIS TO HAPPEN, IT WASN’T EASY FOR ME  TO DO THIS.”“But that does not mean you can cheat on me!” “Joe, it’s over! Say goodbye to the kids, I’m done with you. You were never there for me or us. You were always at the space station, and never here with us your family. Goodbye Joe!”

With that Joe had slowly started walking away, he turned around gave the kids one last glance and walked out. Joe wasn’t angry, he was more depressed and upset. But above all of that he felt guilty for not being a good father. Why couldn’t he have been there for them? It wasn’t that hard, they just wanted his attention but he never gave that to him. Than he walked back in and said, “This is my house you get out!” She was furious, how could he do that? To her and his kids, they needed him more than ever. Delilah said nothing, she packed up her stuff and grabbed the kid’s things forcing all of the kid’s things in a suitcase. The suitcase was bright red, with tears on the outside from packing some much into it. She was walking out the door, and she was never going back. The kids were in tears screaming and yelling, “Don’t leave, stay with daddy! We are a family!” They ignored the screaming, Delilah had both kids in her hands while her boyfriend was carrying the suitcase. They had walked out that door and never looked back.The kids were still screaming at both of them, but as Delilah drove off in her car Joe had a tear running down his cheek. Delilah wasn’t even upset, she was filled with anger. Joe on the other hand was sad he just watched his wife and kids drive off and he did not know where they were going. They both had always been with each other for as long as Delilah could remember, they grew up together. Joe was Delilah’s first friend, they were connected hip by hip. Until now, what were they going to do? Joe didn’t want Delilah out of his life, been he didn’t want to take the blame for everything. Even though it might of been his fault, he didn’t think it was fair. Here he was out supporting his family, while Delilah was sitting on her butt at home watching the kids, Joe had thought. He changed his mind quickly thinking that was little harsh, Delilah was Joe’s best friend. They had been friends for as long as he could remember. They had two wonderful kids that he could never replace, he just sat there and thought for the rest of the night. On the other hand, Delilah was with her wonderful kids having a great time especially with Isiah. Delilah had not thought about Joe once until one of the kid’s had brought it up. She was not upset by all means, she got over it fast. Delilah was not a girl that cried often, she hated when her kids saw her like that. Isaiah had asked, “Do you miss him?” Delilah did not respond for a few seconds then said, “I believe there is a reason for everything, and it was better off like this.” Joe was thinking still but did not know what to do so he went down to the bar and had a few drinks with some friends. Than this tall blond girl walked up to him and said, “Were you that astronaut that was stuck in space?” Joe showed a shy smile, and slowly nodded his head. The girl gave a friendly smile back, and slowly walked away. Joe was completely shocked, how could a pretty girl like that recognize a guy like Joe? I mean, Joe wasn’t the most attractive man in the sea. But he did get to go to space so he must of been smart. Now being away from his wife and kids Joe was happy to see people appreciated him unlike his wife did. Back to Delilah, she was as happy as a kid with candy! She felt great, but felt the need to call Joe and tell him she did appreciate him. Delilah slowly walked outside and grabbed her crappy old flip phone out of her pocket. She still had this phone because Joe was so busy up in space and he forgot about there phone contract. She quickly dialed Joe’s number. Joe answered the phone and said, “Hello this is Joe how can I help you?” “Hey, it’s just me! I just want to apologize about earlier, and say I’m so happy you made it back safely. I just think we should go our separate ways and meet new people, before I go I just want to say I did appreciate what you did. I just thought it would have been nice if you could have spent time with the kids.”“I know you don’t like me saying this but I was in space how was I suppose to spend time with the kids? We were never with each other and I couldn’t just say no to the mission, NASA needed me.”   “I understand it was a great opportunity, but what about before the mission? I just can’t bare to see my kids without a father, that’s why I think we should just move on. It would be better that way, don’t you think? After all we seemed happy before we were together.”“I had to go for training It was not my choice. We did have some good times before each other but what are we going to do with the kids?”  “The kids and I will be fine, we are staying at Isaiah's and they seem happy. You can take them on the weekends if your not busy, otherwise I would like them here with Isaiah and myself.”“That’s ok because I have another mission in a few months to try and fix the hole because I know where it is. I would like you and the kids to come see the launch if that’s ok.” “We will see if we can make it, I’m sure they would enjoy that. We will see you later, have a goodnight!Before Joe could answer Delilah quickly hung up. She was so happy she got that off her chest, now for a good night's rest. Joe went on his mission in Late January 2025 and fixed the station he would return to Earth a few days later. Joe would later have his last space mission being the first man to orbit and land on Mars in 2030 and would spend the rest of his life on Mars with new crews arriving every 2 years until 2046. He would later die on Mars on April 21, 2086 at the age of 85 and would become the first man to die on a different planet. In the time that past Delilah and the family had been doing wonderful. She had got re-married with Isaiah and everything was going as planned, the kids were never better! Delilah had known it was a good choice they had made, the kids were happy and getting along with Isaiah great!