It’s been an amazing few days. Busy. Exciting. Exhausting. And now I’m in Space orbiting the Earth, marvelling at its beauty.
The last couple of days have been hectic getting ready for Lift -off: fitting the window and control panels, overcoming technical hitches like the lights cutting out, checking the communication system works etc. Feels like these kinds of details should have been ironed out before now, but even the Apollo Mission had its ups and downs.
The public voted to call the capsule Luna McLooneyface. But as seems to be the way with these things, I have named the small model capsule Luna McLooneyface. And after all the work, dedication and goodwill that has gone into creating this full-sized space capsule, I’m going to name it after a pioneer who I admire; someone who is brave, determined, and believes whole heartedly in reducing our carbon emissions: Greta Thunberg. So, meet Greta, our sustainable space capsule, on a mission to the Moon – using the power of the mind.
Just before lift-off, I had a visit from Max Boyce, wishing me luck on the mission… and not to end up on the dark side, like ‘Morgan the Moon’! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FBrjdQIH8uw
Had a good crowd to send me off, drink a toast to the Mission and do the final countdown. Then with my two teddi-naut companions*, Mat and Rocket-Bella, we shot up through the Arts Centre roof in Pontardawe and out of Swansea Bay. It was so loud it felt like there drummers thundering below the capsule. And then suddenly there we were above the clouds.
*These two teddies have already been to space. Now they are guiding the capsule – which is a good thing as I probably had a little too much red wine to steer it on my own: https://www.theguardian.com/education/2008/dec/04/teddy-bears-space
I woke up this morning to this view. And I’ve spent a lot of the day literally watching the world go round 🙂