We also had ice cream that was engineered.
Bob came back when we finished lunch and then took us to visit one of the entertainment rooms.
I figured that if we weren’t going to have to sacrifice taste, I might also be pleasantly surprised with what the entertainment room would be like. I had some doubts. Given all the simulations and training we were doing using virtual reality, I wondered whether everything we were ever going to experience in terms of entertainment meant sacrificing the enjoyment I had in being in different environments, like a real basketball court or a baseball field. Would I ever get over that?
Chapter 27 – Lots of Sacrifices
Sam Burns, Rocky Mountains, CO
Bob explained what they had in mind when they designed the entertainment room to Jose and me, “If we are going to be traveling for years in space, there will be times when one needs to relax, listen to music, watch any old TV show or a movie. On this ship, we have the most extensive collection of music, movies, and programs for people to watch for all ages. We also have plenty of tapes of old sporting events. Babe Ruth, Michael Jordan, and Tiger Woods are right here with us. We can also put you in a simulated game so you can test your skills against the pros or you can compete against other people on the spaceship.”
I said, “I don’t think I can beat Michael Jordan in basketball.”
Bob said, “Why don’t we see!”
Suddenly, a Michael Jordan look-alike appeared on a screen with a ball and actually said, “Come on, let’s play some one-on-one.”
Bob said, “Go behind the screen, and you will see yourself on the court with him.”
I walked around the screen while Jose and Bob watched. It now looked like I was on the court with MJ.
MJ said, “Your ball. Let’s see what you got.”
I started dribbling and moving towards the hoop. I tried to take a shot with the ball, but MJ blocked it. He then took the ball, dribbled behind the three-point line, dribbled around his back, and went right past me. It was an easy dunk for him.
MJ said, “One to nothing, fifteen wins.”
I thought I did not have a prayer of scoring against him and was correct. He won 15-0.
MJ said, “You better practice your defense and shooting. I look forward to a rematch someday.”
All I could say was, “I guess I have 200 years to be like Mike.”
Next, Bob asked Jose what sport he wanted to try.
Jose thought for a moment and said, “I would like to wrestle with Dan Gable who won a gold medal in the Olympics and lost only one match in high school, college and the Olympics. If we were not going into space, I would probably be a college wrestler. Dan Gable was probably the best USA wrestler of all time. I have watched some tapes, and he was absolutely fantastic. It would be an honor to wrestle someone that good. He could have probably pinned Captain America.”
Bob said, “I will set up the wrestling mat for you and Dan. You will actually feel like you are wrestling him. By the way, if you want to be in a movie with Ironman or Captain America, we can do that too.”
Jose changed into some wrestling clothes, put on knee pads, and went to the middle of the mat to meet Dan Gable. They shook hands and waited for the referee to begin the match. Bob and I watched intensely.
I said, “If he can avoid being pinned, it will be a miracle. Dan almost always pinned his opponent.”
Suddenly the referee raised his hand and said, “Wrestle.”
Dan circled around, eyeing Jose and saying nothing at all. Jose was in a wrestling pose with his hands out front and ready to move when Dan attacked, which was bound to happen any second. All of a sudden, Gable went down on one knee and slid toward Jose, putting his arms around the knees, and picked Jose up in the air. He put one arm around his neck and flipped Jose on his back. The referee got on his stomach and then slammed the mat, signaling Jose was pinned. The whole match took all of nineteen seconds.
Jose got up, shook Dan’s hand and said, “It was a pleasure to wrestle the greatest wrestler of all time. I will try and do better next time.”
Dan just smiled, and the program ended.
I asked Jose how he felt losing in nineteen seconds.
Jose said, “It was the fastest I have ever lost a match. He was just too fast and too good. The good thing is I could never have wrestled with him had it been real life as Dan is about seventy years old now.”
After that, we looked over many of the recreational activities. There were board games, TV reality games, chess, checkers, poker and so forth. There was also a music recording studio where members of the crew could join famous singers or create their own music. I thought Sophie would probably like that and spend a lot of time there.
Bob said, “If you two have any ideas to improve this place, just let me know. When it comes to recreation and free time, we want to be able to satisfy everyone on board. Now let’s get back to the entrance.”
Jose and I thanked Bob for the tour and looked forward to seeing more next time.
Dad showed up at the entrance about five minutes later and had a private discussion with Bob for about ten minutes. We noticed they were very serious and seemed to be concerned about something.
He then came over to me. My dad explained to us that there were going to be some issues that he could not tell us about, but there was no need for them to worry about something they could not control. When they were more familiar with the ship and ready to assume more duties, he would share more information.
During the short flight home with Jose and his dad, we talked about packing for the big trip. Tom explained that all the furniture was attached to the bulkheads since we could not have furniture moving all over the place. Everyone would be limited to what they could bring on board. Uniforms would be provided to all working staff. However, on a day off, we could wear whatever we wanted. Laundry machines would be provided in living quarters. We would all be limited to digital photographs, as pictures could not be hung up anywhere. This meant that I would have to take photos of my photos to remember important moments from my youth and many accomplishments. Some of my most precious memories would have to be left behind.
When I got home, we discussed the whole packing-up procedure again with my brother and sister. My sister took it really hard. She was upset that she could not bring all of her favorite music and dolls along. Since there would be no phones on board, we would all be given devices to communicate with everyone on the ship. These devices were to be strictly used for business and not for pleasure. This meant no music or apps could be stored on them. How could anyone live like that!
Mom suggested we make lists of things we wanted to bring on the trip so we could start weeding out what we could not bring. My list included my favorite baseball mitt along with two baseballs from the Boston Red Sox. My brother wanted to bring his soccer ball and his Game Boy. My sister wanted to bring her makeup and a few dolls she had kept over the years. We would not need books or Kindles since we could access any book we wanted via the ship’s computers. Google had installed a unique program for us to do that.
We had to finish packing by September 15th. I thought about everything we had learned today and was thrilled that I had finally seen the Imagine.
Chapter 28 – Simulating Life in Orbit
Sam Burns, Rocky Mountains, CO
We weren’t even halfway done with our training program. It seemed like every waking hour was spent learning a skill that we would need on board. Sometimes, I just missed the life we were going to be leaving behind. But there was little time to dwell on it.
Today all the trainees were going to experience weightlessness in a capsule to learn how to move around and manipulate objects. We had attended about a year and a half of classes so far. We had the opportunity to tell other students participating in our training what the spaceship was like. Everyone we spoke to seemed very excited. And the most exciting part was that the training had made us stronger, more agile and confident, and a heck of a lot more proactive since our first training sessions. We could see it in the way that fellow trainees would jump at a chance to put their skills to the test helping crewmembers with engineering and electronics problems, the marked improvements in our virtual reality performance, as well as some of the innovative inventions that some of our student teams were inspired to start-up.