Dusty radioed mission control, “At our ten o’clock position there are two very bright, small craters that are three to four meters across, with some whitish material in the center. We are in a distinct boulder field, heading west.”
Tom was so consumed with driving and making up time that he had no idea where they were. He was counting on Dusty to get them to their next location. With no reference points or distinct characteristics to stand out over the barren landscape, everything looked the same. The undisturbed gray hills and craters surrounding them looked like the hundreds they had already passed. Dusty’s map gave him the distance and heading needed to reach each destination, and the Rover’s navigation system fed him the needed data to guide him along. Unfortunately, the odometer was slightly off due to Tom’s crazy driving, making the wheels slip and go airborne.
Dusty called out in a relieved tone, “We are almost to North Ray Crater.”
Through all the bouncing, Tom was able to lift his sun visor to get a good look at the enormous crater they were approaching. It was by far the biggest they had seen, with a broad ejecta blanket. This was going to be a blast to explore. He quickly shut his visor and aimed for the monster.
THE DIMLY LIT Mission Operations Control Room glowed from the vast array of lighted console monitors and flickering digital displays that fed information to the young, energetic flight controllers monitoring the Apollo 16 mission. Anne sat watching the action in the quiet, glass-enclosed VIP area. Her attention was riveted on the large bank of projection screens spread out across the front of mission control. The futuristic displays had flashing technical data along with colorful, gleaming lines and dotted lights depicting maps and locations which made absolutely no sense to Anne. Her concentration was on the screen to the far right, which showed the live feed from the moon. Whenever the moonwalkers were in transit, the image on the screen was often of Kirk, busy in the Command Module, since the lunar rover could not transmit a TV signal while moving. Once the vehicle was parked, the screen was filled with images of the astronauts working on the moon. The voices coming from the room’s small ceiling speakers kept Anne abreast of all the action, even when her husband was joy riding on the lunar surface.
“Mommy, I’m hungry.”
Anne reluctantly tore her eyes from the screen to look down at her son, who was getting restless after sitting in the room for the last two hours. “Sweetheart, aren’t you enjoying listening to Daddy drive on the moon?”
Sitting on the opposite side of Peter, Virginia interjected, “I can take him down to the cafeteria to get a little something to eat if you’d like.”
Anne had to pull a few strings to get Virginia into mission control, and this was exactly why she had done it. After returning from the Cape, any time Anne wanted to go to mission control, Peter always begged to tag along. She was happy to take him, but it was only a matter of time before he would tucker out and ask to go home. Today Anne wanted to stay as long as possible. “That would be great, Virginia.”
Her sister-in-law started to get up when Chris Riddick entered the sparsely filled VIP area. Without hesitation he turned down the empty row right in front of the women. Anne quickly turned away without making eye contact. Joan, sitting next to Anne, also noticed Chris walking toward them and nudged Anne’s leg. Anne turned to her friend, rolling her eyes, and looked straight ahead into the control room. As feared, Chris stopped right in front of the three ladies with his hands on his hips and said, “Hi, Anne.”
Anne’s eyes didn’t budge as she answered in her best brush-off tone, “Hello, Mr. Riddick.”
Chris gave Virginia a good once over. “So are you going to introduce me to this pretty lady?”
“No, she’s not,” Virginia said, “because I’m not interested in meeting someone as pigheaded as you.” Virginia turned to Peter. “Come on, Peter. Let’s get you something to eat.”
Joan practically fell out of her seat trying to control herself as a slight giggle leaked out. Anne only smiled. She felt Chris staring in her direction, but she didn’t move. An awkward silence hung over them as Virginia and Peter worked their way down the row and out of the room. Finally, Chris turned away and left without saying a word.
Joan leaned over to Anne and whispered, “I like Virginia.”
WITH SOME EXPERIMENTS not going as planned and the astronauts running behind schedule, Tom figured the geologists and scientists at NASA were probably fighting over what the astronauts’ next move should be as they worked on the rim of North Ray Crater. He was glad David was CAPCOM, knowing the experienced moonwalker would filter out any unrealistic request.
“Tom, some of the boys in the back room would like you to get a sample from that big black rock east of the rover.”
In order to maximize their time, Dusty and Tom had been operating independently ever since they got out of the rover. It was obvious which rock Houston was referring to. It was the only black rock east of them and probably the biggest they had come across yet. He estimated it was about 100 meters out. “Roger.”
Tom looked over at his LMP, who was busy getting samples of small white rocks behind the rover. “Dusty, all okay?”
“I’m fine. Go on ahead. Gosh, these are some great samples.”
Tom waved and set off on his trek through the scattered stone forest. He found the easiest and quickest way to travel along the lunar surface was with a mixture of a hop and a jog, what he labeled the lunar gallop. Even though the moon’s temperature was 100 degrees hotter than when they landed, the blistering 200 °F temperature was only a minor inconvenience thanks to the cooling water circulating through their suits.
“Houston, I’m heading toward the rock.” Tom felt like a little kid as he bounded joyfully about. “Whoopee. I tell you, David, I wish moving around on Earth was this easy.”
David said with envy in his voice, “I know. I miss it.”
As Tom ventured away from the rover, the rocks he was passing were larger and larger. After a while it was becoming obvious that the rock he was aiming for was much bigger and farther away than he had expected. “Boy, this rock is really out there.” Tom figured he had gone well over a couple hundred meters.
Eventually he reached the giant boulder, which towered over him like a huge building. He decided to give it a name. “This is one huge rock. It’s as big as a house. I’m calling it House Rock.”
“Tom, we can’t see you on camera.”
Tom heard some static breaking into David’s response, a sign something was blocking his signal. Looking out in the direction of the rover, his view of it was blocked by some rocks. He hopped about twenty meters away from House Rock until he could see the rover. “See me now?”
David’s voice came through crystal clear. “We do. Can you work on the rock where you are?”
“That’s a negative. It’s about twenty meters over.” As Tom heard some mumblings, he looked over at the rock, then back at the rover in the distance. Since they were running behind schedule, this was probably his best opportunity to snag a lunar sample in secret. He was concerned he might be rushed if he waited until the end of the EVA, increasing his chances of being caught.
“We would like to keep an eye on you.”
“Roger, Houston. How about Dusty moving the rover so I am in view?”
The radio was silent for a moment. Tom assumed management was discussing the proposition, since only the commander was to drive the car. “Dusty, we want you to move the rover about twenty meters north.”
Elated, Dusty replied without hesitation, “Copy that, Houston. I would be happy to.”