Nadzieja( Polish for Hope)

Chapter 22: NASA

The next day Charles went to work with a smile on his face, because of yesterday's news report. After work Charles decided to practice his linguistic and magical skills in his basement so that he wouldn't forget them along with a variety of different exercise to his body, physically fit and healthy, this, of course, would be Charles' daily routine along with gardening at his own garden to produce his own fruits and vegetables.

On the 22nd of November 1963, President John F Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, Texas, the US during a presidential parade, this event shock all of the US (and even other parts of the world) and John F Kennedy was replaced by Lyndon B Johnson as the 36th president of the US.

On the 24th of January 1965, Winston Churchill died.

However, on the 20th of May 1965, something very special happened that day. When Charles was fixing a plane engine, 2 gentlemen wearing black suits and sunglasses came to Charles. The 2 men asked Charles if he would like to work for NASA, to help them with making a rocket to go to the Moon. Charles was at first puzzled, as to why they would him but the government agents explained that the government is impressed with his skills as a mechanic and pilot and feel that this would be a great asset to win the space race against the Soviets. Charles of course accepts the offer as he needs to something with his life now that sexism and racism have been dealt a heavy blow thanks to the efforts of the suffragettes and Martin Luther King, going to the Moon would be a great adventure. The agents reassure Charles that his boss will know about his future transfer to NASA and they ask him to meet them at their main station in Huston for an interview, tomorrow.

The next day, Charles went to Huston for his interview, where Charles got accepted by NASA and told to help the engineers. At first, the job starts off ok but then over time Charles began enjoying it as he made new friends at NASA like Buzz Aldrin and Neil Armstrong. NASA provides Charles and his new friends Buzz and Neil, special living quarters near the station. Once settled, Charles began studying engineering and he performed routine exercise drills with his friends to stay fit and healthy. In secret, before Charles went to sleep, he would practice his language skills so he wouldn't forget them. And once a month Charles would be given a newspaper which often reminded Charles of his time when he worked as a journalist in New York.

On the 13th of April 1966, Charles received his monthly newspaper. The main article was about the new and established Uniform Time Act by the current president Lyndon B Johnson. The act reinforced that Daylight Saving Time back into the states. The act established that all states that follow DST have to start on the last Sunday in April and end on the last Sunday in October. Of course, the act also allows states to opt-out completely from DST, so the states of Hawaii and Arizona decided to completely opt-out while the state of Indiana did a peculiar thing by having half of if being opt out of DST. After Charles, read the newspaper he was irritated. "Why they bring back this energy-saving measure used in both world wars, it didn't help us win, the German lost the war twice, but well I'll have to deal with it," Thought Charles to himself before he went to his breakfast and starting his typical daily routine.

Though today was a special day as Charles and the NASA engineers have begun project Apollo 1 which would be the first flyable rocket in which people can be inside.

On the 15th of November 1966, Charles got his monthly newspaper. This month's headline was about a 2.10-meter-tall bird-like creature with red glowing eyes seen in Point Pleasant, West Virginia, US which was called the Mothman. "Probably a ridicules thing, the Gente made up, it's probably just a guy in a costume, a barn owl mistaken for a monster or maybe a mutated Dobutsu, though chances of that are very slim at best," Thought Charles to himself, as he proceeded to his breakfast. During his breakfast, Charles thought about the Apollo 1 rocket which will be completed in less than 3 months' time. However, Charles felt it was too dangerous to have people inside the rocket as it wasn't fully tested and ready to launch but NASA insisted that the rocket will be safe, but Charles was still concerned with the project.

Unfortunately, Charles' worst fear came true when the rocket was officially launched on the 21st of February 1967. The launch was a complete and explosive catastrophe that took the lives of the 3-member astronaut crew who were on board the rocket. NASA organized a funeral for the 3 astronauts and even made huge apologies to the families and friends of the 3 astronauts for what happened, but they would probably not forgive NASA so easily for what has, happened to them. During the funeral NASA announce that Apollo 2 and beyond will be unmanned until the design has been perfected and they can be sure that it is safe for people to be inside it. Charles was happy with the announcement but still remained skeptical, as he and the engineers proceeded with making and designing Apollo 2 which was launched on the 15th of May of 1967 which was a slight improvement to Apollo 1. After that Charles and the engineers proceeded to make Apollo 3 which was launched on the 17th of September 1967, being once again an improvement to the predecessor.

On the 9th of November 1967, Apollo 4 was launched and it went around the Earth's orbit. The mission was deemed by NASA a success. However, the next rocket would still be an unmanned flight. With the success of Apollo 4, Charles had a dinner party with Buzz Aldrin, Neil Armstrong, and many NASA engineers to celebrate their success.

On the 3rd of December 1967, Charles received his monthly newspaper with this month's headline being the first heart transplant. Charles was very happy with the news that the Gente now know how to perform complex operations like heart transplants and he was still happy with the success of Apollo 4 as today he and the NASA engineers were designing Apollo 5 which was going to be ready next month.

On the 23rd of January 1968, Apollo 5 was launched and just like Apollo 4 it was a success. As plans were now to make Apollo 6.

On the 4th of April 1968, Apollo 6 was launched and once again it was a great success, that Charles and the NASA engineers deemed that Apollo 7 will now be a manned mission.

It took few months but finally, on the 11th of October 1968, Apollo 7 was ready to be launched, as was its 3-member astronaut crew. As the rocket was being ready to be launched in less than a minute's time. Charles had worrying feelings for the crew of Apollo 7 as he didn't want a rehash of the Apollo 1 disaster. But Apollo 7 proved to be a success as the crew came back from the mission alive. The mission of Apollo 7 was to go round the Earth's orbit very similar to Yuri Gagarin's mission. It was a success that the next Apollo missions will now be manned again.

On the 21st of December 1968, NASA launched, Apollo 8 with the mission to go round the Moon and take pictures of it. The mission was a success leading to another celebration just like the success of Apollo 4.

This success prompted 2 more Apollo missions, in March and May of 1969 which were successful. But finally, NASA decided it was time to officially fly and land on the Moon with Apollo 11 allowing NASA to win the Space Race once and for all. Charles along with Buzz and Neil volunteered to be the crew members of Apollo 11.