On a Launchpad out in Texas majestically she stands,
A rocket called The Wanderer, on board a single man,
And he says a simple, silent prayer, for God to keep him safe,
Then he makes his final preparations for his journey into space.
"Wanderer to ground control, ignition minus ten,
All systems satisfactory, the countdown can begin.
Life support, engaged and checked, auxiliaries online,
Cabin pressure maximum, ignition minus five.
Locking brackets disengaged, ignition minus one,
Houston we have lift off, deep space here I come.
G-force reaching critical, inertia thrusts engaged.
Orbit left in minus ten, commencing second stage.
Initiating separation, ejecting booster pods,
The planets looking beautiful and I feel so close to God.
Houston we have a power surge, bank seven, sector nine,
I've jettisoned the booster pods but it shows them still online".
The scientists at ground control work frantically and then,
The speaker crackles into life, as The Wanderer speaks again,
"Ground control, I thank you, all systems A.Ok,
Luna orbit only twenty thousand miles away".
That should catapult the capsule, out toward the gamma sector,
With the aid of cryogenic sleep, and a cardiac arrester.
Into the hibernation pod, he steps and sleep's induced,
His heart rate drops to minimal, chemically reduced,
Liquefied nutrition will sustain him while he sleeps,
The only sounds around him are computer blips and beeps,
Of course with intravenous feeding tubes, he'll not be eating steak,
But cryogenic sleep should last six months, then he'll awake,
To carry out experiments, impossible till then,
In the middle of a black hole at Gamma sector ten,
"Houston calling Wanderer, sit rep, if you would".
"Yeah, Houston this is Wanderer, everything looks good.
"Approaching Gamma sector ten, black hole dead ahead,
Adjusting pitch and roll and speed, deploying infrared",
"Wanderer to ground control, commencing entrance phase,
My God!! My God!! It’s beautiful, I truly am amazed,
Houston can you hear me? Houston are you there?
My thrusters are inoperative, attempting to repair.
My communications power cell is down to five percent,
And I'm being drawn into the hole at a terminal decent",
"Houston calling Wanderer, your signals very weak,
Houston calling Wanderer, repeat, repeat, repeat,
Houston calling Wanderer, Wanderer respond"
They called and called repeatedly, but Wanderer was gone.
By S.E.Ralph
25-3-2014
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to quote the awesome sir ralph...sir...'My God!! My God!! It’s beautiful, I truly am amazed,'