by Max Barry

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Region: the Pacific

After various previous unmanned missions to the lunar surface by The Second Empire of Dushina, the first manned mission to the moon has been completed.

The rocket which carried the various astronauts to the moons surface the Super HLV II which was know by the crew as the 'layer cake' for its various
thrusters and boosters which do indeed look similar to a layer cake.

The launch took place November 26th and returned December 4th after a one night stay on the moon. The mission was to gather information for a semi permanent
settlement on the moon. The results of the lunar mission (which have not been processed yet) may decide whether the nation even continues its missions to
study Luna.

The astronauts Nathan S. (Commander), Joe Y. (Junior Commander), Stella W. (Lunar Expert) and Zoe H. (Pilot) all made it home safely thanks to the lengthy
testing prior to the mission by all the wonderful crew at the DSO.

We are lucky because the Director of the Dushinan Space Organization, Miss Allen has been gracious enough to offer our newspaper (the Katze Chronicle) an exclusive interview!

The transcript of the interview can be found below:

Interviewer: "So Miss Allen, what exactly are your plans for future lunar progress?"

Miss Allen: "Well sir.. erm, can I call ya sir?"

[Interviewer nods]

"We at the Dushina Space Organization have created a plan to construct a lunar base on the surface of the moon, all it requires is the funding.. Mittens and
I have discussed an increase of funding which was approved this past evening and will take effect January 1st, 2023 but can be accelerated if necessary.

Interviewer: "Will this require an increase in taxes on already overtaxed kittens of Dushina?"

Miss Allen: "In these types of cases an increase of taxes is often necessary but in this specific case, no."
"I believe that this hype focus on taxes is a big problem in the process of advancing the great nation that is Dushina.. taxes are focused on WAYYY too much
by most people who believe it is just stuffed into the pockets of bureaucrats."

Interviewer: "Do you have anything to say about the fact that Fluff called your work 'unimportant' and he said it
'could have been better used in the military or healthcare' Miss Allen?"

Miss Allen: "Ah.. that

[Miss Allen drinks some water and then clears her throat]

"Yes I indeed do, sometimes Fluff can be.. wrong? I know, crazy concept.. Fluff was angry at the failure to launch of some rocket, I forget.."
"Ah yes, it was actually about the Nessie (the design was fully completed later) and the development was slowing and I had to ask for more funding
which was necessary for the designing of Nessie and feasibility studies and I suppose got mad because of other causes compounding his anger."

[The interviewer looks at his notes for a few seconds then he begins to speak again]

"Do you believe that long-term settlement will be possible (and more importantly safe) on the lunar surface?"

Miss Allen: "Oh.. hadn't thought of that, I was just thinking about the shapes of buildings.." she says sarcastically
"But really, we have put a lot of thought into the construction of these bases across the surface of the moon. I have heard about bone loss being a problem on
long missions to the moon (like that observed by astronauts on various space stations and we will attempt to combat all those problems with a space station of our own.
I cannot go into deep detail currently as we are still in the design stage and everything is subject to change buuuuut it will be pretty innovative."

Interviewer: "When do you think the lunar base will be constructed, and do you think it will be a good use of taxpayer money?"

Miss Allen: "Hm.. I can't exactly say when buut there will be some interesting news after the funding increase.. that is all I can say in this instance,
there will be news after the first (or whenever it takes effect.)"

Interviewer: "Will this construction affect the economy of the Colombia Space Center (CSC) and other surrounding areas
as most of the rocket launches will take place in the Guyana Space Center?"

Miss Allen: "Well sir, the CSC is taking over one of our projects so that we are more able to handle the lunar base (if it comes to be) ourselves."

Interviewer: "What project would that be if you do not mind me asking?

Miss Allen: "We've only talked about like three projects thus far so I'm sure you can take a guess, I am not allowed to tell you explicitly what project but I am
allowed to say what I've said previously."

Interviewer: "Well that concludes my prepared remarks, do you have anything else to say Miss Allen?"

Miss Allen: "Indeed I do!"

"I may have said things like this in this interview but please support increasing funding for sciences, it is very important to the future of Dushina."
"Call your MP, call your mayor, call Mittens and ask him to consider an increase of funding of all the sciences (not just rocket science)... it is critical to our future."
"Even though our technology is one of the most advanced in the world, there is absolutely no reason we shouldn't keep the advancement goin'!"

Interviewer: "Mittens?"

Miss Allen: "Ah, you might know him as King Fluff VI (technically he should be King Mittens VI but he preferred the sound of Fluff).. you don't know Fluff?"

Interviewer: "Really weird to hear him referred to as anything other than Fluff, never knew him as anything other than Mittens.."

Miss Allen: "I understand, it can be shocking to hear him referred to by anything else than what you are used to."

And there you have it, that is all for today's article of the Katze Chronicle!

Written by:

Michael I. and Samantha Y.

Special Thanks to:

Miss Allen
Nathan S.
Joe Y.
Stella W.
Zoe H.

1,000 words! Might have a prequel to it, IDK.. I think the first part is a bit weak.

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