Moonbound Isabel

Number 0

Isabel lived in a city which had many trees.

It was a cold place in the winter with lots of snow, dark days, and long nights.

She often looked up at the night sky when it was clear and saw stars and the Moon.

She really liked the Moon with its bright shiny face looking down back at her. And she wondered
what it would be like to visit it.

And here is where her adventure began…

Number 1

‘How do I get to the Moon?’, wondered Isabel...

‘I am going to google it’, she thought as the logical way to go.

The saga continues…

Number 2

Trying to find a way to the moon was quite a difficult task to say the least, even for such an
inquisitive young person as she is.

So, Isabel decided to call upon her friends and see if they could help.

Going to the Moon with people you know, and trust is far more fun and surely safer.

Even in an adventure, it is far better to be safe than sorry.

First, she went and visited her friend Li.

Li is a very bright young girl who knows a lot about maths and physics.

‘Oh, that's a difficult one. Let me think…’, she replied and started scribbling on some paper some
mathematical equations.

‘It's going to take a long time to get to the moon because it's so far away’, as she muttered under
her breath.

‘We need a really huge, tall spaceship that can get us there and back’, Isabel pointed out.
 Moonbound Isabel

‘What do you think of this?’, and Li proudly held up her spaceship sketch so Isabel could have a
good look at it.

‘WOW!’, Isabel exclaimed.

Number 3

‘I'm going to talk to Farida because she's good at sewing clothes and we will need some special
protective gear to wear on the moon’, Isabel said. And off she went to visit Farida in her flat.

She found Farida busy sewing a new colourful dress for her sister to give her as a birthday
present. Farida greeted her with ‘As-salamu alaykum’.

‘Hi, Farida. I am in peace, thank you, but more importantly, I am very excited with my new
project. Li and I are designing a spaceship to visit the Moon. Can you help us with what we should
wear?’ asks Isabel knowing that her friend likes a challenge too.

Farida puts her needle and line down and walked over to her workbench. She brushes aside all
that was lying around on it and invites Isabel to sit down.

‘I think we should wear a helmet because we need to protect ourselves. And it's going to be so
cold maybe we should have a thick spacesuit too’, Farida replies to Isabel's questioning.

Farida is unique in the way she designs clothes. She picks up a pen and, in a whiz, starts drawing
a spacesuit…

‘I think this suits the purpose’ she says, after putting in the final touches.

‘So, now they have a means of transportation and what to wear. But how can we get all this
stuff? ´ Isabel thinks out loud.

‘Let’s go and see Lukana. I am sure she knows the secrets of how to finance this expedition’
replies Farida, ‘Come along’.

Number 4

The three met up with Lukana outside in the woods which surround their houses. They knew
they couldn't meet in her flat because of covered restrictions, so they thought it would be the
best place near the open-air swimming pool which of course now is frozen over because it's
winter.

Lukana, the keeper of secrets, appeared all clad up With extra clothing, looking like a huge teddy
bear. If you had a secret to tell you could rest assured that she would keep it and not tell
anybody.

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 Moonbound Isabel

‘Namaste’ says Lukana in her usual greeting mode and everybody smiles. ‘So, what's up?’ she
asks.

‘Brrr! It's so cold’ she says. Everyone nods their head in agreement.

‘We've come up with this plan, you see Lukana, and we want to go to the Moon.’

‘What? To the moon? But how?’ she asks.

They show her their drawings of the spaceship and the space suits, adding ‘You can help us find
a way of getting this made so we can go there.’

‘You need to plan first’. says Lukana.

‘But we do!’ exclaims Isabel.

‘No, no, you don't. What you have is an idea. A plan is something you can present, you know, to
adults to convince them to give us the money to buy the stuff we need to make these things in
the first place.’

‘Ah, that's true…’ they all agree.

‘And so’, Lukana continues, ‘If you had cryptocurrency that could help you. Lots of people are
doing it in India. It's called data mining-‘

‘What's that?’ asks Isabel.

‘Digital money’, says Li. ‘Back in China, it’s been prohibited and only the banks can do it. I don't
think it's a good idea. What about sponsors?’ Lee suggests.

‘What do you mean?’ the others ask.

‘I think Lukana knows what I mean, Why don't you explain it? Lee asks looking at Lukana.

‘Alright. you see, when I say that you need a plan, it's to get people to sponsor your idea so they
will pay for it to help you achieve what you say you want to do. And I think this really is the way
to go.’

So, started thinking who is going into space and one of them said ‘Space X! Surely, they can
sponsor us. And Elon Musk he's really rich. He owns Tesla and has all these ideas about making
tunnels to speed up travel between cities.’

They went back to their homes and started finding out about Space X, Tesla, and Elon Musk. It's
not easy for children to contact such a high-profile personality. but eventually they able to make
contact and set up a zoom meeting with him. Of course, their parents had to supervise it to make
sure that everything was alright and above board. So, Farida’s father and Isabel's mum
participated with muted voice and video.

‘Hello girls’ said Elon. ‘I've read your plan and I'm sorry to tell you that I can't help you.’

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 Moonbound Isabel

‘But why?’ Isabel asked.

‘Well, you see, I'm only interested in satellites around earth and driving a car on Mars. That's
what I want to do. I am not interested in going to the moon.’

‘Oh’, cried the girls. ‘But do you know who could be interested in helping us?’

‘Let me think… I know Jeff Bezos and Richard Branson are also taking people up into the
Stratosphere… Maybe they can help you. ‘Have to go now. I wish you all the best. Bye…’

End of ZOOM meeting.

Number 5

Isabel thinks to herself, ‘Why is life so complicated?’, as the girls discussed what had just
happened in the zoom meeting, trying to take in how what had happened. It was clear they
weren't going to give up. So, what next?

As her friends talked, letting things sink in, Isabel sits silently lost in her own thoughts. Then, she
suddenly stands up and announces in an almost theatrical way, dancing around them as she
speaks, ‘Listen, we can fail but this does not mean we can't win. It only has given us experience
and knowledge. We have the will to strive to do it, and the strength to achieve it.’

The power in her words surprises everyone, as she continues, ‘We need to make our plan clearer
in terms of what we want and can do. So, here is my take on it.’

‘I think we're missing something or perhaps someone. We need to get more children involved
that can give credibility to our purpose.

The others nod.

‘What if we could create a moon station in which a new social experiment can happen?’

‘Up till now, it has all been about countries. Americans, Russians, Chinese, and Indians, as well
as Europeans are all doing their own thing. if we can show our parents that, unlike our
forefathers, our generation can unite humanity in its diversity and commonality in creating the
moon station, wouldn't it be wonderful?’

‘We don't know what it's like on the Moon, so I say we need a geologist, biologist, and an
astronomer on our team. Or engineers… Do you know anyone who has expertise in these areas?’

‘I know Polina’, says Li. ‘Her parents are environmental engineers who know all about geology
like the permafrost as they have been studying it in Siberia in their country for a long time.’

‘And I know Afaafa she has been doing astronomy Ever since she left Kenya, through the
travelling telescope which maps looks and studies the stars and the galaxies’, says Farida.

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 Moonbound Isabel

Later that day, they meet up with Polina and Afaafa.

Permafrost is any ground that remains completely frozen—32°F (0°C) or colder—for at least two
years straight. These permanently frozen grounds are most common in regions with high
mountains and in Earth’s higher latitudes—near the North and South Poles.

Permafrost covers large regions of the Earth. Almost a quarter of the land area in the Northern
Hemisphere has permafrost underneath. Although the ground is frozen, permafrost regions are
not always covered in snow.

The layers of permafrost. Photo credit: Benjamin Jones, USGS. Public domain (modified)
https://climatekids.nasa.gov/permafrost/

Water could be the key to finding life.

There aren’t many qualities that are true of all life on Earth, but the need for water is one of
them. It’s in all living things, whether they live at the bottom of the ocean or the driest desert.
Water made life possible on Earth. Because of this, astrobiologists (scientists who search for life
on other planets) think our best bet for finding life is to search for water.
https://climatekids.nasa.gov/10-things-water/

Number 6

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