My name’s Kevin. I’m nine years old, and my dream is to one day go into space. All kids have ambitions, and mine is stronger than ever. Sometimes, before I go to sleep, I imagine I’m up there in a rocket experiencing incredible things; I imagine I’m crossing the interstellar void toward the moon, searching for new planets. I think all the time about what it would be like to set foot on another planet, or a faraway star covered with mountains of crystal; a star where I’d be free. From what I understand, man is not totally free in space – you sort of float around, and you need a special suit to be able to breathe. A man who travels beyond our planet to explore space is called an astronaut. One day I’ll join NASA, and I’ll become an astronaut for Uncle Sam and the USA. Yuri Gagarin was the first man to go into space, but he was Russian. The first American to go into space on a rocket was Alan Shepard. Our president, John Fitzgerald Kennedy, said that America’s next destination will be the Moon. Going to the Moon is my dream. Even now, just thinking about space keeps me up at night, and leaves me starry-eyed. My mother thinks it’s a great idea; she’s all for me becoming an astronaut. But to do that you have to be good at maths. If you don’t know your times tables, you can’t calculate distances in space. If you don’t know your geometry, you won’t be able to find your way to a new star. The stars are bright and beautiful here in Texas, because the sky is often clear at night, and you can see them in all their glory. I use my telescope to see them up close. I’ve already seen some incredible colours – shades of red, orange and gray you never see on earth. It baffles me, all those different colours. Sometimes I’ll see a shooting star, and then I make a wish: “I want to be an astronaut like Alan Shepard!” Alan Shepard is my hero.
The first American to go into space – it makes you feel so proud. The Russians don’t stand a chance against the USA. Alan Shepard stayed in space for fifteen minutes aboard a Mercury capsule. Maybe he didn’t beat the Russians that time, but when the first man sets foot on the moon it’ll be an American. When I picture the mercury spaceship its insides are all full of mathematical tools. There must be buttons everywhere for calculating trajectories and distances. Now, that’s the kind of thing I know how to do. Calculating distances is easy. One day, I’ll work for NASA. I think I’m too young to travel in a Mercury capsule, but I’m still good at maths. I think about space when I’m studying for a test, and it keeps me motivated. I think about Alan Shepard, that brave man. What must it be like to be all alone up there on board a spaceship? Sometimes when my mom yells at me I imagine I’m checking my ship, pressing the buttons, taking measurements, watching the screens. Sometimes the bigger kids at school make fun of me, saying things like: “Go fly on your rocket ship, loser! Take it all the way to Uranus!” I don’t pay them any mind; I just think hard. “I’m going to become an astronaut and I don’t care about anything else!” That way, I don’t hear them. Up there, none of it matters. I’ll fly that rocket all by myself. I built this model after the Mercury rocket, and I’m pretty proud of it. Now I can fly a rocket right here in my bedroom, guiding it all around the room like I’m on an interplanetary mission in the darkest depths of space.
One day my dream will come true. But I’m getting tired of dreaming, truth be told – I just want to be an astronaut.
Alan Alfredo Geday
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