The Space Incident

   "BOOM! Unexpectedly, the right wing of the space shuttle exploded! However, mission control had a back up plan for that. Using their plan, they safely guided the astronauts back to Earth and everyone lived happily ever after. The end."

   "You're
space plan isn't gonna explode, right? You're gonna return safely, right?"

   "Don't worry Neil, daddy's going to be fine. Stop worrying and go to sleep. Good night."

   "Good night."

Alan turned of the lights and went to his bedroom, however, he couldn't sleep.
Tomorrow was probably the most important day in his life; he was going to space! That enormous pressure and nervousness kept him up until 2 in the morning, when he forced himself to get some sleep.

The next morning, he woke up to the greatest morning of his life. His beautiful wife Sally was smiling at him and his son Neil was holding a sign reading "I Love You Dad". He couldn't have asked for a better gift before he goes to space. The thing he loved most was family. Afterwards, they all headed down to NASA HQ, where they would have to say goodbye.

It was a very emotional goodbye. Everyone was crying and hugging each other. Nevertheless, Alan knew he had a job to do. He had to part with his family. Just as they were about to separate, Neil asked, "dad, you're gonna return home, right? It's safe. right?"

   "Don't worry Neil. I promise you I'll come back safely," Alan replied, hoping it was true.

Before liftoff, Alan had about an hour, so he quickly got dressed and prepared for the big event. He was extremely nervous, and so were his colleagues. But they've been preparing for this day for over  two years, so they were ready. Time flew by and before they knew it, they were sitting in the shuttle and listening to the countdown.

   "...4, 3, 2, 1. Lift off!" Even with the deafening rockets, Alan could hear the public screaming and celebrating American history. Also, he could hear his family praying for his safety. In a few seconds, they escaped the Earth's atmosphere, and they were in space! The entire crew and mission control celebrated. But in the next few seconds, everything changed. The pilot died. Immediately, mission control was alerted, and didn't know what to do. They had a gigantic problem on their hands.

Are they gonna die? Will they return? What's gonna happen? These questions raced through the minds of the public, but also the astronauts themselves. They were worried. Temporarily, they were told to wait for mission control to think of a solution. Meanwhile, the flight director became the pilot. After 5 minutes (which felt like 5 years to them), mission control called back. They had a plan.

In the following, there are three clickable links. Each will take you to a different ending. Read each ending, and comment below which you thought was the best ending. Choose wisely.

Ending 1

Ending 2

Ending 3