Free The Astro Outlaw by David A. Kelly Page A

“It’s the exact one thatwas used for the Apollo moon missions. Have a seat.”
    Mike and Kate scrambled for one of the desk chairs. Mr. Hopkins and some of the other visitors stood against the wall.
    “Mission control is where flight controllers keep an eye on spacecraft and astronauts after they lift off into space,” Commander Rice said. He explained how different people werein charge of different parts of a spaceflight. For example, a controller in the first row managed the spacecraft’s direction. A controller in the second row kept track of the crew’s health.
    Commander Rice also told them about the Apollo rockets that traveled from the earth to the moon and back between 1968 and 1972.
    Mike raised his hand. “Is that how we got the moon rocks?”
    Commander Rice nodded and pushed some buttons at one of the desks. A picture of an astronaut flashed up on one of the screens. He was standing on the moon, holding a moon rock.
    “On six missions, the Apollo astronauts brought back over eight hundred pounds of rocks,” Commander Rice told them. “Some were black. Others were white. And some were shades of gray.”
    “Can we see one?” Tex called out.
    Commander Rice checked his watch. “We’re out of time. Come to tonight’s game,” he said with a grin. “I’ll be signing autographs near the main entrance. I’ll also have a moon rock on display.” He led the group down the stairs and back to their bus.
    “I hope to see you two at the game tonight,” Commander Rice said to Kate and Mike as they boarded the bus. “Mr. Ryan said you were extra-special guests.”
    Mike gave him a thumbs-up and went to sit with Kate a few rows from the back. Mr. Hopkins sat in front of them. As the bus started up, he leaned over the top of his seat. “How’d you like that tour?” he asked. “I remember seeing mission control on television when I was younger.”
    “It was great!” Mike said. “But I washoping we’d get to eat freeze-dried space food. Or some of that space dots ice cream.”
    “Real astronauts don’t eat space dots!” Kate piped up. She pointed to a page in the space book she had bought at the gift shop. It was filled with pictures of space food. “They don’t have ice cream in space. They don’t even have refrigerators or freezers. And guess what—NO pizza!”
    “No ice cream? No pizza?” Mike yelped. “If I were an astronaut, I’d starve!”
    “You won’t starve tonight,” Kate’s dad said. “We’re going out to dinner before the game with Mr. Ryan. Barbecue was our favorite when we worked together for the Dodgers.”
    Kate’s father was a scout for the L.A. Dodgers. Kate didn’t see him very often because her parents were divorced. He lived in Los Angeles, and she lived with her motherin Cooperstown, New York. Mike’s house was just down the street from hers. His parents owned a sporting goods store in town.
    The rest of the way back, Mike and Kate took turns pretending to be astronauts and controllers at mission control. Mr. Hopkins flipped through Kate’s space book.
    That evening, Mike, Kate, and Mr. Hopkins met Mr. Ryan for dinner at Deano’s Bar-B-Que. Mr. Ryan was short and stocky, with frizzy black hair. He looked more like a wrestler than a baseball scout. But he sure knew a lot of baseball stories. While they waited for their food, Mr. Ryan told Mike and Kate secrets about their favorite players.
    After dinner, they walked over to the stadium. Mr. Ryan had reserved seats right behind the Astros’ dugout. When they sat down, Mr. Ryan pointed out the ballpark’s movable roof. Itwas wide open. Lights from the city of Houston sparkled against the darkening sky.
    “It gets very hot here in Texas. We have one of the few stadiums with a roof that opens and closes,” Mr. Ryan said. “You get such a nice view of the city when the roof is open.” He folded his arms across his chest and leaned back in his chair to admire Houston’s skyline.
    “Hey, Mr. Ryan,” Mike