Free Pilgrimage (The New World) by Kurt Winans Page A

going well, but it would only be a matter of time before some people started to ask questions about why a certain shuttle wasn’t being used for any of the multiple flights now scheduled each year.
    The unveiling of the big news came at the perfect time. The national economy was back on solid ground, so there was less concern about cutting the space program budget, and ambition was once again at the forefront of people’s thoughts. In May of 1985 NASA revealed to America, and the rest of the world, of their intent to return to the Moon with a manned space flight. Some details of the modified space shuttle Discovery were given to the press, and they ran with it like wildfire. NASA didn’t have to spend a dime on publicity; they just let the world media do it for them.
    Patty excitedly watched the news on the television, and couldn’t wait to discuss it with Ross when he came home that evening, but she soon discovered that conversation would take on a different angle. After showing photos of the newly revamped shuttle, the cameras within the NASA briefing room in Houston came to life. Patty dropped her glass of ice tea and put her hands over her mouth, as her husband Ross and their old friend Dennis were introduced to the world as the crew of the upcoming mission. Her excitement gave way to a moment of anger as Ross had never mentioned any of this to her, but that was soon replaced by forgiveness as the senior NASA administrator informed the world that the Moon mission had been kept a secret intentionally.
    Within minutes the phone began ringing off the hook, as wives of other astronauts called to make sure Patty was watching. That was followed by knocks on the door and hugs from some of her close friends, as the entire world seemed to know within hours of the announcement. Patty even received a call from her old friend and maid of honor Betty Collina, who was still living in the Washington D.C. area with her husband and young son.
    When Ross finally made it home from work that evening, the girls met him at the door. As usual he gave them each a big hug, and picked them both up as he smiled in the direction of Patty. She returned the smile as he walked towards her, and then gave him a kiss before he put the girls down. Ross said he was sorry that she had to find out that way, but he had been ordered to not tell anyone. There was even a faction of people at NASA that didn’t know about the planned mission, because there was concern about a potential security breech.
    Luckily for Ross and Dennis, the majority of their necessary training had already taken place during the previous eighteen months. It seemed that everybody wanted a piece of them, and NASA knew how to ride the wave of popularity by making the two astronauts available for publicity events whenever possible. In the midst of all the ensuing chaos that occurred during the subsequent months, Ross had to explain to his daughter Aurora that he would have to miss her eighth birthday party in November. She didn’t take the news well, but he promised to make it up to her by taking her wherever she wanted to go when he returned from the Moon. Although that promise gave her temporary comfort and stopped her tears, Aurora also made him promise to never miss another one of her birthdays because he was flying in space. Ross thought about her terms for a moment, realized the chances of him going on a subsequent mission in November were scarce at best, and reached out to shake her hand to seal the deal.
    Soon the time had arrived for the final press briefing before the launch, and this one had considerably more members of the media in attendance. Ross had never seen the room so full of cameras and microphones, but he once again took it in stride by saying that it was wrong to place the two astronauts in the spotlight while literally thousands of people had worked very hard to make this mission to the Moon a reality. He and Dennis expertly navigated their way through the maze of