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    The Long-Lost Secret Diary of the World's Worst Astronaut
    The Long-Lost Secret Diary of the World's Worst Astronaut
    The Long-Lost Secret Diary of the World's Worst Astronaut
    Ebook125 pages1 hour

    The Long-Lost Secret Diary of the World's Worst Astronaut

    By Tim Collins

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    About this ebook

    Meet Ellie—an enthusiastic, bumbling teenager who is fascinated with Mars. When a misunderstanding lands her in the astronaut training program for the first human mission to Mars, Ellie is determined to prove her worth.

    The hilarious Long-Lost Secret Diary series puts readers inside the heads of hapless figures from history stuggling to carry out their roles and getting things horribly wrong. The accessible, irreverent stories will keep young readers laughing as they discover the importance of not being afraid to learn from mistakes. Fact boxes, a glossary, and additional back matter provide historical context and background.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherNorth Star Editions
    Release dateSep 1, 2018
    ISBN9781631631931
    The Long-Lost Secret Diary of the World's Worst Astronaut
    Author

    Tim Collins

    Tim Collins worked as a copywriter in advertising before becoming a full-time author. He writes nonfiction books for adults and children’s fiction books, including books designed to appeal to reluctant readers. His work has been translated into forty languages. His books have won numerous awards including the Manchester Fiction City award and the Lincolnshire Book award. He is originally from Manchester but now lives in London.

    Read more from Tim Collins

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      Book preview

      The Long-Lost Secret Diary of the World's Worst Astronaut - Tim Collins

      The Long-Lost Secret Diary of the World’s Worst Astronaut © The Salariya Book Company Limited 2019. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever, including Internet usage, without written permission from the copyright owner, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

      Book design by David Salariya

      Illustrations by Sarah Horne

      Additional cover illustrations by Tanya Komedina

      Published in the United States by Jolly Fish Press, an imprint of North Star Editions, Inc.

      First US Edition

      First US Printing, 2018

      This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

      Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data (pending)

      978-1-63163-192-4 (paperback)

      978-1-63163-191-7 (hardcover)

      Jolly Fish Press

      North Star Editions, Inc.

      2297 Waters Drive

      Mendota Heights, MN 55120

      www.jollyfishpress.com

      Printed in the United States of America

      GET REAL

      Unlike the other books in this series, this diary is set in the near future rather than the distant past. It wouldn’t be possible for someone as young as Ellie to become an astronaut. NASA only consider candidates with a degree in a subject like science or engineering, as well as three years of professional experience. They are also often skilled pilots and incredibly fit.

      Chapter 1

      -

      Accidental Astronaut

      Monday, June 29th

      Mars, here we come. Not me personally. By we I mean us humans. The first mission to the red planet is almost ready.

      Today we stood on the viewing platform at the Space Center here in Florida and watched a rocket filled with supplies take off for the Mars ship.

      Dad works in the finance department, so he’s allowed to bring us along.

      The countdown boomed out through the speakers.

      "T minus one minute . . . T minus 30 seconds . . .

      10 . . . 9 . . . 8 . . . 7 . . . 6 . . . 5 . . . 4 . . . 3 . . . 2 . . . 1 . . ."

      The engines fired up and the rocket shot away in a bright flash of orange. The smell of burning fuel mixed in with the distant smell of the ocean.

      Soon the three best astronauts in the world are going to fly up to the Mars ship, which is currently orbiting the Earth. They’re going to travel to Mars, build a lab, carry out some experiments, and come back.

      I wish I was one of them. Dad always said I’d be old enough to be an astronaut by the time a Mars mission happened. But things have happened so fast in the last few years, faster than anyone expected.

      Ten of the world’s nations came together and funded the project. Now we’re less than three months from take-off, and five months from the first human footprint on Mars.

      Or boot print, rather. If I were them I’d keep my shoes on.

      The rocket disappeared through the clouds, leaving a thick column of smoke. The announcer thanked us for coming and we filed away.

      Mom asked if I was okay while we were driving home. I told her I was fine. How could I explain I was upset because I couldn’t go to Mars? I’d have sounded crazy.

      GET REAL

      The first challenge of a human mission to Mars would be leaving Earth. It would be very hard to build a rocket big enough to carry crew and supplies that was also powerful enough to escape Earth’s gravitational pull. A good solution would be to build the ship in the orbit of Earth and send the astronauts up when it was complete.

      Tuesday, June 30th

      I’m going back to the Space Center tomorrow. But not to watch another launch. School is out for summer, and I convinced Dad to let me study in the library next to his office.

      I don’t really have much work to do. I just want to be near the rockets. I might even sneak into one of the hangars on the edge of the center and look at one. I’ll keep that part quiet from Dad, though. He’d never let me come along if he knew I was planning something like that.

      Wednesday, July 1st

      I’m writing this from the Space Center library. I took a stroll outside at lunchtime but every building had guards around it. I can see why they need to keep security tight with the Mars mission so close, but they’ve got to take a break at some point. I really want to see a rocket.

      Thursday, July 2nd

      I was heading over to the lunch hall today when I saw that a lot of the security guards were gone. At first I was worried they might be dealing with some sort of intruder, but I soon saw a huge crowd and figured out what was going on.

      There was a TV crew walking around and interviewing people. The guards and most of the other workers were huddled around them, waiting for their chance to speak.

      The row of hangars with the rocket parts inside were several hundred feet away, on Venus Boulevard. I made a run for the nearest one.

      The fierce midday heat sent sweat trickling down my back, but I didn’t care. I was really close now. The first hangar I came to had an empty security booth next to its wide entrance, and I rushed in.

      I found myself in a dark stuffy space that smelled of fresh paint. There was no air conditioning and the strip lights far above me were off. But I could see something pretty awesome right ahead.

      There was a huge circular section of rocket, surrounded

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