Here in the Northern equatorial region of the Pacific, in the area called Micronesia, it is a typical early morning. The ocean is relatively calm as a phalanx of ocean-going barges maintain their vigil on a small strange-looking craft bobbing in the mild swells hundreds of miles from land.
Conical, and somewhat comical, in its overall configuration, the vessel looks somewhat like the splashdown capsules of the Moon landings of so many decades ago, but the scale has changed -- drastically.
Surrounding the basically squat cone shape are eight sleek looking shuttles. These are the new Gas-Cooled Nuclear Reactor/Rocket Engined craft that will usher in a new day of exploration by giving a level of thrust unprecedented in rocketry before.
It is not without its political cost. This expedition is not officially sanctioned by any government group, although surreptitious support has been arranged in some payload items and navigational and observational hardware.
Still, the explorers are on their own. Even if successful, there will be no publicity. Nuclear energy is too powerful, and still too controversial, to allow a shaky public to interfere with the necessary exploration and development of space.
A moment of tension arrives, and stretches intolerably, as the timing begins to coalesce.
Suddenly the silence is shattered as a fierce and brilliant eruption occurs from sixteen gigantic throats. The craft jumps upward momentarily, assisted by the buoyancy of the ocean, then it begins a slow, inexorable climb and acceleration upward into the dark sky. It is providing its own dawn. The stabbing torches of brilliant fire reach down to lick at, and boil, the surface of the ocean. No sushi in this area; everything is well-cooked.
The brilliant upward-streaking comet continues to rise, slowly arcing over toward the East, and its competitor, the Sun. But the Sun is not its goal. This ship is heading for the Moon.
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Arriving at its orbital destination, the craft completes its throttling back of the enormous thrust, and for a time, there is a hesitancy, as the rocket motors cool, and the crew experiences free-fall. Waiting for the correct moment, they circle the planet of their birth, with their attention focused outward. A new attraction has sparked their interest.
Shortly, the rockets fire again, a sustained “burn” that takes them away from Earth -- toward the Moon!
Rapidly, the Earth shrinks beneath them. Ahead, there is no perceptible change in the distance to the moon, but they are on their way.
After a time, the rockets cease again, and the craft enters a coasting phase. A quarter of a million miles will take a while, even at these speeds. Aboard the excursionary craft, among other duties, it is time for a meal.