Space Camp Chaos

“Good morning, crew,” Commander Molly greeted. “Welcome to Mars!”

Eva and Andy studied their surroundings. The space camp could have done a better job of making “Mars” look a little more Martian. Right now, it looked like a meeting room with two uncomfortable couches, an old television perched on top of a cabinet, and a rack of cheap astronaut costumes.

Commander Molly didn’t seem to care. The sixteen-year-old had introduced herself as a junior counselor the day before and seemed to be treating this activity as her audition for NASA. Commander Molly spread out her arms enthusiastically. “This will be your habitat for the next two months.”

“Two months?” exclaimed Landon and Brandon, twins from Texas who claimed to know everything about space, thanks to their field trip to Space Center Houston in third grade.

Your job is to survive for 60 minutes.

Commander Molly smiled. “As we discussed yesterday, each minute of this exercise will represent one day. Your job is to survive for 60 minutes. You will be racing against the clock for the title of Master Martians. You’ll need to work together to survive the Red Planet’s punishing atmosphere, brutal temperatures, harsh—”

“Is the TV plugged in?” Andy interrupted.

“Yes, it is, Astronaut Andrew.”

Andy pointed to a black box plugged into the TV. “And that’s a Nintendo, right?”

“Correct.”

“So we can win by playing video games all month?”

Commander Molly shrugged. “If that’s how you choose to spend your time on Mars.”

Andy, Landon, and Brandon cheered. Eva and the other two members of the crew—cousins named Diego and Lucy—all rolled their eyes.

“Time starts now!” Commander Molly said. “Good luck.”

Landon and Brandon raced for the controllers, while Andy started opening cabinet drawers. “I’ll get the snacks!”

“Grab the astronaut ice cream!” Brandon yelled.

“I don’t see it.” Andy looked up from the empty drawers to Commander Molly. “Yesterday, you said there’d be snacks.”

“I’m sorry to report that all the snacks got destroyed in a dust storm when you landed.” Commander Molly gave a smile that didn’t look very sorry.

“Excuse me?”

“You do have a small selection of produce.” She nodded toward tomatoes, peppers, and cucumbers in a basket by the TV. “May I suggest using them to start a garden? Hurry. One day is already gone.”

Diego tore into a tomato. “I’ll pick out the seeds!”

“Two days down,” Commander Molly said.

Diego ran out of the meeting room to plant the seeds in the hallway.

But Commander Molly stopped him when she called, “Congratulations!” Then she said flatly, “You’re dead.”

“What?” everyone exclaimed.

“There’s not enough oxygen for him to breathe,” Commander Molly said. “Three days down.”

“I’ll do it!” Landon volunteered. He took a deep breath and sprinted out the door.

“Congratulations! You’re dead,” Commander Molly said.

“I held my breath!” Landon shot back.

“The air pressure’s too low.” She pointed to the costumes. “You should have suited up.”

“Can I come back in and play video games?”

“No. Four days down.”

“I’ll play them in your honor,” Brandon shouted to his brother. He turned back to the TV, but it was now unplugged.

The plug dangled from Commander Molly’s hand. “A dust storm knocked out your solar panel.” She nodded toward a piece of cardboard wrapped in tin foil outside the room. “Want to fix it?”

“Yes!”

The whole crew suited up. Brandon and Andy hurried to the solar panel outside the meeting room while Eva and Lucy picked up the tomato seeds Diego had dropped.

“Five days down,” Commander Molly reminded the crew.

Brandon fumbled with wires next to the solar panel. His gloves were getting in the way, so he removed them.

Art by David Leonard

“Congratulations! You’re dead,” Commander Molly said.

“Seriously?” Brandon asked. “I can’t even take off the gloves?”

The girls pretended to bury the seeds in the hallway carpet.

“Now what?” Eva called.

“Have you watered them?” Commander Molly asked.

The girls returned to the meeting room to grab a bottle of water. Then, Lucy ran back out in such a hurry that she forgot to put her helmet back on. Eva winced.

Diego pointed at Lucy through the window and smiled. “Congratulations, you’re—”

“I know!” Lucy shot back. She handed the water to Eva.

“Oh, that water froze,” Commander Molly said. “It’s 100º below zero out there. Six days down.”

Andy was growing frustrated. “Anything else you want to tell us?”

“Those seeds wouldn’t grow in Mars’ soil. They should have been planted in the pressurized greenhouse next door.” She nodded at the adjacent room. “Oh, and you”—she pointed at Andy—“should have chosen one of the heavy-duty suits if you were going to stand outside for two full days. The one you’re wearing doesn’t protect against radiation.”

Commander Molly gave Andy a sympathetic look. “Congratulations. You’re dead. That means Eva’s our last Martian standing!”

With the activity over, the team gathered around the Nintendo. Meanwhile, Eva helped Molly clean up. “Did we set a record?”

“For what?” Molly asked, hanging up one of the costumes.

“Shortest time on Mars.”

Molly shook her head. “You actually did better than most groups.”

Eva dropped a water bottle in the trashcan. “What?”

“You’re not supposed to survive. That’s the point of the exercise.”

“I don’t get it.”

Molly glanced back at the group, then grinned at Eva. “OK, I’m supposed to do this speech in front of the group in a minute, but I’ll do it for you first as long as you promise to act surprised.”

“Promise.”

Molly cleared her throat and went back into commander mode. “Most people don’t realize how good we have it on earth. Our atmospheric pressure is fine-tuned for life to thrive. We’re the perfect distance from the sun for livable temperatures. Earth has a magnetic field, a balanced ecosystem, and plenty of liquid water that we take for granted. If we’re going to colonize Mars one day, it’s going to take every bit of ingenuity we can muster to design a habitat even remotely close to the one that evolved here on earth.”

Eva winced a tiny bit at the word evolved.

“Take earth’s air,” Molly continued. “Do you know the odds of finding a planet with a breathable combination of nitrogen, oxygen, and carbon dioxide? We sure are lucky.” Molly beamed. “How did I do?”

“You did great,” Eva said gently. “But what you’re describing doesn’t sound like luck. It sounds a lot more like design, doesn’t it?”

Molly looked puzzled.

Eva considered her next words for a moment before asking, “What do you know about the book of Genesis?”

What’s the Point?

Isaiah 45:18 says, “[God] formed the earth . . . to be inhabited.” Scripture never mentions that God created other planets to support life. In fact, he created earth on day one of creation week and spent the next five days preparing earth for us to live on it. The more we learn about other planets, the more we can appreciate the Creator’s perfect design for our home.