Front page · Cosyford Space
Three, two, one... COSYFORD! The town’s own rockets lift off from the headland
A tall white hangar, a crawler the size of a tennis court and a launch pad by the lighthouse. Commander Astrid Moon has been to space twice, and now she wants to go from home.
Missions ring in on the phone: a weather satellite so the Gazette can finally get the forecast right, a space telescope for a boy who wants to see Saturn’s rings, a TV satellite for Brenda’s snooker, and later a Moon probe and the town’s own time capsule. It starts in the hangar, where the big crane lifts each piece over and you lower it onto the stack: booster, second stage, then the nose with the payload tucked inside. Everything swings, so go gently and let it settle over the green outline before you bring it down.
Then the crawler creeps her out to the pad. Hold GO to move, and drag left and right to keep the bubble in the spirit level, because the way is bumpy and a rocket likes to stand up straight. At the pad, fill the tanks with hydrogen and oxygen made with power from the wind farm. They keep filling for a moment after you let go, so stop just short of the line. Too much and she vents with a comedy whoosh. Then poll the room: tap each station as it lights up. Weather? GO. Tea urn? GO. Seagulls? GO.
The countdown brings the whole town out onto the lawn. Hold where you want her to go and she steers through the rings. When the booster is nearly empty, tap to let it go, and the second stage carries on up into the dark. In orbit, open the fairing and release the satellite right as Cosyford passes underneath, then watch it unfold its panels. Once you have the hang of it, you bring the booster home too: hold to fire the engine, steer over the X, and set her down gently on her legs. A hard landing just bounces, and it still counts.
