Here on this plateau is plenty of room for many ships like ours to land. And here we set our ship down, the first Earth ship to reach the Moon.
Chapter II
SURPRISE
After landing we checked all of our instruments, noting carefully the oxygen content of the atmosphere that we might have a record of our findings for the scientific report we were to make to our government after returning to the Earth.
However had we had no instrument for testing the atmosphere we would have taken a chance and got out of the ship because of the territory we had just flown over and because even here in the sands of the plateau we can see a sparsely growing plant life clinging very closely to the ground.
When we first climbed out of the ship it was a little hard for us to breathe and move about, something like many people on Earth experience when they go from ocean level up some mountain to an altitude of ten to fifteen thousand feet. Since our instruments indicated an atmospheric pressure of slightly under eight pounds, compared to an approximate pressure of fifteen pounds on Earth, we understood this strangeness and weren't worried about it. We had partially succeeded in acclimatizing our bodies during the trip here, so it was only a matter of a few hours until we regained our physical balance, yet somewhat different than we have been accustomed to on Earth. We can walk around here without effort or tiredness. It feels as though we are walking on air; yet we know we are walking on the firm Moon earth.
From what we can see without closely studying it, the Moon seems to be made up very much like our Earth. This plateau we are on resembles our deserts in the summer.
The air is clean, fresh and dry but quite stimulating and we are getting hungry, just as was our experience whenever we went to the higher mountains on the Earth. All of us had been so interested as we neared the Moon that no thought of eating had entered our minds, but now we have decided to eat in picnic style; take our food outside the ship where we can sit on the ground while eating and see what goes on around us here on the Moon.
The sky is clear and cloudless with the sun shining brightly which makes it rather warm. The only shade we find is made by our ship since there are no trees growing here. A very gentle breeze is blowing but not enough to raise any dust. If there are insects they must be drowsing from the heat of the sun. So far we haven't seen any birds flying nor any kind of living creatures. In the distance we can see several mountains towering to different heights towards the sky but none of them have peaks as we are accustomed to on Earthly mountains. Instead, these look like rough-cut edges of huge bowls whose outer sides slope gradually towards us. We know they are the rims of the craters closest to this plateau on which we have landed, for we saw them while still in the air as we approached the Moon. We are eager to get on our way for a closer examination of these bursted Moon bubbles that have so long mystified the peoples of Earth but before starting there are a few things that must be done.
An hour or more has elapsed while we have sat here eating and observing our surroundings. We have eaten a great deal of food, as one most always does when out on a picnic, yet we don't have that heavy, stuffed feeling that we would have had after eating such a meal on Earth. Another fact we became aware of while sitting here eating, our minds seem to be getting thoughts faster and clearer than they did on Earth. Maybe this is due to the atmosphere, or maybe it is because of the peace and quiet here; for some people on Earth have similar experiences when they spend much time by themselves on the desert or on some mountain. Yet we have arrived here not too many hours ago and are getting these reactions.