The colony Orion, a space settlement orbiting the Earth, has been created by Ms. Passeri's Team 3 period 5 eighth grade English students at Cortland Jr-Sr High School. What makes our colony unique is that it is very independent and does not need a lot of support from Earth.

I think this space colony design project has been a very valuable opportunity for our class because we all worked our hardest together. To complete this project our class divided up into groups of two and three, and each group chose two or three topics out of a list we had all brain-stormed together. It was critical for us to work together because a space colony like ours is very interdependent.

We would also like to thank NASA for this opportunity to research a space colony such as this one we have created because this may be where we are living in the future!

The Orion space colony consists of a large outer ring, or torus, connected to a large main cylinder by lateral tubes. The inner cylinder is in three sections with decreasing diameters. The inner cylinder is the main control area with ports and docking areas. Main area is also in charge of air, water, energy and other important needs. The outer ring has the main living quarters and has streams and neighborhoods. It also contains commercial, industrial, and residential areas. The tubes are connectors and support the outer ring.

Energy is provided by the solar panels that will be covering the inner cylinders and outer ring. The energy from the solar panels will be stored by large batteries located in the inner cylinder. Nuclear energy will be an additional source of energy.

Radiation travels quickly through space. Therefore, the shell of the space colony will be covered by a six foot layer of slag, a waste product the consistency of sand, provided by mining companies on Earth. This method of protection from radiation is called "passive shielding" and is less sophisticated than "active shielding," which requires an electro-magnetic field around the structure of the colony. Orion's shielding will be held in place by the outer layer, made of a rainbow colored, man-made substance.

The main source of energy on Orion will be solar energy. Because of Earth's atmosphere in space there is 7.5 times the sunlight received than on Earth. In space radiant energy is constant and very reliable. Solar panels will be placed in all exposed areas of the colony's external structure. Nuclear energy will be an additional source of energy.

Water is very essential to survive. In space we have to have a way to get water for the people of the colony to drink, shower and other things. How are we going to get this water? We couldn't just fly down to earth anytime we wanted to grab it. The way we are going to get it is by extracting it from the air. To do this we are going to use a dehumidifier. The air with moisture will pass over a coolant system and give off its heat. When it cools down the air passes through of a screen of materials which is water loving. The moisture condenses and extracted to be pumped to a tank. the dehumidifier will be hooked to the colony's temperature-control system. Most of the dehumidifiers will be in the farms. The water from the dehumidifier will be available for drinking, cooking, and for taking showers or baths. The water will be pure with no added chemicals and is free of dissolved salt. The water will simply be condensed from the air and piped to peoples homes.

What about human waste? There is a solution that not only gets rid of wastes, but also turns them into useful products. For this the Zimmerman process will be used. Wastes are heated with oxygen to a temperature of 500 degrees at 100 times normal atmospheric pressure. They are heated for about an hour and a half at this temperature. Gases and water will both come out. The processed waste water will be used for growing food. All of the water from the waste processing and from the dehumidifier will be fed into the fish ponds. Then the water will be screened to remove fish waste. The process waste water that isn't used will be used to flush human waste.

http://www.heatpipe.com/images/slide27.gif

For the growth of our crops we are going to use a Crop Growth Chamber. This chamber maintains the temperature, humidity, and lights at the right levels. There are four metal halide lights and four high-pressure sodium lights which are used to give off about 950 micromoles/m2/s of light photons to the plants. The nutrient delivery system, which is inside the chamber, provides needed water and nutrients in a slightly acidic nutrient solution. The plants will be sitting in five black plastic tubs.

According to the CELSS program, the Crop Growth Chamber base should be 6,000 m^2. Solar panels for crop growth should be 64,500. We will be growing only vegetable and grain crops in our Crop Growth Chamber. It will take at least a two week period for the crops' growth cycle.

We will have a few space farms for the animals we will raise in our space colony. We will have some ponds for the fish we're going to have. We will be raising a few cows, bulls, and pigs, but we'll rely more on fish, chickens, and turkeys for food. That is the only livestock that we will be using for meat and poultry.

*

http://brad.arc.nasa.gov/Hardware/CGC.html

Heppenheimer, T. A. Colonies in Space. Harrisburg, Pa.:Stackpole Books. 1977.

The health care system will be similar to that on earth except health insurance will cover more of your medical bill. Insurance on the colony will always cover 93% of your bill. There will be one hospital on the colony with every medical need.

Everyone will schedule a checkup every six months. Any persons found with a serious disease will be treated on the colony unless there is no treatment; then the person would be sent to Earth.

The Orion Community Hospital will consist of 40 beds with up to the minute health care.

- Pharmacy will be open all day and night to anyone with a prescription that was filled out by a doctor and signed by both the doctor and the patient.

- Physicians(family doctors,pediatricians, cardiologists etc. etc.)- An appointment must be made if you would like to see someone in this field. Patients will pay for their visit within 30 days after the appointment.

-Surgeons- There will always be a qualified surgeon standing by in case a person needs an emergency surgery.

- Nurses- They will give care to patients and carry out physicians orders, will maintain charts and records. They will make sure patients are comfortable and satisfied.

- Out patient care- This will consist of x-rays, blood tests, simple surgeries, and vaccinations. This provides quick quality care and does not require overnight visits.

- Social workers-They will work with families who are traumatized. These social workers will also be open to the public.

-Volunteers- Volunteers will be available to patients who would like to spend time or talk with someone.

1. All legislative powers herein granted shall be vested in a Congress of Orion, which shall consist of a Senate and House of Representatives

2. The House of Representatives shall be chosen every year by the people of the colony. The Senate shall be chosen every five years and the President every four years, both by the people.

3. The Congress shall have power to lay and collect taxes, duties, imposts and excises, to pay the debts and provide for the common defense and general welfare of Orion.

4. The President shall have power to fill up all vacancies that may happen during the recess of the Senate, by granting commissions which will expire at the end of the next session.

5. The Congress shall have power to declare the punishment of treason, but no attainder of treason shall work corruption of blood, or forfeiture except during the life of the person attained.

6. The citizens of Orion shall be entitled to all privileges and immunities of citizens on Orion.

7. Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.

8. The transportation or importation into Orion for delivery or use of intoxicating liquors, in violation of the laws thereof, is hereby prohibited.

9. In case of the removal of the President from office or of her death or resignation, the Vice President shall become President.

10. The Judicial Branch shall consist of three judges serving ten year terms and shall be elected by the people.

11. The Constitution must have at least a 3/4 vote of the Orion citizens to be accepted.

(Inspired by the U.S. Constitution)

The goals of the police force are to preserve peace and punish those who threaten the destruction or safety of the colony with effective yet nonlethal force.

The space colony will have a small yet strong police force. The police force will have different positions throughout the colony where they can be reached at a moment's notice. Some will patrol the colony on foot. The police will carry around carbon dioxide powered guns with rubber buckshot so that the bullets will not penetrate the walls of the colony.

The jail facility will be on the lower part of the inner cylinder. The jail facility will be very strict and quite similar to those on Earth. The inmates will receive the essentials and will have daily counseling to become better citizens of the colony.

1) Smoking is illegal.

2) Eighteen is the legal age of alcohol consumption.

3) Legal voting age is 16 and at least a tenth grade education

4) Birth control and adoption are preferred alternatives to abortion.

5) School attendence is mandatory unless unforseen family

situations arise. Examples of this would be death of a

family member, illness.

6) Education for all will be free to all students. The school will

provide all necessary books and materials.

7) In case of arrest, all people are innocent until proven guilty.

8) All people are entitled to a fair trial.

9) All pets must be current on their immunizations, wear

immunization tags, and be leashed at all times.

10) Littering is illegal, and those who litter will be fined 50 criptoids and two weeks community service.

11) Life in prison will be considered for crimes dealing with first

degree murder.

12) All industries must have pollution scrubbers installed.

Failure to comply with this law will result in the immediate

closure of the industry and a substanial fine.

13) Illegal dumping of toxic materials or garbage will result in

immediate arrest and jury trial.

14) Jurors that sit for trials must be upstanding citizens with no

criminal record.

15) No child under the age of thirteen will be permitted to work

for public employment.

16) The colony will provide free child care to the working

parent(s) and/or guardian(s).

Living in space seems cool, but what is there to do when you are bored? Well, you could watch T.V., or play board games. You could play on computers, or you could play on a virtual reality machine. In the space colony there will be books to read, and there will also be a place where you could exercise. If you get really bored, you could do astronomy and look at stars.

If we were to live in a space colony orbiting Earth, many people would want to watch T.V. It would be like living back on Earth. We would get the same channels because we would be getting channels through computer-satellite links. Some people already use satellites on Earth to watch T.V. Satellites are a lot easier in space for T.V. because our colony will be a lot closer to the satellites. For E-mail we will not use phone lines as on Earth. Everything will be done through satellite connections. There could be pen-pal clubs with people on Earth, too, in order to have a wider range of acquaintances than the five hundred people on the colony.

In space you could play on a computer and go "on line" to have access to Earth's museums, natural wonders, etc. We would get access to all of these things through satellites.

You could also play with the Virtual Reality game. The game makes everything seem so real. You would hook it up to a video system, and the video system would be hooked up to the T.V., and the T.V. would be projected from the satellites.

If you are really bored, then you could read. There will be a library of conventional books and "video recorded " books on hand-held viewers, the size of Game Boys. You would be able to bring some of your belongings, including books and games from Earth with you to the space colony. In the space colony, there will be a place to exercise. You could lift weights, do jumping jacks, run around the colony from the inside, and you could also do sit-ups. The team sports will be soccer, basketball, volley ball, lacrosse, softball, wrestling, track, bowling, and softball. They will all be played in the dome-like structure that is inside the space colony. All of the sports will be played the same way they are played on Earth because there will be some gravity. However, the dimensions of the playing fields will be smaller and softer balls will be used to prevent damaged walls in sports areas. The sports will have their own area that the sport is played on.

Some people like to look at the stars at night. In space you could do astronomy and look at the stars. You could look through a telescope to see the planets and their moons, stars, or other heavenly. (The telescopes will penetrate the layer of shielding.)

Also in the space colony, there will be a place to swim. Swimming is also good exercise. Swimming is fun to do. Not only is it fun to do, but it is also very relaxing. Swimming is a team sport, too.

In conclusion, living in space would be pretty cool, but remember what I told you about when you do get bored. There are many activities that you could do.

The colony Orion has a profit economy. In the colony there is a minimum pay per week of 100 criptoids, but no one is to make more than 500 criptoids per week. Each criptoid is worth 4 American dollars.

In the space colony Orion there are bonds that people buy so that they can own different kinds of property. The currency is purple criptoids and blue criptettes. There isn't a stock market because there aren't enough people that live in the colony.

Employers are required to have a retirement fund for workers. These funds are in criptoids, but can be converted into Earth currency at the time of retirement or if someone decides to leave the colony. People can invest money on Earth but must keep a majority of their own funds in the Orion Bank to avoid a drain on the colony's economy. The retirement fund is deducted from the workers' paycheck. Enough percentage is taken so by the time the workers are 55, they have enough money to live on for the rest of their lives.

The subjects of the Orion school system are the main ones needed to live successfully in everyday life in space, but still allow students to be competitive enough to enter Earth universities after high school and then have career skills for life on Orion or on Earth.

There are two schools in the center of the colony so that one family doesn't have to travel further than another family. There are no uniforms, but clothes must be suitable for wearing in public.

The preschools are preparing the children for the elementary school. Skills stressed at this level will be verbal and some written communication, problem solving skills, creativity, and socialization, which is very important in such a small colony. This building is connected to the elementary school but it is a separate wing of the school.

The elementary schools which consist of grades kindergarten-sixth. Kindergarten through third grade has subjects of math, primary level space, life, and physical science, English, Orion colony history, health/hygiene, art, and music. The subjects for fourth through sixth grades consist of space society, hygiene, math, intermediate space, earth, and physical science, English, and a foreign language (choice of five Earth languages with video courses).

The high school consists of grades 7 - 12. The subjects taught are math from pre-algebra through calculus, biology, chemistry, astronomy, and physics, psychology of science life in space, foreign languages, space technology and mechanics, space recycling, American and world history, creative arts, music, and English.

There are some extra courses you can take for getting ready for college. SAT's will be done through satellite link. There are guidance counselors who will help place you in a college program when you have graduated from high school.

College-bound students can attend college on Earth or take their college degree courses through satellite links with several colleges around the world that have agreements with Orion Colony. There will also be semester on earth or space exchange programs.

DRY ERASE DESK

Air quality is an important issue on Orion. Erase dust must be avoided. Also, using traditional Earth pens and pencils requires materials which are wasteful. This type of desk has a dry erase board on the top. There is a cloth cover which has a magnet at the bottom of the cloth to attach to the bottom of the border on the desk to protect the desk from any damage when not in use. (see diagram for further details)

THE CHAIR

(for the desk)

The chair has poles which support each other by crossing like an (x). The chair is a normal straight back chair.

THE SHOES

Exercise in space is important. Even though pseudo-gravity is created by rotating the colony, it can be uneven throughout the colony. These sneakers for exercise or casual wear have air beds in the ball and the heel of the shoe which give support for sports, running, or just walking places. There are also dress shoes which should be worn to special events or meetings at your work place. They are not as comfortable as the sneakers. The sole of the shoe is made of synthetic rubber. The dress part is made of simulated leather since real leather would be difficult to obtain. There are different designs for women's and men's sizes and styles.

Other industries would include manufacturing of replacement parts for the structure of the colony and its means of transportation and communications, systems, clothing, and household goods.

~ clothing and shoe makers

~ school supply company

~ new(rounded back) furniture makers

~ replacement parts for the colony

~ communication operators

~ teachers

~ mail delivery people

~ store managers

~ architects

~ architects' supply company

~ government officials

~ waste management officials

~ construction workers

~ mint workers

~ population officials

~ law enforcement officials

~ farmers

~ space colony drivers

~engineers

~scientists

~recycling and maintenance personnel

Name:

Age:

Sex: Male or Female

Occupation:

High School Diploma:

College Degree:

Marital status: single or married (Circle one.)

If yes name of spouse:

Spouse age:

Do you have children? yes or no

If yes, how many:

Do you smoke, or use prescription drugs? If yes, list the kind of drugs:

Do you drink(alcohol)? yes or no

Do you have serious health problems? If yes, explain:

_

Why do you want to live on Orion?

______________________________________

.

The basic design of the houses in the colony are circular in shape. There is an option to the buyer to have two stories and a choice of how many bedrooms and extra rooms the house contains. A tour through a basic house would sound something like this: when you enter the front door, you are in the "mud" room. This room is for shoes, coats and outer clothing. The purpose of the room is to keep the inside of the house free of dirt, mud, grass and whatever else you might have tracked in from the small Earth-like yards provided. If you continue going straight, you will be in the living room. There are three rooms you can exit to which are the dining room (to the right), the kitchen (straight ahead) or the hallway (to the left).

A feature of the circular houses is that the kitchen is located in the center of the house. You could enter the kitchen from just about any room. In the kitchen, there is a sun room. Here, the artificial sky lights provide an imitation sunny environment in the day and an artificial starry sky at night. There is a hallway that the bathrooms and bedrooms branch off of. From the hallway you can also enter the kitchen from various entry ways. In the master-bed room, there is a bathroom with an option of a spa. In the kitchen, there is counter space along the wall. The accessories are shaped in a some-what round shape to fit the design. Windows, swimming pools and other recreational things are optional to the buyer, builder and designer. What the owner places in the house is also optional.

The Interior Design committee decided on a circular house to give the colony character and to have a new experience in living styles for the habitants of the colony. The houses also provide a wide variety to the buyer or builder of what they choose to put in their house and what they desire to add on.

~

For communication on Orion, we will have computers that we use for people to send us mail. Then we can print only what we want, instead of having resource-consuming junk mail like we have on Earth. Packages will come from Earth via Hyper-X on its regular runs.

There will be two back up systems for each system. There will be separate solar-powered generators that make electrity for running television, computers, etc. To communicate with Earth, we will use satellites for computer links, television, movies, E-mail. etc. On Orion, we will have computers that have viewers, so we can see each other when talking.

We're going to use the Hyper-X to transport the additional goods and things that we need to survive in space from earth. (Most things will be produced on the colony.) You should be in space with no trouble. This might be the safest ride you might ever have in your life. The Hyper-X is fueled by the same fuels used in the NASA space shuttle.

For inside the colony, you need horizontal transportation for each level and vertical transportation between levels of the colony. Small battery powered cars will get us around each level and will be able to fit into elevators to go between levels. There is a special training course and special procedures that you have to follow.

* Hyper-X

http/images/hyper.gif

http:/www.hq.nasa.gov/office/aero/oas

Dear Diary,

Life on Orion is very different from Earth. I've been living here for three months and everything is still a little strange to me. Everything is artificial and gives off the feeling of being fake. It isn't completely a bad experience, though. The colony is a new, exciting experience for everyone. Technology here is much more improved than that on Earth. There isn't much violence, and everything is clean. Even though the environment isn't natural, it is still enjoyable. Having a circular house is also a neat experience. Now when you say that you are just walking around the house, you're really walking around the house!

The sights are amazing. Whoever thought that the Earth was actually a beautiful thing to look at? Well, from up here it is. The sky seen through the periscopes in the shielding is so starry and open. I do miss the things on Earth: real grass, fresh air, the sun on my face... I'm going to be visiting my parents soon. It's truly going to be a weird feeling being back on Earth.

Here, I work as an interior designer. I really like it. Many people's houses that I have designed are spectacular. They really give me something to work with! Everyday I wake up at 6:30 and get ready to start another day. At 7:45, I go to work. Once I'm there, I check with my secretary to get a list of appointments and meetings that have been scheduled. From then on I'm working off my schedule. Sometimes I feel like I'm still in high school going from class to class. At about six o'clock, I go back home. Thank goodness I don't have any kids yet to come home to and take care of at the end of the day. However, it is nice to have my sweet, charming husband to be there waiting for me with dinner prepared.

My Day on Orion

My name is Doyle. I'm 55 years old and I live on the space colony Orion. I am a nurse at the Orion Community Hospital. Every day I get in my battery powered car and go to work. At work I serve the patients what they need and give them their medication. Halfway through the day I switch and do desk work, like keeping patients' records and bringing them up when the doctors need them.

At the end of the day, I get back into my car and go to the astronomy center and look out the telescopes at my old home, Earth. After the daily visit to the astronomy center, I go home to my living quarters in the northern part of the civilian living space. Then I make dinner for my two sons and settle down for the night. Just before I go to bed, I call my relatives on Earth and tell them how my day went.

Dear Diary,

My name is Yasmine Zipporon and I live on the space colony Orion. I am 14 years old . On this colony I go to school to be a mission specialist . They are the people that control all of the experiments that are being conducted on the colony. I am doing very well in all of my classes . I hope that I am the one that gets chosen to be the top mission specialist out of our 10 people that are being trained .

Yours truly,

Yasmine

Dear Diary,

My name is Kristin. I am thirteen years old. I have been living on the station called Orion for about seven weeks now. Orion's great! I have made many new friends, and met up with some old ones. My family, right now, is enjoying one of the many leisure activities that Orion provides. My dog is in the hospital because she needs tests done to see if she is immune to a certain deadly disease. If she is, then she could be used to find a cure for it. The name of the disease is too long complicated for me to say. She will not be harmed by the medical procedure. If she is immune, then a vaccine can be made which will allow any Earth dog to be brought here as a family pet.

I am in my room doing nothing. Everyone else has something to do except me. Maybe I'll go down to the leisure room to work out. Maybe I'll go find some of my friends, both old and new, and go to the commercial section.

Dear Diary,

I am 14 years old and I am reporting from Earth on what it was like to live in a space colony called Orion.

Living in space isn't really that much different than living on Earth. The only thing that is different is that you can't go outside.

I found out that living in space is pretty cool because of the activities that you would do in space. Some of the activities that I did in space colony were sports. I swam a lot. I also played soccer, and I also played football. I played soccer on a team. I also was a soccer coach.

One of my favorite things that I liked to do was astronomy. I loved to look at the planets and stars through a telescope. Some seemed up close and others seemed far away.

I also enjoyed playing on the computers. I got to search new links that I haven't ever heard of. I also got to have a pen-pal on Earth that I was writing to.

I also enjoyed going to the library that is in the space colony. I was very thrilled to see what was there. Many of the books were very informative.

I enjoyed living in the space colony. Living in space was very educational, and it seems to be a new experience that I enjoyed. I'm sure I'll go back for a visit.

Dear Diary,

I have lived on Orion for one year now. I am twenty-one years old. We are rotating around the earth.

To be accepted on Orion, we had to fill out an application that had about thirty questions to answer. There were a lot of people that tried to get in. I was a lucky to get in.

I still wish the colony was bigger because I see the same things every single day. I am still living alone in my quarters. Living on Orion has some limitations, but we do have unique leisure time activities. It is nice to look at the stars through the periscope-type telescopes.

Dear Diary, 3/30/2027

Hey, what's up? It is my first day on the colony of Orion. It was very hard to get accepted to this colony because I had to fill out the applications and it took a lot of thinking, but I finally got it finished. I wonder how many other people have applied to live here and were turned down. I guess I'm thankful to be here. I wish that this place was bigger because I feel a little closed in here.

Dear Diary, 4/25/2027

I am finding it somewhat hard to live here and get used to all the new laws and requirements that are expected of all the people that do live here. I'm beginning to realize what good points the planet Earth had now that I'm not there anymore, and I wonder if I made a mistake by leaving there to move here. I know this is a good place for many kinds of people to live, but it may not be for me.

Dear Journal,

The year is 2289. It is a nice and quiet day in the space colony. I am reading a book which was written on Earth several hundred years ago. I have never been to Earth, of course, and somtimes wonder what it was like. My family has been living up in this space colony since 2055. There are a lot of stories told about Earth. Some people say they are myths, but not me. I look out my telescope and see the deserted planet, always wondering what it would be like to an Earthling. I had a dream that I was an Earthling and I was wandering around seeing famous cities and many other things that all used to be on Earth. Traveling on Earth would have been fun, but I enjoy living up here with my family and my friends.

Today I went to school as usual. It was so boring. It was even more boring than it usually is. I got in trouble for falling asleep in school. Today's lunch was horrible-space burgers that weren't even cooked all of the way. It was also boring at home. I finished my homework then slept the rest of the afternoon until now because I just woke up. Next year I'll be old enough to get my external space vehicle license. I don't think I'll be bored then!

One day as little Jeremy Jordan was walking home from school, he stopped to look at the maple trees. He had always loved maple syrup and had been fascinated with the way it is made. That day in school they had learned about all the steps in making maple syrup. Little Jeremy Jordan was a true fan of maple syrup. He ate it with pancakes, ice cream, cereal, and anything else he desired.

When he reached home, his mother asked him how school was and if he had any papers for her.

"Mom, I want to live on the colony Orion. It would be fun," Jeremy said as he pulled out a piece of bright green paper.

"Now, Jeremy, you know we couldn't afford it, and it would be cramped. Your father does not like tight spaces," Jeremy's mother said.

"But, Mom, look at these pictures. It is not small, and we would get paid a lot, too. How does 100,000 dollars sound? With that kind of money we could pay off our mortgage and fix up Dad's old "57 Chevy or even get a new car. I think Dad could hold off his fear of tight spaces, and anyway, this is a chance of a lifetime," Jeremy said hurriedly.

After vigorous training to prepare themselves for their trip into space, the new settlers were all flown to Orion one hundred at a time. After reaching the colony of Orion, Jeremy chose their family's living quarters. It was smaller than their house on Earth but cozy. Father liked it because it was not cramped. Jeremy was satisfied with everything except there was one thing missing.

"Mom, do we have any maple syrup in space?" Jeremy asked.

"I'm sorry. Maple trees are very large, and there is not enough room for them on Orion," she explained.

Jeremy decided he would have maple syrup no matter what it took. There was only one problem; how would he get it?

Jeremy had an idea. He would secretly slip in a request for maple seeds when a shipment from Earth arrived in three days.

Three days later when the seeds arrived, they looked different than he had remembered. When he took them to the laboratory, a scientist studied them and concluded some of the gases used in the air supply system had leaked and covered the seeds. The scientist said the seeds probably would not grow and should be discarded, but Jeremy Jordan loved maple syrup so much that he decided to try to grow them anyway.

"Jeremy, what are those things in your hand, and what are you doing with them?" Jeremy's mother asked when he got home.

"They're maple seeds and I'm going to grow maple trees to make maple syrup, just like they make it back home. Then we can put it on pancakes and everything else," Jeremy said.

"That sounds like a good idea, but stay out of trouble," his mother stated as she continued with her work.

Jeremy planted his seeds and watered them daily. After a few months, the trees had grown so rapidly that they were already four feet tall. They didn't grow after that, and Jeremy suspected there had been some kind of genetic change. After they had matured enough, Jeremy tapped them and produced about one gallon after a week from his twelve trees. He enjoyed this very much and decided to share this with the whole community.

"Mom, I'm going out. I will be back in a little while," Jeremy said.

"What are you doing?"

"I'm going to make everyone very happy!"

Jeremy went around the colony and planted seeds in any place there was empty soil. Space was not a problem because these seeds had mutated when they were exposed to the chemicals. They were dwarf maple trees but still produced the same amount of sap as a regular maple.

A few months later there was an article in the newspaper that stated "Rare Species of Trees Found in Crop Growth Chamber. How Did They Get There?" When Jeremy saw this he was so happy. He hurried over to the Crop Growth Chamber to tell them that the rare species of trees were only dwarf maple trees. The biologists were relieved and actually excited that they, too, would have maple syrup. A few days later an article was in the paper which read, "Jeremy 'Mapleseed' Jordan Brings Joy to Orion."

As a group, the biologists and Jeremy decided to give one tree to each family that wanted one. Then each family could have a tree, and maple syrup would be plentiful. This pleased the whole community, and a pancake breakfast was scheduled for everybody. Jeremy Mapleseed was a hero in his community because of his maple syrup, which brought much happiness and joy!

What would you do if all the maple syrup in the world were gone? This is the problem we tried to solve. The story starts on a bright, sunny morning in the year 2008 when Mr. Lample and thousands of other maple syrup makers in the United States went outside and found the most astonishing thing... their sap buckets were empty!

A broadcast on the news stated that a mystery burglar had taken all the sap from the maple trees. My friend Stephanie and I turned on the T.V and heard this: "Where has all the maple syrup gone? This is a mystery to all of us here in Pine Valley. Our reporters first uncovered this story when early this morning we received a call from the students at Pine Valley High School. They told us that the jugs of sap that they were collecting from the neighboring maple trees were empty. Many other people have also called in and told us that their sap is gone, too. Some believe that some strange mystery burglars are taking the sap. Why? Tune in to news channel 16 at 5:00 P.M."

We couldn't believe it! Who would be selfish enough to devastate all the maple syrup lovers around the world? So we made a list of all the obvious suspects in Pine Valley. After about an hour of playing detective, we decided that Pine Valley was too boring to have someone from here steal ALL the sap in the maple-producing sections of the United States.

That night I had a dream that we planted maple trees on the U.S space colony Orion, which orbits the Earth, and transported the syrup made from them back to Earth. The next morning I called Stephanie and told her about my dream. She flipped out and thought that it was brilliant idea and wanted to write a letter to NASA telling them about it. I said why not and wrote the letter.

About a week later I received a call from the head executive of NASA, saying that he loved my idea and wanted to use it. He also told me that he wanted Stephanie and me to come to the space center and help his advisors plan out the mission. My mom was ecstatic. "Kristie, I am so proud of you. Whoever thought that my sixteen year old daughter would help solve a world crisis?!"

The next day, Stephanie and I flew to Cape Canaveral, Florida and began our task of helping design a space craft large enough to hold maple tree saplings, water, maple syrup jugs, equipment, and people. This part was easy because the employees at NASA were experts on building this sort of thing. The hard part was growing the trees fast enough so that the people on Earth could have maple syrup in the next few months instead of the next few decades. This problem was left for the scientists to figure out.

Two weeks later, we were ready to go. On Orion, we planted the saplings and added the special formula to help speed up the growth process of the trees. In the meantime, Stephanie and I went on a tour of the colony. I called my mom on the phone and told her about my experiences and that we should think about moving to Orion.

By the end of the third week, our first shipment to Earth had a count of two thousand gallons of maple syrup. On the flight home, we received a message from the NASA science laboratory. They said that there weren't burglars stealing the sap, and that the problem was that the trees were drying up! All this time people were looking and investigating the case, thinking that there were some deranged lunatics wondering around stealing sap, and the real reason was that the trees were blighted.

When we returned to Earth, I was greeted by the President of the United States and a huge crowd of cheering citizens and curious reporters. I received a medal for saving the human population from being starved of maple syrup. To top the day off, we were moving to Orion where I could continue making maple syrup.

Even though we could still plant new trees on Earth after the cause of the blight was found, the scientists believed that the trees grew healthier and faster on Orion. I continued my new career of making maple syrup and am still making it to this day. On Earth, I own a maple syrup industry called Simply Syrup. And that is the story of The Mystery of the Maple Syrup.

The setting of the story takes place in a laboratory in the space colony called Orion, orbiting the Earth. The year is 2193. The date is April 30th.

The characters that are in the story are Sam Smith (the husband and the scientist), Marie (the wife), and the three children. Last, but not least, is the Glob.

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It was about the year 2193, and I was in my laboratory. The date was April 30th, and I had a great craving for making maple syrup pudding. I wanted to make the pudding for my family. In about four months, it would be my wife's and my ten year anniversary. I wanted the maple syrup pudding to be a surprise.

I started taking ingredients. The ingredients were one cup of milk, one egg, and two cups of maple syrup from the dwarf maple trees in the crop growth chamber. Then I added three teaspoons of heaping cornstarch. Next I mixed some syrup and eggs together well. Then I dissolved the cornstarch in milk. I mixed that together well, and I put it in a microwaveable bowl. I cooked it for ten minutes.

Just then I heard a "ping" from my computer, saying I had an E-mail from Earth. As I typed my answer with one hand, I distractedly shoved my bowl of pudding mixture into the microwave. When I turned around, in horror, I saw that I had stuck the bowl into the super experimental gamma ray chamber instead. That made all the difference. I opened the super experimental gamma ray chamber door, and to my astonishment, this brown syrupy thing came flying out. It started bumping into some things that were on the walls. The things that were on the walls were falling on to the floor.

"Ah!!" I screamed.

"What are you?" I pleaded. I gazed at it.

The glob started to dance on my counter. It grabbed my hand and my hand was shaking the glob's hand.

"Hi, how are you?" the glob said.

"What? You can talk?" I said.

"What are you?" I asked in a scared voice.

"You created me," the glob said.

"Yeah, I know, but I didn't expect my maple syrup pudding to come alive."

A Week Later

I started making more maple syrup pudding. When I went to put the maple syrup pudding in the microwave, I was called away before I could hit the button. In the meantime, the glob, who was lonely, switched the pudding to the gamma chamber. That meant double trouble. The two globs ended up meeting each other.

"Hi, you are a pretty little thing," said Glob Number One.

"You are a handsome little thing yourself," said Glob Number Two.

Glob One and Glob Two ended up going out.

The next day, I came out of my room and I started hearing these strange little laughing noises.

"What the...............?" I said.

I saw some little brown syrupy things. They looked like their parents but a lot smaller. The parents and the little miniature globs were all dancing on my lab counters. The miniature globs were laughing and playing.

"Oh, they are so cute," said my wife and my three kids.

"No! We can't keep them all," I said.

The kids started playing with them.

My wife and my three kids ended up loving all of the globs.