All artwork by Ed Traquino.
It’s 2040, and the astronauts living in the Moon Base Biosphere are helping mankind prepare for life on other planets. But while those trailblazers look up to the heavens and the future, all is not well down below. A global disaster has covered the Earth in a toxic haze, and with all communications cut off, those in space fear the worst.
With no return home in sight, Gunther, the Moon Base Commander, faces difficult decisions. The Moon Base is perfectly balanced to support six people indefinitely, and there are already six there. How can he save the four in the Space Transport Plane, and five in the International Space Station? The lives of all nine astronauts floating in space rest in the hands of Gunther and the others in the Moon Base.
In a desperate attempt to save as many as possible, the Moon Base astronauts find a way to stretch the base capacity to nine. All they need is for the men in the Space Transport Plane to pull an air filter off the side of the Space Station and bring it up with them. And, while they’re at it, bring along the two women crewmembers in the Space Station. The only women in space.
The numbers don’t look good. The six on the Moon know five more people will be showing up, to live in a base that will barely support nine. The four men in the Space Transport Plane that can only hold five people know they have to pick up two more. And the three men in the Space Station know the Transport Plane astronauts are planning to pick up the women and steal an air filter, leaving them behind.
Who will make it to the Moon?
Synopsis & Concept art for the screenplay Tranquility Base.
Gold Prize winner in the Science Fiction category of
The PAGE International Screenwriting Awards.
Finalist, the 2010 Vail Film Festival Screenplay Competition (Third Place)
Read about NASA’s plans to build a permanent Moon Base, announced in Dec. 2006.
Dan’s website: www.CelluloidGlory.com
