  From my 9th grade science class: Eric Dramstad Earth No More It was announced only several days ago that the Earth would imminently explode into oblivion, leaving behind only space dust.
Quickly, team Dramstad-Noble rushed to their science teacher in search of a space ship he might have hanging around. Kali refused to die, and Eric was a tag along. Dennis Mahoney happened to have one slightly used spaceship and gladly gave it to them, unaware that the Earth was going to explode in few days time.
Kali and Eric scoured their city to find necessary supplies for the trip. They collected a pair of space suits with replacements as well as pants, drills, fuel, solar panel equipment, rope, dirt, seeds, water, growing lights and other necessary elements for a garden, rabbits, chickens and a coop, goats, a greenhouse kit, food, water and a filtration system, feed for animals, a vacuum cleaner, air filtration system, two Segway scooters, many other clothing items and tools. The animals also had sleep chambers specially sized and shaped for them, made out of sticks and gum.
Once they had obtained their supplies, team Dramstad-Noble packed them into the cargo hold of the ship and they were ready to go. Before boarding, Kali and Eric took one last breath of fresh air and then started the ship. As the rockets fired up, a deep rumble came from the ground. They realized it was minutes before the explosion. They lifted off immediately. When they were passing the moon, the Earth came to its dramatic end.
Even from the space ship Eric and Kali could see the Earth shake. Then the shaking just stopped. For an entire minute, the Earth stood still – or so it seemed. They saw huge waves, some as large as Africa moving from the center of the ocean. In just seconds the continents were obliterated. Soon the whole planet was shaking again and lava spewed from underwater cracks. Then it exploded. Exactly like the Death Star. With John Williams music. As much as Eric and Kali wanted to cry, they couldn’t.
All that they could do was set the ship on autopilot and climb into their specially sized sleep chambers. One was extra small and one was extra large. * * * Six months later * * * The trip went perfectly to plan. The ship woke them up when it had landed on the pre-determined site - only a few miles from Mars’ polar ice caps.
Kali and Eric quickly set to work. They threw on clean clothing and went to the cargo hold. The animals seemed fine. They hadn’t been taken out of their chambers and wouldn’t be for a few days. Their first task was to build and secure the greenhouse, as it would be their main source of food, air, living space and animal area. They had bought a special sealant that held air in and the thin carbon dioxide atmosphere out. Carrying the parts of the greenhouse on their Segway scooters, they slowly finished it, working day and night. It was easily assembled, but the sealant was extremely hard to apply because it wouldn’t stick to the metal and glass in the lower gravity. Eventually they found that by applying sealant to some parts on the gravity controlled ship, it went on much better than outside.
Because plants need carbon dioxide to live, the plants could easily start inside the green house that was full of Martian air. When the plants began growing, they would take in the carbon dioxide and give off breathable air for the settlers to breathe. None of this would be possible until the solar array was in place to power the grow lights and re-charge the Segway batteries. * * * Two Weeks Later * * * The solar arrays were in place. The plants were started and growing nicely.
The tools were stored inside of the green house along with the food and feed. The animals were free to roam around inside of the cargo hold, but the male and female rabbis were separated until the travelers were ready to set up the cages for the new rabbits. Kali and Eric were able to use the cabin of the ship for living quarters, but didn’t do much living. They had to make sure that the chickens were properly fed so that they could produce eggs. They had to make sure that the air hoses from the green house were hooked up to the ship so that the ship wouldn’t run out of air.
Going to the polar ice caps every day was extremely important, because if they didn’t go, they would run out of water. The ice caps aren’t pure ice but have some water in them. Eric and Kali rode the scooters several miles every day to the ice caps, drilled the ice into chunks, and returned them to the ship.
The chunks had to be melted and filtered. There wasn’t much yield though. After they got comfortable, they constructed the chicken coop and rabbit cages so that they animals weren’t running along the floors of the cargo hold. The goats had only a little room so Eric and Kali were able to fabricate one suit for them so they could be taken outside for exercise. Eventually the entire spaceship could be split from the cargo hold and moved directly to the ground, making it more accessible. Harvesting plants in the greenhouse was an easy way to get food. The chickens produced good eggs and many healthy chicks.
The rabbits had no trouble adjusting to the Martian lifestyle; plenty of little thumpers were running all over. The cargo hold had leftover greenhouse windows added to it so that the animals could have more natural lighting. The rabbits could produce quickly so they were an excellent source of meat. The chickens and goats weren’t as bountiful, so they couldn’t be used as a source of food quite yet.
The goats could produce fertilizer, which proved useful in their garden. Martian life seems hard, but it would be a wonderful home. Kali and Eric will have to live the rest of their lives on milk, meat, eggs and vegetables. But hey – it sure beats exploding! urlLink Read more! 
