Launch day, at last! One by one, the surviving members of the remaining teams trickled into the launching fields of some distant Waikato farm. Thus would begin a day of thrilling adventure and discovery as our probes ventured boldly forth into the well explored regions of the lower troposphere, returning with astounding reports of that mysterious old frontier hanging directly above our heads. Christmas is in 47 days.
Our trusty launch vehicles.
Explosives! Golly!
Even more explosives! The reader may rest assured that these were handled with the utmost care – observe that the tightly shut cap of the gunpowder canister.
Loading the deployment charges in preparation for the flight.
The Palpatine and the rocket’s electronic brain, ready for take off! By Jove!
Some final checks were naturally made before the Palpatine’s electronics were loaded one final time into the case.
With the Unleash Space closed, decals were regrettably unavailable – but by Jove, it’ll take more than that to keep DEW-IT’s memes grounded!
PRODUCT PLACEMENT
More wise words from our beloved galactic tyrant.
Oh yes, we kept going.
Engine assembly! Jim didn’t really seem to trust us with that part for some reason.
The final step was naturally to add a masking tape racing stripe – this, in addition to the Palpatine’s racy red colour, would of course make it go the fastest.
:O
The penultimate step, attaching the parachute.
The final step! As the Palpatine is loaded into the launch vehicle, its clever electronic brain is already active and patiently awaiting the accelerometer signal that will indicate the apogee of its trajectory. Bon voyage, old pal!
Ready for launch!
And so, after so many weeks of hard work, the moment finally came. With tremendous thunder and flame the rocket charged into the heavens, disappearing through the low clouds into whatever mysteries lay beyond. The Palpatine had now vanished into a lost world, never before seen by civilised humanity, indubitably uncovering secrets of untold wonder! Your correspondent himself could not take his eyes off the sky, spellbound by such an undoubtedly unparalleled feat of human ingenuity and explorative spirit!
Soon enough, after so many endless seconds, our ground crew established visual contact of our courageous explorer, and the recovery could begin.
a) The rocket’s main engine, with parachute deployed, can be made out here. b) The Palpatine itself, returning to Terra Firma.
Our recovery team sets forth to reclaim the Palpatine.
The Palpatine, just returned from its heroic expedition into the lower troposphere.
Golly! What a tremendous success! With the Palpatine now safely returned to Earth after its daring venture into the well-known, our team at DEW-IT was sure to celebrate. And how! But what did the Palpatine encounter in its exploits? What secrets lurked above those majestic clouds veiling the troposphere? What mysteries lay carefully filed away within the Palpatine’s electronic memory banks?
Tune in tomorrow to find out! Learn of the incredible world above our own! Read with incredulous disbelief the reports of the expedition, direct from the source! Uncover the remarkable new discoveries of an alien frontier, unbeknownst to modern science! You won’t want to miss The Heroic Scientific Exploits of the Palpatine – Episode V: Wonders of the Troposphere!
Wishing you all a Merry Christmas,
Team DEW-IT