Space Oddity

Lucy White

Space Oddity

Released June 13, 1986

The following are excerpts from the transcript of communications between Major Tom Rogers (MT) and ground control (GC) during Major Tom’s failed orbit of planet earth. At the 10th hour of his orbit on July 11th, 1969, something went wrong, the cause of this malfunction is unknown, at the 11th hour communication was cut between ground control and Major Tom, nobody has heard from him since. He was presumed dead three days after his loss; he was survived by only his wife Dorothy Rogers. Over the years the story of Major Tom has been fictionalized to no end, the reader is reminded that this is not fiction, do not treat it as such.

The Italicized sections were added after the release of the transcript; they are taken from the autobiography of an employee who was present at the time of the accident and included to provide context of the events. She chose to use descriptions instead of names (excluding Dorothy) to maintain some semblance of privacy.

Take off-

GC: ground control to Major Tom checking levels, can you hear this?

MT: Major Tom to ground control, levels are good, I can hear you clear as day.

GC: ground control to Major Tom, levels are set, all is in order to initiate the take-off protocol.

MT: Major Tom to ground control, I am set, initiate take off.

10...9...8...7...6...

GC: ground control to Major Tom, prepare for lift off.

5...4...3...2...1...

GC & MT: We have lift off!

GC: ground control to Major Tom, buckle up, you are airborne.

Hour one-

Hundreds watch the rocket shooting towards the sky, a mushroom blooming in its fiery wake. Up, up, up it climbs until it pierces the clouds and is lost in their mist.

In the sterile room champagne is popped and glasses are raised. There is laughter and cheering as they watch the rocket on its starry course.

MT: Major Tom to Ground control I have passed through the atmosphere and reached orbit.

GC: ground control to Major Tom, please prepare for exit. Take your protein pills and put your helmet on, may God's love be with you.

MT: Major Tom to ground control I'm stepping through the door and floating in the strangest way.

GC: ground control to Major Tom, provide a description.

MT: Major Tom to ground control, it feels like I have been submerged in a pool of dark water, I am floating. All is dark except for the stars, I am swimming in the midnight ocean.

GC: ground control to Major Tom, now describe what you see.

MT: Major Tom to ground control, look! I can see the three stars in the hunter belt; his bow is drawn! I am his arrow shooting across the sky. There it is! Earth! I'm waving! Can you see? I guess not, I'm lost up here, now just one of many stars. The Earth is so beautiful, it's like a jewel I would hang around my wife's neck, blue and green and precious. So small, and yet it rises before me like a mountain, real mountains are just moles on its skin. The lights! I can see all those little lights, like a thousand fireflies, is one of them my home?

GC: ground control to Major Tom, thank you. You may now return to the capsule to await further instruction, good job.

MT: Major Tom to ground control, I am making my way back to the capsule.

MT: Major Tom to ground control, I am back in the capsule and the door has been shut, I am awaiting further instruction.

Hour three-

Camera’s now flash and a bald man with heavy rimmed glasses stands before a podium. There is a heady rush of noise, and he smiles. "Questions?”, the tide of sound only rises and flash after flash explodes over the scene. It’s like a thunderstorm spreading across the nation.

GC: ground control to Major Tom, you've made it, how do you feel? You’re famous, and the papers want to know whose shirt you wear. The people love you and the world is watching.

MT: Major Tom to ground control, tell the papers to ask my wife. Tell the people I love them too, and that I can see the whole world.

GC: ground control to Major Tom, we will.

Hour nine-

On the ground the sun has passed beyond the horizon, darkness hugs the globe. Light still glows in the room of ground control. People now sit hunched over the control panels listening only to the dead static of the intercom.

At this I can only guess, but high above Major Tom Slumbers, a red light flashes to life. Beep, beep, beep, he snaps awake.

MT: Major Tom to ground control, there is a red-light flashing, can you see that? Is something wrong?

GC: ground control to Major Tom, there has been no indication of an issue on our end, we will look into it and inform you of what we find.

MT: Major Tom to ground control, thank you.

Hour ten-

Lights are flashing on control panels, lighting and extinguishing at a seizure inducing pace. People are frantic, rushing back and forth with bleary bagged eyes. The bald man is in the room; he’s wearing a plaid bathroom and navy pajamas; his glasses are askew. He’s yelling, his face is all screwed up and red, there is spittle flying from his mouth. “What does it mean?” us interns murmur as we cart coffee back and forth.

GC: ground control to Major Tom, can you hear me?

MT: Major Tom to ground control, I can hear you. What's the status? Things up here have escalated, and not in a good manner.

GC: ground control to Major Tom, do not worry we are still running diagnostics, we have this under control. Stay calm. Do not panic.

GC: ground control to Major Tom, your circuits dead, that's all that is wrong, prepare for further instruction.

MT: Major Tom to ground control, I am standing by and awaiting further instruction. I will inform you if anything else occurs. Please, bring me home.

GC: ground control to Major Tom, we’re doing everything we can. Hold on.

Hour 11-

The noise has reached a fever pitch in ground control, fear staining the voices of all. They’re climbing over each other, creating a melodical note, as they competed for air. More and more lights flicked to life on the panels and new beeping joined the chorus. All voices were silenced by the crackle of the intercom, on it spoke a feeble voice.

MT: This is Major Tom to ground control, the radar reads that I’ve passed a thousand miles away, I'm scared and alone in the dark. I'm all alone in the dark, I'm moving so fast that the world seems still, maybe it is, maybe I haven't moved an inch. All is still in this endless dark ocean, and my old friend, silence, has come again, he feels absolute and eternal. I am not moving but the earth is growing smaller and smaller. Now it really could be a bead I can clasp between two fingers. I cannot reach out and pluck it from the sky, I have already tried, by all my fingers scraped was air. If I could, I would grasp it and clasp it around my beloved’s neck.

Static

MT: I'm not in control anymore, the rocket knows the way and it is dragging me with it. Orion, you whose bow was once so beautiful, you now draw your string and launch me across the sky! What divine quest was I destined for?

Static

MT: I'm not coming home. I'm not coming home! Tell my Dorothy, I love her. Tell her! please.... She knows, I know she knows but tell her this one last time. I'm not coming home, I-

He did not say goodbye, I imagine he couldn't, I imagine he closed his eyes and listened to the silence.

GC: ground control to Major Tom, you're coming home Tom. We are bringing you home, just stay calm. We have your wife right here, you can tell her yourself. Everything will be okay.

Dorothy: Tom? Are you there? Can you hear me? I'm here Tom, I love you too. I think I would like that necklace, the one you mentioned. I would like to wear that necklace, I would like to see you smile when you see me wearing it. At all the parties I would get compliments, and we would share a glance, and I would laugh and say I was wearing the whole world around my neck. Wouldn't that be nice? Tom? Tom?! TOM! Why aren't you speaking? Can you not hear me? can you not speak? Tom? TOM? ANSWER ME TOM? P-p-please Tom, come home. I n-need you to come h-home.

I pull her from that room; her shoulders are shaking so violently I have to carry her. She’s fighting to get back, she’s screaming for her husband, he must come home, she must speak to him. Sobs choke her and her breathing is harsh in my ear. His name is caught in her throat, trapped in an eternal despairing scream, “TOM!” it echoed through the hallways, every time I walk those halls I can hear the mangled shout. I never know if the walls were talking or it’s all in my head.

GC: ground control to Major Tom, we’ve reprogrammed your route, proceed to the new course, you’ll be home by supper, did you hear?

Silence

GC: can you hear me Major Tom?

Silence

GC: can you hear me Major Tom? Can you hear me Major Tom? Can you-

In the control room people wait with bated breath for the static hum of the intercom. Complete and utter silence prevail above and below. It is tense, taught with stress, but as no sound comes grows heavy and hollow. The bald man speaks first; he will go brief the press.

July 14, 1969 (three days later) -

The bald man stands before a crowd of press. He has swapped his ruffled pajamas for a neatly pressed suit. He looks very calm on that stage, adjusting his notecards as he waits for the crowd. In the front row Dorothy sits sobbing into her handkerchief. He raises his hand and the room falls silent.

Transcript of speech

Hello Fellow Americans, thank you for joining me here on this dark day. Three days ago, I thought I would be standing before you all with Major Tom Rogers at my side, boasting of our successful launch. It grieves me greatly that this is not the case. Three days ago, at 10:54 eastern time, during the eleventh hour of his orbit, all communication was lost with the Major and we have not been able to locate him since. We at NASA currently do not know the cause of this malfunction, though there was evidence of a circuit being dead, however we do not think this is the sole cause of the incident. This very morning Major Tom Rogers was declared dead. In Tom’s last words he spoke of love and hope, this is the message Americans should hold dear in their hearts. There is always hope.

This was a strong belief of Tom’s, one I was lucky to witness as his friend. He was a devout fellow who spoke of the world like it was beautiful, and of people as if they were good. This didn't cease even in those final minutes we had with him, the way he spoke, I sometimes think he would have been better off as a poet. Tom’s life was an impressive one, he served in the Army during the Korean war and quickly rose to the rank of Major. Following his discharge and the war’s end he went to college to study physics and astronomy; it was there that he met his beloved wife, Dorothy. This degree catapulted him to NASA, where for years we worked closely together. Two years ago, when the opportunity to go to space arose for Tom, he leapt at the chance. We spent these last two years in preparation for the launch. Needless to say, Tom is a man who will be missed, not only by those closest to him, but by the millions who were touched by his actions.

In these tragic times we, as fellow Americans, should nurture hope in our hearts and extend them to Mrs. Dorothy Rogers. Dorothy, though we cannot think to know your pain, take solace in the fact that America mourns with you. Your husband is a good man and shall be remembered as such. Now I ask the audience to bow your heads and pray with me, “Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them. May their souls and the souls of all the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace. Amen”