Out of this world road trip …

Since we were around to see the Apollo 11 Moon Mission 40 years ago, we’re following the coverage of its anniversary with piqued interest. What exciting times to be alive!

We came across a great headline today, from wired.com:

“Things to Do on the Way to the Moon”

(click here for the real story)

What comes to your mind?

Here’s what came to ours:

R-O-A-D  T-R-I-P!!!

And, not just any road trip … the ultimate. So, to avoid the almost inevitable “Are we there yet?” the astronauts should have some games to play and songs to sing along the way, don’t you think?

Here are a few items we put together for their entertainment …

To start, a scavenger hunt of sorts …

• Moon Trip Bingo – players have cards with pictures of space items on them in a simple 4 x 4 grid corresponding to the four letters in the word M-O-O-N. When a player observes an item on his card, he marks the picture with a token or by writing a check or X on the item. This continues until one player completes a “BINGO” pattern, such as a line with four marked pictures in a vertical, horizontal or diagonal row on one of their cards, and calls out “To The Moon!” He wins.
• Items pictured in this version of “Moon Trip Bingo” are: alien, asteroid, astronaut, black hole, comet, Earth, galaxy, Hubble Telescope, hurricane, meteor, milky way, moon, nebula, rocket launch, satellites (3), Saturn, solar system, space capsule, space explorer, space shuttle, space station, space vehicle, spacecraft, speed limit, stars, stop sign, sun, tow truck, UFO, Webb Telescope, and, of course, Captain Kirk!
• Sample “Road Trip Bingo” cards are provided just in case the astronauts are grounded and need a game for their earthly travels.

Next, what about a new twist on an old favorite …

• The Space (License) Plate Game – players see how many satellite “license plates” they can find and check them off the list. This game can be played as a crew or individually. Play can be just for one day, or the search for plates can continue throughout the entire voyage, and see how many different plates can be observed between the Earth and the Moon (and back). Players might even record the time, date and the location of each “plate” sighting.
• The named countries in this “Space Plate Game” come from a Wiki list of space agencies capable of conducting basic space activities, such as satellite operations.
• Sample pictures of the country plates are provided to assist players in identifying their observations.

And, to round out the trip, there must be a theme song. We thought this might be appropriate …

• He’s Got the Whole World – sing along, will you? It’s easy … here are the lyrics to the chorus:

As a bonus, we started building a soundtrack for the journey. Our initial thoughts …

• Fly me to the Moon by Frank Sinatra
• Rocket Man by Elton John
• No Stopping Us by Jason Mraz (from Waiting for My Rocket to Come)
• Rocket in My Pocket by Little Feat
• Not to Touch the Earth by The Doors
• Planet Earth by Duran Duran
• Shining Star by Earth Wind & Fire
• Outer Space From The Day The Earth Stood Still by Bernard Herrmann (from Fantastic Journey)
• Earth Beat by Herbie Hancock
• Peace on Earth by U2
• Planets Of The Universe by Stevie Nicks
• Moon River by Andy Williams
• Venus, the Bringer of Peace by Elgar Holst (from The Planets)
• Gemini Moon by Bryan Ferry
• There’s A Moon Out Tonight by The Capris
• Moonshadow by Cat Stevens
• Piano Sonata no. 14 in C# min “Moonlight” by Ludwig van Beethoven
• Shepherd Moons by Enya
• Suite From Moonwalker by Bruce Broughton (from Fantastic Journey)
• Girl On The Moon by Foreigner
• Lasso The Moon by Gary Morris
• Moonage Daydream by David Bowie
• East Of The Sun (And West Of The Moon) by Diana Krall
• Nightfall: Water From The Moon by David Lanz
• Moon by George Winston
• Moonlight Serenade by The Glen Miller Orchestra
• Radar Love by Golden Earring
• Autumn Moon by Hiroshima
• Moondance by Kitaro
• Can’t Fight The Moonlight by Leann Rimes
• How High the Moon by Les Paul & Mary Ford
• One Time One Night by Los Lobos (from By The Light Of The Moon)
• Harvest Moon by Niel Young
• L.A. to the Moon by Ronnie Milsap
• Once In A Lover’s Moon by Taylor Weaver
• Moondance by Van Morrison
• Breathing (By the light of the moon) by Abraham Cloud
• Down To The Moon by Andreas Vollenweider
• Water From The Moon by Celine Dion
• Blue Moon by Chris Isaak
• Moon Tune by Bob James & David Sanborn
• Sail On White Moon by Boz Scaggs
• Bad Moon Rising by Creedence Clearwater Revival
• Lo And Behold by Duncan Sheik (from Phantom Moon)
• Mad Man Moon by Genesis
• Moonlight And Gold by Gerry Rafferty
• Dancing In The Moonlight (It’s Caught Me In The Spotlight) by Thin Lizzy
• Moon Dust by Tom Barabas
• Man On The Moon by R.E.M.
• Shoot The Moon by Norah Jones
• Culver Moon by Jackson Browne
• Blue Moon by The Percy Faith Orchestra
• Moon Run by Trapezoid
• Moonlight Cocktails by The Rivieras
• Voyage Around The Moon by The Saturn 5
• Sister Moon by Sting
• The Great Gig In The Sky by Pink Floyd (from Dark Side of the Moon)
• Walking On The Moon by Police
• Dracula Moon by Joan Osborne
• Goodnight Moon by John Tesh
• Spanish Moon by Little Feat
• Mooning by Louis St. Louis & Cindy Bullens (from Grease)
• Shadows Of The Moon by Michael Jones & David Darling
• Spaceman by Babylon Zoo
• Mr. Spaceman by The Byrds
• Hallo Spaceboy by David Bowie
• Space Boogie by Jeff Beck
• Space Cowboy (Yippie-Yi-Yay) by ‘N Sync featuring Lisa “Left Eye” Lopes
• Space Invader by The Pretenders
• Spaceman by 4 Non Blondes
• Fly Like An Eagle by Seal (from Space Jam)
• Space And Time by The Verve
• Hillbillies From Outerspace by The Vaughn Brothers
• The Star Spangled Banner by Béla Fleck & The Flecktones (from Flight Of The Cosmic Hippo)

Now those tunes ought to keep you entertained for a while. Enjoy!

Sources: Wiki – List of space agencies, Mom’s Minivan, License Plate Mania, License Plates of the World, Our iTunes Collection

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