The dark side of moon had held a secret for 1.7 billion years
It was the Soviets that discovered it. They had decided to continue their lunar program even after the Americans had won the race. Landing on the dark side of the moon was one achievement still left on the table.
The precious and rare earth metals they discovered below the surface, whilst doing experiments there, were the remnants of an asteroid that had smashed in to the surface around 1.7 billion years ago. Any visual evidence long since being erased by gravity and time.
After many discussions and arguments between nations mining plots around the asteroid impact site were allocated to the current space capable nations. Each respective government scrambled to develop the technology required to mine the mineral deposits. None of them trusting the others to keep to their own plot with all those untold riches up for grabs.
The British government set up a consortium called the Lunar Mining Group, which was a mix of various organisations and private companies, all with the goal of mining the moon.
Officially the area had been chosen to help with the above average unemployment figures, but everyone knew it was more likely due to the low population density - in case the Soviets launched a nuclear strike. Either way, this is how James and Ewan came to find themselves growing up with the British moon mining industry on their doorsteps.
The previously mothballed Mustard project to create a reusable space launcher was restarted in earnest. The lifting body design would glide back to earth after supplying stage 1 thrust for the moon-bound rocket.
Considering they could be heard for miles around when they launched it was eerie to see them return in near silence a few minutes later, with just the wind noise, as they sliced through the air, and tyre squeal as they touched the runway. The two glide back boosters that launched with each flight would be towed off for inspection before being turned around for another launch.
Driving passed the Spaceport Ewan would always try and catch a glimpse of anything on the launchpads through the gaps in the hedge. There were ‘No Stopping’ signs all the way along that road and his mum always refused to stop, but his dad would creep along trying to get a look himself, while constantly checking the rear view mirror.
The location of the guidance towers had to be very precise. It meant the government issuing compulsory purchase orders and a lot of unhappy residents.
There is one return pod that never made it back to earth. Either human error or a mechanical malfunction, meant it overshot the re-entry window and entered an elliptical orbit around earth. With £3M worth of cargo onboard it was deemed not valuable enough to launch an intercept mission to recover it. There’s no rush anyway - the capsule is stable in that orbit for at least the next 10,000 years
He’d given up on trying to keep his feet dry long ago - his socks were soaked through. It was actually liberating, and walking in a straight line instead of jumping from dry patch to dry patch made him three times faster.
There was a K7 prototype that lay in the forest west of the launch pad for years, as the insurance company argued over the cost of its removal. It remained remarkably intact, turning in to a remote and rather toxic alternative tourist attraction.
The massive power transfer arrays tracked the moon across the night sky, as the receiving dishes on the moon's surface tracked the earth in return. Despite the terrible 18% transfer efficiency power beaming was still used as the primary source of power for the mining infrastructure.
The chamber inside the drop tower was pumped free of air, down to a near vacuum. This allowed them to do microgravity experiments in the brief time that the capsule fell. Even if you'd just looked at the tower a minute ago it would still catch the corner of your eye and force you to look up at it again, and be surprised at how tall it was all over again. Likewise if you were looking the other way whilst in its presence it still always occupied a part of your consciousness, you never forgot it was there - always looming, always able to strike anywhere should it fall.
On the school trip to the Telford Space museum the main attraction had been the gold nugget mined from the moon. Most of the talk was about how much it was worth, and some talk about how the dead spider had gotten in to the case
After the loss of a supply rocket to a lightning strike just after launch in 1984 the first weather control device came in to service in 1986. It quickly became known by locals as the Abacus.
The irony wasn't lost on the coal miners. As the coal mines closed the moon mining industry established itself. A handful of the younger miners were able to pass the medical and make the transition. One moon trip could earn them what it would have taken 3 years to earn before.
The phenomenon of crop circles suddenly became prominent in the area in the summer of 1985. The tabloid newspapers loved it and fuelled it by covering it constantly. A local mystic claimed they were made by an alien race called the Theruvians, from the Zeta Reticuli star system, who were trying to warn us about mining the moon. The tabloids ran with the story and Theruvians soon entered the national lexicon.