- "It is a humbling thought that with all our scientific resources, we are still at the mercy of natural forces."
— Brains
"The Mini Moon" (aka Mini Moon) is a seven-part Thunderbirds comic story, first published in consecutive issues of TV21 & Joe 90 magazine, between February and April of 1970.
Story[]
Part One: A Stranger From Space[]
There are, indeed, "more things in heaven and Earth" than the Sun and its family of orbiting planets. There are others: countless so-called rogue objects, swinging about the Sun in highly eccentric orbits of their own.
Such an object - inbound towards the Sun, from somewhere in the distant hinterlands of the Solar System - has passed within the orbit of Mars, terrifying the crew of a passing space-freighter to within an inch of their lives.
Now, the unknown interloper is just chiming in towards Earth, with fantastic weather phenomena - like the freakish "drowning" of much of the Sahara Desert in northern Africa - announcing its approach.
Out in the South Pacific, massive walls of water repeatedly smash against the volcanic ramparts of Tracy Island (its many hidden hangars, deep within, remaining dry and safe). In the Tracy Villa, Jeff Tracy and his household anxiously view broadcasts of the unfolding global disaster. "What do you make of it?" he asks Brains. "Well, it could shoot off past the Earth, and go on its way..."
Or, maybe not; as John Tracy joins the discussion from his orbital perch aboard Thunderbird 5, using adjectives like "awesome" and "terrifying" to describe what his monitors are seeing...
"Already it is too close to our atmosphere," Brains adds, "and I fear the worst..."
John doesn't demur; for he can now actually see the thing - albeit from a safe distance - out his window: "Look out for worse trouble," he warns. Suddenly: "It's hit something! - One of those old abandoned satellites... a big one! - "
Back down on Earth, in the United Kingdom, the River Thames is out of its banks and inundating much of historic central London. And frantic calls from around the besieged globe, are appealing for aid from International Rescue!
But Jeff finds himself in an impossible position. With so much chaos, and in so many places, he must force himself to do the unthinkable...
Part Two: "Can't We Do Anything?"[]
Taking what he himself terms "a hard and regrettable decision," Jeff declares that, this once, "Thunderbirds cannot go!"
An ominous silence falls across the Tracy Lounge. Jeff's gaze circles the room, seeking reaction - and, he hopes, validation. It comes from a subdued Scott: "There was no other choice."
"It is obvious," says Brains, "that we must strike at (the) source."
Back out in space, the astronomer of the Tracy family is making detailed observations from Thunderbird 5, following the "mini-Moon"'s collision with a derelict space-satellite. The cosmic stranger's course has, indeed, been deflected: "It's taking up station" in Earth orbit, John concludes from his computations, "and with similar effects" to those exerted by the real Moon... and, he might've added, a lot closer to Earth.
All the while, too, John's been listening, with growing dismay, as incoming reports continue of worldwide calamities - including one from the coastal areas of Cornwall, being overwhelmed by the abnormal tides, and with otherwise-valiant rescue-helicopter crews clearly no match for the sheer scale of the evacuations required. The exasperated space monitor calls in to base: "Can't we do anything?"
That question hangs in the air, as John's brothers and Brains gather solemnly around their leader. Saving the world - quite literally - means they must go up against the cause of it all...the stranger from space that Brains and John, independently, have named the "mini-Moon" - either force it out of its Earth-endangering orbit, somehow - or destroy it!
Darkness comes to the still-restive Pacific. Below the Tracy Island Round House, the lights burn bright all night long in Thunderbird 3's vast hidden silo - as Alan and Brains observe the loading of the great space ship. "We'll have a full load, genius," Alan remarks, to which Brains responds, "I suspect we will need everything we can carry."
With dawn not far off, the plan - dubbed Operation Luna Minor - is ready; and Jeff prepares to deploy his troops - Scott and Virgil first. "Give what help you can," their father tells them, "wherever it is needed," and Thunderbirds 1 and 2 are quickly away, rising into the early-morning light.
Not far behind them, Thunderbird 3 - with Alan, Brains and Gordon aboard - explodes into view, riding a pillar of fire as it clears the Round House - while Jeff settles in for a lonely vigil...
Part Three: Ominous Moonlight[]
As Earth's atmosphere falls away behind Thunderbird 3, Alan, Gordon and Brains get their first direct view of the world - and are shocked to discover that many familiar oceanic landmarks have simply... vanished. It's a solemn reminder of what's at stake in their do-or-die mission: to intercept and - somehow - disrupt the rogue "mini-Moon" that has attached itself to Earth orbit.
Soon, the big red rocket is homing in on the newly-named Luna Minor; so dazzling-bright is its surface, even from their distance, they must don special anti-glare goggles to protect their eyesight. They'll land on the side facing away from the Sun, as an extra caution. As the three are helping each other into their spacesuits, Big Brother is watching - big brother John, from Thunderbird 5. "They're safely down - no problems," he tells Tracy Island, adding "Gordon's out," as his brother sets off on a Space Cat transporter that's been lowered to the surface ahead of him.
"I am GO," the aquanaut reports, adding, with a fleeting flash of his trademark humor, "and I'll say it's a small world, folks!" But then it's all-business, as the Space Cat lumbers along and Gordon keeps up a running commentary on what's he's seeing. All around him, Luna Minor has been riven with crevasses and battered with impact craters of any and all sizes - treacherous going, to the unwary. And, he notes, it's hot, quite literally: "Recorders show high temperatures...I'd say great heat from the central core."
Brains, listening with Alan from TB3's flight deck, evaluates this: "A heat-blasted surface...a huge searing cauldron inside...it gives us a guide." As they carefully descend the ladder en route to joining Gordon, Alan asks what plan Brains has in mind. "Investigation first, naturally," is the reply... but he's still pessimistic as to what it'll eventually take, to end this menace to Earth once and for all.
Part Four: Can Luna Minor "Hit Back"?[]
With Luna Minor's rampant assault on Earth's weather continuing, unabated - both the Hudson and East Rivers are squeezing New York's Manhattan Island in a deadly clench, shaking skyscrapers like matchsticks, and ripping great liners from their moorings - an anxious Jeff's querying John on the latest news of TB3. "You still have the boys in sight?" he asks.
John - himself an astronaut, like his father - assures him that "I'm keeping a close watch... with all long-distance aids." Jeff's concern is assuaged, but only to a point: "I've a nasty feeling the mini-Moon may have means of hitting back at intruders," to which John can only reply, "So far - no trouble."
And he's right - so far. On Luna Minor itself, Gordon's Space Cat dozer kicks up a steady swirl of rocks and boulders as it lurches forward. "You want suitable spots for laser boring - that right, Brains?"
So he does, using a hand-held "audio-divinator" to probe the surface. "I'm getting some reaction," he reports, "the metallic mass is less here..." and asks Alan to bring up the laser probe. Alan presently sets to work, while Brains moves on. "Don't get too far away," he cautions the scientist, "don't get lost."
As he drills into the surface-crust, Alan becomes acutely aware of the unearthly surroundings (A feller could fall off this little world once he gets over the horizon.) and, like his father back on Earth, voices "a hunch this over-heated lump could hit back, somehow," which Gordon doesn't at all disagree with.
As the two brothers confer, they realize that Brains is not within view! "Hey, Brains!" from Gordon. "You fallen down a hole or something?" Brains' response is immediate: he's discovered some "most interesting rock formations... they will repay study," adding that "a quite extensive fissure (is) an ideal place to study rock strata." His listeners are incredulous: "Did you get that, Alan?" "(He) could be in trouble if he gets stuck."
For the time being, at least, Brains is quite happily caught-up in the thrall of discovery ("I can get a really good picture of the composition of Luna Minor..."). But he's slowly becoming aware that he can hear only a steady, discordant stream of clicking and hissing in his padded headphones... something's interfering with his suit-radio!
Back on the surface, the danger to his companions abruptly escalates - as an enormous geyser of flaming gases erupts without warning from the spot where Alan had been drilling, causing him and Gordon to both jump back instinctively in alarm! This erstwhile-denizen of the cold and the dark has now become subject to the environs of the inner Solar System - to the greater effects of the Sun, and even of Earth itself: Luna Minor is very much alive!
Part Five: Gone Missing...[]
Gordon and Alan quickly retreat to the relative safety of Thunderbird 3's landing site; he orders Alan up the ladder and to prepare for a crash-lift departure - with, or without, him and Brains, who he's setting off to search for with the Space Cat. Alan's not a bit happy about that, but he nonetheless resolves to put himself and the big red rocket in a "readiness state" and delay until the last possible split-second...
As more and more lethal fire-eruptions ravage the surface of Luna Minor, Gordon hastens his dozer on its way... (How am I going to track him down?) In their last conversation, he'd mentioned "a quite extensive fissure" - but there are more and more of them, opening up every moment...
Out somewhere ahead of him, Brains is still in that particular fissure, but he's not going anywhere - a slab of brittle rock-face has suddenly come loose from the fissure-wall, falling on him! That marvelous mind of his, though, is still ticking over; and he assesses his situation: no apparent injuries, spacesuit intact. But he's pinned on his back, and can't shift the rock-mass that's trapped him. Unable to call for help, he can only ruefully ponder the very real possibility that his incessant scientific curiosity has finally led to his undoing.
By now, John's heard the news, and has the unhappy task of reporting it to his father. Word also reaches Scott and Virgil, who have split up and are facing perilous rescue scenarios at opposite ends of the world - Thunderbird 2's off the coast of the state of New South Wales, Australia, where the iconic Sydney Harbour Bridge is in acute danger of collapse; while aboard Thunderbird 1, Scott surveys the sight of the unnaturally-roused North Sea threatening the very existence of the Netherlands, behind its elaborate system of protective dikes.
But nobody's giving up, anywhere (such is the IR code) - as Gordon excitedly reports he's found Brains! But he can't shift the rock-mass either; he'll have to use the dozer. Meanwhile, time continues to tick away... until the moment Alan will have no choice but to blast-off without them...
Part Six: Zero-Time![]
Gordon's improvised rescue-gambit succeeds; with the aid of his Space Cat, he's hauled Brains safely out of the rock-fissure. All around them, Luna Minor is heaving and erupting, seemingly in its death-throes, as they hurry back to the waiting Thunderbird 3. "This lump of chaos may blow apart any minute".
Brains, though, isn't so certain that the mini-Moon will vaporize purely of its own volition. The engineer has already resolved to take no chances on the outcome of this mission: he directs Gordon to halt the dozer briefly before an especially-deep crevasse - then, taking something from his spacesuit, he carefully and unerringly lobs it into that crevasse. Gordon's aghast: "You've tossed a bomb down there?" A miniature nuclear bomb, in fact - one with a timing device.
Elsewhere, John's attempting to steady an increasingly-anxious Alan: "I can't just blast off and leave them..." The two "space siblings," who share duties aboard Thunderbirds 3 and 5, know both vessels' capabilities extremely well. "You have to save yourself and Thunderbird 3, if necessary," John tells him, "those are orders from Dad." His little brother simply must hold his nerve, just a bit longer.
Finally: a jubilant "I can see 'em!" and as Gordon and Brains hurriedly scamper up the ladder, John quickly updates a much-relieved Jeff ("I can breathe again"). Then Alan's hailing TB5, "Better watch out," with news of Brains' actions: "(It's) somewhere below us... there could be a cosmic explosion," he warns. "I'm ready," comes the answer, "but you'd better blast off!"
And blast-off TB3 does, its three big rocket-engines putting more and more distance between itself and the erstwhile mini-Moon...
No sound attends what happens next - as an enormous blast lights up that quarter of the heavens. Luna Minor is no more!
Aboard TB3, joy and elation and relief abound, and a longing to head for home... one which may be somewhat deferred. Alan is dumbfounded at what he's hearing: "You want me to do a space salvage job - just for a lump of rock? Hey, that's not on, Brains!"
Part Seven: Salvation - and Salvage[]
Only a vast field of floating space debris remains, of what once was the rogue "mini-Moon" - and while Thunderbird 3 has escaped to safety, a disagreement over what to do next has ensued amongst its crew. Alan is dead-set against what Brains proposes - "Think again, Brains!" - and Gordon agrees: "It's time we went back to Earth, old genius!" But Brains is persistent: "I have thought... it is vital to me that I get an opportunity to study the composition of the now-defunct Luna Minor."
Elsewhere in space, Thunderbird 5 is tracking the debris field as it slowly settles into an Earth orbit of its own - no longer of sufficient mass to pose any further danger to Earth itself. Deciding (correctly) that his father will have to adjudicate the budding contretemps aboard TB3, John calls in to Tracy Island - "Brains is sticking his neck out" - and puts Jeff in the picture. "Any comment?" he adds.
For the first time in a long time, Jeff is grinning broadly from ear to ear. Brains, he declares, "(has) done the job and saved the world, and now he's entitled to his fun. He has my go-ahead." But he also sides with Alan, in that Brains will have to devise the particulars of his salvage operation himself.
And so, with all now agreed upon, TB3 proceeds - very carefully maneuvering its way through the masses of floating rock - some as small as pinheads, others as mighty as boulders, and all manner of other sizes in-between.
Having fashioned a "space grapnel" device that at first blush looks to be half-oversized-funnel and half-vacuum-cleaner-hose, the space-suited Brains anchors himself in TB3's open airlock-hatch and deploys his improvised pick-up contrivance into the darkness. Presently he selects the specimen he wants, and guides Alan as near to it as mission safety will allow.
"We are now home and dry," he announces in triumph, as he hauls his catch aboard. "Just as well," Alan responds. "Gordon and I are looking forward to a real home-cooked meal!"
And, indeed, TB3 and its crew can finally go home!
"I believe my research will be most interesting," Brains, once more the happy scientist, declares, "I shall start immediately" upon arrival back at base - to which Gordon responds, "I'm sure it will, genius, but I'm going to start research on a nice thick steak!"
Far below, a much-beleaguered Earth lets out an enormous sigh of relief. The menace of the mini-Moon is gone, but what it has wrought remains; and a tremendous clean-up operation is already underway...
And, still elsewhere - out in the South Pacific - one by one, the International Rescue fleet is returning to its secret-island base; and a welcome calm settles over the Tracy Villa. Food and drink are making the rounds, as the reunited Tracy household relaxes and takes in the latest newscasts: "The emergency is over and the world is now taking stock. All declared disaster areas will receive immense help. The world thanks International Rescue!"
Well, almost reunited; for, true to his word, Brains has indeed retreated to his laboratory, carefully cradling his Luna Minor "souvenir". "Want any help?" Jeff offers. Brains politely declines, but notes he's going to be busy "for some time."
Many more hours pass, and then the lab door opens and Brains is inviting his friends in for a look. Eyes pop, and jaws drop: there sitting on Brains' workbench, is a diamond - an enormous diamond - the largest, by far, that any of them have ever seen!
"...fused and compressed by the great heat of Luna Minor," nods Brains, who's spent those many hours painstakingly cutting and polishing the raw stone to its present form. "There might be hundreds, perhaps thousands more pieces like this," Gordon says, and Brains concurs, "A fruitful field for daring space prospectors."
But when Scott ventures that the maxi-gem - surely "worth a colossal fortune" - could well "finance International Rescue for years to come," Brains firmly puts his foot down: no.
"This is a scientific sample, and will remain so," he states. There really isn't enough money in the world to buy it (a valid point); and besides, "I am much too busy" with other projects. The others, still collectively agog, can only watch as their friend quietly walks away with his prize...
Characters[]
- Jeff Tracy
- John Tracy
- Brains
- Alan Tracy
- Gordon Tracy
- Scott Tracy
- Virgil Tracy
- Various television commentators, et al (unnamed).
International Rescue Equipment Used[]
- Thunderbird 3 (including: spacesuits and gear (3 sets); anti-glare eye-goggles (3 pairs); Space Cat (ground-transporter vehicle; capacity at least two); hand-held laser probe, and audio-divinator (type of high-tech "divining rod"); miniaturized nuclear explosive, with timing device; space grapnel / Brains' "pick-up contrivance").
- Thunderbird 5
- Thunderbird 1
- Thunderbird 2 (pod(s) unspecified).
Non-IR Equipment Used[]
- Rescue helicopters (presumably civilian and/or military).
Locations[]
- Tracy Island
- Luna Minor (the mini-Moon)
- United Kingdom (Central London; coast of Cornwall)
- United States (New York City/Manhattan Island; Hudson and East Rivers)
- North Africa (Sahara Desert region)
- The Netherlands (system of dikes)
- Australia (Sydney Harbour Bridge)
Reprint History[]
- The Mini Moon appeared in reprint form in Thunderbirds: The Comic Collection, published by Egmont UK Ltd in 2013 (reissued with a new cover - as Volume 1 - in 2014, when a second hardcover volume was published).
- The Mini Moon also appeared in Thunderbirds: Volume Five - one of a series of five softcover volumes of comics published by Egmont, during 2014.
Trivia[]
- The general premise of The Mini Moon is evocative of the classic 1933 sci-fi novel When Worlds Collide, in that Earth is menaced by the close approach of a rogue celestial body from deep space (eg, both stories depict New York City being submerged by massive tidal surges).
- A rare space mission for Gordon, as he joins Alan and Brains aboard Thunderbird 3 for the fateful journey to Luna Minor.
- ...and a rare TB3 mission without Scott along, as co-pilot (he's deployed elsewhere, aboard TB1).
- Also a showcase for John's versatility, as he's kept busy tracking Luna Minor from his unique viewing position aboard TB5 - and monitoring his brothers and Brains, as they land on and explore Luna Minor.
- Curiously, the familiar IR call sign F.A.B. is absent from this story.
Goofs[]
- Thunderbird 3 is erroneously depicted in flight as having four rocket engines. It has three.