A note: Each chapter in Space Case is preceded by a short, fictionalized excerpt from The Official Residents’ Guide to Moon Base Alpha. These summaries are included with the chapter that follows each one.

“Welcome to Moon Base”

Chapter 1 is preceded by a short section from the NASA guide to Moon Base Alpha that welcomes the residents to their new home in writing. The section refers to the comforts of the moon base as well as the possibility of some challenges, which can, per the guide, be managed by reading the extensive manual prior to arriving on the moon.

“Earth Year 2041, Lunar Day 188, Smack in the Middle of the Night”

In Chapter 1, Dashiell Gibson, who goes by Dash, narrates the events that unfolded in the evening of Lunar Day 188 “smack in the middle of the night” (5). In first-person narration, Dash sets the scene, describing the complexities of life on the moon, most of which are negative, in his opinion. While he had expected Moon Base Alpha to be amazing, most of what the government had “fed [his] family” (6) turns out to have been inaccurate.

Before moving to the moon, Dash, who is 12, had lived happily in Hawaii with his parents and younger sister.