Pixel Isaac Newton has spent all summer thinking about why apples fall, and tonight he wants to ask the Moon the same question in person. A clear, still night has rolled over the village, the full moon is huge above the hills, and a red-and-cream striped balloon is tugging at its ropes in the orchard. He climbs into the basket, straightens his wig and lights the burner. The Moonlit Balloon is ready to rise.
Ballooning, it turns out, is a lesson in gravity. Every puff of the burner lifts the basket, and the moment it stops, down it sinks again. The way to the open sky runs past the stone pillars of an old observatory, tall stacks of apple crates and ivy-covered college towers. Polished telescope mirrors glint in the moonlight between them, and each one he catches means a sharper view of the Moon. How far can he float before morning?
