Robot Eclipse (or Eclipse on Demand)

One day the robot Prince looked up at the sky, and with a bored look asked the Queen: “How long do we have to wait for a total eclipse?”

“There won’t be another total eclipse until you are 234 years old,” said the Queen.

“I can’t wait that long!” the Prince responded.

The King, who had overheard the conversation, decided to find a way to control the cycle of eclipses over Earth. “Nothing can stand in the way of the robot intellect,” he said.

And so it was, that for the next 100 years the most intricate work of space engineering took place. Rockets were sent to the asteroid belt, large asteroids rerouted towards Earth, and their gravitational force used to alter the speed and rotation of the Moon.

Finally when the work was completed Earth had 4 new moons, Ceres, Vesta, Pallas, and Hygiea and the original Moon looked to be 30 times bigger on the sky. From that day on, every first Sunday of the month a total eclipse could be seen over the Robot Kingdom.

The proud King visited the prince to hear his reaction. The robot Prince looked up at the sky, and with a bored look asked the King: “How long do we have to wait for a 5 moon eclipse?”