It’s getting rougher all the way down said the pilot James Dobbins And we’re getting heavier Think light thoughts added Commander Steve Hank leaned into his shoulder harness striving to breathe calmly as he was shaken around in his seat They were in the outer atmosphere passing through the thermosphere toward the mesosphere The g-forces and the shaking were going to get much worse before the shuttle reached the stratosphere below Hank owed a debt of gratitude to the shuttle’s crew Steve and Jim They were like super heroes flying off the planet into outer space The journey on the Excalibur had been the trip of a lifetime and Hank was sad that it was almost over
Terri waved her hand and they turned to look at one another through their helmets Hank could only faintly see his wife’s eyes You okay she asked Hank smiled Never better he replied And you’re here which makes it perfect It was perfect They had accomplished a scientific breakthrough something that would be listed in science books forever Sailing down through the freezing bumpy mesosphere Hank caught a flare of light in the corner of the cockpit window
Shielding his eyes with his hand Hank turned as far as his suit allowed him to look A glowing arc of molten material spewed out of the sun like a tentacle Solar flare Hank whispered in awe He raised his voice Hey it’s a solar flare They’d expected that the sun would be quiet for the duration of their mission but the sun was unpredictable Now a solar flare sprayed cosmic rays and radiation everywhere which was extremely dangerous for the astronauts I see it Steve said grimly What does it mean Terri demanded Is She broke off as the solar flare thickened and looped It glowed even brighter now nearly doubling in size Hank gasped
