For a second, it seemed to Scott that his spacecraft was coming apart . . . but it held together, and so did he. He glanced at the air speed indicator, located on the old speedometer they had recalibrated, and watched in awe as it ticked upward. Mark’s voice crackled in Scott’s ear. “We have liftoff at 2:32.29 p.m. GMT.” The time was 9:32 in the morning in New Jersey. Scott knew GMT stood for Greenwich Mean Time, which is what NASA uses because it’s the same everywhere in the world. “Roger,” he said. “The clock is running. We are under way.” It seemed to Scott that he had been airborne only a few seconds when the capsule bounced, shuddered, and bounced again. He checked the altimeter: 35,000 feet, Max Q, the point at which the forces buffeting the capsule were greatest and, true to its name, Crazy 8 reacted by wobbling, bucking, and shimmying. We built the machine to survive this, Scott reminded himself. It’s normal. But at the same time, it had been a lot easier to feel confident when he was in Nando’s shop with his feet on the ground and his friends around him.
What do You think about Astrotwins — Project Blastoff?
