Section 3: Welcome to the ISS – Chapter 11

An uneasy hush lay heavy in Mission Control. The engineers, scientists, physicians, mathematicians and other experts that had gathered to see the launch through had prematurely outlived their usefulness, a collective limb severed from a body that wandered on alone. Despite the weight of a twelve-hour shift pressing down on his aging muscles, Aleks couldn’t leave. It didn’t feel right. He could quite easily and understandably take a break, catch up on some sleep, wait for the call to say that...