6:35am EST
Today is the day. All the intensive seminars, dietary restrictions, simulations, and this damned medical quarantine have finally come to mean something.
My name is Maxwell Davis and I've been chosen to embark on an interstellar mission to Galileo-25b, a planet 4.1 light years from our solar system. Even at this very moment, hours before launch, I'm still not sure why I was chosen to participate in the Caelus program. I've spent my professional years studying the extinction of the red wolf and working with wildlife conservation groups. I have absolutely no experience in the cosmic field, but here I am.
According to the administrator, Mr. Versailles, I was chosen through a referral by an old professor. My "tenacity" and "attention to detail" must have really wowed the folks at NASA. I call horseshit...but I'm not complaining. I was given this journal to keep track of my thoughts and any unusual behavior I witness once we get to Galileo-25b. I'm not sure who exactly this will be shared with, but I can be candid to potentially millions of people...right?
To get back on track, I'm currently riding in a van with the rest of the crew. Hugh Smith is our captain and the only one of us with actual experience. He's an aerospace engineer and, before that, a pilot for the airforce. He's not exactly the talkative type, but I'm sure he'll open up a bit more once we're stuck together for 4 years.
Betsy is, by contrast, extremely talkative. She's yammering poor Barry's ear off right now, actually.
Betsy is a chemist of some kind though she's not very specific about what branch. She told us she was chosen through referral too, which I suppose isn't very hard to land when your dad works for NASA. Overall, she's a nice lady.
Barry is an anthropologist. We hit it off immediately upon meeting because of his dire need for a cigarette and my propensity towards keeping them handy. Despite his gaudy appearance, Barry is probably my favorite of the crew. He's sweet, kind, handsome, funny pretty groovy.
"Hey, Max!"
I quickly snap my journal shut and look up, bewildered, humming in question as Betsy's voice finally registers.
"We're here!"
The Kennedy Space Station looms ahead in all its glory, waiting for our arrival. One would think there would be hoardes of paparazzi outside, though this isn't the case. The Caelus program has been decidedly kept hush-hush thanks to the disastrous Apollo 13 incident a few years ago. The four of us exit the van without fanfare and are escorted inside, silent as we take it all in.
Mr. Versailles is waiting for us in a large conference room within the building, smiling in that elongated, macabre way he has since the day I met him.
"Good morning, everyone!" He greets, "Weather is looking great today, so we should be ready to launch within the next couple of hours. Ready to suit up?"
Hugh is the first, and only, person to speak.
"Yes, sir. Lead the way."
Mr. Versailles leads our group to the third floor of the space center where our temporary quarters are located. Breakfast is waiting for us along with our flight suits.
10:59am EST
The closeout team, Team Terra, has since left after scurrying around and fussing over all four of us for what felt like ages. Our suits are sufficiently secure and we're fastended tightly into our respective seats like ornery toddlers. The shuttle itself is set and ready for launch, just-
"T-minus sixty seconds and counting," Comes a voice from the radio, "Coming up on a go for auto sequence start."
My heart begins to pound within my chest, an unpleasant ache making itself known in my throat. Betsy is on my right, seemingly just as anxious. She lifts her hand, as if to take mine, but hesitates and clenches the armrest of her seat instead.
"We have a go for auto sequence start. T-minus 30 seconds and counting."
I turn and offer Betsy a shaky smile, trying my best to calm her. It seems to have the opposite effect.
"10."
I swallow hard, squirming in my seat. I caution a glance at Hugh...calm as a cucumber, of course. Though, I suppose he has to be. He's our captain, after all.
"5."
The engines hiss to life and I swear my heart has never beat so quickly in all my 31 years of life. A visceral lurch forward shakes the shuttle and, just moments later, lurches right back. This is it.
"Booster ignition and liftoff of the space shuttle Caelus, paving the way for future missions and beyond!"
Eight minutes is all it takes to reach orbit, but every second is agonizing. It finally dawns on me that no amount of training or simulations could have prepared me for the immense pressure threatening to cave in my chest and the impending doom settling firmly into my soul. Nothing at all could have prepared me. I can just barely register Barry grunting and Betsy gasping on either side of me. I'm doing my best not to shriek myself.
Then the vibrations and deafening sounds of the engine die down. I am left panting and with a deep sense of longing. I've left everything behind. Wholly and truly. It'll take about five years to travel to Galileo-25b. I won't be able to write anyone or speak to them until we return, which will be God knows when. I turn to Barry, locking eyes with him. I see that same longing within his own eyes. There's no going back.