[ON HOLD] Xorad ~PJM~

006: Journey

Miserable.

That's how everyone felt at the moment.

You just keep lying there, looking at your buddies, listening to the deafening roar of the engines, feeling the shuttle shake and shudder as it fights to break out of the Earth's atmosphere. You get up to three g's for about two and a half minutes at the end and you feel like you weigh three times your body weight.

"Oh god.. I hate takeoffs." You breathe out, groaning as your head spins, unaware of anything that's happening around you.

Covered in sweat from the nervousness and change in pressure, Jake manages to speak up.
"I... I almost passed out."
He slurs, as he leans his head back with heavy breaths.

"Not bad.. you managed to stay awake on your first mission, for once in your life."
Namjoon mutters, loud enough for everyone to hear. If not for his extreme fatigue at the moment, Namjoon would've had a face full of space food but managed to escape this time.

The shuttle was now out of the struggle against Earth's gravity, onto its predestined path, giving everyone fifteen minutes to recoup.

[ A/N's Note: Here's a little fact file! ]

When a shuttle exits the atmosphere, it doesn't heat up! Many people are often mistaken or confused with this.
The spacecraft heats up only on re-entry to Earth.

Why is that so?
Upon re-entry, it is descending into the atmosphere starting not at zero velocity but at its orbital velocity, and as it falls towards the earth it is picking up speed as the radius of its orbit decreases. By the time it runs into air dense enough to cause heating it is moving at tremendous speed and it gets very, very hot.

I apologize for the science lesson 😂 but I thought this would be informative for everyone :)

[ End of fact file ]

"I feel nauseous." Mia lets out, bringing her gloved hand to her stomach.

"Don't you dare." Namjoon says, eyes boring through her.

"Mia, we all do. You've been trained for this!" You reprimand her as she closes her eyes, nodding her head.

The shuttle abruptly jerks, as Namjoon looks to a screen on the control panel.

"The separations are done."
He says, flicking a few switches and buttons.
"As of now, we're set on course for the ISS (International Space Station). We'll arrive in six hours."
Jake unbuckles his seatbelt, as does everyone else before he looks at you with a smug face.

You raise an eyebrow as he reaches forward, pressing two buttons.
Immediately, the weight everyone feels is lifted off them as they rise up from their seats, floating in mid air.
Mia giggles.
"It's been so long!" She exclaims, stretching her arms out as Namjoon struggles to keep his glasses on his face.

"Poor Joonie. You should've wore lenses!" You say, tying a string around the ends of his glasses and placing it around his neck with your feet floating up behind you.

"Y'all can continue whatever it is you should be doing, I'm hungry and my stomach waits for no man." Jake says, pushing himself to the food compartment to be bombarded by three other bodies flying towards him.