lift-off

i feel like an astronaut
sitting hundreds of feet up in the air,
on my back,
strapped into the 3rd stage of the rocket.
my helmet's on,
my flight suit's on,
my legs are up against the wall (or floor?)
ready to experience the massive G-forces of lift-off.
i can see the deep blue of outer space from my little window.

what will it be like up there,
in baby land?
what will the launch experience be like?
pretty swift and intense i imagine --
at least that's what other astronauts have told me,
including those who've written books about their travels.

i've done the training.
i've read the manuals.
i've prepared the flight plan.
i've even include instructions on what to do in the event of unexpected changes.

in the short time it takes our rocket to shoot up into the sky
a lot of things will change --
or so i've been told.
when we reach the edge of the atmosphere there will not be 2 astronauts in this module,
but 3.
a third one -- a small one -- will appear there beside us!
amazing!
we have a seat already prepared for him,
including a safe 5 point harness.

so much effort has gong into preparing for this mission.
actually, the whole space mission was started a little earlier than either astronaut expected.
but we've joyfully jumped on board with the training
and prep for the launch and space flight.

we're expecting this mission to take quite some time,
much longer than normal space missions.
it'll be approximately...
18-20 years in orbit,
even longer if we decide on other launches in the next few years.

a lot of attention and planning has gone into the launch itself.
but what will it be like once we actually attain orbit?

well, for a start, there will be 1 more astronaut that when the
"three,
two,
one,
blast-off"
countdown happened.
this new man will be very small
and won't know our language.
he won't even have his space suit on!
but luckily we have some suits ready for him.
we even have his space food ready.

i think our view of planet earth will be quite different up there.
things will look strange,
but recognisable still.
we'll probably be exhausted from the launch,
but also delighted,
excited,
and thankful to finally now be in space.
it will be challenging living up there,
but we know quite a few astronauts who've launched without incident,
and who've run 18 year missions successfully.

am i ready for lift-off?

we're just waiting for the right weather conditions
to initiate the launch sequence...