Curtis watched as Earth dissapeared from veiw. It was a sad moment from him, seeing the blue sphere slip away behind the sun. He had woke up every day and stared at it while he video chated with his family.

Now without it, he knew that he was really all alone out here, floating through space in a tin can towards a barren planet. It wasnt like he need it, it was just nice to know it was still there. He pushed off the window, floating back towards the door of the lab.

He grabbed the handle, stopping himself instantly. It was something he was used to, they had been in space for about 5 months, 2 for training, 3 for the actual trip. Video chat was now out of the question, the ships communications having to bounce the signal off a sattilite positioned around Venus.

He moved over, opening a computer terminal up. He pressed the screen, the glow of the monitor lighting up the darkend room. At mission control it was probably about 4 am, and the light blocking system tried to keep the crew areas dimmed to reflect night and early morning.

Stark had just finished his check on the auto pilot controls. He was excited. He was the pilot of the Independence. Stark was making history here.

He left his room and floated over to the rec room. He was surprised that NASA supplied them with so many games. A basketball hoop was set up and the basketball was lying on the floor.

Stark picked up the ball and threw it at the hoop. The ball flew towards the hoop. It hit the backboard then fell out of the hoop. Stark wished that the gravity was off. It would be interesting to play basketball with no gravity. He would have to change the rules a bit though.