Ben and Jim were waiting for him when Jarvick walked into Ben’s office at 8:30 A.M.; the two of them were drinking coffee.
“Are you ready to be a test pilot?” Ben asked.
“As ready as I’ll ever be” said Jarvick.
Ben pointed toward the door to hangar 2 and said “I’ve already had the ship moved out to the launch pad and set up our command center so we can monitor your flight.” The group then walked to the hangar; and Jarvick could see a make shift office had been put together in a corner, complete with computers, monitors and a communication center. The big hangar bay doors were open and he could see his ship out there sitting on the pad.
“Okay, Jarvick, I think you should stay within Earth’s atmosphere on this first flight; don’t push it too hard just yet. Here is your flight suit and we have already tested the communication link. Good luck.” Jim shook his hand. Jarvick put the suit on and tested the comm link as he climbed the stairs to the ship. “Ben, can you hear me?”
“Loud and clear. Go for lift off.”
Jarvick took a seat in the pilots chair and belted himself in. He had practiced this in his head many times, but this is the first time he did it with power applied. After flipping a few switches on the console, lights came up and monitors clicked on; and his ship came to life. Jarvick took the controls and after a few seconds, it lifted off the ground and began to rise. At first it was a little unstable, Ben suggested an adjustment in the Navigation computer, and then the ships movement began to smooth out. Jarvick took the ship higher and increased its speed as he soared above the JPL and the surrounding area; and all the while he became more optimistic that he was going home, because the ship was working.
Over the next three days, Jarvick and the Team put the ship through more extensive tests. The Kalderite coating was working like it was supposed to, the Azurite power system seemed reliable, but Jarvick wanted to venture out into space. Ben was reluctant to allow it because he felt it was too soon, so Jarvick stayed within Ben’s test protocol. Then one day he was at an altitude of fifty thousand feet, Jarvick decided it was time to take the ship where it was designed to go and pointed the ship out into space. Increasing speed and altitude, he could hear Ben’s voice in his headset and ignored it; and within a minute he could feel Earth’s gravitational pull less and less, and then he was in space.
After orbiting the Earth once, which only took fifteen minutes, Jarvick returned and landed at the JPL. Ben and Jim were waiting for him at the bottom of the stairs.
Ben said “We haven’t finished testing the life support systems yet, but you just did. How did it handle in orbit?”
Jarvick took off his helmet and said “I want to go to the moon tomorrow and test the hyperlight drive.”
“I can’t see a reason why not” replied Ben.
The next day, Jarvick had the ship in a low orbit when he heard Ben on the radio, “Okay, Jarvick, take it easy on the power system at first; and keep an eye on the monitors.”
“Will do. Going hyperlight now”, Jarvick said as he made a few changes in the Navigation computer; and then engaged the untested system for just a couple of seconds, even then not all the way. The next thing he sees through the front screen is the lunar surface, craters and all. He had sped through space at just under light speed and the ship survived. He was ecstatic, and a big smile was plastered on his face; he was going home at last.