Chapter 3: The Titan Awakes
The engineers had rolled the their next launch vehicle, the Titan and was rolled onto the pad early in the morning. With the Titan poised at the sky, Mission Control carried out the order to start the countdown.
This time the payload was a small satellite that had two Goo containers and a parachute strapped onto it. Mission Control then gave the order to launch.
T- 10, 9 ,8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1...
Liftoff for Titan 1!
The launch was another textbook performance, and a few minutes later, the probe splashed down into the ocean without a scratch.
Mission Control had some reasons to celebrate, as the probe revealed many things about the upper atmosphere. Also on this flight, the Titan 1 was the fastest vehicle launched so far, reaching a speed of 800 m/s.
To be continued...