More excerpts from 'The Calling' which is (honestly!) nearing the end of its last revision. I think science fiction for any age group can be liberally spiced with real science to feed the mind. It makes the fiction more solid, too.
Then he turned
the SHF receiver dial and listened for the space communications
traffic he occasionally heard during his flights, usually as he was
approaching Elmara City. He loved to hear the chatter of pilots
coming in from deep space to Elmarune's only orbital station, known
by the call sign E-One. Even the shuttle pilots making their
scheduled lifts and drops in and out of Elmara City could be
interesting to listen to. The best reception of these microwave
signals was at the lower end of the band, up to 10 or 15 gigahertz,
since at much higher frequencies the moisture in the atmosphere
tended to spoil the signal, and the voices of the flight controllers
on the ground would fade in and out....
He powered off
the radio and pushed the MR-65 into a steep climb. Before he engaged
the return-to-base autopilot he wanted to do a little flying. Heading
east, the interceptor shot towards the outer reaches of the
atmosphere. The planet rotated towards the east, and heading that way
meant Valin was already travelling at great speed. Elmarune was
boosting him into orbit. The cockpit shook, and the details of the
land slowly disappeared into haze. He spared quick glances outside,
and otherwise kept his eyes on the instruments: hull temperature
still rising as the airspeed increased, reactor field strength
steady, exhaust temperature normal, magnetic heading 83 degrees east;
then altitude, atmospheric pressure, vertical acceleration, angle of
attack, pitch… there was plenty to watch. His eyes flicked back and
forth, constantly responding to the ship's slow drifting by adjusting
the power or the steering yoke.
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