Orbital

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All of the technology described in this book is either currently being tested on the launch pad or in advance stages of development.

This is a story of the very near future.

So, uh, I think I have a bullet lodged into my ribs. My air supply is going to give out at any moment. I have a nuclear bomb strapped to my back and my re-entry vehicle is basically a rubber raft that’s never been tested with human cargo. On the plus side, this really is probably the most baller way anyone could possibly die. So there’s that.

Of course, if this inflatable heat shield catches fire and I burn up like a Nazi robbing the Ark in Raiders of the Lost Ark as I hit the atmosphere at 20,000 miles an hour, nobody is going to be talking about the totally awesome way I bought it.

Nope. They’ll be worried about the several kilos of plutonium dispersed into the atmosphere forming a vapor trail a hundred miles long, potentially creating the worst human-caused natural disaster since…um…hell. Maybe this one will take the number one slot.

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