The heavy tint on the cockpit window does little to shield the burning light filling the cabin.

The solar-system record is 914.7km from the sun’s surface, held by a woman from Mars.

Every temperature gauge is pegged out, the ones for pressure right behind. He isn’t worried.

982.8km.  The cabin goes from a sauna to an oven as the cooling unit reaches capacity, its output lost in the white-hot glow surrounding the craft’s porcelain shell.

954.3km.  Blisters begin bubbling on his hands.

931.0km.  The light inside the cabin is searing, boiling past the tint and now his goggles.  He can just make out the flashing green indicator. Connectivity with the monitoring agency’s recording buoy high above is maintained.

912.2km.  He’s done it.

904.1km.  He watches the numbers tick down.  His record will stand for the ages.  No one will dare follow this deep.

His smile burns.

There’s no going back.