Today on Quantum Vibe: Ducking under the Corona Strip 66 - Click strip above to goto the next strip.
First Seen: Mon 2011-03-21
Story & Art: Scott Bieser - Sci-Fi Adventure Monday & Thursday.
Quantum Vibe
A thousand years in the future, humanity has colonized worlds in nearly
100 galaxies, thanks to Quantum Vibremonic technologies developed five
centuries earlier. Other new technologies have created various
off-shoots of humanity and extended life expectancies five-fold. The
story begins with how a mad scientist and his plucky assistant, along
with their robot friend, brought humanity to the stars, and continues
with the adventures of some unique people in fantastic places.
What Comes Next [ Mar 18, 2024 ]
The war is over, but This Means War has a ways to go. Novo Paolo/Bubbleopolis is still in a nebula/stellar nursery, no one knows what happened to the planet Sharen (center of the Intergalactic Council), and the status of the now-surrendered Invaders is yet to be resolved. What will they do when they learn their homeworld is basically destroyed? Will Alyss and Li be re-united? How about Diana (the real one) and Otto?
These questions will be resolved in the next few weeks, before This Means War part 3 wraps in late May.
After that, I plan to go BACK in time about 400 years, to when Alyss and Li left their home in the Sol System to colonize a new world on the far side of the galaxy. As one might expect, hijinks ensue. New subtitle yet to be determined, start date sometime in around the start of July. Stay tuned!
Panel 1
Facing the sun, we see the helioflyer silhouetted against it, a tiny black mark on an ultra-bright disc.
Caption: The Sun's Corona, the large mass of charged plasma extending amillion kilometers outward from the Photosphere, is too hot even for state-of-the-art shielding to withstand.
Panel 2
Closer view of the helioflyer, angled a bit so we can see a bit of the illuminated side.
Caption: But strange as it seems, there are thin regions under the corona which are much cooler -- the lowest being no more than 4,100° Kelvin.
Caption2: To get there, the helio-flyer approaches fromt he southern pole, where the corona thins out to almost nothing.
Panel 3
Side view of the helioflyer diving towards the photosphere, a shock-wave visible around it.
Caption: Just below the corona is the Chromosphere, whose ionizing hydrogen atoms are mostly blocked by the shockwave of the flyer's considerable soeed.
Panel 4
The helioflyer levels off and cruises above the photosophere, with a flat horizon beyond.
Caption: Finally, at a mere 500 km above the sun's photosphere, the opaque 'surface' of roiling gasses, the helio-flyer levels off into a powered orbit at 436 Kilometers per second.
Panel 5
Inside the helio-flyer cockpit, we see Nicole in her suit at the controls.
Nicole: confirming altitude 500 km, speed 436 kph, course is on track.
Nicole: Confirming all ship's systems are in condition green.
Panel 6
Ext view of Helio-Flyer zooming across the swirling solarscape.
Nicole: Magnetic flux conditions show at 96 percent of forecast.
Nicole: I'm making a run for the equator.
Panel 7
Medium close-up of helmeted Nicole
Nicole: Time to package drop is 32 minutes.
Panel 8
Closer-in close-up of Nicole, looking a bit tense.
Nicole (thought): Assuming I can avoid getting either broiled by the Corona or ripped to shreds in the Photosphere before then.