Surfing the Sun
A day in the life of two surfers in the year 2525
For the first time in history, a spacecraft has touched the Sun. NASA’s Parker Solar Probe has now flown through the Sun’s upper atmosphere, the corona, and sampled particles and magnetic fields there. —NASA website, December 15, 2021
“Dude, is that a MaxiX suit?” Joaquin asked.
“Yup.”
“I totally like how the reds and oranges float on the fabric, blending with the yellow. You look like the sun!” Joaquin raised his palm for a high-five.
“That’s the idea,” Mark said.
“Not me. I want to stand out. For the long-range scope pics and all.” Joaquin tugged on his sleeve. “That’s why I chose turquoise. Same as my board. I want to be on the cover of Sports Illustrated. I'll be a babe magnet."
“You wish.”
“I do!”
The pilot’s voice interrupted them. “Joaquin Davidos, Mark Xu—you’re up. Confirm status.”
Mark crooked his arm ninety degrees and noted the readout on the arm display: life support, heat shield, EM protection, anti-gravity regulator, radiation guard—all in the green. Power supply, oxygen, and coolant at 100 percent.
He gave a thumbs up.
10, 9, 8, 7, 6…
At five, Mark pushed the initiate button. A shimmering silvery light encased him. Mark glanced at Joaquin, who had activated his shield, too. The five millimeters of space between his skin and the force field pressurized.
4, 3, 2, 1…
Mark tucked his surfboard with the great wave of Kanagawa painted on top securely under his arm just before being sucked into the vacuum of space. Mark shot to the solar flare on the left, while Joaquin whipped to the one on the right.
When he reached the flare’s crest, Mark released his board and somersaulted, his feet landing dead center on the deck. He rode the brilliant plasma toward the sun’s surface, gravity accelerating him. A furious fire roiled Mark’s board, threatening to topple him, but that was part of the fun. Mark’s arm monitor reported a milestone, .1 lightspeed.
“Wow, wow!”
High-energy electrons sparked blue and green as they bounced off his shield.
He bent at the knees, his leg muscles twitching in a thousand directions for balance. The yellow glow of nuclear fusion filled his horizon. In the distance, black sunspots drifted like whales sunning in the ocean. Mark extended his arms and let loose nonstop yelps of excitement. He flexed his fingertips, his hands making shadow puppets that danced across the planets.
Mark hit the bottom of the flare at .16 lightspeed. He twisted his legs and spun the surfboard one hundred eighty degrees, jumped and rejoined the board, momentum propelling his return trip to the flare’s peak.
He flew off the flare into space. The ship’s gravitational beam pulled him back on board.
The pilot’s voice boomed through the passenger compartment, sounding a note of irritation. “Your surf buddy caught a rogue flare.”
“He what?”
“Yeah. He’s orbiting Mercury, so we gotta make a detour before heading back to Earth.” He snorted. “Joaquin's fine, which is good because if he got lost or killed, my insurance premiums would skyrocket."
"I'm glad he's okay."
"I'm gonna have to charge you for extra fuel, though."
I got the idea for Surfing the Sun when I wondered, what would be a surfer’s ultimate wave? If you enjoyed this story, I think you’ll also like The Day Oliver’s Father Died.
The kind of excitement I like to read about, but wouldn’t participate in. LOL 😀👍🌼
I got briefly distracted reading a little bit about NASA’s Parker Solar Probe. I had no idea NASA achieved something like that. I didn’t know it was possible to get something that close to the sun without melting. That’s so cool. Not as cool as two dudes surfing on the sun though!
By the way, listening to synthwave music while reading this story really set the mood for it.