Flight Perilous!

"Flight Perilous!" by Ray C. Noll is a science fiction story set during a time when space exploration was new and exciting, mixed with the nervousness of the Cold War, where Captain Fred Hiller bravely leads the Marship III through a dangerous zone of asteroids, deciding what risks are worth taking while the lives of his team hang in the balance as their mission is headed to Mars. As the ship gets hit by space rocks, one of the crew members, Phil Bleck, who is in charge of the nuclear reactor, wants to turn back because the danger levels are extremely high, but Hiller finds himself burdened with tough choices and needs to make a critical decision under an intense amount of pressure as he tries to navigate the ship to safety, ultimately showing us a story about courage, fear, and the heavy responsibilities faced when exploring the unknown.