Alex snorted, and said, [b]"Ya know how many 'textbook' launches have gone wrong, with fatalities, in mankind's history of space flight? Twenty-three. So yeah, sure, it might be 'textbook',"[/b] he said this while making air quotes with his fingers,  [b]"but where did the textbook get the nineteen scientists aboard the Interstellar?" [/b] He turned on several of the self-monitoring instruments that he was required to activate, early in the launch. As the panels around the cockpit lit up, a grin split his face. This was his environment, the instruments of his trade. 

At her angry words, Alexander narrowed his eyes, as every movement of his head now made weightless strands of hair drift about his head, in a messy halo of blonde. [b]"Ay, the gravity shouldn't even affect anythin' outside the inside of the ship. And we just passed the periapsis of the slingshot orbit's trajectory, so that shouldn't be a problem." [/b] Still, he didn't argue further. This woman was the pilot of the ship. His superiors said that if it had anything to do with the piloting or mechanics of the ship, what she said, went. Floating to the back of the cockpit, he silently flicked some more internal systems on. [b]"Internal monitoring system checks green."[/b]