I am the last in a long line of scientists cataloging the life of star 145AXX4
It will turn into a black hole, and the record of its life will hlep us learn more about stars
Now, I am watching the tape of its whole life in fast forward motion
It starts as gas and dust, which gravity pulls together and the star is born
I see it in the longest period in its life where it burns hydrogen and uses it as fuel to generate heat and light
Next, its precious fuel runs out
Its outer layers expand while the core contracts
Suddenly, the core collapses and the outer layers are blown away in a huge explosion
The screen turns fuzzy and the tape is over
This is where I come in
I will be the one to complete the tape
I look out the window of the rocket and turn on the tape recorder
This star will be a star no longer
The star suddenly contracts tremendously, right before my eyes
I can feel theintense gravity forming as the explosion warps spacetime
Now, only I can escape
With the tape completed, I am ready to go
I turn on the engines and get ready to blast away at five times the speed of light
Then, the worst thing possible happens
Four of the engines go out, and now I am only ble to travel the speed of light, which is not fast enough to escape this massive hole's powerful clutches
I work the remaining engine as hard as I can, but it is all in vain
The powerful monster has his claws around me
I will be his first meal
He pulls me closer and closer, and I just stare at the swirling blackness in horror
I am going to die
I know what will happen
The gravitational pull will stretch me until I die and longer than that
I can feel myself cross the event horizon, and I am starging to stretch
Pain like I have never known before shoots up my legs all the way up to my head
I am stretching, stretching, the pain is so intense that I am going to balck out
All of a sudden, the pain stops, and I am thrown backward as the ship speeds forward
This is even faster than ten times the speed of light, I can tell
All of a sudden, the ship stops
I am just drifting, lightly in space
Have I died?
I look behind out the rear window of the ship, and I see that immense swirling blackness
No, I am not dead
I sit, trying to think what had happened
All of a sudden, it popped into my mind
Just as I was about to black out, the black hole I was in must have aligned with another, creating a worm hole, which threw me out the other one
This means I have no clue where I am
I run to the navigational computer and switch it on
The familiar 3D hologram of the surrounding area comes up, the the things there are like nothing I have seen before
Strange planets, uncharted stars, uncharted EVERYTHING
Since this area is uncharted, the computer cannot get me home
I am lost in space
I have no communication back to Earth
They won't be able to find me
They won't know what happened
I hear a sort of tearing noise, and I turn around to the back window again
Still, all I can see is a deep blackness
I know what has just happened
The tunnel between two black holes that supports the worm hole is very fragile
It ripped apart
There is no way back
I am lost, trapped in an uncharted galaxy, it could even be another universe
Who knows how far away I am from Earth
I turn around once again to look at the black hole
It seems to mock me, with its hazardous swirling blackness
It seems to say, "You escaped my clutches, but I still get my way"
It was right
It had won

June 30th, 2026:
3:00 A.M. ~ My name is Paige. Right now, I'm in a space shuttle. The government along with NASA has sent me up here for two reasons. One being that they needed someone to run the shuttle to a black hole to see how long it ook someone to start the "Spaghetti Process" as they like to call it. The other reason they put me up here is because, well, let's just say you're not supposed to rob a huge government facility. How was I supposed to know that? Actually, that wasn't the first time, but still... Anyway, they needed to try this experiment, so they thought I'd be nice to get rid of since no one knows of me. They are of course keeping this information away from the rest of the country, it being illegal and all to send me up here without my consent. Anyway, the guys who strapped me in here told me a little about what would happen after I got in the black hole. They said that I'd swirl around for like a second in one of these Accretion Disks. Then I'd go into this sphere that is supposedly where nothing can escape the gravity. I think they said it was called the Event Horizon. I only remembered the name because I once went to a restaurant called that. I think their food was supposed to be the gravity that sucks everyone in. Why am I talking about a restaurant when I'm about to die? I'm really hungry and since no one will see me ever again, I can eat all the tubes of food I want. I'll be back to write to myself in a little while.

7:00 A.M. ~ Oh, my goodness. I can't believe how boring it is on this thing. Oh, well, it's not like I can just get up and leave or anything. I should be getting close to the black hole by now. These new shuttles go really fast. It's too bad that they aren't fast enough to get out of the black hole's gravitational pull. Not even light can escape. You'd think that in 2026 there would be something faster than the speed of light. Whoa! The black hole is in my sight. I can see it out the window. I don't think that's a good sign, though. It just occurred to me that I'm writing down my thoughts on a sheet of paper when I should know that no one would ever get to read it. I know that the singularity is going to me me, this shuttle, and this piece of paper all one big thing of everlasting density. Oh, boy, that sounds like a hott. Yet, I'm still writing. Well, I better go turn on this camera thing so the NASA people can observe the whole spaghetti thing happen. Actually, I won't. Why should I help them when they put me up here to die? I'll just sit here and find out for myself how it feels. Anyway, I should be about a few minutes away from the black hole's reach. What's that rumble I hear? What's going on? I'm getting a little freaked out now. I just need to breather de...

June 23
I'm packing my bag now, getting ready to go on my adventure to a black hole! Today I'm just trying not to forget all of my important NASA space gear, like the helmet, huge suit, and all the little parts that go along with it. Well, it's time to go to bed for my huge trip to the black hole tomorrow.

June 24
Boy, am I nervous and excited about going to the black hole! We're now at the space station, getting ready to exceed escape velocity of Earth - 7 miles/second! I'm strapped in tight so I don't go flying all over the space craft! 1-2-3 BLAST OFF! Here we go!
     We've now been traveling for about 12 hours in the shuttle. Let me make myself clearer, we're not going to go IN the black hole - just near enough to see it. To the left is the ISS! Wow - that's really big! I didn't think anyone would be there now, but there seems to be one Russian and two Americans on board. We've seen some really neat stars on our trip, and WOW - there's a huge star straight ahead! It's collapsing! There's nothing going on... AN EXPLOSION! Wow, that was a...supernova - we just saw a supernova explosion! That was really neat! On my left is...hole on, let me as Derek what that HUGE red thing is! "Salem, that's a red supergiant. It forms after a massive star dies. The greater the mass the star has, the greater the after-death star will be." WOW! I didn't know all of that! That's neat to know. Now I see some weird thing like a pile of nothing in a huge bunch. Isn't that the...place where the star is born? The nebula? I remember way back in 7th grade science when we learned this stuff. As the nebula changes to a planet, the star starts to form in the center! This one is moving slowly, so I guess that this one is in its first stages.
     Only 15 more minutes until we sight the black hole! I'm excited, and I surely don't want to get spaghettified! That means stretched out in a black hole because the gravity on your feet is more so you go down with more force than your shoulders. You look like spaghetti!!
     Oh gosh, there it is, the black hole. It's huge! Another thing is that it's swirling fast, really fast. We better not get sucked into the event horizon, or I'll be dead! That's the place where you get sucked in! It's amazing how black holes can suck things in! That makes me think how little gravity we have on Earth compared to the black hole's gravity! Our driver of this shuttle is getting closer and closer to the black hole. We can feel the pull of gravity. I can touch the event horizon if I want we're so close. STOP! I'm really scared. Luckily, my driver is stopping now, and I'm OK. There's a shuttle going down the black hole! Oh WOW! They are stretched out so long, about 10 miles stretched! That's how strong it is!
     Oh, well, I'm ready to go back with all this adventure with supernovae, supergiant red stars, and especially the black hole! WOW! I've had a DAY!
     Now I know REALLY why Dante said, "Abandon Hope, All Ye Who Enter Here" when you get into the black hole!