[ WP ] We named him Icarus II .

At first, no one recognized it as a disaster-in-the-making. Climatologists reported that Earth's mean temperature had stabilized; in fact, it was now decreasing. Many took this to mean the end of global warming, and celebrated. It was only when it did n't stop that our scientists became concerned. 
 
 Minus 0.1 degrees. Minus 0.2 degrees, 0.3, 0.4... Earth's temperature started inexorably dropping, and no one knew why. Climatologists frantically scoured the planet for an explanation and found none. Then the astronomers looked to the skies for an explanation, and what they found terrified us all. 
 
 It was called a `` Q-ball,'' a kind of exotic particle anomaly, and it had embedded itself inside the Sun, slowly halting the fusion process within our nearest star. Within decades, the Sun could go out completely, thus ending all life on Earth. Most people's reaction was hopelessness. After all, what could humanity possibly do to affect a massive nuclear furnace a million times bigger than Earth? But my team was n't like most people. We had a plan. 
 
 We had worked with Q-balls before in the lab, we knew how they behaved, and we knew how to make them dissolve. Destroying the Q-ball inside the Sun would be a tall order - but not impossible. After securing the cooperation of practically every space agency and engineering team across the globe, we set out to create the Bomb: a tremendous assembly of fissile material massing as much as Manhattan Island. This is what it would take to destroy the Q-ball and reignite the Sun. 
 
 Once the Bomb had been constructed in orbit, an enormous spacecraft was constructed around it to take it to its final destination. A kilometer-wide heat shield, boosters as big as skyscrapers... it was a monumental effort, but with the fate of our planet at stake, suffice it to say we were sufficiently motivated. After years of work, eight brave men and women boarded the colossal ship and set off for the inner Solar System. By UN rule, the ship had been named *Icarus*. 
 
 The mission failed. 
 
 It is now seven years since we lost contact with *Icarus*. [ Sixteen months ago I, Robert Capa, and a crew of seven left Earth on board another colossal ship of the same design, carrying the same payload, with the same mission: reignite the Sun before it's too late. Welcome to *Icarus II*. ] ( http: //www.youtube.com/watch? v=eR40ZrdMosc )
