noon
Since we ca n't have the ship slide down the ways or anything , we will get inside and move it when he smashes the bottle . But in the meantime , let 's have a symbol set in contrasting metal on the bow . We can have a blazing sun , with nine planets circling it , the Earth indicated conspicuously ; and below it the word SOLARITE . '' It was shortly after noon when the newly christened _ Solarite _ left on its first trip into space . The sun was a great ball of fire low in the west when they returned , dropping plummet-like from the depths of space , the rush of the air about the hull , a long scream that mounted from a half-heard sound in the outer limits of the Earth 's atmosphere , to a roar of tortured air as the ship dropped swiftly to the field and shot into the hanger . Instantly the crew darted to the side of the great cylinder as the door of the ship opened . Fuller appeared in the opening , and at the first glimpse of his face , the hanger crew knew something was wrong .