The Hutton Mug

The Hutton Mug
The words “I made it to Hutton Orbital” carry a certain amount of weight among pilots. As seasoned navigators know, the starport lies approximately 0.22 light years from the nearest star – a significant stretch by anyone’s standards – and it is not unusual for novice pilots, having failed to check the distance from Alpha Centauri to Hutton Orbital, to run out of fuel long before they reach the station.

Completing ‘The Hutton Run’, as the journey is sometimes called, is therefore a badge of honour among pilots, an achievement that distinguishes the amateur from the professional.

Now, a company called BlipMagnet has decided to capitalise on this phenomenon with the Hutton mug, a commemorative beaker bearing the legend (you guessed it) ‘I made it to Hutton Orbital’. The novelty item is available only at the starport, and the company no doubt hopes it will appeal to those who want to commemorate their epic journey.

BlipMagnet claims (presumably only half seriously) that the mug is made from “the salvaged frame shift drive plates of ships that ran out of fuel before reaching the station”. In fact, the company has issued an appeal for scrap materials with which to produce their next batch, and is offering anyone who delivers such materials their very own Hutton mug. Whether this will motivate those not normally inclined to undertake such punishing expeditions, or result in an epidemic of stranded pilots throughout the Alpha Centauri system, remains to be seen.