Termination

         The spaceship landed not with a shrill whine or a monstrous roar but with an awful catawauling.  The flame from its retrorockets did not sear the soil or melt the rock beneath as it slowed the ship's descent.  There was no flame - the spaceship descended the last few yards on a cushion of air gathered during the fall through the atmosphere.
         In short, the rocket was crippled, limping in for a landing on the only planet able to support life.

         The image of an exploding planet was fresh in all their minds.  The damage sustained by their craft was a direct result of the explosion.  They had been caught up by the shockwaves of the blasts that had ripped Terra apart.  It was an experience they were unwilling to repeat.  Someone had miscalculated on a massive scale, and all the recriminations in the universe would not reverse the result.
         Still, they had made it home and, except for the damage to their ship, the mission had been a success.  Terra could be erased from their listings.
         Now ... what other planets were giving them trouble?