Chapter 29 Chapter 29 Rushing to the Moon for Rescue

Mr. Big Octopus felt an immediate sense of relief when he took down the Big Plant Company.He is now convinced that the poor are once again dependent on the rich because they have lost access to the large seeds in rockets left forever on the surface of the moon.But it soon occurred to him that if the inhabitants of the distant planet Earth could send one spaceship to the moon, they could also send a second.Mr. Big Octopus vowed not to let any earthlings bring their, according to him, damned seeds to the moon. He called the best lunar astronomers to his home and asked them if they could use astronomical instruments to find spaceships Approach the moon.

Astronomers say that any celestial body, even modest ones like meteorites or interstellar spacecraft, can be spotted with a gravitational telescope.Using another instrument, called a gravity locator, astronomers can measure the distance to the spacecraft as well as its speed and direction.If a spacecraft can be predicted in advance, it can be measured when it will land, and even where it will land on the surface of the moon. Mr. Big Octopus promised the astronomers a large sum of money and ordered them to observe the planet Earth uninterruptedly, and to report to him immediately if any suspicious objects similar to spaceships were found in the interstellar space.Since then, the Squeeze City Observatory has had one of the most complete gravitational telescopes pointed in the direction of the planet closest to the Moon, or, simply put, in the direction of the Earth.

It should be mentioned that gravitational astronomical telescopes are completely different from ordinary optical astronomical telescopes in which we can observe stars or planets carefully with our eyes.The Gravitational Astronomical Telescope is a complicated device, which looks like a TV set. It is equipped with a huge tube with a thick top and a thin bottom. It can be rotated lightly and pointed to any part of the lunar sky.The tube, or horn, is made of extremely thin wires, an antenna capable of picking up gravitational waves, known as gravitational waves, that travel in all directions from any celestial body.As soon as this tubular, or horn-shaped antenna catches gravitational waves, the TV screen lights up and some curves appear.According to the curvature of the line and its position on the fluorescent screen, the size of the observed celestial body can be judged.After the gravity locator is connected, the accurate distance to the object and its moving speed and other relevant information can be obtained immediately.

Since Press City Observatory's main gravitational telescope was pointed toward Earth, astronomers have discovered several small objects.Not only their size, but also their speed and direction of motion suggest that these are ordinary meteorites.Soon, however, a celestial body was discovered near the planet Earth, and its behavior made astronomers feel a little strange.The object moved away from the Earth, but somehow its speed did not decrease, but increased.This is against the laws of cosmic mechanics.According to the laws of cosmic mechanics, the speed of an object moving near a planet will only increase when the object approaches the planet.Because the object is not approaching the earth, but moving away from it, its speed should have slowed down.The reason for this accelerated movement can only be explained by the gravitational force of another large planet, but there are no other planets near the earth, so it can only be considered that the discovered object is caused by a kind of internal force, that is, existing in itself. The speed is only accelerated under the action of internal forces.The source of this power may be a working jet engine, and if this is the case, then the celestial body discovered is nothing but a space rocket.

The Squeeze City astronomers continued to observe for a while, convinced that the object that attracted their attention was gradually gaining speed enough to escape the gravitational range of the earth.Astronomers calculated its trajectory, the flight path of the object moving through space, and believed it was headed toward the moon.They immediately reported the situation to Mr. Big Octopus.Mr. Big Octopus directed the astronomical observations to continue, and then called Police Superintendent Lezhigri and told him that a spaceship was coming with the little ones in its cabin and that they had to be killed as soon as possible because they were trying to sow seeds everywhere large seeds, and to incite the poor to disobey the rich.

Police Chief Lezhigri said that all necessary measures must be taken, but asked to be informed of the time when the spacecraft arrived on the moon, the place where the astronauts were scheduled to land and their approximate number. "These data are needed," he said, "to prepare for our cosmic visitors and to beat them down." "I'll make sure they inform you in time of all the information you need," Mr. Big Octopus replied. At this time, lunar astronomers were continuing to observe, and they soon discovered that the celestial body had escaped the scope of the earth's gravity.However, its flight was not very accurate. For a while, people felt that it would fly past the moon, but after a while, it was seen that it slowed down its flight speed a little, turned a small turn, and the result became more accurate. up.Such maneuvers in the universe are only possible with steerable objects, so the astronomers in Squeeze City now have no doubts that this is a cosmic rocket and not some passing comet or meteorite.Now, the space rocket is very close to the moon, and its weight and volume can be judged quite accurately according to the index of the gravity instrument.The Crush City astronomers compared the numerical data obtained, and after performing some calculations, concluded that the rocket could carry ten to twenty people, possibly even thirty visitors.The approximate landing place of the spacecraft cannot be determined for the time being, because it did not land after getting close enough, but flew around the moon.The astronomers immediately guessed that the flying astronauts wanted to choose the most suitable landing place, so they changed to orbital flight, that is, circular flight.

Lunar astronomers guessed right.Know-it-all, Fuchsia and Little Herring have agreed in advance that they will not land until the spaceship that Know-Nothing and Little Bun are on is found on the surface of the moon.Although they knew that they should look for the spacecraft in the bright sea area on the moon, they still flew around the moon more than 20 times before finding the rocket standing alone in the solidified bright sea. After a few more laps along the same orbit, the exact position of the rocket on the lunar surface was determined, the astronauts made the necessary calculations, and then activated the electronic self-adjusting machine, which activated the brakes at the necessary moment device.The landing took place with great precision, and as a result, the new rocket landed on the lunar surface not far from the old one.

Besides Jack-of-all-trades, Fuchsias and Little Herrings, the ship's crew included Mechanic Little Screws and Little Chisels, Little Professor Stars, Astronomer Glass Slices, Engineer Rivet Hammers, Architect Little Blocks, Painter Tin Pipes, Musicians Home Harmony and Doctor Pill.After the landing was completed, Jack-of-all-trades, as the commander of the spaceship, immediately ordered the four astronauts, including Small Screw, Small Chisel, Fuchsia and Small Herring, to put on their spacesuits and go to investigate. The first thing the conscript team had to do was to investigate the "Total" rocket (they agreed to abbreviate the rocket that Quanzhi and Xiaobao came flying from as "Total" to distinguish it from the second rocket. They abbreviated it the "Back Herring", after the main designers of the second rocket, Fuchsia and Herring).

The astronauts designated as the expedition team put on their space suits, led by Know-it-all to the "Total" rocket, and walked in.The scouts searched carefully all cabins, cabins, compartments, and other ancillary rooms, and confirmed that Knockout and Bread were not in the rocket.It was also found that two spacesuits were missing.What did not escape the attention of the expedition team was that all the food in the food storage compartment had been eaten.This forced Gadget and his companions to think that Bunbu and Bun had been in the rocket until the food supply was exhausted, and then left the shelter to find food.

Know-it-all ordered fuchsias and small herrings, and small screws and small chisels to go over the workings of all the machinery, issued a list of parts to be repaired, and left the rocket.He came to the surface of the moon and looked around carefully, trying to guess which way Quan Mo and Xiao Bian might go.Facing him was a plain that looked like a frozen sea, with a fiery red mountain in the distance.On the right is the same mountain.To the left stretches a wave of still waves.Turning around, Passepartout saw mountains that looked like soap suds or clouds resting on the ground, with big chunks of crystal shining on top of them.Not far from these cloud-shaped mountains, there is a pyramid-shaped or obelisk-shaped peak.From the foot of the mountain to the knoll where Know-it-all stood was a bright, arrow-like path.

"If they're going anywhere after leaving the Rockets, that's the way they'll go," thought Passepartout. After he came to this conclusion, he immediately sent an order to the small building blocks, small tin pipes, small stars, glass pieces, and engineer rivet hammers with the radio, asking them to bring climbing equipment and follow him to the pyramid-shaped mountain. Little blocks, tin pipes, stars, glass pieces, and rivet hammers instantly fit into spacesuits.Everyone brings trekking poles, an ice ax and a coil of strong nylon rope hanging from their belts.In addition to these, the glass piece also carried the astronomical telescope that he never left. Small building blocks, small tin tubes, small stars, and pieces of glass came out of the rocket and strode along the lunar path, trying to catch up with the know-it-all walking ahead as soon as possible.As for the rivet hammer, after the guy jumped out of the lock room, he jumped around the rocket in an unorganized and undisciplined manner, as if he wanted to jump over the rocket, and then jumped forward along the path, jumping so violently, three times and two times. Jumping is more than a jack-of-all-trades.Although he knew very well that he had to control his strength on the moon and adapt it to his movements, because his weight here was only equal to one-sixth of that on the earth.However, he is a short man who cannot stay quietly on earth.And when he was on the moon, he felt an irresistible desire to run, to jump, to jump, to somersault, to fly, in short, to do all kinds of reckless things.Perhaps this is precisely a manifestation of the effect of weight loss on the psyche of the little man. Know-it-all saw these nerve-wracking jumps and knew he had done a wrong thing in bringing the riveter hammer to the moon.He immediately ordered him to return to the rocket, but the riveter ignored the order and continued to tumble. "Such a breach of discipline is not tolerated in the universe!" muttered Passionate angrily. "You wait, I will lock you in the rocket, and then you can jump again!" Just at this moment, Master of Everything saw a cosmic boot on the side of the road, which was dropped from the foot of Little Bread when he was running from the cave to the rocket.Know-it-all didn't even figure out what it was right away, picking it up until he realized it was just a boot from his spacesuit. The little blocks, the tin pipes, the stars, the glass splinters, and the rivet hammers all ran to him at once when they saw what Jack-of-all-trades had picked up. "My friends, we are on the right track!" exclaimed Passepartout, showing them the boots. "What we picked up proves that I don't know and Bun has walked here. This boot didn't come here by itself. We have to keep looking." Rivethammer snatched the boot from the Hand of Everything now, lifted it on the tip of his trekking pole, and ran forward, waving it like a flag.Knowing everything he saw shook his head. The spinners soon came to the pyramid-shaped peak. They entered a hole on the hillside, and came to the depths of the cave covered with icicles, and decided to search it carefully.Everyone scattered and searched among the huge ice skates hanging from the ceiling of the cave. After a while, the little tin pipe found the second cosmic boot of the little bread. "Second boot!" cried Little Tin Pipe, waving the found boot. Passenger and the others hurried to his side. "These two things we have found suggest that we may soon find the owner of these boots, too," said Know-It-All. "Go ahead, friends!" Everyone walked forward, and after a while they came to a tunnel covered with ice at the bottom.The know-it-all saw that the ice in the tunnel was a downhill slope, and made the travelers tie themselves to each other with ropes like mountaineers crossing glaciers.This was done just in time.Before they could tie the rope to their belts and continue walking, at this moment, the rivet hammer walking in front slipped on the ice, fell sprawled on the ice, and slid straight down.Immediately the rope straightened, and the other dwarfs were pulled down. "Hold on! Stop!" shouted the know-it-all. "Hit your trekking poles into the ice!" Everyone stuck the steel tips of their trekking poles into the ice.That's when it stopped falling.When the rivet hammer was brought up by the rope, Passepartout directed him to be tied at the end, and he was not allowed to go forward. The slope of the tunnel became steeper after a while, so that Passepartout dared not go any further. "We can't all play," he said. "Should use a rope to let a person go down to have a look." "Let me down," Slice of Glass suggested. "Maybe I can see something clearly with the astroscope." Know-it-all ordered his companions to carve steps out of the ice and connect coils of nylon rope into one long rope.He tied one end of the rope to the waist of the glass piece, and told him to be careful when he fell.The other astronauts stood on the ice steps and gradually lowered the rope, being careful not to let it slip from their hands. The glass sheet notifies the people who stay on it of what it sees through the talking machine. "The slope of the tunnel is getting steeper!" he cried. "The walls of the cave widened...the bottom was almost vertical...I saw a light ahead...the bottom was vertical...I was hanging over an abyss. There was a mist below...it was clouds...it was Dark clouds... I saw something through the gaps in the dark clouds..." "What did you see?" Passenger asked hastily. "I see something, but I can't make out what it is," replied the glass piece. "It's vague. I'll use the astronomical telescope to see it clearly." For a long time he was silent as if dead, and at last he cried out: "Earth! . . . Hurrah! I see the earth! . . . a river! I see a green field, I see trees! . . . the forest!" He fell silent, and after a few minutes his voice was heard again: "Hurrah! I see houses! . . . I see a settlement! Urrah!" "Uh-lah-hhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhssupsesses and Xing Xingxing shouted, the other dwarfs also shouted. They were so happy that they wanted to hug each other, but they couldn't let go of the rope. And now the piece of glass shouted again: "The clouds are thickening again! . . . nothing can be seen anymore! A cloud of dust! . . . It's getting very hot in here! Pull me up!" Jack-of-all-trades and his friends started pulling the glass up.After a while, all the travelers got together and started to walk back.As soon as they got back to the rocket, Know-it-all called an emergency meeting.The piece of glass told that below he saw an indistinct piece of land with a settlement on it.It could be a big city on the moon, but maybe a small town.Glass Slice said that he was not sure, because what he saw through the gap in the clouds was only a part of the settlement. "It doesn't matter if it's a city or a village," said Know-it-all. "Since there are settlements there, there are also inhabitants. In that case, we should fly there at once. We can go by the 'Backherring' rocket. I think it can pass through the tunnel with ease." "It can be worn through," Professor Xiao Xingxing agreed. "But how do we get the rocket to the tunnel? Although the weight is five-sixths lighter here than on Earth, we still can't move it, even if we all use our hands." "You forget about weightlessness, my dear friend," said Passepartout, smiling. "You know, the weightlessness instrument installed on the 'Comprehensive' rocket is in our hands." "Ah, that's right!" Professor Little Xingxing said loudly. Fuchsia said that the "Total" rocket was in good condition, it landed on the moon without any damage, and all the devices were working normally.As for the weightlessness instrument, it is also intact. Know-it-all asked someone to bring the weightlessness instrument, and said: "As long as this instrument is turned on, a zero-gravity zone will appear within a radius of about thirty steps around the rocket. We only need to tie a rope that is only forty steps long to the rocket, and we can calmly fly on the other end." Pull the string, and the rocket will follow us like a balloon on a string." "That will have to be tested after all," said Little Herring. "The weightless zone on the moon may also be much larger than on the earth. Because the gravity here is not small." "Correct!" Little Xingxing said loudly. He immediately did some math, and it turned out that the rope should be three times as long, or about one hundred and twenty steps.During the field inspection, it was found that this number had to be doubled.After activating the weightlessness instrument, gravity can only be felt at a distance of about two hundred and forty steps from the rocket. After the calculations had been verified in practice, a long nylon rope was attached to the rocket, and Gadget wanted to drag it to the cave all by himself.He picked up one end of the rope, walked 240 steps away from the rocket, and issued the command to activate the weightlessness device through the walkie-talkie.Fuchsia immediately activated the weightlessness instrument.The rocket lost weight and slowly left the lunar surface and rose upward. We know that all objects usually go up after losing weight (of course, when the object is not fixed).You know, when any object is under the action of gravity, it seems to shrink or flatten, although the shrinkage and flattening are very small.However, as soon as the object loses weight, it immediately loosens up and straightens, so that it bounces off the surface on which it rests like a spring. Knowing that the rocket had risen to a sufficient height, Passenger tugged lightly on the rope and walked unhurriedly along the lunar path.The rocket floated obediently above the lunar surface in a horizontal state.Of course, it sometimes falls, but as soon as it touches the surface of the moon, it bounces up again and rises again. The little ones in the rocket are looking out the window.Everyone was delighted to see Passepartout pulling such a large rocket with a rope without any difficulty. They were happy too early.Passepartout was not far from the entrance of the cave, and thought that his task was almost completed, but at this time the rocket fell down again.Know-it-all saw that the rocket did not bounce off the surface of the moon this time, and felt that the rope became heavy. After walking a few more steps, he couldn't pull it at all.Know-it-all, seeing that he was wasting his efforts in vain, thought the dwarfs in the rocket were playing tricks on him, and cried out angrily: "Hey! What are you kidding there? Why did you turn off the weightlessness instrument!" "The weightlessness instrument is on. Nobody's kidding," Fuchsia replied through the walkie-talkie. "I'll come and see for myself." Passenger quickly returned to the rocket to check the weightlessness instrument, but no matter how he turned it on or off, the weightlessness did not appear. "What's the matter?" said the passer-by in a daze. "There must be one of the two, or the energy released by the moonstone is exhausted..." "Or what?" Little Xingxing asked anxiously. "Either what is it again? Or what is it again?" the dwarfs gathered around asked repeatedly. Know-it-all didn't answer. He grabbed the instrument, stepped out of the rocket, and ran back, that is, in the direction where the rocket had been. "Catch him! He's probably going crazy!" cried the little herring. Engineer Rivet Hammer, followed by Little Star all jumped off the rocket to chase after Know-it-all. Passenger ran about a hundred steps away from the rocket and stopped, and started the weightlessness instrument.Immediately he felt weightless again, and at that moment he saw the riveting hammer and the little star running towards him also leave the surface of the moon and rise upward.As soon as the know-it-all saw this phantom jump, he immediately turned off the weightlessness instrument. As a result, the rivet hammer and the little star gained weight again, flew down, and fell to the surface of the moon in all directions.If they were on Earth, they would undoubtedly have been crippled, but because of the low gravity here, they were only a false alarm. Know-it-all saw Rivet Hammer and Little Xingxing stand up without incident, and ran back.All the dwarfs got out of the rocket and waited for him to say something.Know-it-all said nothing.He ran past the rocket, ran to the pyramid-shaped mountain, and activated the weightlessness device.This time there was no weightlessness. "Well, what's the matter, know-it-all?" asked the little ones, running up to him. "How do you explain that?" "What's there to explain?" Jack-of-all-trades said, spreading his hands. "You have all seen it yourself. Over there, in the distance, there is a phenomenon of weightlessness. That is to say, the energy released by the moonstone has not been exhausted. But here, there is no weightlessness in the place close to the mountain. This is Doesn't it mean that somewhere nearby there is a substance that can absorb the energy released by the moonstone and prevent the phenomenon of weightlessness?" Professor Little Xingxing rushed over to hug him before he finished listening to Know-it-all. "There is no doubt of it, my dear friend!" he cried. "You, my friend, are a great scientist! To you is the honor of discovering not only the moonstone, but also the anti-moonstone. I propose to name this new substance thus." "However, such a substance has not yet been discovered," objected Passepartout. "I found it, my dear, I found it!" cried Little Star. "That is to say, you have discovered the anti-moonstone in theory. We just need to prove its existence in practice. Many discoveries in science are like this. Theory always illuminates the way for practice. Otherwise, theory will It's not worth a penny!" "Where can this anti-moonstone be?" asked the little building block. "Where shall we find it?" "It could be stored right under our feet, somewhere in the depths of the moon, or it could be in the depths of this mountain. It's not for nothing that weightlessness disappears near it," said Know-it-all. "Then you should look for it!" shouted the rivet hammer. "Get your shovel and dig. Why are we standing here?" "Unfortunately, I have to throw cold water on you," said Little Herring. "Excuse me, what are you anxious about? Why do you want to dig all of a sudden?" "Hey, to find the anti-moonstone, of course," said Rivet Hammer. "Why do you want to turn against Moonstone?" "What 'why', 'what'? In order to eliminate the phenomenon of weightlessness." "We, my dear, are not supposed to eliminate weightlessness, but to create it, on the contrary," said Little Herring. "Without the phenomenon of weightlessness, we can't move the rocket, so we can't fly to find Quanzhi and Xiaobao." "I had to postpone the matter of finding Quanwu and Bunpan," said Professor Xiao Xingxing. "Although we still don't know how the anti-moonstone will benefit everyone, we should still look for this strange substance. Our actions should first benefit science. For science, we must make sacrifices." "What sacrifice?" Fuchsia interrupted. "According to what you say, we have to sacrifice ignorance for the sake of science?...It can't be done! Let's go find the lost friends first, and then you can go to your anti-moonstone." "Look at her!" Little Xingxing shouted, pointing at the fuchsia. "The anti-moonstone is not only ours, but also yours. It is uncivilized to speak like this!" "It's uncivilized to point fingers at people!" said Little Herring. If it weren't for the intervention of the doctor's little pill, I don't know how far this debate would have gone. "Friends!" he said. "It's past time for dinner, not to mention we missed lunch time. I firmly protest against such a violation of the system. On the moon, as on the earth, strict schedules must be observed, because failure to eat and rest on time will cause serious problems. All kinds of diseases, which are especially inappropriate under the conditions of space. This chaos, carelessness and indiscipline should end! Now, say nothing, and go to dinner and sleep. This is me, The doctor Xiaoyaowan told you, since I said it, you have to do as I said!" "That's right!" went on the know-it-all. "Stop all talking immediately! Discipline is the most important thing on the moon! Please line up in one file. Come on, hurry up! Come on! Little pill, you also line up... OK! Are you all lined up? Now go to the rocket to eat, and walk together!"