Chapter 9 9. Super Bridge

Paul and Maxina are old friends of Razasinha, but they have never met before.To be honest, in places other than Taborobani, I am afraid that no one may have heard of Professor Sarat's name.However, the entire solar system is familiar with the face and voice of Maxina Duvall. They took their seats in the library: guests in comfortable easy chairs, Raza Singh at the switchboard.All three of them stared intently at the fourth person who was standing there blankly. So dull!If the guest is an old-timer who has no idea of ​​the electronic marvels of the twenty-second century, he may, after a few seconds, decide that what he sees is a wax mannequin.However, if he looks very carefully, he can find two peculiar situations: the "model" is transparent in direct light, but his feet are not clear when they are close to the ground, and even gradually blurred.

"Do you know this person?" Razasinghe asked. "I've never met him before," Sarath replied immediately, "I thought he must be a great man since you interrupted my excavation work." "What about me? I had to leave my trimaran just after the speedboat race on the island began." Maxine Duval said in an overwhelming tone.To anyone less thick-skinned than Professor Sarratt, the resentment of her famous contralto would have been enough to teach him his measure.Then Maxine said, in her characteristic bright tone: "Of course, I know him. What, is he going to build a bridge from here to Hindustan?"

Razasinha laughed. "No. Forgive me for alarming you two, but you, Maxine, have promised to come and see me for twenty years!" "Isn't it!" she sighed, "I spend so much time in the studio that I often forget the real world where five thousand close friends and fifty million acquaintances live. gone." "Which of your kind is this Dr. Morgan?" "I've met him a few times. We worked together on a live broadcast of the completion of the bridge. He's an extraordinary man." In the mouth of Maxine Duval, this can be regarded as a very polite compliment.For more than thirty years she seems to have been the most respected exponent of her very difficult profession, with all the rewards one could claim.As for the Britzell bonus and whatnot, that's just icing on the cake.She recently returned to an active reporting business after spending two years as a professor in the Electronic Journalism Department at Columbia University.

Due to the circumstances mentioned above, her personality has softened slightly, but still maintains a sharp edge.She was no longer one of those fanatical advocates of equality between men and women; she once declared: "Since women bear children, it is certain that nature ought to bestow upon man some other gift. But so far, I don't know why I haven't gotten that impression yet." Despite the above-mentioned change, if she wanted to let anyone know her role, it was still a breeze. No one ever doubted her femininity; she was married four times and famously picked her TV cameramen.In order to be able to easily and quickly transfer positions with 20 kilograms of communication equipment alone, the cameraman should be young and strong in any case.But Maxine Duvall's cameramen were also brave and beautiful.Anyone who would use the subject for a joke would do so without malice, for even the strongest competitors loved Maxine almost as much as they were jealous of her.

"It's really a pity not to be able to participate in this competition. However, 'Marilyn III' won without you. In the final analysis, the result is more important than anything... Now let Morgan himself tell the whole thing." Raza Sinha ended his words. He released the "stop" button, and the portrait had "life". "My name is Vannerva Morgan and I am the Chief Engineer of the 'Land' Division of the Global Construction Association. One of my most recent projects is the Gibraltar Bridge. Incomparable engineering." Razasinghe leaned back in his easy chair, ready to listen intently to the description of the familiar but still miraculous design proposal.It is strange that people adapt so quickly to the inherent characteristics of teleportation without noticing the error of adjustment.Even when Morgan "comes to life"—not out of place but seriously distorted—it doesn't undermine the reality of what's going on.

"The era of human beings entering the universe has been going on for more than two centuries. In the second half of this period, our civilization depends entirely on various artificial satellites. Global communication links, weather forecasts, utilization of land and sea resources, postal services And intelligence operations and so on. If something goes wrong with the cosmic system, we'll be plunged back into the darkness of ignorance. Then there will be chaos and most of humanity will die of starvation and disease." Morgan Then said: "If we look beyond Earth, we see autonomous colonies on the Moon, Mercury, and Mars, and untold riches that can be mined from the deposits of the many asteroids between Mars and Jupiter. But while rockets has now become the most reliable of all means of transportation ever invented..."

"And the bicycle?" Sarath muttered. "...but they are ultimately very uneconomical. The more serious problem is that their impact on the natural world is extremely appalling. Despite all efforts to control the air corridors to and from the atmosphere, the noise during take-off and landing Still, it's a headache for millions of people. The accumulation of rocket exhaust in the upper atmosphere has caused climate change. Everyone remembers the skin cancer epidemic in the 1920s, which was caused by the lack of ultraviolet radiation; Also, in order to restore the ozone layer, a large amount of chemicals needs to be consumed, and the cost is an incredible astronomical figure." Morgan introduced almost non-stop:

"Extrapolated forecasts for the growth of cargo volumes at the end of the century show that on the Earth-space orbit route the volume of cargo turnover will roughly double and a half. However, the performance of rockets is already close to that required by the laws of physics. The absolute limit is set." "So, are there any other alternatives?" he asked himself and answered. "For many centuries, people have still fantasized about anti-gravity, zero transition, and so on. Unfortunately, all these are nothing more than A fantasy. But almost at the same time as the first satellite was launched, an innovative Russian engineer came up with a system that would eventually render the rocket obsolete. It took many years before anyone took it seriously ideas. And it took two hundred years to bring our technology to a level commensurate with his vision..."

Every time Razasinghe replayed the video, he always felt that Morgan's image really became a living person at this moment.From here he set foot on Raza Singh's king, so the master could not help but only partially support his enthusiasm. "Walking under a clear night sky," continued Morgan, "you can see one of the common wonders of our time—the stars that neither rise nor set, but remain stationary in the sky. Already in my grandfather's generation, people have been used to geostationary satellites and geostationary space stations that hang permanently above the equator at the same ground position. The problem posed by Artchudanov is characterized by children The kind of directness that reflects true genius. Had it entered the mind of a so-called wise man, he would probably have dismissed it at once as utter absurdity."

"If an object in space can maintain a fixed position relative to the ground, why not let a cable run from this object and connect the earth to the universe?" Morgan continued: "But how can this idea be realized in practice? Calculations have shown that no substance can be strong enough. Even a wire rope made of the best high-quality steel simply cannot penetrate between the Earth and the geosynchronous orbit. A distance of 36,000 kilometers, because it could not bear its own weight long before reaching this length. Yes, in the last few years of the end of the 20th century, people began to produce super-strength under laboratory conditions If it was possible to organize mass production at that time, then perhaps Archudanov's fantasy would have become a reality. However, their prices were too expensive at that time, even more expensive than gold Many. And in order to build the earth-cosmic passenger and cargo system, millions of tons of superfibers must be used, so the fantasy will always remain in the fantasy stage.”

"However, just a few months ago, the situation changed. Now, some factories in the depths of the universe can produce superfibers in practically unlimited quantities. This will make it possible for us to build cosmic elevators, or space. As for the name of the orbital tower, it is up to me..." As Morgan's words changed, his own memory disappeared.Then came the slowly spinning globe the size of a soccer ball.At an arm's length above the earth, there is a shining star that always hovers over a certain point on the equator. It is a sign of the position of the geostationary satellite. From the star began two very thin rays of light: one stretched toward the earth, and the other stretched in the opposite direction toward the universe. "When you build a bridge," continued Morgan's voice, "you start at the ends and meet in the middle. With the Space Orbit Tower, things work the other way around. You build up and down at the same time , Only in this way, the center of gravity of the structure will remain at a fixed point. If it cannot maintain balance, the structure will change its spatial orbit and begin to move slowly along the equator.” At the same instant that the Earth-bound thread reaches the ground, the other thread stops moving. "The total height of the tower should be no less than 40,000 kilometers, and the 100 kilometers below through the dense atmosphere is the most dangerous. In this area, the most worrying thing is the hurricane. When the space orbit tower is still It's not stable until it's securely anchored to the ground." Morgan paused for a moment: "At that time, for the first time in human history, we will have a ladder to the sky - a bridge to the stars. It will be a simple lifting system - a lift powered by cheap electricity, which will replace noisy and expensive rockets , henceforth rockets will be used only for distant space flights." "What is shown in front of you is just one of the possible proposals..." Morgan pointed out in a closing tone. The image of the spinning Earth disappeared, and the TV projector showed a section of the orbiting tower.Morgan's introduction went on: "The space-orbit tower consists of four identical tubes: two for ascent and two for descent. It's a bit like a four-track railway from Earth to a synchronous space orbit." "The 'cosmic capsule' for carrying passengers, cargo and fuel will ascend and descend along the tube at a speed of hundreds of kilometers per hour. Since 90 percent of the power can be recovered in this system, the transportation A passenger costs just a few dollars. This is because when the space capsule descends toward Earth, its electric motor acts as a magnetic brake and also acts as a generator to generate electricity. Unlike a spaceship, this This cosmic airtight cabin will not consume power to make the atmosphere heat and generate shock waves; its power will be recovered by this system. That is to say, the train going down will drive the train going up. According to the roughest estimate, the operating cost of the lift is not More than one percent of any kind of rocket." Raza Singh pushed the button, and Morgan fell silent. "I'm completely bewildered," said Professor Sarat. "And besides, what have we to do with all this?" "I haven't fully figured it out myself. In my opinion, Morgan is fighting on several fronts at the same time. When he gave me this video, he had a condition that it should not be broadcast through public communication channels. Therefore, I I have to invite you here," Razasinhe replied. "Does he know about our meeting?" asked Maxina. "Of course I do. He was even glad to know that I was going to consult with you—Maxine. He believed: You could keep it secret for a week or so without risking a blowout." "I've just figured it out a little bit," Maxine Duvall said. "Something is starting to look a little bit. But the problem is first: it's a cosmic project, and Morgan is 'terrestrial.' Division Chief Engineer." "So what's the matter?" Razasinha asked puzzled. "You're asking that, John! Just think of the bureaucracy that's going to happen when the aerospace industry gets the news! If Morgan hadn't been so very, very cautious, people would have said to him : 'Thank you very much, let's take care of this matter now. It's an honor to meet you'." "What you said is very reasonable, but he also has some strong arguments. You know, in terms of the essence of the matter, the space orbital tower is not a means of transportation but a structure." Razasinhe argued. "I don't know how jurists think about this issue. However, I'm afraid there may not be many structures whose motion speed on the top floor is several kilometers per second faster than the basic linear speed?" Maxina said. "You're probably right. By the way, just as I was getting my head swollen with the idea that the Orbital Tower was a whole long way to the Moon, Dr. Morgan said: 'You should think so, it's Not a tower rising upwards, but a bridge to outer space'. I tried to follow what he said, but there was no special result," Razasinghe said. "Aha!" Maxine Duval suddenly exclaimed: "By the way, mentioning the bridge, there is one more thing that makes your head swell!" "Is there such a thing?" "Did you know that Senator Collins, the director of the Global Construction Association, the proud jackass once asked to have the Gibraltar Bridge named after him!" "Well, how can the bridge be saved from the fate it has encountered?" Razasinghe asked with concern. "A small palace coup by some of the chief engineers of the Global Construction Institute. Needless to say, Morgan was not involved." "I see. No wonder he is unwilling to disclose his plan! I feel more and more that he is a respectable person. But just a few days ago, he found an obstacle that he could not bypass." "Let me guess," Maxine said wryly. "It's a good exercise—it'll help you beat the crowd in an obstacle course. As far as I know, there's no place on Earth that's suitable for this project." There are only a few, since most of the equator passes over the ocean - and Taborobani is definitely one of them. I just don't see any advantage over Africa or South America .Perhaps Morgan is just picking and choosing options?" "My dear Maxine, your deduction is extraordinary. Your line of thought is correct, but you can't go any further. As much as Morgan wanted to explain the matter to me, I can't be sure of myself. Do you really understand all the details of science. It seems that Africa and South America are not suitable for setting up space elevators. This has something to do with some unstable points in the earth's gravitational field. The only place that is really suitable is Taborobani Island— —and what's worse, it's only somewhere on this island. Paul, it's your turn now." "Me?" Sarat, who had been listening silently, was at a loss. "Yes. To Dr. Morgan's greatest dismay, he found that the only place he needed was, to put it mildly, already occupied. He asked me for advice on how to get your dear friend 'Buddha' drove him away." "Who?" It was Maxine's turn to be surprised. Salat immediately replied: "The elder of the Sri Kondasan temple, Sri Bothithit Harma-Mahanayagai-Tello," he said, using the recitative from an opera, as if singing a litany aloud (a Catholic prayer): "So that's what happened!" For a moment, silence enveloped everything.Then, on the face of Paul Salat, professor emeritus of archeology at Taborobani University, a look of schadenfreude appeared. "I've always wondered," he said, dreamily, "what happens when an irresistible force meets an insurmountable obstacle."

---

Notes: