Chapter 41 Chapter 34 Machine Car Wash

Now everyone admits that the atmosphere of Zimuhao has completely changed.There is no more contention, everyone is trying their best to cooperate with each other, and during the next two core rotations (equivalent to a hundred hours on Earth), few people can get enough sleep. On their first day at Harley, the crew worked on utilizing the Old Faithful Fountain, and by the time the fountain died down at dusk, they had mastered all the techniques.Over a thousand tons of water had been loaded on board, and they would have enough reserves for the next day. Dr. Fort tried not to interfere with the captain's behavior, nor did he wish to increase the pressure on him. Captain Smith had a lot of business to attend to at any time, but the calculation of the new orbit was not among them, because that had been checked again and again on the earth.

Now, there is no doubt that Jorsen's thinking is very wise, and the old faithful has more reserves than Jorsen expected.Thanks to the refueling at Halley, Cosmos avoided the two major orbital changes necessary to return to Earth and resume its mission; it was now headed directly to its destination at top speed, saving weeks of time.While there are still risks involved, everyone is applauding the plan. This is true of almost everyone. But here on Earth, the group known as "Pro-Harley" was outraged.Their members (only 236, but they are good at agitating) do not think it is reasonable to use the matter in the universe, even to save lives.Even if Cosmos uses materials that comets will definitely lose, they are not willing to compromise. They think this is a matter of principle.Their anger gave Cosmos the relief it sorely needed.

Very cautiously, Captain Smith used one of the flight attitude control thrusters for the first low-power test, and if this test proved ineffective, the spacecraft could operate without it.There were no abnormalities in the results, and the engine ran normally, as if it had been distilled from the moon. Then he tested the main engine number one in the center. If it was damaged, it would not reduce the handling force, it would only affect the overall thrust. The spacecraft could still be controlled very well, but only with the remaining four outboard engines The peak acceleration value will be reduced by 20%.

It seemed that there was no problem, even those who were skeptical began to be more polite to Dr. Buddha and stopped rejecting Joelson. The takeoff was scheduled for late afternoon, just before the old man calmed down. (Will the Old Faithful still be around when the next group of humans visit in seventy-six years? Dr. Buddha wonders. Perhaps some hint of its presence or absence may be found in the 1910 photographs.) ) No countdown to old Cape Canaveral.When Captain Smith was satisfied that everything was in order, he applied only five tons of thrust on the No. 1 main engine, and the Cosmos rose slowly up and away from the center of the comet.

The acceleration went smoothly, but the flames were quite surprising, as they were completely unexpected to most observers.Generally speaking, the jet from the main engine has so far been invisible because it is formed from highly ionized oxygen and hydrogen, and even at distances of several hundred miles, the jets are cooled enough to produce The chemistry works, but you still shouldn't see anything, because the reaction isn't visible on the spectrum. But now, Cosmos climbed up from Halley with a blindingly bright beam of incandescent light, almost like a solid rod of fire, that scattered rocks where it touched; Spacetime is like engraving a commemorative letter on a stone in the universe, engraving a mark of a visit here in the center of Halley's Comet.

This was quite a shock to most travelers who are used to flying with no visible support. Dr. Buddha was waiting for an explanation; one of his pleasures was to find some of the errors that Willis made in science, though he rarely found them, and when he did, Willis often found some. reasonable excuse. "Carbon," said he, "is white-hot carbon, the same as the flame of a candle, only hotter." "It's hotter," Dr. Buddha murmured. "We're not burning. If you can justify the word—" Dr. Buddha shrugged, "pure water. Although it has been carefully filtered, it is still There's a lot of colloidal carbon, and some compounds that can only be removed by distillation."

"It's impressive, but I'm a little worried," Greenberg said, "wouldn't those lights be affecting the spacecraft's engines or causing the spacecraft to overheat?'" This is a very good question, and one that causes anxiety for some.Dr. Foo waited for Willis to answer it, but the clever operator threw the question back at him in a moment. "I think Dr. Buddha should answer, after all, it was his idea." "It was Jorsen's idea. It's a good problem, but not a big one; when the spacecraft is at full power, these flames will be thrown a thousand kilometers behind us, and we don't need to worry about it."

The spacecraft is now flying about two kilometers above the center of Halley; since Halley's Comet does not reflect these discharges, entire sunlit worlds may scatter around behind the spacecraft. At this altitude (or distance), The Old Faithful has been slightly wider.Dr. Buddha suddenly thought of the huge fountains beside Lake Geneva. He hadn't seen them for a hundred and fifty years, and he didn't know if they were still there. Captain Smith was testing the controls, slowly turning the spacecraft, then pitching and laterally maneuvering along the Y and Z axes.Everything is functioning normally.

"The time-zero mission will start in ten minutes," he announced, "for fifty hours at one G, then adjust to two G until the orbit begins." He paused to let everyone remember that there was never any other The spacecraft of the world has ever done such a high-speed continuous acceleration for such a long time.Even if Cosmos doesn't properly break the record, it will go down in history as the first manned interstellar voyager. Now the spacecraft is veering toward the horizon again (if that can be said in this near-gravity-free environment), and heading directly toward the comet's steady stream of white columns of fog and crystalline ice.The Cosmos began to move toward it—

"What is he doing?" said Mitlovitch anxiously. Evidently the captain had known that such a question would be asked, so he spoke again.He seemed to have fully recovered his sense of humor, and there was glee in his voice.He said: "There is one more thing to do before we leave. Don't worry, everyone, I know what I'm doing, and the deputy agrees with what I'm doing, don't you think so?" "Yes, sir, though at first I thought you were joking." "What happened on the bridge?" Willis asked as if lost.Now, the spaceship began to swing slowly, still heading for the fountain at a walking pace.Judging from this distance (already within a hundred meters), Dr. Buddha still felt that the old faithful servant was like the Fountain of Geneva in the distance.

He certainly doesn't take us into it. —but he is.As the Cosmos gradually entered the rising foam, it began to shake slowly, and it was still rolling slowly, as if it was going to plunge into a huge fountain.Video surveillance systems and viewing windows can only see something milky. The whole operation took less than ten seconds, and then they came out from the other end.There was a groan from the officials on the bridge, but the passengers (even Dr. Foo) felt like they were being fooled. "Now we are going on the road." The captain announced to everyone in a very satisfied tone, "Now our hull is clean again." Over the next half hour, more than 10,000 amateur observers on Earth and the Moon noted that the comet had doubled in brightness.The stargazing network failed due to overload, and the reaction of professional astronomers was even more violent. But the common people liked it very much; a few days later, in the hours before sunrise, the Cosmos put on a more spectacular show. The spacecraft is advancing at a speed of more than 10,000 kilometers per hour, and the spacecraft has now penetrated deep into the orbit of Venus.Before passing perihelion, it will come closer to the sun (quicker than any natural object) and keep heading towards the magic star. When it passes between the earth and the sun, the 1,000-kilometer-long hot carbon tail trailing behind it is as bright as a fourth-magnitude star. For an hour, one can see the starry sky before sunrise In the sky, its movement is clearly seen.While starting the rescue mission, all human beings are paying attention to every move of the Cosmos.