Lt. Gen. Sheffield N. Jackman, U.S. Air Force, Commander USS Constitution, Space Journal, No. 40. May all go well with you.Thanks to the space base for sending personal information.We love listening to your live concerts, and we've recorded most of them for replays when the comm dies down and everyone gets a little creepy with loneliness. We are advancing towards Altus, the planet of Alpha Centauri. It has been nearly a month and a half since we set off, and we have surpassed the farthest point of manned flight from the earth in the past.We're only now really feeling like we're on a journey.A voyage check just completed confirmed the base's plan, and it was estimated that our ship will cross the orbit of Pluto at around 1631 hours of the spacecraft time, which is today on the 40th day.Lecki had been documenting the time dilation effect, and the speed of the spacecraft was close to 6% of the speed of light, and the time dilation effect began to become apparent.He said that converted into the base time, it was about a quarter to two in the morning.We decided to use it as a sign of "inshore waters".We'll leave the solar system behind and be the first humans to go deep into interstellar space.We're going to have a ceremony, and Letsky and Ann Becklund have made an American flag, ready to be released at the "inshore waters" sign, arranged to be carried out when passing through observation port No. 3, and to be released in advance stainless steel plaque with the President's letter of appointment, we each have to throw something personal, and I'm going to give away my Aeronautical Academy class name ring.

Little has changed since the previous report.We're very used to the new schedule, having done all the post-launch inspections a few weeks ago.As Dr. Neffhausen predicted, we are starting to feel the weight of time too heavy to throw away.Between now and Alpha-Alienus, nothing serious will affect the operation of the spacecraft, and we will not be kept busy.So, we started to implement the entertainment plan that Neff proposed.The worksheet prepared by NASA's Flight Training and Personnel Office came in handy.The entertainment project got a cold reception at first, as I think the kids back home in Indianapolis know.Everyone agrees that number theory and calculus with arguments, which are given to us as keys to open doors, are for birds.We haven't reached the point where we can't wait for it, so we go to play other things first.Ann played several games of chess with Will Backlund, and Dot Lecki began translating it into poetry.The rest of the people fiddled with equipment, made astronomical observations, and then chatted.But it all got tedious very quickly, and it was exactly what Neffy had said in his introduction.

The best way to spend your days in a spaceship is to learn to be interested in mathematical problems, because there are no masses to transport, no competing factors to excite you.So far, it is the 10th day that Letzky tried to find the prime number formula, and my dear Fro is trying congruence theory to prove "Gothbach's conjecture". (This girl wouldn't have checked out a laundry list two months ago!) It's a way to pass the time, of course. From a medical point of view, we are all healthy.I'll attach a sheet detailing our blood pressure, pulse, etc., plus a tape from the rocket and the readings from the navigation system.I will report back as planned.Please take care of the Earth for us - we look forward to seeing her again in a few years!

The urban guerrilla war in Washington eased that week.Helicopters can fly over the South Lawn of the White House—no sniper rounds, no heat-seeking missiles, not even stone-throwers.Dr. Dieter von Neffhausen watched suspiciously a small group of weary-looking sentries pacing up and down within a limited circle of fifty yards within the enclosure.They're not militants, they might be sexual liberators, who knows!Probably natural food or flat tax supporters, anyway, no rocks were thrown from them, just some babble when the helicopter landed.Kneifhausen bowed mockingly to Mr. Crowd and jumped out of the helicopter nimbly.When the plane took off, he had already gone far.He didn't bother to run into the White House, he just strolled in.He had no fear of these simple-minded people, even though the helicopter pilots feared them.Moreover, he was in no rush to get to the president's appointment.

The adjutant who searched had frost on his face.The guard who led him to the west platform did not salute either.The briefcase containing slides and documents was heavy, but no one helped him lift it.People are always the most sensitive to the taste of drilling a dog hole. As he thought, he tilted his head to avoid the gust of wind from the propeller. At this time, the pilot was circling over the White House in order to get higher and fly over the vast urban area again. It's really not what it used to be, he is somewhat nostalgic, he still remembers every moment of that time.It was here, in this portico, that he made the announcement about the Alienus project to journalists and photographers from all over the world.He saw himself appearing on a TV news program talking about a whole "New Earth" four light-years away for American immigrants.He remembers how the launch at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, attended by 1.5 million invited guests from around the world, enraged foreign politicians and scientists, and enthused American leaders. Hao.The guards saluted at first, that's right.His lecture fees are already astronomical.There are even rumors of him being the next vice president -- and that's entirely possible, if the election starts right away, and if there's no question of his foreign birth.

Now times have changed, he took the staff's elevator upstairs. "It's not for my own sake."He said to himself, "But how did the news of the trouble come out? Is it just a fabrication by the newspaper? Or did someone leak the secret?" The Marine guard knocked on the cabinet door and it swung open from the inside. Neffhausen walked into the house. "Come in, Brother Dieter, pull up a chair." No Vice President jumped up, grabbed his arm, and patted him on the back. Thirty silent faces turned to him, some indifferent, some outright hostile, this was his welcome.The entire Cabinet was there, along with half a dozen ministers and the President's personal combat staff.The most vicious person at the oval conference table is the President's Long Yan.Kneefhausen bowed; an atavistic desire to make jokes about the Academy cadets was felt.He wanted to put his feet together with a snap and adjust the monocle, but he didn't bring a monocle, and he wasn't too impulsive, he just found his place at the foot of the table and stood down.After the President nodded, he said, "Good morning, gentlemen and ladies. I think you want to meet me to understand the stupid lies that the Russians are spreading about the Alpha-Alien project."

"Ruba Ruba." They whispered to each other. The president said in his screeching tenor voice: "So you think that's just a lie?" "Lies or mistakes, Mr. President, what's the difference? We're right, they're wrong, that's all." "Ruba Ruba Ruba". The Secretary of State looked at the President inquiringly, and when he received his approval, he said: "Dr. Are you sure? The Russians have thrown out some very convincing numbers." "They're talking nonsense, Mr. Secretary." "Well, Dr. Neffhausen. I may be willing to take that from you, but not here. There are no eccentrics or discontents here, just good and decent people. Dr. Neffhausen, Can you provide them with some proof?"

"Do you agree, Mr. President?" The President nodded again.Kneifhausen unlocked his briefcase, took out a small sheaf of slides, and handed it to the Marine Major.The major looked at the president, and after obtaining approval, he followed Nifhausen's instructions.The lights in the room dimmed, and after adjusting the focus for a while, the image of the first slide was projected from above Nifhausen's head.Above it is a row of huge Y-shaped metal pillars, stretching to a deserted and dusty distance. "This picture is the radio telescope we placed on the back of the moon."He explained, "It's invisible from Earth because that part of the moon's surface is always facing away from us, so we chose this spot as the location for the telescope. There's no electrical interference there. The instrument consists of 33 million individual composed of dipoles, aligned and aligned to a precision of a few millionths. The actual size is 18 miles in diameter, which is nearly circular; but after careful adjustment, its performance is actually equivalent to a telescope with a diameter of about 26 miles. Please come to the next one."

"Crack", the photo of the giant telescope slipped away, and another photo replaced it with a similar, but smaller and simpler structure. "Gentlemen and ladies, this is a Russian instrument. Its diameter is about 1/4 of ours, and its components are less than 1/10 of what I had, and our report - it is classified, but I hear Said that this meeting was granted access to the material. Yes—our reports indicate that it was arranged in a very rough, almost hopeless way." "The gap between the two instruments in terms of information gathering capabilities is about 100 times, and we have the advantage. Please turn on the lights."

"That means," he continued fluently, smiling to everyone in the room as he spoke, "that if the Russians say 'no' and we say 'yes,' the bet on 'yes' is guaranteed to win. Our telescopes can be trusted, theirs can't." The attendees stirred restlessly in their chairs.They wanted to believe Neffhausen as much as he wanted to persuade them, but they were not sure. Belton, chairman of the House of Representatives Taxation Committee, spoke from everyone's heart. "Nobody doubts the quality of your equipment," he added, "especially since we paid for it and the wounds haven't healed yet. But the Russians were blunt, saying that Alpha Centauri couldn't possibly have a planet more than a thousand miles in diameter, The distance from the star will not be less than 500 million miles. I have a TASS release here. It admits that their equipment is not as good as ours, but they have a statement signed by 22 academicians, saying that the equipment will not let go The larger, closer goals I have stated, will not let go of any kind of planet large enough to land our astronauts. Are you familiar with this statement?"

"Of course, I've read—" "Then you must know that they assert that the planet you call 'a-Alienus' does not exist." "Yes, sir, they did say so." "What's more, the authority of the Paris Observatory, the UNESCO Center for Astrophysics in Trieste, and the director of the Greenwich Observatory in the UK have all stated that they have checked empirically and can confirm the Russian numbers." Neffhausen nodded happily: "That's right, Mr. Belton. The confirmation they gave is that if the observations made are indeed consistent with the legend, then on the back of the moon Nauver Brezhnev The conclusions drawn by the Soviet facilities are naturally also logical. I do not doubt that their calculations are correct. I just point out that these observations were made by less precise equipment, so the conclusions of the Soviet astronomers are not very reliable But I also don't want to test your patience by imposing on you a statement without evidence." Just as the congressman opened his mouth to continue, he hastily added: "So I will tell you the whole truth, Russians. The statements made here are only theories. I'm not just dealing with better theories, but with objective facts. I know about Alienus because I've seen it with my own eyes! Light on, Major! Another slide, please. " The screen lights up.Now the blinding black spots flickered white, like dust.A black dot appeared in the center of the screen, surrounded by a dozen small black dots.Neffhausen picked up a light whip and pointed the small light arrow at the center point. "This is a negative," he said, "that is to say, the black areas here are white in the real scene, and on the contrary, the white is black. Those are celestial bodies, our Briarius XII satellite. It was taken near the orbit of Jupiter on the way to Neptune 14 months ago. The central celestial object is Centaurus a star. The equipment used in the shooting is quite special, which can filter out most of the light emitted by the star itself. It is essentially an electronic photo, a bit Like the coronagraphs used to photograph the prominences of our sun. We hoped to capture an image of Alpha-Alienus with this method. It is obvious to all that we succeeded." The small arrow of the light whip pointed to a small space closest to the central object. point. "Gentlemen and ladies, that's Alienus, exactly where we estimated it to be based on telescope data." There was another commotion on the table, and in the darkness, the sound was louder than before.The Secretary of State asked aloud, "Mr. President, can we release this photo?" "We will announce it immediately after the meeting," the president said. "Ruba Ruba." Then the chairman of the committee said: "Mr. President, I can guarantee that if you say it is my planet, then it is. But other people abroad may doubt it, because these points do not make any difference to me. Even to satisfy a layman Curiosity. May I ask how you knew it was a long-horned star?" "Put slide number four, please—leave number three in the case." Same shot, slightly different. "Gentlemen, please note this picture, that the object is in a different position. It has moved. You know that there is no appreciable displacement of stars. And this planet has moved, because this picture is 8 It was taken when Briarius XII flew back after passing Neptune a month later. The planet a-Alienus has already rotated in its own orbit. This is not a theory, but a fact. Let me add one more point, making The master tape of this photocopy is stored at the Goldstone base, so no one will ask stupid questions." "Rubaluba" became louder and a little excited. Kneifhausen took his argument a step further, as he had hoped. "So, Major, could you please go back to slide number three now, yes—and please replay slide numbers three and four, as soon as possible, thank you." The little black dot called α-Alienus bounced back and forth like a tennis ball, while the other constellation points remained motionless. "Look, this is what's called a blank comparison program. I want to point out that if what you're looking at isn't a planet, it's the most interesting star you'll ever see, Mr. The distance and orbital period calculated from the radio telescope data agree perfectly. Now, are there any other questions? "No more, sir." "Great, Nephi!" "I see nothing wrong." "Give the Russians some color." The president's voice drowned out their cacophony. "Major Morton, I think it's time to light the lamps," he said. "Thank you, Dr. Neffhausen. I would appreciate it if you would stop a while longer. Before we publish these pictures, I would like to ask you to join me and Let’s review the full text of our statement together in the study with Mary.” He nodded, solemnly announcing the adjournment of the meeting to his chief scientific advisor, and it was only at this time that the happy faces of those cabinet members reminded him to smile happily .