United States or Gambia ? Vote for the TOP Country of the Week !
As the men looked out of the clear lux metal windows, they saw the tiny blur of light on the soft black curtain of space. It was as good a course as any, and the ship's own inertia recommended it; they had only to redirect the ship with greater accuracy. Setting the damaged gyroscopes came first, however.
Burke stood grimly at the control, unmindful of his associate. Bennie crossed to the other side, and as he passed the gyroscopes, the air from the swiftly spinning discs blew back his hair. He could see nothing through the tumult that roared down through the centre of the Ring, like a Niagara of hot steam shot through with a pale yellow phosphorescent light.
And I can't do that; the ship is moving." "Not enough to make any difference," Arcot contradicted. "We're moving away from it in a straight line, and that thing is three quintillion miles away. We're not moving fast enough to cause any measurable contraction in a time exposure. As for having a steady platform, this ship weighs a quarter of a million tons and is held by gyroscopes.
But always they remarked that "the model from which the machine will be built has flown perfectly in the presence of some of the most prominent men in the locality." These machines had a great deal to do with the mysterious qualities of gyroscopes and helicopters. Now, Dr.
Though the machine was held stable by the gyroscopes, she was dropping freely; but they had fifty miles to fall, and as the resistance of the denser air mounted, they could begin to feel the sense of weight return. "You've passed, but for the maneuvers, Dr. Arcot!" The Air Inspector was decidedly impressed.
Heavy safety relays thudded dully; the instruments flickered under a suddenly rising surge of power then they were calm again. Arcot had snapped over the power switch. "That," he said quietly, "is not so good." "Threw the gyroscopes, didn't it?" asked Morey, his voice equally as quiet. "It did and I have no idea how far. We're off course and we don't know which direction we're headed."
When the Moonship crossed the west coast of Africa, the space tug was 400 miles below and 500 miles behind. When the Moonship crossed Arabia, the difference was 200 miles vertically and less than 100 in line. Then the Moonship released small objects, steadied by gyroscopes and flung away by puffs of compressed air. The small objects spread out.
The gyroscopes keep the whole outer sphere in exactly the same position as long as they are kept turning, and afford us not only permanent planes of reference, but also a solid foundation in those planes which can be used in pointing the bar. The bar can be turned instantly to any direction whatever by special electrical instruments on the boards.
When the vessel was nearly half-way to "X," the bar was reversed in order to change the sign of their acceleration, and the hollow sphere spun through an angle of one hundred and eighty degrees around the motionless cage which housed the enormous gyroscopes.
The ship was in as perfect condition as it had ever been, for every bearing had been put in condition and the generators and gyroscopes were running smoothly. They threw the ship into full speed and headed for the galaxy ahead of them. "We are going to look for intelligent beings," Arcot reminded the others, "so we'll have to communicate with them.
Word Of The Day