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SIXTH PART OF=A NEW SERIAL

n Moscow .

TRE MOON will undoubtedly

be the first objective in
man’s initial series of space-
trips,

S about 240,000 miles — one-
WNdredth of that of Venus at
“t nearest point to earth.
Many people, railwaymen
8d sailors, for example, have
this distance, and
Many airmen have flown more
an twice as far. :
Now how long will a rocket
€ to reach the moon? It
“ould arrive at its destination
151 hours.

The first moon-rockets will
€ Yadio-controlled, and the
Fadio Messages they send out
ines enable scientists to fol-
°W their flight.

he scientists will know the
Ncket has crashed into the
Moon's surface. the moment
fY see a flair-up ‘of the
flash. -powder it will carry.
€ flare up will be all the
More clearly visible from the
“arth if the rocket falls on the
Unlit Part of the moon’s face.

Tavellers to the moon can
"pect to see large black
Places where there are valleys,
“Ocalled “seas,” mountain-
Ndges cut by deep crevices,
Mountains brightly lit at the
amit and completely dark

“t the base, wide jagged cir-
“War protuberances — _ pre-
MPitous inside but sloping
qadualy toward their outer
Se (the so-called “circuses”’)
Schains of craters, and daz-
g strips of snow-white vol-
“nic ash (‘light rays’).
< €t us imagine that a space-
1) has been launched from
 inter- -planetary station to
investigate the moon.

uring the flight under its
1 momentum its speed will
ake Launched at a great vel-
“ity, the rocket will gradu-
a lose speed like a stone
‘own upwards.

N five days the rocket will
“ach a point where it is af-
“tted by the moon’s gravita-
nal field.

he space-ship — if it is to
“Come an artificial sattelite—

revolve around the -moon
‘ long as required, without

Wuming a pint of fuel.
the €connaissance fights around
Lig Moon will be followed by
*4ts from which a landing
‘ made,

Sit possible to make a Jand-
Wi On the moon’s surface
tio, Ut using fuel? Has the

on an atmosphere?

Its distance from the earth

cause the

Servations have shown

that the, moon’s atmosphere is
very thin. According to pre-
liminary’ data, the mass of air
over each square centimetre
of the moon’s surface is one
two-thousandth of that of the
earth.

The density’ of the atmos-
phere on the moon’s surface is
the same as that of the earth
at a height of 37% miles.

In all probability it cannot
be used to slow down the
space-ship’s speed before land-
ing, and rocket-braking will
therefore have to be used for
that purpose.

On the moon, just as on
other planets without an at-
mosphere, the space- -travellers
will have to stay in airtight
compartments or put on space-
suits before stepping outside.

In spite of this burdensome

clothing the travellers will be .

able to move about easily be-
moon’s gravity is
only one-sixth of that of our
planet.

To break away from the
moon’s gravitational field one
needs one-twentieth of the en-
ergy required for the same
purpose on the earth. Conse-
quently the speed of escape
from the moon “will be con-
siderably less than that from
the earth.

*A

A flight to Mars will also
be of great. interest.

During the past three cen-
turies this planet has attract-
ed particular attention ‘on the
part of astronomers and other
scientists, because of the prox-
imity to the earth and similar
natural conditions.

The experts are no longer
satisfied with studying the
surface of Mars from. images

THis is the sixth of a series of extracts, appearing exclusively in the, Pacific Tribune from
a remarkable new Soviet book, Interplanetary Travel, by A. Sternfeld, recently published
An English edition of the book is-to be published in Britain soon.

that appear tiny even through
the largest telescopes.

A trip to Mars, like one- to
the moon, with a landing on
its surface, will probably be
preceded by reconnaissance
flights around the planet.

For this purpose space-ships
will temporarily become arti-
ficial satellites of Mars.

Landing and take-off will,
as a matter of fact, be ex-
tremely difficult in the early
stages of space - travel, the
chief trouble being that fuel
for the return journey will
have to be brought from the
earth.

A detailed
the surface of Mars will make
it possible to select areas suit-
able for landing, and to obtain
data which cannot be estab-
lished from the earth but is

necessary before the launch- .

ing expedition.

The first thing that’ must
be investigated is whether the
structure and composition of
the Martian atmosphere can

be used to slow down the
space-ship.
Such an investigation_ will

also help to discover whether
man can live on this planet,
and whether its atmosphere
provides, adequate protection
against harmful radiations and
the infinite number of “falling

stars” bombarding it from
outer space.
Flights around Mars could

be made along different tra-
jectories, the duration of the
trip and the initial speed of
the space-ship depending on
the trajectory chosen.

Let us consider a trajectory
involving a two-year journey.
The rocket will start from the

inter-planetary station at mid-"

night local time when the
centres’ of the earth, the sun
and the station are in a
straight line.

This is the most appropriate
moment because the direction
of the station’s motion and that
of the starting rocket will co-
incide.

An artist’s conception of an earth-controtied tank on the moon.

November 29, 1957 —

investigation of

quest of space

The rocket’s speed will con-
stantly change as it flies in in-
ter-planetary space, being at
its greatest during take-off and
gradually decreasing as it re-
cedes from the earth’s orbit.

Having approached Mars,
the rocket will by-pass it at a
certain distance and fly off
into outer space.

During the flight around
Mars the travelers will be able
to photograph the entire sur-
face of the planet, owing to its
rotation on its axis.

One year after take-off the
space-ship will reach the far-
thest point of its trajectory, at
a distance of just over twe
light-years away from the
earth. Here its speed will be
at its lowest.

After passing this point the
space-ship. will once more ap-
proach the Martin orbit at an
increased speed. But this time
it will not meet the planet.

The elliptical trajectory of
the flight having closed, the
space-ship will-return to the
earth at the speed at which it
took off.

More powerful rockets will be
able to land on Phobos and
Deimos, the Martin satellites,
from which research can be
conducted for long periods.

The size and mass of these
heavenly bodies are very small
and their gravitational pulls
are neglible; it will therefore
be easier to visit *the satellites
than their primary.

Modern astrophysics provides
data which makes \it’ possible
to assume that the natural
conditions on the earth are
more similar to those of Mars
than of any other planet.

Prolonged research by Soviet
astronomers, headed by G.
Tikhov, has enabled them to
come to the conclusion that
there is vegetation on Mars.

t is believed that the Mar-
tian atmosphere contains oxy-
gen and is devoid of gases in-
jurous to human life, although
it is very thin even on the
planet’s surface.

A trip from one planet to
another can only be~ made
along a number of “reason-
able” routes, and the positions
of the planets -in relation to
one another will also have to
be taken into consideration.

If a schedule were to be
drawn up of flights to Mars or
Venus, it would have blanks,
“dead seasons” of from a few
months to one and a half years
or so, during which no space-
ship would be able to take off
from the earth or land at its
destination because of wun-
favourable planetary con-
figuration.

PACIFIC TRIBUNE—PAGE 9

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