stubborn, independent choice; her mother cried bitterly the first time she left Earth. Nicholson consoled her mother and told her father she neither needed nor wanted the family fortune. She never returned to Earth, but made Selene her home instead.
Timoshenko admired the captain. She was capable, intelligent, even-handed whenever a dispute arose, and when necessary she could peel four layers of skin off a man with language that would have made her mother faint.
"X minus thirty seconds," said the computer's synthesized voice.
Timoshenko eyed his console. Every single icon was in the green.
"Ignite the thrusters on my mark," said Captain Nicholson.
"Roger," the first mate replied.
Normally Timoshenko would have sneered at her insistence on human control. The four of them knew perfectly well that the computers actually ran the propulsion system. This lumbering oversized sewer pipe would be pushed out of lunar orbit at precisely the right instant even if none of them were on the bridge. But the captain kept the old traditions, and even Timoshenko — normally as dour and scornful as a haughty, patronizing academic — respected the old lady for it.
The computer said, "Ignition in five seconds, four ... three ... two..."
"Fire thrusters," the captain said.
Timoshenko grinned as his console showed the computer command and the human action taking place at the same instant.
The thrusters fired. Goddard broke out of lunar orbit and began its long flight path to the planet Saturn.
Even with Duncan Drive fusion engines, an object as massive as the Goddard habitat does not flit through the solar system the way passenger carriers or even automated ore haulers do.
Part of the problem is sheer mass. At more than a hundred thousand tons, the habitat is equal to a whole fleet of interplanetary ships. To push the habitat to an acceleration of even one-tenth g would require enormous thrust and therefore a bankrupting amount of fusion fuel.
Yet the major problem is the spin-induced gravity inside the habitat. A major acceleration from rocket thrust would turn the world inside the cylinder topsy-turvy. Instead of feeling a gentle Earthlike pull "downward" the inhabitants would also sense an acceleration pushing them in the direction of the rocket thrust. Life within the habitat would become difficult, even weird. It would feel to the inhabitants as if they were constantly struggling uphill, or traipsing downhill, even when walking on normal-looking flat ground.
So Goddard accelerated away from the Moon at a leisurely pace, a minute fraction of a g. The force went unnoticed by the ten thousand inhabitants, although it was closely monitored by the habitat's small crew of propulsion engineers.
It would take fourteen months to reach the vicinity of Jupiter, giant of the solar system. There Goddard would replenish its fusion fuels, isotopes of hydrogen and helium delved from Jupiter's deep, turbulent atmosphere by automated skimmers operated from the space station in orbit around the enormous planet. Jupiter's massive gravity would also impart a slight extra boost to the habitat as it swung past.
Eleven months after the Jupiter encounter, Goddard would slip into orbit around ringed Saturn. By then, more than two years after departing the Earth/Moon vicinity, anthropologist James Wilmot expected the subjects of his experiment would be ready to form the political systems and personal bonds of a new society. He wondered what form that society would take.
Malcolm Eberly already knew.
DEPARTURE Plus Three Days
The great advantage of having a scientist in charge of the habitat, thought Malcolm Eberly, is that scientists are so trustingly naïve. They depend on honesty in their work, which leads them to behave honestly even outside their sphere of expertise. In turn, this makes them believe that those they associate with are honest, as well.
Eberly laughed aloud as he reviewed his plans for the day. It's time to start things in
Timoshenko admired the captain. She was capable, intelligent, even-handed whenever a dispute arose, and when necessary she could peel four layers of skin off a man with language that would have made her mother faint.
"X minus thirty seconds," said the computer's synthesized voice.
Timoshenko eyed his console. Every single icon was in the green.
"Ignite the thrusters on my mark," said Captain Nicholson.
"Roger," the first mate replied.
Normally Timoshenko would have sneered at her insistence on human control. The four of them knew perfectly well that the computers actually ran the propulsion system. This lumbering oversized sewer pipe would be pushed out of lunar orbit at precisely the right instant even if none of them were on the bridge. But the captain kept the old traditions, and even Timoshenko — normally as dour and scornful as a haughty, patronizing academic — respected the old lady for it.
The computer said, "Ignition in five seconds, four ... three ... two..."
"Fire thrusters," the captain said.
Timoshenko grinned as his console showed the computer command and the human action taking place at the same instant.
The thrusters fired. Goddard broke out of lunar orbit and began its long flight path to the planet Saturn.
Even with Duncan Drive fusion engines, an object as massive as the Goddard habitat does not flit through the solar system the way passenger carriers or even automated ore haulers do.
Part of the problem is sheer mass. At more than a hundred thousand tons, the habitat is equal to a whole fleet of interplanetary ships. To push the habitat to an acceleration of even one-tenth g would require enormous thrust and therefore a bankrupting amount of fusion fuel.
Yet the major problem is the spin-induced gravity inside the habitat. A major acceleration from rocket thrust would turn the world inside the cylinder topsy-turvy. Instead of feeling a gentle Earthlike pull "downward" the inhabitants would also sense an acceleration pushing them in the direction of the rocket thrust. Life within the habitat would become difficult, even weird. It would feel to the inhabitants as if they were constantly struggling uphill, or traipsing downhill, even when walking on normal-looking flat ground.
So Goddard accelerated away from the Moon at a leisurely pace, a minute fraction of a g. The force went unnoticed by the ten thousand inhabitants, although it was closely monitored by the habitat's small crew of propulsion engineers.
It would take fourteen months to reach the vicinity of Jupiter, giant of the solar system. There Goddard would replenish its fusion fuels, isotopes of hydrogen and helium delved from Jupiter's deep, turbulent atmosphere by automated skimmers operated from the space station in orbit around the enormous planet. Jupiter's massive gravity would also impart a slight extra boost to the habitat as it swung past.
Eleven months after the Jupiter encounter, Goddard would slip into orbit around ringed Saturn. By then, more than two years after departing the Earth/Moon vicinity, anthropologist James Wilmot expected the subjects of his experiment would be ready to form the political systems and personal bonds of a new society. He wondered what form that society would take.
Malcolm Eberly already knew.
DEPARTURE Plus Three Days
The great advantage of having a scientist in charge of the habitat, thought Malcolm Eberly, is that scientists are so trustingly naïve. They depend on honesty in their work, which leads them to behave honestly even outside their sphere of expertise. In turn, this makes them believe that those they associate with are honest, as well.
Eberly laughed aloud as he reviewed his plans for the day. It's time to start things in
Similar Books
A Rather Lovely Inheritance
C. A. Belmond
The Look of Love
Mary Jane Clark
The Best Australian Science Writing 2012
Elizabeth Finkel
Shadow of Temptation (Asylums for Magical Threats #2.5)
Jessie Donovan
The Prey
Tom Isbell
Secrets of Valhalla
Jasmine Richards
Life After a Balla
Jackie D.
In the Italian's Sights
Helen Brooks
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea
Jules Verne