"When we start this work," Arcot began next morning, "we obviously want
to design the ship for the conditions we expect to meet, and for maximum
convenience and safety. I believe I've thought about this trip longer
than the rest of you, so I'll present my ideas first.
"We don't actually _know_ anything about conditions on Venus, since no
one has actually been there. Venus is probably a younger planet than
Earth. It's far nearer the sun than we are, and it gets twice the heat
we do. In the long-gone time when the planets were cooling I believe
Venus required far longer than Earth, for the inpouring heat would
retard its cooling. The surface temperature is probably about 150
degrees Fahrenheit.
"There is little land, probably, for with the cloud-mass covering Venus
as it does, it's logical to visualize tremendous seas. What life has
developed must be largely aquatic, and the land is probably far behind
us in evolution. Of course, Venus is the planet of mystery--we don't
know; we can only guess. But we do know what things we are going to need
to cross space.
"Obviously, the main driving force will be the power units. These will
get their energy from the rays of the sun by absorbing them in copper
discs about twelve feet in diameter--the ship will have to be more of a
disc than a cylinder. I think a ship a hundred and eighty feet long,
fifty feet wide, and twenty feet deep will be about the best dimensions.
The power units will be strung along the top of the ship in double
rows--one down each side of the hull. In the middle will be a series of
fused quartz windows, opening into a large room just under the outer
shell. We'll obviously need some source of power to activate the power
tubes that run the molecular motion power units. We'll have a generator
run by molecular motion power units in here, absorbing its heat from the
atmosphere in this room. The air will be heated by the rays of the sun,
of course, and in this way we'll get all our power from the sun itself.
"Since this absorption of energy might result in making the ship too
cool, due to the radiation of the side away from the sun, we'll polish
it, and thus reduce the unlighted side's radiation.
"The power units will not be able to steer us in space, due to their
position, and those on the sides, which will steer us in the atmosphere
by the usual method, will be unable to get the sun's power; they'll be
shaded. For steering in space, we'll use atomic hydrogen rockets,
storing the atomic gas by the Wade method in tanks in the hold. We'll
also have a battery down there for starting the generator and for
emergencies.
"For protection against meteors, we'll use radar. If anything comes
within a dozen miles of us, the radar unit covering that sector will at
once set automatic machinery in operation, and the rockets will shoot
the ship out of the path of the meteor."
All that day Arcot and the others discussed the various pieces of
apparatus they would need, and toward evening Fuller began to draw rough
sketches of the different mechanisms that had been agreed upon.
The next day, by late afternoon, they had planned the rough details of
the ship and had begun the greater task of calculating the stresses and
the power factors.
"We won't need any tremendous strength for the ship while it is in
space," Arcot commented, "for then there will be little strain on it.
It will be weightless from the start, and the gentle acceleration will
not strain it in the least, but we must have strength, so that it can
maneuver in the atmosphere.
"We'll leave Earth by centrifugal force, for I can make much better
speed in the atmosphere where there is plenty of power to draw on;
outside I must depend solely on sunlight. We'll circle the Earth,
forming an orbit just within the atmosphere, at five miles a second.
We'll gradually increase the speed to about ten miles a second, at which
point the ship would normally fly off into space under its own
centrifugal force. With the power units we'll prevent its release until
the proper moment. When we release it, it will be entirely free of
Earth, and no more work will be needed to overcome Earth's pull."
The planning continued with exasperating slowness. The details of the
work were complex, for all the machines were totally new. Several weeks
passed before even the power units could be ordered and the first work
on the ship started. After that orders for materials left the office
daily. Still, it was late in November before the last order was sent
out.
Now they must begin work on other phases of the expedition--food
supplies and the standard parts of the equipment.
In the interval Arcot had decided to make a special ventilated suit for
use on Venus. This was to make use of a small molecular motion director
apparatus to cool the air, and blow it through the suit. The apparatus
consisted of a small compressed air-driven generator and a power tube
bank that could be carried on the back.
"Arcot," Wade said when he saw the apparatus completed and the testing
machine ready, "I've just noticed how similar this is to the portable
invisibility apparatus I developed as the Pirate. I wonder if it might
not be handy at times to be invisible--we could incorporate that with a
slight change. It wouldn't add more than five pounds, and those tubes
you are using I'm sure are easily strong enough to carry the extra
load."
"Great idea, Wade," said Arcot. "It might be very useful if we met
hostile natives. The disappearance stunt might make us gods or something
to primitive beings. And now that you mention it, I think we can install
the apparatus in the ship. It will require almost no power, and might
save our lives some time."
The work went forward steadily at the great Transcontinental Shops where
the space ship was being built. Its construction was being kept as much
of a secret as possible, for Arcot feared the interference of the crowds
that would be sure to collect if the facts were known, and since the
shops directly joined the airfield, it meant that there would be
helicopters buzzing about the Transatlantic and Transcontinental planes.
The work to be done required the most careful manipulation and
workmanship, for one defect could mean death. They calculated six weeks
for the trip, and in the time before they could reach either planet,
much might happen to a crippled ship.
To the men who were making the trip, the waiting seemed most
exasperating, and they spent the days before they could begin the
installation of the electrical apparatus in purchasing the necessary
standard equipment; the standard coils, tubes, condensers, the canned
food supplies, clothes, everything that they could imagine as of
possible utility. They were making the ship with a great deal of empty
storage space, for Arcot hoped the trip would be a financial success,
particularly supplying much-needed metals. Many vital elements were
already excessively scarce, and no satisfactory substitutes had been
found.
On the outward trip some of this space would be filled with the many
things they would consume en route. In addition they were carrying a
great many spare parts, spare tubes, spare power units, spare
condensers--a thousand and one odd parts. Arcot intended that they
should be able to make an entire new power switchboard and motion
director unit if anything should go wrong, and he certainly had all the
apparatus.
At last came the day when the final connection had been soldered, and
the last joint welded. The atomic hydrogen tanks were full, and under
the ship's own power the oxygen tanks were filled and the batteries
charged. They were ready for a test flight!
The great ship rested on the floor of the shed now, awaiting the start.
"Oh fellows--come here a minute!" Arcot called to the other members of
the party. "I want to show you something."
The three walked quickly to the bow where Arcot stood, and following the
line of his vision, looked in wonder to see that everything was right.
They watched curiously as he drew from his coat a large glass bottle,
tightly sealed.
"What's that for?" asked Wade curiously.
"We're about to start on the first cruise, and I've been wondering if it
isn't time we gave the ship a name."
"Great--I'd been thinking of that too--what are we going to name her?"
"Well," said Arcot, "I had been thinking of Alexander--he longed for
other worlds to conquer!"
"Not bad," Morey commented. "I have been thinking of naming it too--I
guess we all have--but I was thinking of Santa Maria--the first ship to
discover the New World."
"I was thinking more of its home," said Wade. "How about calling it
Terrestrian?"
"Well--it's your turn, Fuller--you designed it. What do you suggest for
your masterpiece?" asked Arcot.
"I was thinking also of its home--the home it will never leave. I like
to think that we might find people on Venus, and I would like to have a
name on it that might be translatable into more friendly and less
foreign terms--why not call it Solarite?"
"Solarite--a member of the solar system--it will be that, always. It
will be a world unto itself when it makes its trips--it will take up an
orbit about the sun--a true member of the solar system. I like it!"
Arcot turned to the others. "How about it?" It was agreed upon
unanimously.
"But I'm still curious about that glass bottle, so carefully sealed."
Morey commented with a puzzled smile. "What's in it? Some kind of gas?"
"Wrong--no gas--practically nothing at all, in fact. What more
appropriate for christening a space ship than a bottle of hard vacuum?
"We can't have a pretty girl christen this ship, that's sure. A flying
bachelor's apartment christened by a mere woman? Never! We will have the
foreman of the works here do that. Since we can't have the ship slide
down the ways or anything, we will get inside and move it when he
smashes the bottle. But in the meantime, let's have a symbol set in
contrasting metal on the bow. We can have a blazing sun, with nine
planets circling it, the Earth indicated conspicuously; and below it the
word SOLARITE."