"It's _not_ a failure," Mel barked. He unsnapped his belt, shuffled to
the center of the compartment, and kicked open the cover of a port in
the rim-deck. "Look at that! Look at those stars, Mel. No one's ever
had a crack at them like this. The astronomers, and astro-physicists,
have learned more from Mike and Andre in the last three months than
they have in the last three centuries." As the rim rotated, the earth
came majestically into view. "Look at that," Stanton said. "See that
cold front over the Sierras? Petrovski's data has given them forecasts
down there that they've never conceived of." He waved his hand
expansively. "Vacuum! Billions and billions of cubic miles of hard,
hard vacuum. Trippler goes nuts at the thought of it. Any physicist,
any electronic engineer, would. Temperature? Absolute zero. Absolute
zero, Mel. Where else can you get absolute zero? Can't they see what it
means?"
Mel Cramer ground out his cigarette.
"What does absolute zero mean, Walt? To a general?"