Essay On a visit to a space station
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Explanation:
Answer:
The traffic between the Earth and the space station takes place through rocket-powered space ships, like those described in general in the first part of this book. It may complete the picture to envision such a trip at least in broad outlines:
The space ship is readied on the Earth. We enter the command room, a small chamber in the interior of the fuselage where the pilot and passengers stay. The door is locked airtight from the inside. We must lie down in hammocks. Several control actions by the pilot, a slight tremor in the vehicle and in the next moment we feel as heavy as lead, almost painfully the cords of the hammocks are pressed against the body, breathing is labored, lifting an arm is a test of strength: the ascent has begun. The propulsion system is working, lifting us up at an acceleration of 30 m/sec2, and causing us to feel an increase of our weight to four times its normal value. It would have been impossible to remain standing upright under this load.
upright under this load.
It does not take long before the feeling of increased gravity stops for a moment, only to start again immediately. The pilot explains that he has just jettisoned the first rocket stage, which is now spent, and started the second stage. Soon, new controlling actions follow: as explained by the pilot, we have already attained the necessary highest climbing velocity; for this reason, the vehicle was rotated by 90°, allowing the propulsion system to act now in a horizontal direction in order to accelerate us to the necessary orbital velocity.
Very soon, we have attained this velocity. Only some minutes have elapsed since launch; however, it seems endless to us, [given] that we had to put up with the strenuous state of elevated gravity. The pressure on us is gradually diminishing. First we feel a pleasant relief; then, however, an oppressive fear: we believe we are falling, crashing into the depths. The brave pilot attempts to calm us: he has slowly turned the propulsion system off. Our motion takes place now only by virtue of our own kinetic force, and what was sensed as free fall is nothing other than the feeling of weightlessness, something that we must get used to whether we like it or not. Easier said than done; but since we have no other choice, we finally succeed...
However, we have little time to marvel. Our pilot pushes away and floats toward the space station. We follow him, but not with very comfortable feelings: an abyss of almost 36,000 km gapes to the Earth! For the return trip, we note that our vehicle is equipped with wings. These were carried on board in a detached condition during the ascent and have now been attached, a job presenting no difficulties due to the existing weightlessness.
. For several hours, we orbit our planet at breakneck speed: in the beginning, it is a headdown flight at an altitude of approximately 75 km; later, with a continual decrease of the velocity, we approach the Earth more and more in a long spiral and, as a result, arrive in deeper, denser layers of air; gradually, the terrestrial feeling of gravity appears again, and our flight transitions into a normal gliding flight. As in a breakneck race, the Earth's surface rushes by underneath: in only half hours, entire oceans are crossed, continents traversed. Nevertheless, the flight becomes slower and slower and we come closer to the ground, finally splashing down into the sea near a harbor.