[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
fruits, ice-cream, and even freshly-baked bread. Week after week passed, and Discovery moved beyond the orbit of Mars towards
After lunch, from 13.00 to 16.00, Bowman made a slow and careful tour of the Jupiter. Ahead lay the most dangerous part of the journey, an area of space crossed by
ship, or as much of it as could be visited. Discovery measured almost a hundred and the orbit of more than a million known asteroids.
twenty-five metres from end to end, but the crew spent most of their time inside a Only four of these were over a hundred kilometres across, but even the smallest
twelve-metre pressurized ball in the centre. could completely destroy the ship. However, the chances of this were very low. The
The central slice of this ball turned continuously, producing an artificial gravity average distance between asteroids was at least a million and a half kilometers.
equal to the gravity of the Moon. That was enough to allow for something like
normal living. 2
The Odyssey: an ancient story by the Greek poet Homer about Odysseus's long journey home from
Like all vehicles designed for deep space travel, Discovery had been put together
war.
in orbit above the Earth.The large numbers of instruments on the outside of her body
12
On Day 86 they were due to make their closest approach to a known asteroid. It minutes for their journey. Though the whole world was looking over their shoulders,
had no name -just the number 7794 and it was a fifty-metre rock that had been watching through their eyes and their instruments as Jupiter approached, it would be
discovered in 1997. almost an hour before the news of their discoveries reached home.
When Bowman came on duty, Hal reminded him of the meeting. The path of Discovery passed within thirty thousand kilometres of Europa, and all instruments
the asteroid against the stars was already on the screens. There was also the information were aimed at the approaching world. Here were twenty-two million square
that 7794 would miss them by only fifteen hundred kilometres, at a relative speed of a kilometres of land which, until this moment, had never been more than a tiny spot in
hundred and thirty thousand kilometres an hour. the best telescope. From a distance it had seemed like an enormous snowball, and
When Bowman asked Hal for the telescopic view, a small number of stars closer observation showed that it really was a brilliant white. Unlike the dusty Moon,
flashed onto the screen. There were a number of points of light, but nothing that its surface was covered with shining objects that looked like large pieces of ice. Almost
looked like an asteroid. certainly these were formed mainly from water that Jupiter's gravity had somehow
' Show me which one it is,' Bowman said, and immediately four lines failed to capture.
appeared on the screen, surrounding a tiny spot of light. He stared at it for many As quickly as it had rushed out of the sky ahead, Europa dropped behind the
minutes, wondering if Hal could be mistaken, then he saw that the spot was moving. ship, and now Jupiter itself was only two hours away. Even though Hal constantly
It might still be half a million kilometres away, but its movement showed that it was checked and rechecked the ship's orbit, it was difficult to believe they were not flying
much closer than anything else they could see. When Poole joined him in the Control straight into the enormous planet.
Room, six hours later, 7794 was much bigger and moving faster against its background. Now was the time to drop the atmospheric probes which, it was hoped, would
They both stared at it. Though they knew that 7794 was only a lifeless piece of rock, it continue to operate long enough to send back some information from below the
was also the only solid thing they would see this side of Jupiter. clouds. As they slowly fell away, it was possible to see that the ship was in a steady
As it raced past them at over thirty-six kilometres a second, the automatic orbit and would circle the planet safely.
cameras took dozens of photographs, which would later be sent back to Earth. And now, for the first time, they were going to lose the Sun. Though it was
Within an hour, 7794 was just a spot of light again. The next time Bowman came much smaller now, it had been with them for the whole of their five-month journey.
on watch, it had gone completely. They were alone again, and would remain alone until As their orbit dived into the shadow of Jupiter, they watched it sink into the great
the first of Jupiter's moons came towards them, three months from now. clouds. There was a moment of flashing lire all along the horizon, then night came.
But the great world below was not wholly dark. Faint rivers of light moved from
Chapter 19 Passing Jupiter horizon to horizon. Here and there they gathered into pools of liquid fire, always
moving, constantly changed by what was happening below. It was a wonderful sight,
Even from thirty million kilometres away, Jupiter was already the biggest object in and it held Poole and Bowman's attention.
the sky ahead. The planet was now a pale pink circle, about half the size of the Moon ' Earth signal is dying rapidly' announced Hal.' We are entering the first silent
when seen from the Earth. Moving around its middle were the bright stars of Io, area.'
Europa, Ganymede and Callista. Each one of them was as big as a planet, but here they They had been expecting this, but they felt a great loneliness. The radio silence
were just satellites of an enormous master. would only last for an hour, but that hour would be the longest of their lives.
In fact, Bowman had not really understood how big Jupiter was until, one day Jupiter was now an enormous wall of fire, stretching out of sight above them
in the electronic library, he saw a picture. It showed the surface of Earth taken off, then and the ship was climbing straight up the side of it. Though they knew they were
fixed like the skin of an animal on the shape of Jupiter. Against this background, all the moving far too quickly for even Jupiter's gravity to capture them, it was hard to believe [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
zanotowane.pl doc.pisz.pl pdf.pisz.pl aikidobyd.xlx.pl
fruits, ice-cream, and even freshly-baked bread. Week after week passed, and Discovery moved beyond the orbit of Mars towards
After lunch, from 13.00 to 16.00, Bowman made a slow and careful tour of the Jupiter. Ahead lay the most dangerous part of the journey, an area of space crossed by
ship, or as much of it as could be visited. Discovery measured almost a hundred and the orbit of more than a million known asteroids.
twenty-five metres from end to end, but the crew spent most of their time inside a Only four of these were over a hundred kilometres across, but even the smallest
twelve-metre pressurized ball in the centre. could completely destroy the ship. However, the chances of this were very low. The
The central slice of this ball turned continuously, producing an artificial gravity average distance between asteroids was at least a million and a half kilometers.
equal to the gravity of the Moon. That was enough to allow for something like
normal living. 2
The Odyssey: an ancient story by the Greek poet Homer about Odysseus's long journey home from
Like all vehicles designed for deep space travel, Discovery had been put together
war.
in orbit above the Earth.The large numbers of instruments on the outside of her body
12
On Day 86 they were due to make their closest approach to a known asteroid. It minutes for their journey. Though the whole world was looking over their shoulders,
had no name -just the number 7794 and it was a fifty-metre rock that had been watching through their eyes and their instruments as Jupiter approached, it would be
discovered in 1997. almost an hour before the news of their discoveries reached home.
When Bowman came on duty, Hal reminded him of the meeting. The path of Discovery passed within thirty thousand kilometres of Europa, and all instruments
the asteroid against the stars was already on the screens. There was also the information were aimed at the approaching world. Here were twenty-two million square
that 7794 would miss them by only fifteen hundred kilometres, at a relative speed of a kilometres of land which, until this moment, had never been more than a tiny spot in
hundred and thirty thousand kilometres an hour. the best telescope. From a distance it had seemed like an enormous snowball, and
When Bowman asked Hal for the telescopic view, a small number of stars closer observation showed that it really was a brilliant white. Unlike the dusty Moon,
flashed onto the screen. There were a number of points of light, but nothing that its surface was covered with shining objects that looked like large pieces of ice. Almost
looked like an asteroid. certainly these were formed mainly from water that Jupiter's gravity had somehow
' Show me which one it is,' Bowman said, and immediately four lines failed to capture.
appeared on the screen, surrounding a tiny spot of light. He stared at it for many As quickly as it had rushed out of the sky ahead, Europa dropped behind the
minutes, wondering if Hal could be mistaken, then he saw that the spot was moving. ship, and now Jupiter itself was only two hours away. Even though Hal constantly
It might still be half a million kilometres away, but its movement showed that it was checked and rechecked the ship's orbit, it was difficult to believe they were not flying
much closer than anything else they could see. When Poole joined him in the Control straight into the enormous planet.
Room, six hours later, 7794 was much bigger and moving faster against its background. Now was the time to drop the atmospheric probes which, it was hoped, would
They both stared at it. Though they knew that 7794 was only a lifeless piece of rock, it continue to operate long enough to send back some information from below the
was also the only solid thing they would see this side of Jupiter. clouds. As they slowly fell away, it was possible to see that the ship was in a steady
As it raced past them at over thirty-six kilometres a second, the automatic orbit and would circle the planet safely.
cameras took dozens of photographs, which would later be sent back to Earth. And now, for the first time, they were going to lose the Sun. Though it was
Within an hour, 7794 was just a spot of light again. The next time Bowman came much smaller now, it had been with them for the whole of their five-month journey.
on watch, it had gone completely. They were alone again, and would remain alone until As their orbit dived into the shadow of Jupiter, they watched it sink into the great
the first of Jupiter's moons came towards them, three months from now. clouds. There was a moment of flashing lire all along the horizon, then night came.
But the great world below was not wholly dark. Faint rivers of light moved from
Chapter 19 Passing Jupiter horizon to horizon. Here and there they gathered into pools of liquid fire, always
moving, constantly changed by what was happening below. It was a wonderful sight,
Even from thirty million kilometres away, Jupiter was already the biggest object in and it held Poole and Bowman's attention.
the sky ahead. The planet was now a pale pink circle, about half the size of the Moon ' Earth signal is dying rapidly' announced Hal.' We are entering the first silent
when seen from the Earth. Moving around its middle were the bright stars of Io, area.'
Europa, Ganymede and Callista. Each one of them was as big as a planet, but here they They had been expecting this, but they felt a great loneliness. The radio silence
were just satellites of an enormous master. would only last for an hour, but that hour would be the longest of their lives.
In fact, Bowman had not really understood how big Jupiter was until, one day Jupiter was now an enormous wall of fire, stretching out of sight above them
in the electronic library, he saw a picture. It showed the surface of Earth taken off, then and the ship was climbing straight up the side of it. Though they knew they were
fixed like the skin of an animal on the shape of Jupiter. Against this background, all the moving far too quickly for even Jupiter's gravity to capture them, it was hard to believe [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]