A Journey in Other Worlds [39]
considerably more conspicuous than on Deimos, and there were
boulders and loose stones upon their slopes, which looked as if
there might at some time have been frost and water on its
surface; but it was all dry now, neither was there any air. The
evidences of volcanic action were also plainly visible, while a
noticeable flattening at the poles showed that the little body
had once rotated rapidly on its axis, though whether it did so
still they had not time to ascertain. When abreast of it they
were less than two miles distant, and they secured several
instantaneous impressions, which they put aside to develop later.
As the radius of Phobos's circle was far shorter than that of the
parabolic curve they were making, it began to draw away, and was
rapidly left behind. Applying the full apergetic force to Mars
and the larger moon, they shot away like an arrow, having had
their speed increased by the planet's attraction while
approaching it, and subsequently by repulsion.
"Either of those," said Bearwarden, looking back at the little
satellites, "would be a nice yacht for a man to explore space on.
He would also, of course, need a sun to warm him, if he wished to
go beyond this system, but that would not have to be a large
affair--in fact, it might be smaller than the planet, and could
revolve about it like a moon."
"Though a sun of that size," replied Cortlandt, "might retain its
heat for the time you wished to use it, the planet part would be
nothing like as comfortable as what we have here, for it would be
very difficult to get enough air-pressure to breathe on so small
a body, since, with its slight gravitation-pull, to secure
fifteen pounds to the square inch, or anything like it, the
atmosphere would have to extend thousands of miles into space, so
that on a cloudy day you would be in darkness. It would be
better, therefore, to have such a sun as you describe and
accompany it in a yacht or private car like this, well stocked
with oxygen and provisions. When passing through meteoric swarms
or masses of solid matter, collision with which is the most
serious risk we run, the car could follow behind its sun instead
of revolving around it, and be kept from falling into it by
partially reversing the attraction. As the gravitation of so
small a sun would be slight, counteracting it for even a
considerable time would take but little from the batteries."
"There are known to be several unclaimed masses," added Ayrault,
"with diameters of a few hundred yards, revolving about the earth
inside the orbit of the moon. If in some way two of these could
be brought into sufficiently violent collision, they would become
luminous and answer very well; the increase in bulk as a result
of the consolidation, and the subsequent heat, about serving to
bring them to the required size. Whenever this sun showed spots
and indications of cooling, it could be made to collide with the
solid head of some comet, or small asteroid, till its temperature
was again right; while if, as a result of these accretions, it
became unwieldy, it could be caused to rotate with sufficient
rapidity on its axis to split, and we should have two suns
instead of one."
"Bravo!" said Bearwarden. "There is no limit to what can be
done. The idea of our present trip would have seemed more
chimerical to people a hundred years ago than this new scheme
appears now."
Thus they sat and talked, or studied maps and star- charts, or
the stars themselves, while the hours quickly passed and they
shot through space. They had now a straight stretch of over
three hundred million miles, and had to cross the orbits of
innumerable asteroids on the way. The apparent size of the sun
had by this time considerably decreased, and the interior of the
Callisto was no longer uncomfortably warm. They divided the day
into twenty-four hours from force of habit, and drew the shades
tightly during what they considered night, while Bearwarden
distinguished himself as a cook.