Mars (Planet) -- Fiction; Martians -- Fiction; Science fiction; Space travelers -- Fiction
On this little planet the acceleration of gravity or the velocity
acquired by a falling body in one second was only four-fifths of an
inch. A body required an entire minute to fall a distance of only 120
feet. Consequently, it was more like gradually settling than falling. The
figures of these men of science, rising and sinking in this manner,
appeared like so many gigantic marionettes bobbing up and down in a
pneumatic bottle.
"Let us try that," said Mr. Edison, very much interested in the
experiments.
A Delightful Experience.
Both of us jumped together. At first, with great swiftness, but gradually
losing speed, we rose to an immense height straight from the ground. When
we had reached the utmost limit of our flight we seemed to come to rest
for a moment, and then began slowly, but with accelerated velocity,
to sink back again to the planet. It was not only a peculiar but a
delicious sensation, and but for strict orders which were issued that
the electrical ships should be immediately prepared for departure, our
entire company might have remained for an indefinite period enjoying
this new kind of athletic exercise in a world where gravitation had
become so humble that it could be trifled with.
While the final preparations for departure were being made, Lord
Kelvin instituted other experiments that were no less unique in their
results. The experience of those who had taken unpremeditated flights in
elliptical orbits when they had run from the vicinity of the Martians
suggested the throwing of solid objects in various directions from the
surface of the planet in order to determine the distance that they would
go and the curves they would describe in returning.
Mars, the Death-Dealing Planet, at Length at Hand!
For these experiments there was nothing more convenient or abundant
than chunks of gold from the Martians' mine. These, accordingly, were
hurled in various directions, and with every degree of velocity. A little
calculation had shown that an initial velocity of thirty feet per second
imparted to one of these chunks, moving at right angles to the radius
of the asteroid, would, if the resistance of an almost inappreciable
atmosphere were neglected, suffice to turn the piece of gold into
a little satellite that would describe an orbit around the asteroid,
and continue to do so forever, or at least until the slight atmospheric
resistance should eventually bring it down to the surface.
But a less velocity than thirty feet per second would cause the golden
missile to fly only part way around, while a greater velocity would give
it an elliptical instead of a circular orbit, and in this ellipse it would
continue to revolve around the asteroid in the character of a satellite.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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