"That's the largest teleceiver screen in the universe," he
said. "The most powerful. And it's showing you a picture of the
Andromeda Galaxy, thousands of light years away. Most of the lights you
see there are no more than that, just light, their stars, or suns,
having long ago exploded or burned. But the light continues to travel,
taking thousands of years to reach our solar system."
"But--but--" gasped Tom. "How can you be so accurate with this screen?
It looks as though we were smack in the center of the galaxy itself!"
"There's a fifty-inch telescope attached to the screen," Scott replied,
"which is equal to the big one-thousand-inch 'eye' back at the Academy."
"Why is that, sir?" asked Roger.
"You don't get any distortion from atmosphere up here," replied the
young officer.
As Tom and Roger walked silently among the men at the teleceiver
screens, Scott continued to explain. "This is where you'll be, Manning,"
he said, indicating a large radarscope scanner a little to one side and
partially hidden from the glow of the huge teleceiver screen. "We need a
man on watch here twenty-four hours a day, though there isn't much doing
between midnight and eight A.
Pages:
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69