"Touchdown!" yelled Tom and began securing the ship. Two minutes later
the entire crew faced Major Connel for briefing.
"We'll all go out to different parts of the satellite and make
geological tests," announced Connel. "We'll pair off, two to a jet boat.
Astro and Roger, Alfie and Mr. Shinny, Tom and myself. This is a simple
test." He held up a delicate instrument and a vial full of colorless
liquid. "You simply pour a little of this liquid, about a spoonful, on
the ground, wait about five minutes, and then stick the end of this into
the spot where you poured the liquid." He held up a two-foot steel shaft
a quarter inch in diameter, fastened to a clock-face gauge with numbers
from one to a thousand. The other end of the shaft was needle sharp.
"When you stick this into the ground, there'll be a reading on the
meter. Relay it to me. This way well get an estimate of the amount of
copper in a three-mile area for a depth of a hundred feet. It must be
more than two hundred tons per square mile to make it worth while!"
He held up the testing equipment for all to see and explained its use
once more.
Pages:
154
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163
164
165
166
167
168
169
170
171
172
173
174
175
176
177
178