He looked at Connel blankly. "Why, sir," he
stammered, "it'd take--take--a _ton_ of reactant fuel to pull something
that size away from Tara. The _Polaris_ is a kiddy car in comparison!"
"You're right, Astro," said Connel, "but there's one thing you've
forgotten. The copper of the satellite itself. That's going to be the
main source of power. The reactant fuel from the _Space Devil_ will
serve only as a starter, a trigger, you might say, to make use of the
copper as fuel!"
Once again Astro gasped. "Then--then--there isn't anything to stop you,
sir," he finished slowly.
Connel smiled. "I know there isn't. I'm going to contact Space Academy
now for permission to pitch the biggest ball in the history of man!"
[Illustration]
CHAPTER 15
"Well, I'll be a star-gazing lunatic!" exclaimed Roger a few minutes
later. "You really think that you can blast this satellite out of its
orbit?"
"Not only that, Manning," said Connel with a smile, "but I might be able
to get it back to our sun faster than we could get back ourselves."
"Why that would be the biggest project ever attempted by man, sir," said
Tom.
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