Chapter 4 CHAPTER THREE THEY HAVE A HOME HERE

The answer, though strange, is absolutely correct.After the three friends got this answer, they immediately fell asleep again.Where could they find a more peaceful and still place than here?On the earth, whether it is a house in a city or a hut in a country, it is affected by the vibration of the earth's crust.At sea, ships are pitched by waves, nothing but bumps and waves.In the sky, the balloon always sinks and floats in the air layer with different air density.Only this projectile, floating in absolute vacuum and absolute silence, can bring absolute silence to its guest.Therefore, if they had not been awakened by a sudden sound around eight o'clock in the morning on December 2nd, that is to say, eight hours after their departure, they might have remained sound asleep.Apparently it was the barking of dogs.

dog!This is the sound of a dog barking!Michelle.Ah Dang got up and said loudly. They're hungry, Nicholl said. oops!Michelle said we had forgotten them! where are theyasked Barbicane. They searched for a while before they found one under the couch.Shocked and frightened by the first impact, it hid in this corner until hunger compelled it to cry. This was the lovely Diana, who, after many calls, shyly left her refuge.Now, Michelle.Adam has been politely encouraging it to show its courage. Come out, Diana, he said, come, my daughter!You, your fate must be recorded in the history of dogs!You, those cultists will definitely invite you to be the companion of Anubis (Note: the god of death in Egyptian mythology). Christians will also invite you to be with St. Once, when he fell ill in the wilderness, a dog rescued him.) Be friends!If, like the bark that Jupiter gave to the beautiful goddess Europa for a kiss, if the devil in hell wants to set up a bronze statue for you, you deserve it too!You, your fame will surpass those heroes of the Mondard and St. Bernard's Hill!You rush into interstellar space, maybe you will be the Eve of the moon dog; you, you will prove that Tusner (Note: French journalist and writer in the nineteenth century) is correct in the sky, he said: God created Man, seeing how weak he was, gave him another dog!Come on, Diana!come here!

We don't know whether Diana was happy to hear this, but she came out without haste, whining and chirping. very good!I have seen Eve, says Barbicane, but where is Adam? Adam?Michelle replied that Adam wouldn't be too far away!It's always somewhere nearby, you have to call for it!satellite!Come here, satellite! But the satellite didn't show up.Diana was still humming.They checked that he wasn't hurt, so they brought him a pot of appetite stimulant food, and he stopped whining.The satellite seems to be missing.It took them a long time to find it in a cell on top of the projectile, and it was inexplicable that the first impact should have knocked it here.The poor animal, who had suffered the most, looked pitiful.

hell!Michelle says it won't acclimate! They took the poor dog down with great care.The dome had crushed its head, and it seemed to be struggling to regain consciousness.Still, they made him snuggle up on a cushion, and he let out a sort of sigh. We'll take care of you, Michelle said.We should be responsible for your life.I'd rather lose an arm myself than have my poor satellite lose a paw!As he spoke, he brought some water to the dog, which he drank greedily. After the two dogs were taken care of, the three travelers re-observed the earth and the moon carefully.The earth still looked like a gray disc with a narrow crescent beside it, only narrower than the night before; and it seemed even more gigantic compared with the disc which was getting closer and closer to a full circle.

oops!Michelle.Adam said, It's annoying, why don't we start when the earth is full moon, that is to say, when our earth and the sun are far away from each other? Why?Nicholl asked. For, if that were the case, we would see the shape of our continents and oceans, the continents shining brightly in the reflection of the sun, and the oceans a slightly duller color, as some world maps depict!I wish I could see the poles of the earth, human eyes have never seen them! Of course, Barbicane replied, but if the earth is exactly full moon, then the moon is exactly new moon, that is to say, we cannot see the moon when the sun shines on it.But for us, it is better to see the destination than the starting point.

You are right, Barbicane, said Captain Nicholl, and besides, when we reach the moon, we will have plenty of time to watch our fellow ants wriggling on it like ants at leisure during the long lunar night. And the earth! Our kind!Michelle.Adam said loudly.They are no more of our kind now than the Moonmen are of our kind!In this new world we now inhabit, that is, in this projectile, we are the only three of a kind!I am Barbicane's kind, and Barbicane is Nicholl's kind.There are no other human beings but us, and the three of us are all the inhabitants of this miniature world until the moment we become ordinary lunar people.

About eighty-eight hours later, the captain corrected him. Since when did you start counting Michelle.Adam asked. Half past eight, Nicholl replied. Very well, said Michel again, there is no reason why we should not have breakfast right away. For the inhabitants of this new celestial body cannot live without food, and their stomachs are also governed by the inescapable law of hunger.As a Frenchman, Michelle.Ah Dang declared himself a great chef, an important position that no one could compete with him.The gas supplied him with sufficient fire for his cooking, and the larder provided him with the ingredients for his first feast.

Breakfast starts with three cups of delicious thick soup, which is made with pampas grassland (Note: also known as South American grassland or Argentine grassland. Distributed in the southern part of the La Plata Plain, including Uruguay, eastern Argentina, southern Brazil, etc.) Precious Liebig biscuits made from the fattest cuts of ruminants are hot watered.The beef bisque was followed by a few compressed steaks, as tender and delicious as the steaks in British cafes.Michelle's imagination is so rich that he even said that the steaks were a little bloody.After the steak came canned vegetables, fresher than fresh, according to lovely Michelle, and finally, in the American fashion, tea and buttered toast.Everyone said that this drink tasted very good, and it was brewed with the best tea leaves presented by the Russian Tsar.The Tsar sent several boxes of these teas to the three travelers.

At last, to round off the feast, Ardan procured a bottle of Nocturne, which he said he had found by chance on a pantry shelf, and the three friends toasted the great unity of the Earth and its moons. Then, as if the bottle of mellow wine brewed on the slopes of Burgogne wasn't enough, the sun came to the party.At this moment, the projectile stepped out of the conical shadow cast by the earth, and the rays of the brilliant celestial body, due to the angular relationship between the orbit of the moon and the earth, fell directly on the bottom of the shell. sun!Michelle.Adam yelled. No doubt, replied Barbic, I have been waiting for it.

However, Michel said, can the conical shadow left by the earth in space extend to the outside of the moon? Can extend far beyond the moon, if you don't take into account the refraction of the atmosphere, Barbicane said.However, whenever the moon enters the shadow of the earth, it is because the centers of the three celestial bodies, the sun, the earth and the moon, are exactly in a straight line. If the moon is full, a lunar eclipse may occur.It would be inconvenient if we set off during a lunar eclipse and we would have to stay in the shadows all the way. Why? For, although our projectile floats in a vacuum, we are able to withstand the rays and heat of the sun.We can thus save gas, which is always advisable anyway.

In fact, with no atmosphere to cool the sun's rays, the projectile was warm and bright, as if winter had suddenly turned into summer.Above was the moon, below was the sun, and the light from both sides made the projectile radiant. How comfortable it is here!Nicholl said. I'm feeling it too!Michelle.Adam said loudly.With just a layer of humus on our aluminum planet, we can grow green peas in twenty-four hours.I'm only worried about one thing, I hope the shell walls don't melt! Be at ease, my esteemed friend, replied Barbicane.Projectiles are already subjected to higher temperatures as they pass through the atmosphere.I wouldn't be surprised if it looked like a flaming bolide to Florida audiences. Maston probably thought we were baked! It amazes me, replied Barbicane, that we are not scorched.This is a danger that we did not foresee in advance. I was worried, too, Nicholl said nonchalantly. But you didn't tell us, noble Captain, Michelle.Adam held his companion's hand and said loudly. At this time, Barbicane was arranging the interior of the projectile, as if he would never leave this place again.As we recall, the base of this skycar was fifty-four square feet.Twelve feet high up to the vault, all the travel implements and utensils inside were carefully arranged, and everything was kept in its proper place, thus leaving leeway for the three guests.The panes at the bottom are thick enough to bear the enormous weight.Barbicane and his companions were thus able to walk to and fro, as if on a floor; but the sun's rays came directly from below, and left many strange shadows within the projectile. They started by checking the water and food boxes.The two containers did not suffer any damage due to the shockproof installation.The food is plentiful and can feed three travelers for a whole year.This was what Barbicane had prepared in advance for the eventual landing of a projectile in an absolutely barren region of the Moon.As for water and fifty gallons of brandy, it was only enough for two months.But, according to recent observations by astronomers, the moon has a thin atmosphere, very dense, at least in the deep valleys, and will not lack streams and water sources.Thus the three intrepid explorers were freed from hunger and thirst during their journey and for a year after they settled down on the lunar continent. What remains is the question of the air inside the projectile.That's no problem either.There was enough potassium chlorate in the Raytheon and Legnio units for two months.Of course, some gas needs to be consumed here, because the materials that produce oxygen must be kept at a high temperature of 400 degrees.This is no problem either, as gas is plentiful.The device is automatic and just needs to be tended at any time.Potassium chlorate turns into potassium chloride after reaching this temperature, releasing all the contained oxygen.How much oxygen can eighteen pounds of potassium chlorate produce?Capable of producing seven pounds of oxygen, enough to supply the projectile's guests for consumption. However, it is not enough to replace the oxygen alone, it is also necessary to absorb the exhaled carbon dioxide.The air in the shell was then, after twelve hours, filled with this poisonous gas, released by the combustion of the elements of the blood with the inhaled oxygen.Nicholl knew there was something wrong with the air as soon as he saw Diana struggling to breathe.The same thing happened in the famous Dog Cave because of the weight and the carbon dioxide always sinks under the air.Poor Diana always hangs her head, and naturally suffers earlier than her master.Captain Nicholl rushed to the rescue.He took out several containers containing caustic potash from the innermost part of the projectile, shook them a few times, and then placed them on the ground. This material is very easy to absorb carbon dioxide gas, so the poisonous gas was completely absorbed in a short time, and the inside of the projectile was reborn. Filled with fresh air. Now start inventorying the instruments.All the thermometers and barometers survived the impact except the glass tube of the lowest thermometer which was shattered.They took out a fine aneroid gauge from a box stuffed with cotton wool and hung it on the wall.Of course, it can only withstand the air pressure inside the projectile and give instructions.But it can also indicate the humidity of the air.Its pointer is now oscillating between 735 and 760 millimeters, indicating that it is sunny now. Barbicane also brought several compasses, none of which were damaged. We can understand that in the present environment, the compass will only turn wildly around, without a certain direction, because the shell is too far away from the earth, and the magnetic force at the poles cannot have a noticeable effect on the instrument.But on the moon, it may be possible to measure special phenomena there.In any case, it is always interesting to be able to verify whether the earth's satellites are also affected by magnetism like the earth; there is also a boiling point altimeter for measuring the height of the mountains on the moon, a sextant for measuring the altitude of the sun, and a theodolite.It was a geodetic instrument used to map out plans and measure angles to the horizon, and finally a telescope that was extremely useful when approaching the Moon.All these instruments have been carefully checked, and despite the violent vibrations during the departure, they are all intact. As for all the utensils, picks, pickaxes and various tools carefully selected by Nicholl, as well as Michel.The saplings and bags of seeds that Adam was going to plant on the moon were still in the original corners of the upper layer of the paraboloid.Above it was a sort of barn, in which the profligate Frenchman had piled up a great deal.No one knew what was in it, and the merry lad never told them.He often climbed up the studs fixed to the wall as escalators, and climbed to his warehouse to inspect.He tidied here and there, and as he fiddled quickly with one hand into several mysterious boxes, he sang an old chorus of French songs in an out-of-tune voice, and his voice was overwhelming. The current environment adds a little joy to the atmosphere. Barbicane was pleased to see that his rockets and other guns were intact.These powerful firearms can reduce the speed of descent when the projectile descends due to the gravitational force of the moon after passing the line of weightlessness.Due to the difference in mass between the two celestial bodies, the falling speed of the objects on the moon is one-sixth of the falling speed of the objects on the earth. The inspection was over, and all three were satisfied.Then, they returned to the windows on the sides and bottom, and continued to observe the space. Same sight.The sky is full of densely packed stars and constellations, bright and clean, and a spectacle that can make astronomers go crazy with joy.On this side was the sun, its brilliant disk without halo, like the mouth of a blazing furnace, rising sharply against the black background of the sky.On the other side was the moon, which stood as if motionless in the center of the star-world, casting the reflection of the sun on infinite space.In addition, there is a black disc with a silver line on one side, as if someone poked a big and black hole in the sky. This is our earth.Here and there, clusters of nebulae seem to be huge snowflakes in the star world. From the zenith to the nadir, hangs a ring-shaped white belt composed of fine sand-like stars. This is the Milky Way. In the Milky Way, the sun is just a It's just a fourth-class star! Faced with such a novel and indescribable scenery, the three observers could hardly move their eyes away.How thought-provoking all this is, what novel emotions it awakens in their souls!Under the control of this emotion, Barbicane began to write his diary of his journey to the moon. He recorded one by one what happened every hour at the beginning.He wrote quietly in his thick, square font and somewhat commercial style. At this moment, the mathematician Nicholl re-studied his orbital formula and calculated the numbers very skillfully.Michelle.Ardan chatted with Barbicane for a while, but Barbicane ignored him; chatted with Nicholl for a while, but Nicholl didn't listen to him at all; In the end, I had to talk to myself, ask myself questions, walk over, walk over, feel here and there, look here and there, bend down to look at the window below, climb up to the projectile vault, and sing in a low voice.In this miniature world, he is the embodiment of French restlessness and chatter, and the reader must be reminded that he is well deserved. On this day, or rather because the term is inaccurate, the twelve hours that make up a single day on Earth, the last event is a well-cooked, good dinner.Until now, there has not been an accident that can shake the confidence of the three travelers.So they fell asleep in the confidence of certain victory, while the projectile was moving across the sky at an average rate of diminishing speed.