Chapter 20 Chapter Nineteen Wrestling with the Impossible

For quite a long time, Barbicane and his companions were like Moses looking at the blessed land of Cana (Note: "Bible. Exodus", Moses led the Hebrews out of Egypt, but was punished for doubting the word of Jehovah. Punishment, can only look at the land of Canafu before dying.) same, watching the moon world from afar, without saying a word, lost in thought; The Moon's position has also changed, its base has been turned towards Earth. The change Barbicane perceived surprised him.If the cannonball has to orbit the satellite of the earth in an elliptical orbit, why not turn its bulky part towards the moon as the moon orbits the earth, which is a difficult point.

When we observe the movement of the projectile, we can find that it is leaving the Moon along a curve similar to the one it draws as it approaches the Moon. That dead dead point of offset. This was the correct conclusion Barbicane drew from his observations, and he believed that his two friends agreed with it. So many questions were raised like a heavy rain. Where do we end up when we return to this dead point?Michelle.Adam asked. It's an unknown!Barbicane replied. But I imagine that we can always come up with several hypotheses, right? There are two hypotheses, replied Barbicane.Either the velocity of the projectile is too small, and it will stay on the line on which the two attractive forces are equal, and remain motionless forever.

Whatever the consequences, I'd rather have another hypothesis, Michelle replied. Either the velocity of the projectile is so great, continued Barbicane, that it will follow its elliptical orbit forever round the celestial body of night. Such a run doesn't offer much comfort either, Michele said.We shall become humble servants of the moon, which we have always considered our handmaidens!This is our future. Neither Barbicane nor Nicholl answered. Why are you silent?Michelle asked impatiently. There is nothing to say, Nicholl said. Can't we figure something out? No, do you think we can wrestle with the impossible?replied Barbicane.

Why not?Could it be that a Frenchman and two Americans can back down before the three words "impossible"? What are you willing to do? Take control of this movement that is taking us away! control? Yes, Michelle is getting more and more excited to control or change this movement, and finally let it help us complete our plan. But what to do? It's up to you!Artillery cannot be called artillery unless they are masters of their shells.If the gunner obeys the command of the shell, he should put the gunner in the barrel!These are two beautiful scientists, aren't they!When they put me in the shell, look!They don't know what to do now

get in!Barbicane and Nicholl shouted, come in!What do you mean by that? Let's stop cursing!Michelle said.I'm not complaining!I really enjoyed this walk!Cannonball, I feel good too!But even if we can't land on the moon, we should try our best to land somewhere else. We demanded it too, my honour, Michelle, but there was nothing we could do. Can't we change the motion of the projectile? cannot. Can't it be slowed down too? cannot. Is it not possible to lighten a projectile like an overloaded ship! What do you want to throw out?Nicholl replied.Our projectiles have no ballast.Moreover, it seems to me that perhaps the reduced weight would give the projectile a greater velocity.

Smaller, Michelle said. Bigger, Nicholl countered. Neither big nor small, Barbicane replied, he wanted his two friends to agree, because we were moving in a vacuum, and there was no need to consider the weight of the object itself. Well, Michelle.Adam said loudly in a decisive tone: We only have one thing to do. What's up?Nicholl asked. After breakfast, the calm and courageous Frenchman replied that he always solved problems in this way in the most difficult times. In fact, doing this would have no effect on the direction of the projectile, and we would at least not cause trouble if we attempted it, but it would be very good for the stomach.Seriously, this Michelle is a great idea.

So, they start eating at two in the morning, but time doesn't matter much here.Michel served the usual dishes, culminating in a lovely bottle of wine from his secret cellar.If their minds are not full of wit, let this bottle of 1863 Chambertin be sorry. After breakfast, they resumed their observations.What they had thrown out before remained at the same distance around the projectile, and it was evident that the ball, in its orbit around the moon, encountered no atmosphere, otherwise all these bodies would have changed their velocity by their own weight.Nothing can be seen on the other side of the earth.The earth has entered the new moon period from midnight yesterday, and a crescent moon will appear in another two days. At this time, the moon people can use it as a clock, because the earth rotates, and any point must pass through the same lunar meridian 24 hours later .

On the other side of the moon, the scenery is different.The bright moon is in the sky, and the stars are shining, but although the moonlight is bright, it can't hide the brilliance of the stars; the lunar plain looks gray, just like what you see on the earth, only the halo of Tycho Mountain is still shining, and the center of the crater is particularly dazzling. Like a little sun. Barbicane could not measure the velocity of the projectile, but deduced from the principles of mechanics that the velocity must decrease gradually and regularly. In fact, if it is admitted that the cannonball revolves around the moon, its orbit must be elliptical. According to scientific proof, it must be so, and any object that revolves around a gravitational center cannot violate this law.The orbits of all celestial bodies in the universe are elliptical, whether they are satellites orbiting planets, planets orbiting the sun, or the orbit of the sun orbiting an unknown gravitational center, why the projectiles of the Cannon Club Can this law of nature be violated?

However, in an elliptical orbit, the center of gravity always occupies one of the two centers of the ellipse.Therefore, the satellite is sometimes closer to its gravitational center, and sometimes farther away from it.The point where the earth is closest to the sun is called perihelion, and the point farthest from the sun is called aphelion.As for the Moon, its closest point to Earth is called perigee, and its furthest point from Earth is called apogee.If the projectile really becomes a lunar satellite, we should enrich the language of astronomy, and so on, calling the place closest to the moon the perilunar point, and the place farthest from the moon the aphelion point.

The velocity of the projectile is greatest at the perilunate and minimum at the aphelon, and it is clear that the projectile is now traveling towards the aphelon.Barbicane naturally had reason to think that the velocity of the projectile would gradually decrease until it reached the aphelion, and then increase gradually as it approached the moon.If the aphelion of the projectile overlaps with the dead point where the gravitational forces of the earth and the moon are equal, its velocity is even equal to zero. When Barbicane was studying the consequences of these different situations one by one, trying to find a way out, he was suddenly caught by Michel.Adam's cry interrupted his train of thought.

oops!exclaimed Michel, it must be admitted that we are all complete fools! I have no objection, replied Barbicane, but why? Because we have a very simple way to slow down our speed away from the moon, but we don't use it. any solution? Use the recoil of our rockets. That's true, Nicholl said. We have not used this power till now, it is true, said Barbicane, but we will use it in the future. when?Michelle asked. when you need to use it.Note, my friends, that in the position of the projectile and the inclination of the lunar surface, our rockets can only change its direction, not to align it with the moon, but to divert it from it.Aren't you determined to go to the moon? Of course, Michelle replied. Please wait a little longer.Due to an unexplained effect, the base of the projectile is gradually turning towards the Earth.It is likely that at the dead point, where the two gravitational forces are equal, the top of its cone will be absolutely aligned with the Moon.At this time, we want its speed to be equal to zero.This will be our moment of action.Perhaps with the help of rockets, we can land directly on the moon. OK!cried Michelle. We didn't do that in the past, we weren't able to do it the first time we went through the dead point because the velocity of the projectile itself was too high at that time. Makes sense, Nicholl said. Let us wait patiently a little longer, continued Barbicane, we must use all our trump cards, and, after going through such a stage of sorrow and disappointment, I am beginning to believe that we will achieve our goal! This conclusion won Michelle.Adam's applause.None of these three brave lunatics thought of the resolution they had just made: No!The moon is most likely uninhabitable!Nevertheless, they still want to do everything possible to get to the moon! Now there is only one problem left to be solved: When will the projectile reach the dead point where the two gravitational forces are equal?At this moment, the three travelers can put all their eggs in one basket. To calculate this moment, Barbicane had only to refer to his travel notes and indicate the height of the projectile at several latitudes of the Moon, with an error of at most a few seconds.Therefore, the time for the projectile to reach the dead point from the South Pole should be equal to the time from the dead point to the North Pole.Now that the times of passage through various points are carefully recorded, it is easy to calculate the moment. Barbicane calculated that the projectile should reach the dead point at one o'clock in the morning on December 8th.It is now three o'clock in the morning on December 7th.Therefore, if the projectile is not disturbed, it will reach the designated point after twenty-two hours: the dead point. In order to slow down the speed of the shell landing on the moon, the rocket has long been arranged.Now these three brave men are going to make them have the diametrically opposite effect.In any case, the rocket is ready and ready to launch when the time comes. Since there is nothing to do now, said Nicholl, I am going to make a suggestion. any suggestion?asked Barbicane. I recommend sleeping. sleep!Michelle.Adam said loudly. We hadn't closed our eyes for forty hours, Nicholl said, and a few hours of sleep could restore all our strength. I'm not going to sleep, Michele retorted. Well, went on Nicholl, then let each other do what he wants, I'm going to sleep! Nicholl lay on the sofa and soon fell asleep like a 48mm shell. This Nicholl is very insightful, said Barbicane at once, and I will follow his example. After a while, his deep bass came to the accompaniment of the captain's baritone. To be sure, Michelle.When Ah Dang saw that he was alone, he said that these practical people can sometimes come up with timely ideas. Then Michele stretched out his long legs too, and, using his thick arms as pillows, fell asleep hastily. But their sleep is neither long nor restful.The three of them had too many thoughts, and after a few hours, around seven o'clock in the morning, they got up at the same time. The projectile is always getting farther and farther away from the moon, and its conical part is turned more and more towards the moon.This is a hitherto unexplained phenomenon, which fortunately fits exactly what Barbicane's plan required. With seventeen hours to go, the time for action is approaching. The day seemed long.No matter how brave the three travelers were, they were still very excited when the decisive moment approached: either they landed on the moon, or they orbited the moon forever in a constant orbit.They counted the time from hour to hour and felt that time was passing slowly.Barbicane and Nicholl were lost in their figures.Michelle walked back and forth among the narrow ring walls, gazing greedily at the impassive moon. Sometimes memories from Earth flashed through their minds very quickly.They revisited the friends of the Cannon Club, one of the closest being Maston.The Honorable Secretary is probably at his post in the Rocky Mountains by now.What would he have thought if he had seen a projectile in the mirror of a great telescope?He saw the projectile disappear at the Moon's South Pole, and then see it reappear at the North Pole!The projectile is now a satellite of a satellite!Maston has even sent this unexpected news to the whole world. Could it be that this is the end of this great cause? However, the day passed without incident.Midnight on Earth has come.It will start on December 8th.In one hour, we will reach the dead dead point where the two gravitational forces are equal.What is the velocity of the projectile now?We can't estimate yet.But the figures calculated by Barbicane are infallible. At one o'clock in the morning, the velocity of the projectile should be zero, and it must be zero. In addition, another phenomenon can also be used as a sign that the projectile has reached the dead point.Here, the gravitational pull of the Earth and the Moon completely cancels out.The object no longer has weight.This rare fact, which had so surprised Barbicane and his companions on the arrival, should be reproduced under the same conditions on the return.It is time for them to act. The conical top of the projectile has turned visibly toward the Moon.The shell had to be oriented so that it could take advantage of the full recoil of the rocket, and we three travelers had good luck, so to speak.If the velocity of the projectile were absolutely zero at the dead point, no force, however small, could propel it toward the moon, where it would land. Fifty-five past twelve, said Nicholl. All ready, Michelle.Ardan replied, and stretched a ready fuse to the flame of the gas lamp. Wait a minute, said Barbicane, holding his watch in his hand. Precisely at this moment, gravity suddenly no longer has any effect.The travelers also realized that their weight had completely disappeared.Even if they haven't reached the dead still point, at least they are not far from the dead still point! one o'clock!said Barbicane. Michelle.Ardan brought the lit fuse close to a fire wire connected to the rocket.Due to lack of air, no explosion was heard in the room.Barbicane saw a cloud of smoke through the porthole, but the combustion was immediately extinguished. A vibration was visibly felt inside the projectile. The three friends looked at each other, held their breath, and listened silently.In the absolute silence, we could almost hear their hearts beating. Are we already landing?Michelle.Adam finally asked. No, replied Nicholl, since the base of the projectile had not turned towards the Moon! At this moment Barbicane suddenly left the window, and turning to his two companions, his face was terribly pale, his brows were scowled, and his lips were tightly shut. We landed!He said. ah!Landing on the moon?Michelle.Adam cried. Come down to earth!replied Barbicane. hell!Michelle.exclaimed Ardan, and then he added, like a philosopher: Very good!When we first entered the shell, we were very skeptical. It might not be easy to get out from here! In fact, the dreaded descent had already begun.The velocity of the projectile itself carried it to the other side of the dead point, and the explosion of the rocket could not slow down its velocity.This speed, which once carried the projectile across the dead line when it came, will also carry it when it returns.Physics requires that the projectile re-pass each point on its elliptical orbit through which it has passed. It was a terrible descent from a height of seventy-eight thousand leagues, and no force could moderate its speed.According to the laws of ballistics, the projectile must hit the earth with a velocity equal to the velocity at which it left the Columbia, that is, at the last 16,000 kilometers per second. For comparison, it has been calculated that a body thrown from the bell tower of Notre-Dame de Paris, which is only 200 feet high, reaches the road at a speed of 120 leagues an hour.Here, too, the projectile would hit the earth at fifty-seven thousand six hundred leagues an hour. We're done, Nicholl said calmly. Well, if we die, replied Barbicane, with a tone resembling religious zeal, our travels will be even greater!God is going to tell us His secrets directly.In that other world, the soul knows everything without machines or instruments!It has merged with eternal wisdom! well said!Michelle.Adam replied that a whole other world would certainly give us great comfort, so that we would no longer feel sorry for this tiny celestial body called the moon! Barbicane folded his arms across his breast in a sublime gesture of resignation. Let us obey the arrangement of God!He said.