The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1933-03-23
Explorers Fail to Pierce
Atmosphere of Two
Planets.
BY DAVID DIETZ
Scripps- Howard Science Editor

' planet of beauty and mys-
terry, beckons to us. Let us leave
the arid and scorched-up rocky
plateaus of the planet Mercury.
Wednesday we brought our rocket
ship to rest upon Mercury, smallest
of all of the planets and closest to
the sun. We had a marvellous OPP
portunity to study the sun for it APP
peared three times as large in the
black sky of Mercury as it does
from the earth.
But the rocky surface of Mercury,
baking in the suns direct rays, is
as hot as the top of a red-hot
stove. 1t is too uncomfortable for
us to stay long.
Propelled by Blasts
Our rocket ship is propelled by the
recoil of escaping blasts of gas. If
you ever have shot gun, you will
recall how it kicked against your
shoulder at the instant the shell
exploded. The expanding gases, re-
leased by the explosion of the
powder not only hurled the bullet
out of the muzzle, but also hurled
the gun against your shoulder.
The kick Of the gun illustrates one
of the fundamental laws of the
universe. known to scientists as
"Newton's third law of motion" 1t
says: ITO every action there is an
equal and contrary reaction"
We start the motors Of the rocket
ship. Actually they are pumps or
compressors whose function is to
push out at high pressure. the blasts
of gas. We release a series of blasts
through the elevator tubes.
AS a result the nose of our rocket
ship lifts up and our snip stands
balanced upon its tail, making an
angle of As degrees with the ground
Rudders of No Use
Next, we push the lever which
releases the blasts from the large
tubes at the back of the ship. At
once we start moving off into space
These large tubes, the propeller
tubes, look somewhat like the big
guns of a battleship. Like the guns
of a battleship they can be swung
from left to right, pointed up or
down. That is what makes it pos
sible to steer the rocket ship.
Rudders are Of no use in empty
space. We change the direction of
our ship by altering the angle at
which the propeller blasts are re-
leased.
Once above the mountains of
Mercury, we alter the course Of our
rocket ship and turn our backs
upon the sun. Now we can remove
the heavy violet-tinted glass shades
from the windows of the control
room. We needed them yesterday
when we were flying directly to-
ward the intensely bright sun.
Today, with the sun behind us,
we can enjoy the full beauty of the
starry sky.
Look Back on Earth
At intervals among the stars we
note brighter objects. They are the
planets. Our attention is arrested
by what seems to be double planet,
like a small planet circling about
a larger one. After a moment, the
surprising fact comes home to us.
We are looking at our own earth
and moon. We realize that this is
the way the earth-moon system
must look from any. Of the other
planets.
Perhaps, if there are inhabitants
on any of these other planets, they
call our earth moon system the
double planet"
Brightest of all the plants is
Venus. 1t shines the brightest like
wise when the heavens are viewed
from earth. Its brightness gives We
nus its beauty, but its brightness
springs from its mystery.
Venus appears so bright in the sky
DSCd USE IL - sui OOAlQCQ Will IlGdNy ,
dense clouds. Telescopes on earth
never have been able to penetrate
this blanket Of white Occasionally,
the telescope reveals a little dark
spot.
Hover Over Venus
Astronomers believe that is caused
by the clouds hanging low for the
moment, permitting mountain
summit to poke through.
We are approaching Venus with
speed of 100000 miles an hour,
and as a result. the planet rapidly
grows larger and larger. 1t grows
brighter, too, but no less mysterious
1t looks like some great sphere of
milky glass, or like a translucent
pearl of gigantic size.
Soon we are lowering directly
above the planets atmosphere. Be
low us are the white and ghostly
cloud banks, drifting and swirling
Now and then. as they part a tiny
bit. we catch the outline of a snow
covered mountain top.
We turn our most powerful bat
terry of searchlights upon the clouds
but they do not help us at all. The
particles OF fog catch the RAYS Of