To define it rudely but not ineptly, engineering is the art of doing for ten shillings what any fool can do for a pound.
(Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington)
Barth was a dump; and the school was awkward: wooden sheds, hastily erected, on a greenfield site. Karl-Hermann Leitloff had seen photographs of the prisoner-of-war compounds in the Great War. The barracks had looked just the same. Yeah, this type of hut was also found in the troop camps of the military training areas. Indeed, why change a proven design?
Anyway, the training was alright. One had learnt a lot about sojourn in space – and had familiarised with the spacesuits. Physical testing was complete. There would be a short break now, just a prolonged weekend. Thereupon, one would be lifted into orbit – for the real qualification. Of course not all trainees at once, but Leitloff happened to be among the first batch.
He was a junior certificated electrical engineer working for AEG. The company was sponsoring his kosmonautic formation – and his participation in Arx construction. Erna, his wife, wasn’t quite enthusiastic, but the extra money he was going to earn would allow them to build a house of their own. And, of course, taking part in the Arx adventure should be the steppingstone for a splendid career down here.
They said being hoisted up by one of these Dornier jumbos was a tedious experience. You, clad in your spacesuit complete with nappy, were herded into a DELAG Raumbus, together with twenty-four other folks – and had to sit there for hours. Then, you would be dumped at Raumkolonie, die old orbital station, and had to refurbish the beast. Well, he was going to experience all of it firsthand…
(Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington)
Barth was a dump; and the school was awkward: wooden sheds, hastily erected, on a greenfield site. Karl-Hermann Leitloff had seen photographs of the prisoner-of-war compounds in the Great War. The barracks had looked just the same. Yeah, this type of hut was also found in the troop camps of the military training areas. Indeed, why change a proven design?
Anyway, the training was alright. One had learnt a lot about sojourn in space – and had familiarised with the spacesuits. Physical testing was complete. There would be a short break now, just a prolonged weekend. Thereupon, one would be lifted into orbit – for the real qualification. Of course not all trainees at once, but Leitloff happened to be among the first batch.
He was a junior certificated electrical engineer working for AEG. The company was sponsoring his kosmonautic formation – and his participation in Arx construction. Erna, his wife, wasn’t quite enthusiastic, but the extra money he was going to earn would allow them to build a house of their own. And, of course, taking part in the Arx adventure should be the steppingstone for a splendid career down here.
They said being hoisted up by one of these Dornier jumbos was a tedious experience. You, clad in your spacesuit complete with nappy, were herded into a DELAG Raumbus, together with twenty-four other folks – and had to sit there for hours. Then, you would be dumped at Raumkolonie, die old orbital station, and had to refurbish the beast. Well, he was going to experience all of it firsthand…