It is better by noble boldness to run the risk of being subject to half the evils we anticipate than to remain in cowardly listlessness for fear of what might happen.
(Herodotus)
With bleak face, Oberleutnant Jochen Marseille was staring at the object. It looked like a big steel marble.
“Is that it?” he asked in bewilderment.
“Yeah,” answered the scientist. “That’s it. Der Eisenhans.” (Iron John) “A true beauty, don’t you think?”
“Naw, ugly, a large-sized skittles ball, nothing else. – How do I get in?”
“See the hatch?”
“Which one? There are about ten of them.”
“The large circular one with the fifteen bolts.”
“How do I open it?”
“You don’t. We open it. You climb in. We close it. – After landfall, we open it again. You climb out.”
“No emergency exit?”
“Not at all. You’re in it – and you’ll remain in it until we let you out again.”
Marseille scrunched up his nose.
“Sounds nasty…”
“Not a bit. Remember, the breathing air, the heating and the radio are on your side. You certainly don’t want the vacuum to come in, do you?”
“No windows?”
“No windows, of course not. There are cameras, three of them, here, here and here.” The scientist was pointing to three small apertures. “They can be opened from the inside, once you’re in space. You’ll be able to see what the lenses are depicting. And you’ll have to take photographs with them, a lot of photographs.”
“Photographs of what?”
“Of Earth, of course, young man. The Ivans produced just one good picture with their Sputnik. We want hundreds of them. You’ll do the aiming and adjust the lenses.”
“Ow, fine. What else do I do?”
“Nothing. You’ll just sit, shoot photos and behave. – And yes, you must learn your text. For the radio address.”
“Fantastic. A plum job…”
The scientist guffawed.
“Now, if you survive your plum job, I’ll buy you a beer. – Boy, you’ll famous all over the world.”
“Alas! I’ll be famous anyway, even if Eisenhans burns out…”
(Herodotus)
With bleak face, Oberleutnant Jochen Marseille was staring at the object. It looked like a big steel marble.
“Is that it?” he asked in bewilderment.
“Yeah,” answered the scientist. “That’s it. Der Eisenhans.” (Iron John) “A true beauty, don’t you think?”
“Naw, ugly, a large-sized skittles ball, nothing else. – How do I get in?”
“See the hatch?”
“Which one? There are about ten of them.”
“The large circular one with the fifteen bolts.”
“How do I open it?”
“You don’t. We open it. You climb in. We close it. – After landfall, we open it again. You climb out.”
“No emergency exit?”
“Not at all. You’re in it – and you’ll remain in it until we let you out again.”
Marseille scrunched up his nose.
“Sounds nasty…”
“Not a bit. Remember, the breathing air, the heating and the radio are on your side. You certainly don’t want the vacuum to come in, do you?”
“No windows?”
“No windows, of course not. There are cameras, three of them, here, here and here.” The scientist was pointing to three small apertures. “They can be opened from the inside, once you’re in space. You’ll be able to see what the lenses are depicting. And you’ll have to take photographs with them, a lot of photographs.”
“Photographs of what?”
“Of Earth, of course, young man. The Ivans produced just one good picture with their Sputnik. We want hundreds of them. You’ll do the aiming and adjust the lenses.”
“Ow, fine. What else do I do?”
“Nothing. You’ll just sit, shoot photos and behave. – And yes, you must learn your text. For the radio address.”
“Fantastic. A plum job…”
The scientist guffawed.
“Now, if you survive your plum job, I’ll buy you a beer. – Boy, you’ll famous all over the world.”
“Alas! I’ll be famous anyway, even if Eisenhans burns out…”
