Nothing happens unless something moves.
(Albert von Einstein)
The Feuerdrache was almost ready; two more months and it was going to fly. Jochen Zeislitz liked climbing through the bus and monitoring progress. It was far better than the Hammer had been. The old warhorse had been a primitive prototype. The Feuerdrache was a real space cruiser. It was huge, a spacious bulb where the Hammer had been a narrow stick. And the unit accommodating gun, shock absorbers and pusher plate could be replaced.
A pity he couldn’t pilot the bus. Well, Sigmund Jähn would be up to the task; that was the good news. The lad was very much like Jochen: a boy of humble origins, who had volunteered for the Luftwaffe, had qualified as a fighter pilot and been accepted to become a space jockey. He and his co-pilots Heinz Grabowski and Wilfried Thalhammer were well trained and in excellent condition.
Okay, they wouldn’t fly to Mars or Jupiter, at least not right away. Hoisting stuff up to the Moon and arming the model fusion ship were going to be their first assignments. That was good exercise, even if rather unspectacular. A special load dock was currently built for the Feuerdrache – to facilitate turnover of goods. And the ship would have a ramp for unloading.
Jochen had seen the plans. The ramp wouldn’t be useable on earth, but in low gravity it would do. That was the drawback of the Feuerdrache’s design: the load bays were located high up in the spherical part, above the bulge that harboured the landing legs. There also were cranes for lifting – or lowering – equipment, but that was considered too slow for rapid turnover.
Preparations for building Alpha, Beta, Gamma and Delta – or rather their building lots – were well in train. Once the Feuerdrache had cleared the construction site, the dozers and backhoes would rush in. And training of the future pilots was due to begin. Twenty-four newbies… Twelve of them were to man Alpha to Delta, die other twelve were backups – and perhaps later the jockeys of Epsilon to Theta.
(Albert von Einstein)
The Feuerdrache was almost ready; two more months and it was going to fly. Jochen Zeislitz liked climbing through the bus and monitoring progress. It was far better than the Hammer had been. The old warhorse had been a primitive prototype. The Feuerdrache was a real space cruiser. It was huge, a spacious bulb where the Hammer had been a narrow stick. And the unit accommodating gun, shock absorbers and pusher plate could be replaced.
A pity he couldn’t pilot the bus. Well, Sigmund Jähn would be up to the task; that was the good news. The lad was very much like Jochen: a boy of humble origins, who had volunteered for the Luftwaffe, had qualified as a fighter pilot and been accepted to become a space jockey. He and his co-pilots Heinz Grabowski and Wilfried Thalhammer were well trained and in excellent condition.
Okay, they wouldn’t fly to Mars or Jupiter, at least not right away. Hoisting stuff up to the Moon and arming the model fusion ship were going to be their first assignments. That was good exercise, even if rather unspectacular. A special load dock was currently built for the Feuerdrache – to facilitate turnover of goods. And the ship would have a ramp for unloading.
Jochen had seen the plans. The ramp wouldn’t be useable on earth, but in low gravity it would do. That was the drawback of the Feuerdrache’s design: the load bays were located high up in the spherical part, above the bulge that harboured the landing legs. There also were cranes for lifting – or lowering – equipment, but that was considered too slow for rapid turnover.
Preparations for building Alpha, Beta, Gamma and Delta – or rather their building lots – were well in train. Once the Feuerdrache had cleared the construction site, the dozers and backhoes would rush in. And training of the future pilots was due to begin. Twenty-four newbies… Twelve of them were to man Alpha to Delta, die other twelve were backups – and perhaps later the jockeys of Epsilon to Theta.
