The Gravity of Anti-Gravity Read Online Free Page B
Author: Tim Blagge
those ‘rascally varmints’ that killing Chief Billy Smart Ass was harder than they thought.”
“When did you start doing Elmer Fudd impressions?” Pops asked.
“Just now, weird huh? Sorry, I guess I’m a little giddy. I’m caught up at school and I finished my revised drawings of the Flying Wallenda. Life is good!”
And life was good. A few weeks later I was offered an internship at JPL. JPL, the Jet Propulsion Lab is associated with Cal-Tech and is also related to NASA. JPL designed much of the now retired Space Shuttle program and currently was working on new projects in future space travel. The job was 20 hours per week, leaving time for my studies while earning a modest salary. It had been Dr. Cummings, my primary faculty mentor, who helped me get the job.
“Dr. Cummings, I can’t thank you enough for getting me the job at JPL. I think it will be right up my alley.”
“I think so too, Bill.” said Dr. Cummings. “I had to pull some strings because your grades aren’t as high as some of our other seniors. However I believe you are a better fit for a current project they are working on. Your approach to problems, even though they are sometimes a little off- target are unique. It shows you don’t look at problems exactly like most of the rest of us. This is the kind of thinking I thought this project at JPL calls for.”
“I’m really excited about this opportunity Dr. Cummings, but the guy who interviewed me, Dr. Blackburn is a little strange. Have you met him?”
“Oh yes. Malcolm and I go back over 20 years when we worked together at JPL and before I came to Cal-tech to teach. He is a little strange but brilliant too. I think once you get to know him, you’ll be fast associates. I don’t say friends because to my knowledge, Blackburn doesn’t have any.”
For the final two quarters of my senior year, I studied hard and got the best grades I’d gotten at Cal-Tech ever. Initially at JPL, I was little more than Dr. Blackburn’s errand boy. He’d given me a few mathematical calculations to dabble with but after a short time, I had become a solid member of his design team. His, and now our project was to conceive and design a better rocket engine; an engine that could create twice the thrust out of an equivalent amount of fuel than current designs. If successful it would give our space vehicles roughly twice the range they currently have. The goal was to power manned flights to closer planets like Mars.
I wanted to tell Dr. Cummings about the Flying Wallenda but I had promised Pops to keep silent until we were sure it worked. Then we would have to figure out how to introduce it to the rest of world without creating the chaos that Pops feared.
So I kept quiet and did my work as directed. My education in Materials Science made me a good candidate to assist in what Dr. Blackburn referred to as ‘plasma fuel’. This concept, which he developed, would combine a controlled plasma gas with more traditional rocket fuels to produce according to him a ‘super fuel’. The theory had merit but the time required to do the experimentation and testing looked to be years or decades long. Plus, the testing of his theory could be very dangerous, so experiments needed to be designed with extreme caution to prevent blowing something up unintentionally. However it was a job in my field, and it was quite challenging.
-6-
About that same time, Jerry came home on leave and when we reconnected, I couldn’t believe how much I’d missed him. Before he arrived, I thought back to an earlier time to what felt like a different life.
Jerry Smith was my best friend. He lived just down the street from my parents’ house in Pasadena and we met at the age of four and became fast friends.
Jerry was a big kid for his age, had light brown hair and a trim body. Over the years, where I was going in a more academic direction, Jerry became an exceptional athlete, particularly in football. He always
“When did you start doing Elmer Fudd impressions?” Pops asked.
“Just now, weird huh? Sorry, I guess I’m a little giddy. I’m caught up at school and I finished my revised drawings of the Flying Wallenda. Life is good!”
And life was good. A few weeks later I was offered an internship at JPL. JPL, the Jet Propulsion Lab is associated with Cal-Tech and is also related to NASA. JPL designed much of the now retired Space Shuttle program and currently was working on new projects in future space travel. The job was 20 hours per week, leaving time for my studies while earning a modest salary. It had been Dr. Cummings, my primary faculty mentor, who helped me get the job.
“Dr. Cummings, I can’t thank you enough for getting me the job at JPL. I think it will be right up my alley.”
“I think so too, Bill.” said Dr. Cummings. “I had to pull some strings because your grades aren’t as high as some of our other seniors. However I believe you are a better fit for a current project they are working on. Your approach to problems, even though they are sometimes a little off- target are unique. It shows you don’t look at problems exactly like most of the rest of us. This is the kind of thinking I thought this project at JPL calls for.”
“I’m really excited about this opportunity Dr. Cummings, but the guy who interviewed me, Dr. Blackburn is a little strange. Have you met him?”
“Oh yes. Malcolm and I go back over 20 years when we worked together at JPL and before I came to Cal-tech to teach. He is a little strange but brilliant too. I think once you get to know him, you’ll be fast associates. I don’t say friends because to my knowledge, Blackburn doesn’t have any.”
For the final two quarters of my senior year, I studied hard and got the best grades I’d gotten at Cal-Tech ever. Initially at JPL, I was little more than Dr. Blackburn’s errand boy. He’d given me a few mathematical calculations to dabble with but after a short time, I had become a solid member of his design team. His, and now our project was to conceive and design a better rocket engine; an engine that could create twice the thrust out of an equivalent amount of fuel than current designs. If successful it would give our space vehicles roughly twice the range they currently have. The goal was to power manned flights to closer planets like Mars.
I wanted to tell Dr. Cummings about the Flying Wallenda but I had promised Pops to keep silent until we were sure it worked. Then we would have to figure out how to introduce it to the rest of world without creating the chaos that Pops feared.
So I kept quiet and did my work as directed. My education in Materials Science made me a good candidate to assist in what Dr. Blackburn referred to as ‘plasma fuel’. This concept, which he developed, would combine a controlled plasma gas with more traditional rocket fuels to produce according to him a ‘super fuel’. The theory had merit but the time required to do the experimentation and testing looked to be years or decades long. Plus, the testing of his theory could be very dangerous, so experiments needed to be designed with extreme caution to prevent blowing something up unintentionally. However it was a job in my field, and it was quite challenging.
-6-
About that same time, Jerry came home on leave and when we reconnected, I couldn’t believe how much I’d missed him. Before he arrived, I thought back to an earlier time to what felt like a different life.
Jerry Smith was my best friend. He lived just down the street from my parents’ house in Pasadena and we met at the age of four and became fast friends.
Jerry was a big kid for his age, had light brown hair and a trim body. Over the years, where I was going in a more academic direction, Jerry became an exceptional athlete, particularly in football. He always
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