Space Station Crisis: Star Challengers Book 2 Read Online Free PDF Page A

which stretched the scar on his cheek. “No telling what you might encounter on this mission into the future. I think he’ll remain safer here.”
    The Korean girl sighed and nodded. “You’re right.” She reluctantly returned the furry animal to his habitat.
    Tony hid a smile, thinking he was playing along with some kind of script, but JJ knew that Commander Zota was serious.
    “Your mission today will be to the International Space Station Complex, or ISSC,” Zota explained. On the display board, he showed them a diagram of numerous cylinders linked together in a hodgepodge grid. The modules, connected to each other with smaller hubs, were reinforced with support struts and adorned with long rectangular solar panels that gathered the sun’s energy like giant reflective windmills. JJ had seen similar images of the current International Space Station, but this future complex was far more extensive.
    Dyl flipped to a new notecard and scribbled a quick sketch with his pencil. “It looks like a bunch of soda cans strung together with Tinker Toys.”
    “High-tech soda cans,” King pointed out.
    “The space-station complex is functional enough,” Zota said. “It expanded piece by piece over the years, using the current International Space Station as its foundation. In early science fiction stories, designers imagined space stations as graceful rotating wheels in space. But the ISSC had to be built module by module, each component lifted up to orbit and assembled by astronauts.”
    “At your suggestion, sir, I looked up some of the background on early space stations,” King said. “The U.S. built Skylab in 1973, but they abandoned it after only two years, and it burned up on re-entry in 1979. The Russians built the Mir station next, and then in 1998 construction began on the International Space Station.” He nodded to the diagram. “But the current ISS is just a tiny outpost compared to this schematic. It sure has grown.”
    Zota nodded. “In addition to proving that humans can live in space for extended periods, there are many advantages to an orbital facility operating in zero-gravity—or as it is more precisely called, microgravity. The occupants are still very much under the influence of Earth’s gravity, even though they don’t feel it.
    “Science in microgravity is a powerful tool. Gravity is a fundamental physical constant in our world, and going into space allows scientists—those who study biology, chemistry, materials science, combustion physics, and many other disciplines—a rare opportunity to look at their areas of expertise from a completely new vantage point, without the constant pull of gravity. Growing cancer cells in three dimensions in space, as opposed to just a few layers thick in a Petri dish, is one example of how scientists can use microgravity to their advantage. Many common processes are different in weightlessness: growing crystals, or making pharmaceuticals, exotic materials, and high-density computer chips.” He looked at them all, and his gaze lingered longest on Tony. “However, many people have difficulty adapting to the environment. It affects balance, resulting in disorientation.”
    Dyl grinned. “You say that like it’s a bad thing.”
    “It can indeed be problematic,” the commander said.
    “I can’t wait,” Song-Ye said with a distinct lack of enthusiasm.
    Dyl pointed out, “We adapted just fine to low gravity on the Moonbase mission.”
    “Low gravity is very different from no gravity,” Zota said. “I’d like you to participate in an experiment before I send you up there. Come with me.”
    “Boy, you guys are good at this role-playing stuff,” Tony whispered to JJ. “You all talk like you’ve actually been on the Moon.”
    Zota led them to the medical station inside the simulator chamber, where he showed them a padded chair that spun smoothly on a highly lubricated axis. “This is a Bárány chair. We use it to demonstrate how your body interprets