Stay off the MOON!
By RAYMOND F. JONES
Illustrated by FINLAY
How do you fill a pipette and measure out
a half c.c. of hydrochloric acid into a test
tube—from a quarter million miles away?
[Transcriber's Note: This etext was produced from
Amazing Stories December 1962.
Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that
the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.]
The real problem, of course, is not quite that simple. You don't literally fill a pipette or use a test tube; you activate metering circuits that force tiny, ground-glass plungers a measured distance into reagent pumps. You send signals that close some valves and open others, and apply heat and adjust temperatures, and filter solutions, and send the product to a spectrometer that determines what you've got and how much.