In the eternal night of interplanetary space, time seemed to stand still. Ted knew that days and days, even weeks, had passed since leaving the Moon, but without the rising and setting of a sun to go by, it hardly seemed that any time had passed at all.
By now the Moon had lost its roundness and had become just another star in the sky. The red spark of Mars, however, was growing day after day, week after week. However, it could not yet be recognized as a disk.
One day Ted noticed what looked like a smudge across the blackness of the sky. It blotted out the stars behind it and appeared to be close. But its movement was scarcely noticeable. Ted called his father’s attention to the blur of light.
“It looks like a comet!” Dr. Kenton said. “I’ll check with the commander.”
The scientist tuned in a two-way speaker system and asked about Ted’s find.
“That’s Brooking’s Comet, discovered back in 1970,” Commander Grissom replied. “It circles the sun every eight years. You’re in for a treat. We’ll pass through some of its vapor. It’ll be a spectacular sight a few days from now.”
Watching the comet took up nearly all of the idle time of Ted, Jill, and Randy in the hours that followed. Under Dr. Kenton’s guidance they drew a chart of that part of the sky in which it was located, and plotted its motion in relation to that of the space ship.
“You don’t suppose it’ll crash into us, do you?” Mrs. Kenton asked worriedly, as the comet loomed menacingly outside their compartment window some time later.
Dr. Kenton soothed her with a smile. “Don’t worry,” he said. “If the skipper says we’ll graze it, that’s exactly what will happen. He knows every inch of this comet’s orbit and our own too!”
Dr. Kenton explained that the comet appeared to move slowly because it was coming practically head on. Steadily it blossomed wider, like an opening flower bud. In the center was a brilliant light, which was the head, or nucleus.