have remained for an indefinite period enjoying
this new kind of athletic exercise in a world where gravitation had
become so humble that it could be trifled with.

While the final preparations for departure were being made, Lord Kelvin
instituted other experiments that were no less unique in their results.
The experience of those who had taken unpremeditated flights in
elliptical orbits when they had run from the vicinity of the Martians
suggested the throwing of solid objects in various directions from the
surface of the planet in order to determine the distance they would go
and the curves they would describe in returning.

For these experiments there was nothing more convenient or abundant than
chunks of gold from the Martians' mine. These, accordingly, were hurled
in different directions and with every degree of velocity. A little
calculation had shown that an initial velocity of thirty feet per second
imparted to one of these chunks, moving at right angles to the radius of
the asteroid, would, if the resistance of an almost inappreciable
atmosphere were neglected, suffice to turn the piece of gold into a
little satellite that would describe an orbit around the asteroid, and
continue to do so forever, or at least until the slight atmospheric
resistance should eventually bring it down to the surface.

But a less velocity than thirty feet per second would cause the golden
missile to fly only part way around, while a greater velocity would give
it an elliptical instead of a circular orbit, and in this ellipse it
would continue to revolve around the asteroid in the character of a
satellite.

If the direction of the original impulse were at more than a right angle
to the radius of the asteroid, then the flying body would pass out to a
greater or less distance in space in an elliptical orbit, eventually
coming back again and falling upon the asteroid, but not at the same
spot from which it had departed.

So many took part in these singular experiments, which assumed rather
the appearance of outdoor sports than of scientific demonstrations, that
in a short time we had provided the asteroid with a very large number of
little moons, or satellites, of gold, which revolved around it in orbits
of various degrees of ellipticity, taking, on the average, about
three-quarters of an hour to complete a circuit. Since, on completing a
revolution, they must necessarily pass through the point from which they
started, they kept us