that of an early civilization, they
would not want to interfere. They would want to observe without being
observed, so even if it were technically possible they would not want
to bring a large ship down. They would send down as small and
inconspicuous a vehicle as possible.

We usually picture such a craft as a small version of the larger ship,
or a large--by our standards--rocket, or an aircraft similar to our
Dyna-soar. For people this advanced technologically something a lot
simpler might be used. It might be an open vehicle, similar to our
flying platforms, but with vastly more powerful nuclear power plants.
The men going down would have to wear air-tight suits--spacesuits, and
would have to leave them on all the time they were below, for fear of
becoming infected with molds and viruses that the natives would long
since have become immune to. One man, the pilot, would stay with the
platform while the others did the observing and recording.

The flying platform would have no need for rapid forward motion, at
least inside the atmosphere and therefore would have little need for
streamlining or protective covering for the passengers, who would
carry their equipment with them. Most of the equipment for the survey
would be built into the suits. They would each carry a set of portable
helicopter attachments so they could cover more ground in a hurry.
Like small helicopters of our time, these probably would have a rather
limited speed and range, but they would be extremely maneuverable.

The platform on the other hand, being nuclear powered, would probably
be very powerful and have almost unlimited range, but it would be less
maneuverable. The products of its exhaust might be radioactive and
therefore its operators would be reluctant to operate it above or
near the natives of the planet, or places that they frequented.

As they push away from the mother-ship the spacemen would be in
free-fall and would tend to "float" nearby until they turned the
bottom side of the platform toward the direction of their orbit and
applied power. They would then drop toward the surface, but with
almost unlimited power available they could keep the downward
component of their fall within limits and prevent overheating. They
could probably be on the surface in less than an hour.

The first and most likely area of exploration would be Egypt. The
platform could be landed a few miles back from the Nile and be in
completely unoccupied desert.