He took two objects from the cabinet. The first was a regular solar battery.
The other was one of his new energy-conversion cells, housed in a case made of Tom’s special catalium plastic.
“I’m going to run a test on both units,” Tom
28 THE RACE TO THE MOON
explained, “and see how their electrical output compares.”
“Sorry I can’t stay,” said Bud, glancing at a wall clock, “but I’m scheduled to test-fly that new jet of your dad’s. See you later.”
Tom went up alone to the glass-domed solar laboratory on top of the Enterprises main building. After donning a fiber-glass helmet and gaunt-A SOLAR EXPERIMENT
29
lets, he hooked up the two units to an electrical control board. Then he pressed a switch-button control and the whole dome swung silently around until the sun’s rays were focused precisely on the conversion cell.
“Now let’s see how she reacts,” Tom muttered. His eyes widened as the wattmeter needle jumped violently across the dial. “Wow! What jť
aThere was a brilliant flash and explosion. Tom was jolted to the floor, unconscious!
When he revived, someone was shaking him. Blinking his eyes, Tom saw Hank Sterling, the rugged blond trouble shooter and chief 30 THE RACE TO THE MOON
patternmaking engineer of Enterprises, bending over him.
“Tom! Are you all right?”
The young inventor struggled to his feet. “I guess so. Whew!” He shook his head, still dazed.
“What in the world happened?” Hank asked.
“I was checking one of my new energy-conversion units,” Tom explained, “and-
“Does it work?”
“Too well!” Tom grinned ruefully and pointed to the shattered case and melted cables. “The cell was putting out so much energy the circuit couldn’t handle it-just blew up!”