Earth & Mars .Finally the Twins Spin in Harmony - Arvind Gupta

144 Pages·2010·3.5 MB·English

R.K Murthi has been active in the field of writing for
over four decades and has contributed over 4,000
articles, skits and profiles to leading English publications.
Author of more than 75 books, including biographies
and stories and information books for children, (Many
of them translated into other Indian languages), he
received the NCERT Award for Children's Books in
1985 and again in 1997. In 1999, the Indo-Soviet
Cultural Society honoured him for his lifetime
contribution to the field of Literature for the Young. A
former member of the Advisory Panel of the Nehru Bal
Pustakalaya of the National Book Trust and a former
head of the publication wing of the Children's Book
Trust, he is currently the Secretary-General of the Indian
Society of Authors.
Earth and Mars
...Tinatfy the tzuins
spin in harmony
By
R.K. Murthi
Illustrations
Sonal Goya I
Sumit Sakhuja
UNICORN
*
Publishers
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© Copyright : Author
ISBN 81-780-6106-6
Edition : 2006
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be
reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted,
in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical,
photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the
prior permission in writing from the author/publisher.
Printed at: United Colour Offset Printer, Delhi
Dedication
To Uma and Mandeep

Contents
Author's Note 9
Mission to Mars 13
The Rover Lands 45
The Swing of Spirits 74
Spin in Harmony 105
References 142

Author's Note
This is a novel for children, in the older age group,
who know of the vast expanse of the Universe that
stretches unto infinity and of recent successes in
space exploration. It comes under the genre of
science fiction.
How did I get the idea for this novel? I don't
know. A psychologist may explain the mystery. All
that I know for certain, being familiar with science
to some extent, is that the reports I watched over
the TV charged a few of my brain cells and made
them hyperactive. The buzz led to a few nerve cells
getting connected, in a new pattern, and ideas
started flowing through these links with a spurt of
creativity. This linking happened, if I may admit,
purely by chance.
This happened on January 5, 2004, while I
was watching the TV news. The anchorperson spoke
of the landing of Rover Spirit, an American space
machine, on Mars. The report also stated that
another machine, named Rover Opportunity, was
closing in on Mars and would be landing, half way
across Mars, away from the site of landing of Rover
Spirit, in three week's time. The main thrust of the
Mars Mission, said the reports, was to confirm the
presence of water and also to track down life forms,
if any, on Mars.
The report made me sit up. Myriad ideas
filled my head. These ideas related to a variety of
scientific facts I had gathered since the time the
first spaceship, a satellite of the Earth, was placed
in orbit by the Soviet Union. The Soviet Union
maintained its lead when Yuri Gagarin became the
first astronaut. Then began a race for space probes.
America snatched the lead in 1969 when man first
touched down on the Moon. Since then, there
have been efforts to pry into the planets of the
Solar System and also of the Galaxies, some of
them millions of Light Years away, by all developed
nations of the world.
Mars is one of the Planets closest to the Earth.
(The other is Venus). Many scientists refer to Mars
as the Earth's Twin. The landing of the Rovers on
Mars provided me a chance to produce a science
fiction in which I could use the freedom of the
creative writer while sticking to scientific facts.
This blend of fact and fiction, if effective, makes
a lasting impact on the target audience. The reader
absorbs several scientific concepts while he goes