The remaining time passed quickly. The sun receded. The Planeteers
corrected course. Rip sent in his recommendations for promotions and
looked over the last nuclear crater to see why the blast had started the
asteroid spinning.
The reason could only be guessed. The blast probably had opened a fault
in the crystal, allowing the explosion to escape partially in the wrong
direction.
Once the course was corrected, Rip calculated the position for the final
nuclear charge. When the asteroid reached the correct position relative
to Earth, the charge would not change its course but only slow its speed
somewhat. The asteroid would go around Earth in a series of ever
tightening ellipses, using Terra's gravity, plus rocket fuel, to slow
it down to orbital speed.
When it reached the proper position, tubes of rocket fuel would change
the course again, putting it into an orbit around Earth, close to the
space platform. It wasn't practical to take the thorium rock in for a
landing. They would lose control, and the asteroid would flame to Earth
like the greatest meteor ever to hit the planet.
Putting the asteroid into orbit around Earth was actually the most
delicate part of the whole trip, but Rip wasn't worried.
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