Per luchtschip "De Argonaut" naar Mars

The story opens beneath a twilight sky over Stuttgart, where the glittering Milky Way and familiar constellations watch a lone astronomer at work. Professor Stiller, a renowned star‑watcher at Tübingen, sits in his glass‑capped observatory, eyes fixed on the rising red dot of Mars as it draws near the Earth. His lifelong fascination with the Red Planet has turned from pure study into a restless yearning to touch it, and in an age of astonishing technological leaps he believes a voyage is no longer fantasy. He has spent years designing a daring airship, the Argonaut, while battling bureaucratic setbacks and the skepticism of colleagues who dismiss his ambition.

Now, with Mars poised on the eastern horizon, Stiller watches the planet’s thin, bright lines and feels the weight of his calculations pressing against the ticking clock. The tension between scientific rigor and daring imagination builds as the launch window approaches, and listeners are invited to share his mixture of excitement and dread. The story asks whether his centuries‑old dream will finally find a foothold among the stars.