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MATLAB®
Programming
for Engineers
MATLAB®
Programming
for Engineers
Sixth Edition

Stephen J. Chapman
BAE Systems Australia

Australia • Brazil • Mexico • Singapore • Spain • United Kingdom • United States


MATLAB Programming for Engineers, © 2020, 2016, 2008 Cengage Learning, Inc.
Sixth Edition
Stephen J. Chapman Unless otherwise noted, all content is © Cengage

Product Director, Global Engineering: ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. No part of this work covered by the
Timothy L. Anderson copyright herein may be reproduced or distributed in any form

Senior Product Assistant: Alexander or by any means, except as permitted by U.S. copyright law,

Sham without the prior written permission of the copyright owner.

Content Developer: MariCarmen


Constable
For product information and technology assistance, contact us at
Associate Marketing Manager: Tori Cengage Customer & Sales Support, 1-800-354-9706
Sitcawich or support.cengage.com.

Content Manager: Marianne Groth


For permission to use material from this text or product,
IP Analyst: Nancy Dillon
submit all
IP Project Manager: Jillian Shafer requests online at www.cengage.com/permissions.

Production Service: RPK Editorial


Services, Inc. Library of Congress Control Number: 2018965078

Compositor: MPS Limited

Senior Designer: Diana Graham Student Edition:


ISBN: 978-0-357-03039-4
Cover Image: iStockPhoto.com/
Henrik5000 Loose-leaf Edition:
Manufacturing Planner: Doug Wilke ISBN: 978-0-357-03051-6

Cengage
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Boston, MA 02210
USA

Cengage is a leading provider of customized learning solutions


with employees residing in nearly 40 different countries and
sales in more than 125 countries around the world. Find your
local representative at www.cengage.com.

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Education, Ltd.

To learn more about Cengage platforms and services, register


or access your online learning solution, or purchase materials
for your course, visit www.cengage.com.

MATLAB is a registered trademark of The MathWorks, Inc.,


1 Apple Hill Drive, Natick, MA 01760-2098

Printed in the United States of America


Print Number: 01   Print Year: 2018
This book is dedicated with love to my youngest daughter Devorah,
who just finished high school. The last one!
Preface

MATLAB (short for MATrix LABoratory) is a special-purpose computer program


optimized to perform engineering and scientific calculations. It started life as a pro-
gram designed to perform matrix mathematics, but over the years it has grown into
a flexible computing system capable of solving essentially any technical problem.
The MATLAB program implements the MATLAB language and provides an
extensive library of predefined functions to make technical programming tasks
easier and more efficient. This extremely wide variety of functions makes it much
easier to solve technical problems in MATLAB than in other languages such as
Fortran or C. This book introduces the MATLAB language as it is implemented in
version R2018a and shows how to use it to solve typical technical problems.
This book teaches MATLAB as a technical programming language, showing
students how to write clean, efficient, and documented programs. It makes no pre-
tense at being a complete description of all of MATLAB’s hundreds of functions.
Instead, it teaches the student how to use MATLAB as a computer language and
how to locate any desired function with MATLAB’s extensive on-line help facilities.
The first eight chapters of the text are designed to serve as the text for an
“Introduction to Programming/Problem Solving” course for freshman engineer-
ing students. This material should fit comfortably into a 9-week, 3-hour-per-week
course. The remaining chapters cover advanced topics such as I/O, object-oriented
programming, and graphical user interfaces (GUIs). These chapters may be covered
in a longer course or used as a reference by engineering students or practicing engi-
neers who use MATLAB as a part of their coursework or employment.

Changes in the Sixth Edition


The sixth edition of this book is specifically devoted to MATLAB R2018a. In
the four years since the last release, there have been many changes in MATLAB.
vii
viii | Preface

The most significant of these changes include the introduction of the App
Designer, which includes a whole new paradigm for creating MATLAB apps; a
new family of plotting functions; and strings. There have also been many smaller
improvements throughout the program. The book has been revised to reflect
these changes.
The major changes in this edition of the book include:
■■ An increase in the number of MATLAB applications featured in the chapters,
with more end-of-chapter exercises using them.
■■ More extensive coverage of plots in Chapter 3 and Chapter 8. The discussion

now includes most of the currently recommended plot types in MATLAB.


Older deprecated plot types have been dropped from coverage as the new ones
have been added.
■■ Coverage of the new string data type, along with changes in the support for

character arrays.
■■ Coverage of the time data types: dateTime, duration, and
calendarDuration.
■■ Coverage of table arrays.

■■ A completely rewritten Chapter 14 featuring the new App Designer and class-

based GUIs.
■■ An extra on-line Chapter 15 featuring the older GUIDE-based GUIs; this

chapter can be downloaded from the book’s website.

The Advantages of MATLAB for Technical Programming


MATLAB has many advantages compared to conventional computer languages for
technical problem solving. Among them are:
1. Ease of Use
MATLAB is an interpreted language, like many versions of Basic. Like
Basic, it is very easy to use. The program can be used as a scratch pad to
evaluate expressions typed at the command line, or it can be used to execute
large pre-written programs. Programs may be easily written and modified
with the built-in integrated development environment and debugged with the
MATLAB debugger. Because the language is so easy to use, it is ideal for
educational use and for the rapid prototyping of new programs.
Many program development tools are provided to make the program
easy to use. They include an integrated editor/debugger, on-line documenta-
tion and manuals, a workspace browser, and extensive demos.
2. Platform Independence
MATLAB is supported on many different computer systems, providing a
large measure of platform independence. At the time of this writing, the
language is supported on Windows 7/8/10, Linux, and the Mac. Programs
written on any platform will run on all of the other platforms, and data files
written on any platform may be read transparently on any other platform.
Preface | ix

As a result, programs written in MATLAB can migrate to new platforms


when the needs of the user change.
3. Predefined Functions
MATLAB comes complete with an extensive library of predefined functions
that provide tested and prepackaged solutions to many basic technical tasks.
For example, suppose that you are writing a program that must calculate the
statistics associated with an input data set. In most languages, you would
need to write your own subroutines or functions to implement calculations
such as the arithmetic mean, standard deviation, median, and so forth. These
and hundreds of other functions are built right into the MATLAB language,
making your job much easier.
In addition to the large library of functions built into the basic
MATLAB language, there are many special-purpose toolboxes available to
help solve complex problems in specific areas. For example, a user can buy
standard toolboxes to solve problems in Signal Processing, Control Sys-
tems, Communications, Image Processing, and Neural Networks, among
many others.
4. Device-Independent Plotting
Unlike other computer languages, MATLAB has many integral plotting and
imaging commands. The plots and images can be displayed on any graphi-
cal output device supported by the computer on which MATLAB is running.
This capability makes MATLAB an outstanding tool for visualizing techni-
cal data.
5. Graphical User Interface
MATLAB includes tools that allow a programmer to interactively construct a
GUI for his or her program. With this capability, the programmer can design
sophisticated data analysis programs that can be operated by relatively inex-
perienced users.

Features of This Book


Many features of this book are designed to emphasize the proper way to write reli-
able MATLAB programs. These features should serve a student well as he or she
is first learning MATLAB and should also be useful to the practitioner on the job.
These features include:
1. Emphasis on Top-Down Design Methodology
The book introduces a top-down design methodology in Chapter 4 and
then uses it consistently throughout the rest of the book. This methodology
encourages a student to think about the proper design of a program before
beginning to code. It emphasizes the importance of clearly defining the
problem to be solved and the required inputs and outputs before any other
work is begun. Once the problem is properly defined, the methodology
teaches the student to employ stepwise refinement to break the task down
x | Preface

into successively smaller sub-tasks, and to implement the sub-tasks as sepa-


rate subroutines or functions. Finally, it teaches the importance of testing
at all stages of the process, both unit testing of the component routines and
exhaustive testing of the final product.
The formal design process taught by the book may be summarized as
follows:
1. Clearly state the problem that you are trying to solve.
2. Define the inputs required by the program and the outputs to be pro-
duced by the program.
3. Describe the algorithm that you intend to implement in the program.
This step involves top-down design and stepwise decomposition,
using pseudocode or flow charts.
4. Turn the algorithm into MATLAB statements.
5. Test the MATLAB program. This step includes unit testing of specific
functions as well as exhaustive testing of the final program with many
different data sets.
2. Emphasis on Functions
The book emphasizes the use of functions to logically decompose tasks
into smaller subtasks. It teaches the advantages of functions for data hid-
ing. It also emphasizes the importance of unit testing functions before
they are combined into the final program. In addition, the book teaches
about the common mistakes made with functions and how to avoid them.
3. Emphasis on MATLAB Tools
The book teaches the proper use of MATLAB’s built-in tools to make
programming and debugging easier. The tools covered include the Editor/
Debugger, Workspace Browser, Help Browser, and GUI design tools.
4. Good Programming Practice Boxes
These boxes highlight good programming practices when they are intro-
duced for the convenience of the student. In addition, the good programming
practices introduced in a chapter are summarized at the end of the chapter.
An example Good Programming Practice Box is as follows:

Good Programming Practice


Always indent the body of an if construct by two or more spaces to improve the
readability of the code.

5. Programming Pitfalls Boxes


These boxes highlight common errors so that they can be avoided. An
example Programming Pitfalls Box is as follows:
Preface | xi

Programming Pitfalls
Make sure that your variable names are unique in the first 31 characters. Otherwise,
MATLAB will not be able to tell the difference between them.

6. Emphasis on Data Structures


Chapter 10 contains a detailed discussion of MATLAB data structures,
including sparse arrays, cell arrays, and structure arrays. The proper use
of these data structures is illustrated in the chapters on handle graphics
(Chapter 13) and graphical user interfaces (Chapter 14).
7. Emphasis on Object-Oriented MATLAB
Chapter 12 includes an introduction to object-oriented programming (OOP)
and describes the MATLAB implementation of OOP in detail. This informa-
tion is then applied in the discussion of App Designer GUIs.

Pedagogical Features
The first eight chapters of this book are specifically designed to be used in a fresh-
man “Introduction to Program/Problem Solving” course. It should be possible to
cover this material comfortably in a 9-week, 3-hour-per-week course. If there is
insufficient time to cover all of the material in a particular Engineering program,
Chapter 8 may be omitted, and the remaining material will still teach the fundamen-
tals of programming and using MATLAB to solve problems. This feature should
appeal to harassed engineering educators trying to cram ever more material into a
finite curriculum.
The remaining chapters cover advanced material that will be useful to the
engineer and engineering students as they progress in their careers. This material
includes advanced I/O, object-oriented programming, and the design of GUIs for
programs.
The book includes several features designed to aid student comprehension. A
total of 20 quizzes appear scattered throughout the chapters, with answers to all
questions included in Appendix B. These quizzes can serve as a useful self-test of
comprehension. In addition, there are approximately 230 end-of-chapter exercises.
Answers to all exercises are included in the Instructor’s Solutions Manual. Good
programming practices are highlighted in all chapters with special Good Program-
ming Practice boxes, and common errors are highlighted in Programming Pitfalls
boxes. End-of-chapter materials include Summaries of Good Programming Practice
and Summaries of MATLAB Commands and Functions.
The book is accompanied by an Instructor’s Solutions Manual, which contains
the solutions to all end-of-chapter exercises. The source code for all examples in
xii | Preface

the book is available from the book’s website at https://login.cengage.com, and the
source code for all solutions in the Instructor’s Manual is available separately to
instructors.

A Final Note to the User


No matter how hard I try to proofread a document like this book, it is inevitable that
some typographical errors will slip through and appear in print. If you should spot
any such errors, please drop me a note via the publisher, and I will do my best to
get these errors eliminated from subsequent printings and editions. Thank you very
much for your help in this matter.
I will maintain a complete list of errata and corrections at the book’s website,
which is available through https://login.cengage.com. Please check that site for any
updates and/or corrections.

Acknowledgments
I would like to thank all my friends at Cengage Learning for the support they have
given me in getting this book to market.
In addition, I would like to thank my wife Rosa, and our children Avi, David,
Rachel, Aaron, Sarah, Naomi, Shira, and Devorah for their help and encouragement.

Stephen J. Chapman
Melbourne, Australia
Digital Resources

New Digital Solution for Your Engineering Classroom


WebAssign is a powerful digital solution designed by educators to enrich the engi-
neering teaching and learning experience. With a robust computational engine at
its core, WebAssign provides extensive content, instant assessment, and superior
support.
WebAssign’s powerful question editor allows engineering instructors to cre-
ate their own questions or modify existing questions. Each question can use any
combination of text, mathematical equations and formulas, sound, pictures, video,
and interactive HTML elements. Numbers, words, phrases, graphics, and sound or
video files can be randomized so that each student receives a different version of
the same question.
In addition to common question types such as multiple choice, fill-in-
the-blank, essay, and numerical, you can also incorporate robust answer entry
palettes (­mathPad, chemPad, calcPad, physPad, pencilPad, Graphing Tool) to
input and grade symbolic expressions, equations, matrices, and chemical struc-
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embed “clicker” questions that are automatically scored and recorded in the
­GradeBook.

xiii
xiv | Digital Resources

WebAssign Offers Engineering Instructors the Following


■■ The ability to create and edit algorithmic and numerical exercises.
■■ The opportunity to generate randomized iterations of algorithmic and numeri-
cal exercises. When instructors assign numerical WebAssign homework exer-
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engineering math exercise. The computational engine extends beyond and
provides the luxury of solving for correct solutions/answers.
■■ The ability to create and customize numerical questions, allowing students to

enter units, use a specific number of significant digits, use a specific number of
decimal places, respond with a computed answer, or answer within a different
tolerance value than the default.
Visit https://www.webassign.com/instructors/features/ to learn more. To create an account,
instructors can go directly to the signup page at http://www.webassign.net/signup.html.

MindTap Reader
Available via WebAssign and our digital subscription service, Cengage Unlimited,
MindTap Reader is Cengage’s next-generation eBook for engineering students.
The MindTap Reader provides more than just text learning for the student. It
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■■ Personalize their ­experience
Within the MindTap Reader, students can h­ ighlight key concepts, add notes, and
bookmark pages. These are collected in My Notes, ensuring they will have their own
study guide when it comes time to study for exams.
Another random document with
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The Project Gutenberg eBook of Beauty
contest?
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and most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no
restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it
under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this
ebook or online at www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the
United States, you will have to check the laws of the country where
you are located before using this eBook.

Title: Beauty contest?

Author: Henry Slesar

Illustrator: Leo Summers

Release date: May 9, 2024 [eBook #73589]

Language: English

Original publication: United States: Ziff-Davis Publishing Company,


1957

Credits: Greg Weeks, Mary Meehan and the Online Distributed


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*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK BEAUTY


CONTEST? ***
The announcement went out
and gorgeous girls responded
from all over the nation. But
after being put through a
routine that would have
exhausted a water buffalo,
they asked each other in
amazement: This is a——

BEAUTY CONTEST?

By HENRY SLESAR

[Transcriber's Note: This etext was produced from


Fantastic February 1957.
Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that
the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.]
The gal who won this one had to be more than beautiful.
The girl in the yellow bathing suit plucked out her hairpins in
exasperation and flung them on the vanity table. The redhead
seated beside her looked over understandingly.
"I know how you feel, honey," she said. "I had an electro-perm last
week, and just look at me. You think they'd have a few facilities
around this dump." She surveyed the room disconsolately. It was
small and jerry-built, with only two tables and two mirrors meant to
be shared by six girls. It was a duplicate of all the thirty cabins,
strung out like a serpentine railroad train on the edge of the Omaha
Spaceport.
"I hate myself when I look like this," the girl in the bathing suit
moaned. She looked in the mirror critically. The face that looked
back was actually very pretty, with its wide-set eyes and clear,
smooth planes. Her figure was equally attractive; it had to be, to
qualify for the finals of the Miss Outer Space contest.
"We all feel the same way," the redhead said sympathetically. "Oh,
they're trying to be nice though. Captain Lester—you know him, the
cute one with the freckles—he was really sweet. But these space
jockeys just don't understand women, I guess." She sighed, but then
smiled reminiscently as she recalled the captain's embarrassment
upon showing the girls their quarters.
"Well, I'm sorry I ever came," said the other girl, tugging at her
blonde curls with a comb. Her eyes blurred with tears.
"Hey, Cleveland!"
Another blonde, wearing an electric-blue sweater, scurried over to
the unhappy girl. Her face was lit with excitement, and her high
heels clicked enthusiastically. "Can I borrow your Chanel?" she said.
"What for?" said the redhead sourly. "Got a date?"
"Maybe," said blue-sweater mysteriously.
"Janie!" The girl in the bathing suit caught her eyes in the mirror.
"You can't do that," she said in a shocked voice. "It's against the
rules!"
"Rules," Janie answered lightly, "are made to be broken." She
sprayed the perfume on lavishly. "Besides, it's just for a walk. Some
nice second-looie's going to show me around the spaceport."
"But they'll disqualify you if they find out," said the first blonde. "Is it
worth it?"
"Oh, Cleveland!" She patted the girl on her bare shoulder. "I'm bored
to death. I've spent a whole month with nothing but female
company. I need a change!"
"Think we don't feel the same way?" said the redhead angrily. "You
knew the way it would be when you entered the contest—"
"Your green eyes are showing, dear," said the blonde, helping herself
to some of Cleveland's lipstick.
"Green eyes, my elbow!" the redhead exploded. "I could get fifty of
these space jockeys to squire me around. You think it's so hard? But
I had to come a thousand miles for these lousy finals, and I'm not
stupid enough to risk everything for a guided tour with some
shavetail—"
"Don't protest so much!" the blonde jeered.

The redhead shrieked, dropped her brush, and started for the
blonde. Luckily, Maria, a hefty brunette with a voluptuous figure,
stepped between them.
"Cut it out!" she pleaded. "It'll be lights out in a little while. Fight it
out in the day-time."
"I don't want any trouble," the blonde said petulantly. "I just want a
little fun."
"All right," said the redhead. "Let's forget it. I guess we're all just
tired." She seated herself again and stroked her hair lazily with the
brush. "And we've got quite a day tomorrow."
"You said it," agreed the girl called Cleveland. She picked up a
mimeographed sheet from the table and read from it aloud. "Eight-
thirty, breakfast and initial briefing by Captain Johannson. Ten
o'clock, basic questionnaire. Eleven o'clock, physical examination.
Twelve o'clock, lunch. Two o'clock, domestic science test. Four
o'clock, photography." She looked up at the others pathetically. "Isn't
that awful?"
"Sounds okay to me," said the blonde, putting the final touches on
her outfit by stringing gold bracelets up and down her arm. "Except
that domestic science business. I burn water."
"Then you might as well go home," said the redhead sardonically.
"You've got to be a Betty Crocker to win this clambake. Along with
everything else."
"It's the stiffest beauty contest I ever saw," said the hefty brunette
wistfully. "Honestly, I've won a couple back home, and all I had to do
was—well, you know—kind of parade around a little."
"Well, this is an important contest," said the blonde. "I mean," she
added hastily, on seeing the hurt look cross Maria's face, "this is a
big contest. You know what you get if you're Miss Outer Space?"
"We know the prizes by heart, honey," said the redhead. "Why else
do you think we're here?"
"It's rough, though," Cleveland admitted, turning the paper over and
reading the agenda marked SECOND DAY. "Look what happens
Tuesday. Ten o'clock, endurance test. What do you suppose they
mean by that?"
"I don't know," the redhead shrugged. "But it sure doesn't sound so
good."
"And listen to this one. Three o'clock, outer-space question period.
What about that?"
"But I don't know anything about outer space," the big brunette
complained. "It just isn't fair!"
"Maybe it won't be so bad," Cleveland said comfortingly. "After all,
the judges must know that we're not astronomers or anything—"
"Seems like a heck of a lot of fuss to me," the redhead said, shaking
her head. "But I got this far. And even if I get bounced, at least I've
met a few nice guys—"
"Lot of good that does," said the blonde, who had started for the
doorway of the cabin. "Before you know it, they'll all be shipped out
to Mars, and you'll never see them again."
"Yeah?" said the redhead. "Then how about your second-looie?"
The blonde made a despairing gesture. "Well, what can a girl do?"
She looked at them imploringly, and then went through the doorway.
"Lights out in fifteen minutes, girls," said a man's voice over the
loudspeaker in the corner of the room.
"That's Captain Lester," said the redhead. "Such a doll." She sighed
deeply, wound a bright green scarf around her head, and got up
from the table. She patted Cleveland's hand. "Cheer up, kid," she
said. "You'll feel better in the morning."

The messboys in the spaceport dining room couldn't stop grinning as


they wheeled their trays between the crowded tables. The room was
filled with an unfamiliar and highly decorative array of attractive
young ladies, and the musical din of their voices was an unusual
sound in the rough masculine atmosphere. Breakfast had been
prepared with extra care, and the girls had responded with
remarkable appetites, calling for more up and down the line. It was
only until their second cups of coffee were poured that Captain
Johannson entered the room, looking a trifle uneasy, and rapped for
attention on a water-glass.
"Good morning, ladies," he said briskly, and flushed when they
echoed him with giggling "good mornings" of their own. He rapped
the glass once more, and tried to keep a straight face.
"I'd like to welcome you again to the Omaha Spaceport," he said.
"We're happy that you're here, and we're sorry if you have suffered
any inconveniences. As you can imagine, we're hardly equipped to
entertain almost two hundred young ladies, but we're doing the best
we can under the circumstances. We hope you'll put up with us for
the three days of the contest, and you'll find it all worthwhile."
"He's cute!" said a voice in the rear, and the room broke with
laughter. The captain really crimsoned now, and he looked sternly at
the grinning messboys.
"Harumph!" he said loudly. "As I was saying, you'll only have to put
up with us for three days, so it won't be too bad. If you need any
sort of assistance, you need only call my office—the extension is
thirty-three—and speak to a member of my staff. They'll be glad to
help you with any problem which cannot be handled by the Matrons.
Mail will be sent and received at my office, and if you wish to make
any long-distance phone calls, my staff can assist you there, too.
There are, of course, doctors on the field, in case any of you require
medical attention."
"How about dates?" said a voice from the rear. This time, there was
only a slight titter in the audience.
"I'm sorry about that," the captain smiled. "And if you think I'm
sorry, you should see the long faces on the field personnel." He
basked in their appreciative laugh. "I'm sure you all understand the
reason for this restriction. Interplanetary travel is a civilian
enterprise, of course, but subject to the same code as the armed
forces. We're constantly under close scrutiny by the public—whether
we're sending a new geological expedition to the outer planets, or
staging a strict publicity venture, such as the Miss Outer Space
contest."
He cleared his throat. "So you see," he said carefully, "we must keep
the contest in a rather—respectable atmosphere. Harumph!" The
girls tittered again.
"Now," he continued with a relieved sigh, "I'll tell you something
about your agenda. You've all received copies, but some of the items
may seem more demanding than they really are. As you know, we
are not going to select Miss Outer Space on—shall we say, merely
obvious qualities. This is not a beauty contest in the strict sense of
the term. We want good-looking girls, of course," he said with a
slight twinkle, "and you all fill that bill quite nicely. But we are also
searching for other qualities which we believe Miss Outer Space
should have. Intelligence—no, I don't mean we're looking for lady
Einsteins," he said as a groan rippled through his audience. "I mean
good common sense," he explained. "The ability to meet situations.
Domestic know-how, too. The rudiments of keeping a decent home.
Physical fitness. And something else, that I really can't define in a
word. Character, I suppose, is as good as any."

He looked around the suddenly quiet room. "All these things will be
explained to you more fully. I just wanted to let you know how
grateful we are to you all for sticking by us as well as you have, and
we hope you'll bear with us a few days more until the final judging is
made. There'll be rewards for every one of you, I promise you that.
No one will leave the spaceport disappointed, and one of you will
leave with very rich rewards indeed. Thank you," he ended abruptly,
and left the room quickly.

The redhead flung herself on a cot and groaned.


"What a day!" she said.
"It wasn't so bad," said Cleveland, looking in the mirror and feeling
better about the looks of her hair.
"Wasn't that questionnaire a beauty?" said the blonde girl, this time
wearing a purple sweater. "'Please check your birth certificate when
giving age,'" she quoted. "You know, I don't think they trust us."
"That domestic science test wasn't too hard," said the brunette.
"At least I didn't burn everything," said the redhead. "But did you
get a load of that cooking equipment? I swear, I haven't seen junk
like that since I went to an antique auction in New Jersey."
"Well, I guess they just don't have modern facilities—"
"You can say that again! Back home, we just put the food in the
gadget, press the button, and whammo. This stuff is practically
primitive."
"Say, did you see the face on that Captain Lester when he tasted
that strawberry cake of mine?"
"Gee, he's cute. If I was running this thing, I'd make it a law that
nice-looking guys like him get Earthbound jobs—"
"That photography business was something. I haven't been snapped
so much since that Shutterbug show in Chicago—"
"Hey, Janie, what happened to your second-looie? I didn't see him
around all day. What'd you do to him last night?"
"No, we couldn't get inside the hangar, but we saw enough. Honest,
that spaceship is a dream. It's so white, I mean, just like that sheath
dress I packed—"
"Say, when do we get a chance to wear some decent clothes, for
Pete's sake? I'm sick of these damn shorts and halters—"
"Settle down, dear. Wednesday's the big day—"
"God, I'm tired! I don't know if I'll ever survive that endurance test
tomorrow, whatever that is—"
"Lights out at nine tonight, girls—"
"I'd give fifty bucks for some food right now. I'd even eat something
I made myself."
"Who wants to be Miss Outer Space anyway—"

Second Lieutenant Hartwig set his shoulders squarely as he faced


the ranks of women.
"The exercises will be held at the Spaceport Play Area," he said
crisply. "That's not quite four miles from here. The tests will last
about two hours, so if we make good time we can be back here
before three."
"What about lunch?" asked a small voice.
"We'll get our lunch at the Play Area. It won't be anything much,
sandwiches mostly. As I say, we must be back here at three, so you
ladies can take your outer-space question period. That's the last
phase of the contest, except for Show Night tomorrow, of course."
"How do we get there?" asked the redhead, in the front rank.
"We walk," the lieutenant said grimly.
"Walk?" A chorus of disapproval came from the girls, mixed with
some resigned groans.
"That's right," said the lieutenant. "It's not as far as you think, and
there'll be field wagons for those who are too tired to walk back
after the tests. I needn't tell you," he added, "that walking back
might count against your score. But it's your privilege."
"Nice guy," said the redhead bitterly, out of the side of her mouth.
The blonde, Janie, who had dated him on their first night, looked
hurt. "He seemed nice," she said. "He was so sweet about things—"
"Let's cut out the chatter," said the young officer. "Pretend you're in
the Army now, girls. No talking in ranks, and let's have some
semblance of marching order."
"My feet hurt already," said Maria.
"This stinks," said the redhead tersely. "I knew I should have quit
yesterday—"
"Not me," said Cleveland. "I got this far. They won't bully me out of
it now!"

The field trucks drove back just fourteen girls from the Play Area. Lt.
Hartwig was surprised at the low number, after his first hard-eyed
appraisal of the women. But a hundred and sixty-six of them had
stuck it out, with a perseverance that didn't quite fit his
preconceived idea about the durability of young women—particularly
the kind of young women who entered beauty contests.
But they stuck. They walked the four-mile distance to the test
grounds with playful good humor. They took the hurdles of the
obstacle course with only minor accidents. They joined in the water
trials with gleeful abandon. And they even forgot their aching feet
when the whistle blew for the running events.
The blonde that Hartwig had dated proved a frost in the first ten
minutes of the exercises. She balked at the obstacle course, and
pulled a fit of weeping. Hartwig himself helped her off the grounds,
and tried to be nice about it. But she seemed to want to blame him
for everything, and gave the young officer a tongue-lashing that
brought a blush to his face. She sat out the rest of the field trials in
a truck, waiting to be driven home. But that other blonde one, the
pert one with the curls and the stunning figure, the one from
Cleveland; now that was something more to Hartwig's liking. And
the way she had taken the whole thing with such dignity and good
grace. He'd have to talk with her on the way back....
"Okay, girls!" he called to them cheerfully, as they began the weary
trudge back to the spaceport. "I know you're all bushed, but if we
put a little pep into it, we can get back at two-thirty or so. That will
give you some time to freshen up before the outer-space question
period. You'll probably want to do some repair work on the makeup."

They made the march in less than half an hour.


Captain Johannson kept his eyes on the paper on his desk, pencil
poised, as the pretty girl in the chair watched him anxiously.
"I'm going to ask you some unusual questions," he said. "So don't
be surprised. You might call this a sort of 'psychological test.'"
The girl called Cleveland nodded.
"There won't be any pat answers, you understand. The outer-space
questions, as we call them, demand more—inventive answers, you
might say. So don't be nervous."
"All right," Cleveland said, none the less nervously.
"Here's the first question," said the captain. "Let's say you're in your
own home, and the water supply is suddenly turned off. And you
knew that it wouldn't work again for forty-eight hours. What would
you do?"
The girl stared. "Why, I'm not sure." She thought a while. "I suppose
I'd see if there were any water in the frig."
"Yes, of course," said the captain. "But what if you didn't have any
refrigeration equipment?"
"Well, I'd see if there were fruit or vegetables around. I'd get all the
juice I could find. I'd drink that."
"How about bathing?"
"I just wouldn't bathe. Not if I didn't want to be thirsty."
The captain smiled. "Now how about this," he said. "Let's say you've
built yourself a house. Quite a nice house. Taken you a long time to
build it. Then the foundation gives out for some reason, and your
whole house collapses before your eyes. What would you do?"
Cleveland blinked. "Cry, I guess."
"Then what?"
"What could I do? Build another house, I suppose."
"I see." The captain leaned over the desk and made a notation on
the paper before him. Then he looked up and said:
"Are you afraid of bats?"
"What?"
"Bats. You know, those winged things."
"I don't know. I don't think I've ever really seen one. Except in
pictures, of course."
"Do you believe they get in your hair?"
The girl touched her blonde curls. "I don't think so. That's one of
those fallacies, isn't it?"
"Do you know what a Martian bat looks like?"
"No."
"Well, picture a fairly ordinary bat. It's something like that, only its
wing spread often reaches four feet. It's a pretty ugly customer.
Now, let's say you're in your own parlor one night, and this big thing
comes flapping into your house. And—fallacy notwithstanding—let's
say you know this bat will just as soon land in your hair as anyplace
else. Would you be frightened?"
"Of course," said the girl.
"What would you do?"
"Hit it with a broom," she said.
It was Show Night.
The trunks flew open, and dazzling gowns of silk and satin and nylon
and orlon and sprylon were brought out, rustling beautifully. The
long row of cabins on the edge of the Omaha Spaceport crackled
with girlish excitement as the entrants dressed for the final judging.
There were shrieks and giggles, screams and guffaws, cries of
delight and of misery as the women struggled into their prettiest
dresses. The sounds of their activity carried all across the spaceport,
jangling the nerves—but not unpleasantly—of the personnel in the
barracks at the other end of the field. It was Show Night, after all,
the final moment when Miss Outer Space would be selected and
crowned, and even the most hard-bitten veteran on the base caught
some of the fever.

The Omaha mess had been converted into an auditorium—it was the
largest single room on the field—and the messboys had contributed
to the event with elaborate decorations, makeshift affairs of crepe
and bunting and straggly floral bouquets. The clatter of folding
chairs was deafening as they were lined up in uneven rows, in
readiness for the audience. A heavy drape was strung against one
wall, and spangled letters were tacked to it, spelling out: MISS
OUTER SPACE.
It was a nerve-tingling moment, especially in the cabins.
"My God, what's that, a coffee stain on my sleeve—?"
"My lipstick! Who's got my lipstick? That's my special shade—"
"Ouch! I must have gained ten pounds since I wore this dress—"
"I'm just not used to high heels any more—"
"Poor Janie! If only she could have stuck one more day—"
"Honestly, you could give me two minutes at the mirror! Just two
lousy minutes—"
"Just keep your eyes off that Hartwig fellow, Cleveland. It looks just
a little too obvious—"
"Maria, would you please get your big—"
"Say, did you ever hear such a racket—"
"Those are my slippers, you dope! Can't you recognize the difference
between a canal boat and a—"
"God, I'm so nervous I could die—"
"But honey, you look absolutely ravishing! I wish I could look half as
good—"
"Come on! Come on! They're calling us—"
Captain Johannson stepped to the front of the stage.
"Ladies," he said gravely, "before I tell you the judges' decision, I
have a rather important announcement to make."
The audience murmured, and then became still.
"When you first arrived at the Omaha Spaceport, I told you that
none of you here would leave without some sort of reward. I meant
that sincerely, and you'll find that I was telling the truth. But I have
a different kind of prize to offer you ladies now, and I hope you'll
pay careful attention as I describe it to you."
The audience stirred again.
"This has been a rather curious affair for all concerned," the captain
continued. "On the surface, the Miss Outer Space contest may have
seemed like a rather spectacular publicity stunt. It is certainly that.
But we had another intention in staging this competition—a far more
important intention, and one we have not revealed until this
moment."

He looked directly at the women.


"Did you look up at the stars tonight?" he asked them. "It's a fine,
clear night, and if you did, you may have seen the planet which is
the core of the work of the Omaha Spaceport—the planet Mars.
There are people on that planet now, people from Earth. They're all
men—young men. The finest that the planet Earth can boast.
"These young men are performing some of the most important
duties ever assigned to young men in the world's history. They are
settling a new world for us—a brand-new planet, rich in mystery,
danger, and untold wealth. They are living hard lives, and often
short ones, to pioneer this new frontier. One of these days—perhaps
many generations from now—our world will fall on its knees and
thank God for the duty and the spirit which moved these young men
to undertake this hazardous and lonely mission. Someday, an
overcrowded and worn-out Earth will sanctify them for building a
new home for the human race.
"You've seen some of these young men on your visit to this
spaceport. They are typical of the men on Mars today—vigorous,
intelligent, competent young men, well-versed in the sciences and
the humanities. Take a good look at them. It may be the last time
you will ever see them, for when the orders arrive that will take
them to Mars, they shall not return again. This is a lifetime
assignment.
"The men here tonight, and the men on the winking red planet
above our heads have taken no wives and made promises to no
sweethearts. The only offer they can make a woman is hardship,
privation, danger; an unfamiliar world, and an unknown future.
"You may understand why they are lonely. And you may now
understand the unusual prize we offer you all.
"These young men have gone through trials similar to those you
have undergone here—but far more strenuous and demanding. They
are the cream of Earth's young men. We believe you are the cream
of Earth's young women.
"So here is what we believe to be truly the grand award in this
contest, ladies. A husband—a home—a new world—an adventure
such as no women in history have had the chance to share. Think it
over carefully. Let us know your decision.
"And now," he said, "the judge's decision."
Cleveland won, and she flung her arms about Lieutenant Hartwig
when the decision was announced. She took the trophy with her to
Mars.

THE END
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