1. In the year 1991 news of a discovery spread like wildfire all over the world: in the course of the landings on the moon, which were now planned on a regular basis, one had caught sight of planet which had been unknown so far. This; planet was soon found to circle exactly round the earth's orbit, to be of the same size as the earth, and — seen from a distance at first — to look just like the earth. People were even more agitated when there were reports from an expedition to this planet which had been undertaken in a hurry. Everything there was said to be just the same as it is for us: there were beings just like men on earth working in factories, building houses and bombs, as well as writing poems and computer programs. Their language could be understood.