And then the length, the staggering length, of the bulk of the tower; coppery, almost featureless except for the occasional mechanical protrusion.
For the next 30 minutes, Lamont attempted to relieve his growing discomfort by engaging the other occupants of the cockpit in conversation, with little success. Lazarus was too absorbed by the complexity of piloting the asteroid pod to offer more than perfunctory answers to the newspaperman's questions. Phobos appeared preoccupied, and his responses were even more ambiguous and circumspect than usual. Francis, for his part, was entirely absorbed in the spectacle outside. It occurred to Lamont that the captain had been aboard his ship throughout the entire week-long saga so far, and that this was by far the closest he had ever been to the tower that had, to Lamont, become almost familiar.
Once again, the peculiarities of relative size and distance in space created the illusion that the tower was almost leaping into fully detailed reality. One moment, it was a featureless metallic object protruding from the cloudy blackness of the moon like a needle from a pincushion. The next, it was a structure, incredibly large, unbelievably long, crazily foreshortened. Their course took them roughly parallel to the tower. Lamont watched Carter's eyes widen in wonder as he took in its remarkable features: The dome at its tip, resembling a closed tulip bulb in shape, with patterns of multicolored light dancing kaleidoscopically across its surface, and the silvery antenna or steeple that projected from it, pointing out into the depths of empty space. The toroid ridges that broke its sleek profile near the top, superficially resembling something like the top of a Tesla coil. The four arms that protruded in a compass from the base of that section, each tipped with a smooth, milky globe that was easily 100 feet in diameter. And then the length, the staggering length, of the bulk of the tower; coppery, almost featureless except for the occasional mechanical protrusion. Most of these shapes were so small and passed so quickly from view that Lamont could not begin to guess their function. Every so often, he felt certain that he glimpsed almond-shaped projections that looked very much like recognizable vents, or perhaps hatches. Pondering these, Lamont forgot about his trepidation until, seemingly all at once, the shadowy surface of the moon grew to dominate the view outside.
There was a momentary lurch in Lamont's stomach, accompanied by the flickering of the lights on the complex control panels.
"What was that?" Carter asked.
"We just entered the moon's magnetic field, captain," Lazarus explained.
"Ah, of course." Carter's expression registered a flicker of embarrassment.
"We'll be at the drop-off point in a few minutes," The pilot said. "You should head to the back."
With a nod, Captain Carter unfastened his harness and rose from his seat, and the other two followed suit. Carter punched the control panel at the rear of the cockpit, opening the double-walled hatch that separated it from the cargo bay. The members of the mining expedition, seated along the edges of the bay, looked up at them.
"Say," Lamont asked, looking over his shoulder as Francis moved to step into the cargo bay, "Do you want me to circle back and check on you after I've unloaded the miners?"
"No, Mr. Long," Carter answered. "Stick to the plan and stay with the mining expedition until they're done. We'll be alright."
Looking past Lazarus, Lamont could see the cylindrical base of the tower emerging from the shadowy surface of the moon, the perspectives wild and nonsensical as the local gravity of the asteroid pod pulled him down while the strong gravity of the dense moon tugged him backward, toward the front of the cockpit. He felt sickly as he turned his attention back toward Carter, hoping to absorb some of the astronaut's apparent confidence.
Just saw this today. Have a look at segment #1 - "3.5-Mile-Tall Tower on the Moon"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SmKENlV7HyU&t=7s