 What was the problem with the tubes of calking compound that the crew was trying to use?
[Transcriber's Note: This etext was produced from Worlds of If Science Fiction, September 1962. General Finogenov notified Major Winship that the underground blast was scheduled for the following morning. Major Winship, after receiving the message, discussed precautions with the three other Americans. Next morning, before the sunlight exploded, the four of them donned their space suits and went and sat outside the dome, waiting. "Help?" " Nyet ," said Major Winship, exhausting his Russian. "Ah, it's all Russian. Perspiration was trickling down his face. "I'll try again," Major Winship said and switched to the emergency channel. He crossed with the floating moon-motion to the airlock and entered, closing the door behind him. The darkness slowly filled with air, and the temperature inside the suit declined steadily. His foot was lifted for the second step when the floor beneath him rose and fell gently, pitching him forward, off balance. It then abated to something in excess of normal. "Well," Lt. Chandler commented, "even though we didn't build this thing to withstand a moonquake, it seems to have stood up all right." Air currents whisked it away and plastered it against a riveted seam of the dome. It pulsed as though it were breathing and then it ruptured. Major Winship moved quickly to cut out the emergency air supply which had cut in automatically with the pressure drop. "We've lost about three feet of calk out here," Capt. Lawler said. Major Winship said, "they should have made these things more flexible." Electrical cables trailed loosely along the walls and were festooned from the ceiling, radiating from the connections to the outside solar cells. After repeatedly assuring you there was no danger of a quake—and then to have something like this happen. "I'll be damned surprised," Major Winship said, "if they got any seismic data out of that shot.... Well, to hell with them, let's get this leak fixed. Squeezed in front of the massive transmitter, Capt. Wilkins had energized the circuits. "The only way you can check is to extrude it," Lt. Chandler said, "and if it does extrude, you've ruined it." The Soviet base was situated some ten miles toward sunset at the bottom of a natural fold in the surface. At that point, the best pathway angled left and made an S-shaped descent to the basin. "I'll load you," Capt. Wilkins volunteered wearily.
 They were hardening too fast when connected with air
 They were hardening too fast when connected with air  They took too long to harden and dry  They were expired and unusable  They were too small to fill what they needed