Science Fiction
Dictionary Latest By
"You have to budget the number of fuzzy rules you use to control a system. It turns out, you can state the optimality principle in three words: 'patch the bumps.'"
|
Heinlein does not give any real details as to how this is accomplished. I think the use of the device serves a literary purpose, though; a simple word like "jump" goes well with the teen "cherubs."
Heinlein is not the first author to use the idea; I think that the creators of Buck Rogers also used one in the 1920's.
German engineers created the "Himmelstürmer" (Skystormer) towards the end of WWII. This device allowed jumps of up to 180 feet in length, with a height of about fifty feet.
After the war, the device was turned over to Bell Aerosystems. Wendell Moore, an engineer with Bell Aerosystems in 1953, is credited with the first workable rocket belt. Moore then called the device the un-romantic name of Small Rocket Lift Device, or SRLD. This was the type of jetpack used in the James Bond film Thunderball.
(Bell Aerospace Rocket Belt) Among the many technical difficulties encountered in real life were a lack of stability in flight and the weight of the propellant. It's probable that Heinlein took the idea from the Jump Belt, created in 1958 by Garry Burdett and Alexander Bohr of the Thiokol Corporation. Compressed nitrogen gas was used for propulsion; two nozzles at belt level (directed downwards) produced enough thrust to jump higher and run faster. Like Heinlein's jump harness, it was not a true flying device. For a modern version of a device like this, take a look at Swiss Rocket Man. Compare to the individual flyer from Asteroid Pirates (1938) by Royal Heckman and the copter harness from The Star Beast (1954) by Robert Heinlein. Comment/Join this discussion ( 1 ) | RSS/XML | Blog This | Additional
resources: Jump Harness-related
news articles:
Want to Contribute an
Item?
It's easy:
|
Science Fiction
Timeline
Brin's 1990 Novel Earth Still Full Of Predictions
'... making the point that their likenesses, every move they made, were being transmitted.'
Gaia - Why Stop With Just The Earth?
'But the stars are only atoms in larger space, and in that larger space the star-atoms could combine to form living matter, thinking matter, couldn't they?'
Microsoft VASA-1 Creates Personal Video From A Photo
'...to build up a video picture would require, say, ten million decisions every second. Mike, you're so fast I can't even think about it. But you aren't that fast.'
Splendid View Of Eclipse From Orbit Visualized And Repurposed By Arthur C. Clarke
'The area affected was five hundred kilometres across, and perfectly circular.'
Goldene - A Two-Dimensional Sheet Of Gold One Atom Thick
'Hasan always pitched a Gauzy - a one-molecule-layer tent, opaque, feather-light, and very tough.'
SpaceX Wants A Moonbase Alpha
'And he had been sent with troops, supplies and bombs to command Russia's most trusted post, the Moonbase.'
Vast Apartment Living Will Get Even More Vast
'What is your population', I asked. 'About eighty millions.'
NASA Wants Self-Driving Or Remote-Controlled Vehicles For Lunar Astronauts
'THE autobus turned silently down the wide street of Hydropole. Robot-guided, insulated from noise and cold...'
|
Home | Glossary
| Science Fiction Timeline | Category | New | Contact
Us | FAQ | Advertise | Technovelgy.com - where science meets fiction™ Copyright© Technovelgy LLC; all rights reserved. |
||