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"the [science fiction] writer should be able to convince the reader (and himself) that the wonders he is describing really can come true...and that gets tricky when you take a good, hard look at the world around you."
- Frederik Pohl
 |
| Granton Motor | ||
| Spacecraft propulsion system based on gravital radiation. |
The author of this story presents another variation on the idea of a gravity-based propulsion system.
| So they built the Granton motor... It was a beautiful little thing, though, when Granton had finished; compact and efficient, and almost indestructible. The principle of it was simple: gravital radiation.
Granton had never been able to understand why gravitation had always been called a "pull"; every phenomenon known concerning the force of gravity would fit as well into the framework of a repulsive theory. He had gone on that principle: that gravity is not a pull, but a pressure pervading all space. The Granton motor was attuned to the matter-radiations of the earth, and it was insulated against the influences of the other worlds of space. It acted as a super-transformer unit, infinitely sensitive in its receiving cells to the pressure of the earth; the result was tremendous propulsive power. In operation tests it proved to be nearly ninety-nine percent efficient - as close to perfect as any manbuilt mechanism could come; harnessed to a space ship, it would be just about the ideal thing for interplanetary travel. |
| Technovelgy from Into the Meteorite Orbit,
by Frank K. Kelly. Published by Teck Publications in 1933 Additional resources -
|
You might want to compare this pseudoscience of spacecraft propulsion with some similar gravity-related systems - apergy (1880) and Cavorite (1901).
Compare to these propulsion systems: Light Pressure Propulsion (1867),
apergy (1880),
Beam-Powered Propulsion (1931),
Granton motor (1933),
Vibration-Propelled Cruiser (1928),
geodynes (1936),
ion drive (1947),
Planetary Propulsion-Blasts (1934),
stardrive (1953),
solar sail (light sail) (1962),
Lyle drive (1961),
laser cannon (1966),
Bussard ramjet (1976),
asymptotic drive (1976),
Interstellar Laser Propulsion System (1985).
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Tech news articles related to works by Frank K. Kelly
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