Science Fiction
Dictionary
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
Latest By
Category:
Armor
Artificial
Intelligence
Biology
Clothing
Communication
Computers
Culture
Data Storage
Displays
Engineering
Entertainment
Food
Input Devices
Lifestyle
Living Space
Manufacturing
Material
Media
Medical
Miscellaneous
Robotics
Security
Space Tech
Spacecraft
Surveillance
Transportation
Travel
Vehicle
Virtual
Person
Warfare
Weapon
Work
"One of the great tragedies of mankind is that morality has been hijacked by religion. So now people assume that religion and morality have a necessary connection."
- Arthur C. Clarke
 |
| Planetary Propulsion-Blasts | ||
| Devices capable of moving and steering planets to new orbits or new stars. |
Ah, they had the grand concepts back in those days. The sun was growing dim; the planets were freezing solid. How to solve this problem?
The scientists who run the nine planets resolve to move their worlds to another sun using enormous atom-blasts.
| Every world had to be fitted with the huge atom-blasts that would propel it in space, and also had to be made ready so that its people could live during the voyage throught the sunless void. The greatest labor had been the fitting of the atom-blasts. This was a task so titanic that only by devoting almost all the energies of our planets' peoples to it were we able to complete it in so short a time.
Huge pits miles across and many miles deep were sunk in each planet at three points around its equator. These pits were metal-lined and thus were in fact stupendous tubes sunk in the planet. At the bottom of them was the apparatus for exploding the matter there, blowing its atoms into streams of electrons and protons that shot out of the huge tubes with inconceivable force. This tremendous force would be enough to propel the planet in the opposite direction. By using the suitable one of the three huge blasts, the world could be propelled in any desired course. |
| Technovelgy from Thundering Worlds,
by Edmond Hamilton. Published by Weird Tales in 1934 Additional resources -
|
One slight problem with his plan - the three atom-blasts placed equally around the equator would only ensure motion in the plane of the planet's current orbit.
The earliest example of the idea of moving a planet is in E.E. 'Doc' Smith's Triplanetary, serialized in January through April of 1934. Moving worlds appeared in the January installment; this Hamilton story was published in March.
Robert Heinlein used a similar idea to move an asteroid into position as a space station in his 1940 story Misfit:
See also ship pushes moon from Buck Rogers: 2430 AD (1930) by Nowlan and Calkin and the asteroid rocket from Salvage in Space (1933) by Jack Williamson.
This company of the C.C.C. started on its bigger job; to pock-mark Eighty-eight with rocket tubes so that Captain Doyle could push this hundred-mile marble out of her orbit and herd her in to a new orbit between Earth and Mars, to be used as a space station -- a refuge for ships in distress, a haven for life boats, a fueling stop, a naval outpost.
Comment/Join this discussion ( 1 ) | RSS/XML | Blog This |
Additional
resources:
More Ideas
and Technology from Thundering Worlds
More Ideas
and Technology by Edmond Hamilton
Tech news articles related to Thundering Worlds
Tech news articles related to works by Edmond Hamilton
Planetary Propulsion-Blasts-related
news articles:
- Proposal To Move An Asteroid
| SpaceX EVA Spacesuit Tested By Polaris Dawn Crew |
| ESA To Build Moon Bases Brick By Printed LEGO Brick |
| FLOAT Levitating Train On The Moon ala Clarke |
| SpaceX Intros Extravehicular Activity Suit |
Want to Contribute an
Item?
It's easy:
Get the name of the item, a
quote, the book's name and the author's name, and Add
it here.
| <Previous | Next> |
|
|
|
Technovelgy (that's tech-novel-gee!) is devoted to the creative science inventions and ideas of sf authors. Look for the Invention Category that interests you, the Glossary, the Science Fiction Invention Timeline, or see what's New.
|
Science Fiction
Timeline
1600-1899
1900-1939
1940's 1950's
1960's 1970's
1980's 1990's
2000's 2010's
'What would you do,' Eric asked the robot cabdriver, 'if your wife had turned to stone, your best friend were a toad, and you had lost your job?'
'those suits they wear -- call them 'stillsuits' -- that reclaim the body's own water...'
'Now, except for weight and heat, the same conditions prevail in this chamber as in space.'
'there were so many worms and counterworms loose in the data-net...'
'Now, look, let's start with the three fundamental Rules of Robotics...'
'..the synthetic intellects at the Place of Knowledge had far outstripped the minds of men.'
'But after washing and drying clothes had to be smooth - free from fine lines and wrinkles ...'
