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"it slowly dawned on me that the landscape of science is maybe what interests people a great deal in science fiction."
- Gregory Benford
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| Ships Propelled By Light Pressure | ||
| Space ships that use light pressure from a distant source for propulsion |
Very impressive prediction by Hamilton; this anticipates the work of engineers like Dr. Robert Forward, who published his ideas on this topic in the early 1960's.
| When the comet had entered the solar system, a hundred of the comet people set out in four great cones, or spaceships, to establish themselves upon earth and carry out their plan. These cones were driven through space by light pressure, the possibilities of which force they had long utilized.
 (Light cones for light propulsion) Even on earth, we know that this force exists and understand a few of its manifestations; though only a few. We know that it is the pressure of the sun's light that causes a comet's tail to swing always away from the sun. It drove their cones through space at will and they use the principle of it in their destroying white ray. In that ray, light-pressure could be used of such power as to disintegrate the molecules of any object, or it could be used merely to strike a powerful blow... |
| From The Comet Doom,
by Edmond Hamilton. Published by Amazing Stories in 1929 Additional resources -
|
Probably the first person to suggest that light pressure could push a spacecraft was Jules Verne; see light pressure propulsion.
See also the laser cannons from Larry Niven's 1966 novel Neutron Star. Compare to the Beam-Powered Propulsion from The Prince of Space (1931) by Jack Williamson.
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Additional
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More Ideas
and Technology from The Comet Doom
More Ideas
and Technology by Edmond Hamilton
Tech news articles related to The Comet Doom
Tech news articles related to works by Edmond Hamilton
Ships Propelled By Light Pressure-related
news articles:
- Are Observed Radio Bursts An Alien Propulsion Technology?
| Spaceships Should Last So Long |
| Space Station Shutters |
| MIT Proposes Space Bubbles To Combat Climate Change, Misses The Point Of Space Bubbles |
| Study Reveals Effect Of Space Travel On The Brain |
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'... the two pairs of waldoes in the screen followed in exact, simultaneous parallelism.'
'THE SPACE VESSEL was traveling swiftly… For over five thousand years they had Voyaged on and on.’
'They circled the vast audiences, dancing, twittering, chirping...'
'The sun-quilt was a patchwork of colors and materials on the inward side, but silvered on the outward side...'
'Jim, I saw them reduce four of my doctors and nurses into those little cubes!'
'Fats Jordan was hanging in the center of the Big Glass Balloon, hugging his guitar to his massive black belly above his purple shorts..'
'When confronted by hills, or rough terrain, it did not stop, but simply slowed until the task demanded equaled its steady power output.'
'... the brain is no longer subjected to the accustomed pull, and it expands slightly in all directions.'
