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"My father was a master mechanic; I grew up with a screwdriver in one hand and a pair of pliers in the other."
- Frank Herbert
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| Propulsion Gun | ||
| What can you push against in space? |
This is a very early attempt by sf writers to give a realistic option to space explorers who were stuck in the void - what can you push against in space?
| FOR awhile they floated, while Arnim got his bearings. Directly ahead, not over fifty yards away, lay the glittering ball of the Wanderer. Below spun a jagged fragment of rock, the tiny asteroid they had just quitted.
 (Propulsion gun from 'Venus Mines, Inc.' by Schachner and Zagat) Arnim chuckled grimly. He thought of Rutnom and the Martians marooned on that tiny desolation, helplessly watching the space ships drifting not more than five miles overhead. Then he pulled out a little propulsion gun and, pointing it away from the Wanderer, pulled the trigger. He transformed himself into a very inefficient rocket-like projectile. Britt saw and wondered and did likewise. |
| Technovelgy from Venus Mines, Incorporated,
by Nat Schachner (w. AL Zagat). Published by Wonder Stories in 1931 Additional resources -
|
This same idea was illustrated in an article by Captain Hermann Noordung in Science Wonder Stories in 1931:
(From The Problems of Space Flying)
A man traveling through space to the observatory proper. He is clad in a metal suit with a knapsack on his back holding the oxygen and radio act and other equipment necessary. He is propelled by the reaction from the force of the discharge of the gun in his hands. The observatory is seen in the upper right, while on the left are the moon and earth.
Compare with the steering shot pistol from The Shot Into Infinity (1929) by Otto Willi Gail, the Reaction Pistol from Gordon A. Giles 1937 story Diamond Planetoid, the Personal Jet Thrust from Robert Heinlein's 1948 novel Space Cadet, the Pistol 'Rocket' (1931) from Buck Rogers: 2430 AD (1931) by Nowlan and Calkin and the very clever Electrical Tether from Garrett P. Serviss' 1898 story Edison's Conquest of Mars
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'...Anything was possible in my imaginary environment.'
'Somewhere in space, a chrome and blue automobile raced the green light of Earth.'
'That explains how it was so easy for me to remain motionless in midair...'
'We had discovered that metal was relatively impervious to the telepathic effect.'
'Detailed plans for the construction of the Gundstetter-Halone warp drive were flowing.'
'Do not waste your priceless company on the unappreciative folds of a sleep pod...'
'...so we've promised him a generous pension from the royalties.'
'Hocus-pocus religions and archaic weapons are no substitute for a good blaster at your side.'
