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"The writing is clicking away in my head and piling up, and unless I get it on paper somehow it's going to create uncomfortable pressure in my skull."
- Isaac Asimov
 |
| Manufactured Planet | ||
| Is that a moon - or a space station? |
| Our first vague impression was corroborated; the object was a vast sphere of perhaps a thousand feet in diameter and of a dark, greenish metal. It was encircled by criss-crossing and massive bands of the same material. There were no other distinguishing features...
...what was our astonishment to find ourselves close to and moving steadily toward the green sphere, and a great door in its side yawning to receive us! |
| From The Heritage of the Earth,
by Harley S. Aldinger. Published by Amazing Stories in 1932 Additional resources -
|
This iconic picture should be familiar, at least in outline:
(We were pulled inside!)
The reader might be reminded of the Death Star pulling in the Millennium Falcon in Star Wars.
The author does not describe the means by which the craft is drawing others in side, saying only "we were drawn forward by a force not our own..."
Elsewhere in the story, the sphere is described as "the little manufactured planet, swinging through space, bearing its precious burden, the Heritage of Earth."
Compare to the battle sphere from The Space Rover (1932) by Edwin K. Sloat and the Transparent Spherical Ship from Schachner and Zagat's 1931 novel The Emperor of the Stars.
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More Ideas
and Technology from The Heritage of the Earth
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Tech news articles related to The Heritage of the Earth
Tech news articles related to works by Harley S. Aldinger
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'The pokkecon rang again. *The coffee’s for him?* Tsuyoshi said.'
The Jetsons imagined so much future.
'Rod placed the brain inside the panel... the horse raised its head, wiggled its ears, blinked twice, gave a tentative whinny.'
'Pina2bo would have to operate full blast for many years to put as much SO2 into the stratosphere as its namesake had done in a few minutes.'
'Chain of hotels that specialized in non-human service.'
'But then... not every bulldozer operator works on the Moon.'
'Griff found the white and pink map distracting and switched it off using his tongue mouse.'
