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"The permanent government now is the anchorpeople. They don't get elected, and year after year they're responding emotionally to this or that."
- Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.
 |
| Tractor Boots | ||
| Space suit footgear that has atom-driven caterpillar treads. |
| HIS EQUIPMENT consisted chiefly of a highly developed space armor. The thing was massive. Each foot was a miniature atom-powered tractor. A man within the suit could withdraw his arms from the sleeves of the intricate, versatile thing, and reach the food supplies contained in pockets arranged all around the spacious interior. There were air-purifiers, of course, and water generators. The leg joints of the armor could be locked so that a man could sleep — if he could sleep in an erect position — while the little tractors on his boots carried him on and on.
 (Tractor Boots from 'Magician of Dream Valley' cover by Raymond Z. Gallun) |
| Technovelgy from Magician of Dream Valley,
by Raymond Z. Gallun. Published by Astounding Science Fiction in 1938 Additional resources -
|
Here are some additional mentions of tractor boots in the story:
Tense with nerve strain. Jack hurried as much as he could. Once on the valley floor, he set his tractor boots to top speed. Thus he rushed forward...
Long-time readers will no doubt recall the tele-motor-coasters from Hugo Gernsback's 1911 classic Ralph 124c 41+.
Jack began to climb down the rugged slope toward the bottom of Dream Valley. His armor was massive, but the low Lunar gravity gave it little weight, and his tractor boots, though clumsy, were equipped with sharp lugs that gripped well the pumicelike rock...
(Tractor Boots from 'Magician of Dream Valley' by Raymond Z. Gallun)
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Tractor Boots-related
news articles:
- Shift Moonwalkers Help You Walk Faster? How About Tractor Treads!
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| Spaceplane From Virgin Atlantic |
| Taikonauts Exercise In China's Tiangong Space Station |
| SpaceX's Starman Tesla Roadster In Space |
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'I hope all those other cars are on automatic,' he said anxiously.
'It’s smart enough to go wrong in very complicated ways, but not smart enough to help us find out what’s wrong.'
'...like a spray of tulips mounted fanwise.'
'You hate the whole idea that some bored drone pusher in a remote driving centre has got your life... in his hands.'
'My homeland is being threatened by the Replicators. Thus far all attempts to stop them have failed.'
'A robobus had just rolled up to the curb.'
'And there in the next room by the sofa sat a familiar suitcase, that of his psychiatrist Dr. Smile.'
'He found a barber shop which, he thought, would be good for an idle hour.'
'Thirty rounds of fighting is tough work. Even for machines.'
