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"Modern science fiction is the only form of literature that consistently considers the nature of the changes that face us, the possible consequences, and the possible solutions."
- Isaac Asimov
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| Dust-Cruiser | ||
| Specialized lunar transport able to negotiate dust-filled craters on the Moon. |
At the edge of a great (fictional) lunar expanse called the Sea of Thirst, the dust is many feet deep. What would be the best means of transportation?
| Selene was virtually a grounded spaceship; she had to be, since she was traveling in a vacuum... Though she never left the surface of the Moon, and was propelled by electric motors instead of rockets, she carried all the equipment of a full-fledged ship of space...
Selene was the very first of her line... some had wanted to make her like a stern-wheeler, but the more efficient submerged fans carried the day. As they drilled through the dust, they produced a wake like that of a high-speed mole, but it vanished within seconds, leaving the Sea unmarked by any signs of the boat's passage. |
| Technovelgy from A Fall of Moondust,
by Arthur C. Clarke. Published by Harcourt, Brace and World in 1961 Additional resources -
|
As it turns out, it is unlikely that any boats will be needed on the Moon; the lunar dust appears to be no more than a few centimeters thick anywhere on the Moon.
Compare to the volplane from Blood of the Moon (1936) by Ray Cummings and to the vacuum tractor from Moonwalk (1952) by HB Fyfe.
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| The United States Space Academy Is Official |
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'Our study of your race has convinced us that you are not fitted to leave your planet in the present state of your civilization.'
'...the spreading beam of the deranging ray struck them, and Then one toppled and fell. Then another.'
'Within seconds the material was spread out over fifty yards, in a matter of hours it might occupy several cubic miles of space...'
'The men are dead, but their acquired wisdom lives on and I am the beneficiary.'
'Young people found the driverless car admirable for petting.'
'After twenty generations of shillyshallying...'
