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"Science fiction has gotten more accurate as we've gotten closer to the present, because science fiction stories have not only attracted, but also generated current scientists."
- Larry Niven
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| Telephone Wire Tether | ||
| A communication line that connects people floating in space beside a spaceship with the ship and with each other. |
This is the earliest reference to the idea of using a physical line to connect space explorers with their ship; the use of the line to provide communication is ingenious.
| He explained the use of the telephone wire, which was coiled up and hung on the breast of the suit. One end of the wire ran to the inside of the helmet and was attached to a microphone there. The other end was to be connected with one of the numerous plugs which were placed all over the outside of the ship.
“Do not forget,” were Korf’s final words, “to plug in the wire first of all. Then we can speak to one another or communicate with the men on board, and in case of need we can pull ourselves back to the ship by means of the wires. Let’s go!” When Korf had convinced himself that the helmets fitted properly, he opened the inner door of the exit chamber and had Sam and Berger enter. Then he carefully closed the door and turned an air valve, through which the air escaped with a whistling sound. The rubber suits puffed out, so that the little chamber had scarcely room enough for the three expansive figures. A turn of Korf’s hand, the outer door opened, and the three men slipped out into outer space.
 (The Telephone Wire Tether from 'The Shot into Infinity' by Otto Willi Gail) |
| Technovelgy from The Shot Into Infinity,
by Otto Willi Gail. Published by Science Wonder Quarterly in 1929 Additional resources -
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Compare to the clever electrical "tether" from Edison's Conquest of Mars (1898) by Garrett P. Serviss.
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'He was in a high-ceilinged windowless cell with walls of glittering white porcelain.'
'I don't have to tell you about the seven two-mile-diameter orbital mirrors...'
'The robant and the tiny old woman entered the control room slowly...'
'Guy named Otto Octavius winds up with eight limbs... What are the odds?'
'It is as you thought when you constructed the time crystal, my master Vaylan.'
'This was their world, their planet — this swift-traveling, yet seemingly moveless vessel.'
