![]() |
Science Fiction
Dictionary Latest By
"It wasn't until I was past forty that it bacame clear that I was going to be quote, successful, unquote."
|
![]() |
![]() Heinlein does not give any real details as to how this is accomplished. I think the use of the device serves a literary purpose, though; a simple word like "jump" goes well with the teen "cherubs."
Heinlein is not the first author to use the idea; I think that the creators of Buck Rogers also used one in the 1920's.
German engineers created the "Himmelstürmer" (Skystormer) towards the end of WWII. This device allowed jumps of up to 180 feet in length, with a height of about fifty feet.
After the war, the device was turned over to Bell Aerosystems. Wendell Moore, an engineer with Bell Aerosystems in 1953, is credited with the first workable rocket belt. Moore then called the device the un-romantic name of Small Rocket Lift Device, or SRLD. This was the type of jetpack used in the James Bond film Thunderball.
![]() (Bell Aerospace Rocket Belt) Among the many technical difficulties encountered in real life were a lack of stability in flight and the weight of the propellant. It's probable that Heinlein took the idea from the Jump Belt, created in 1958 by Garry Burdett and Alexander Bohr of the Thiokol Corporation. Compressed nitrogen gas was used for propulsion; two nozzles at belt level (directed downwards) produced enough thrust to jump higher and run faster. Like Heinlein's jump harness, it was not a true flying device. For a modern version of a device like this, take a look at Swiss Rocket Man. Comment/Join this discussion ( 1 ) | RSS/XML | Blog This | Additional
resources: Jump Harness-related
news articles:
Want to Contribute an
Item?
It's easy:
|
![]() |
Science Fiction
Timeline
The Mojo Smart Contact Lens Experience
'... the lens displays would be useless without a wearable computer to do the graphics.'
Small Town Wants 60 License Plate Readers
'the registration number which the traffic control automatically photographed as she left the controlway...'
Lightyear 0 World's First Production-Ready Solar Car
'It could maintain a steady six miles per hour...'
AI Robots Excel At Trash Sorting And Recycling
'Then they press one of these here thirteen buttons...'
Could Increased Space Rocketry Damage The Ozone Layer?
'...without burning a single hydrocarbon molecule to injure the diseased atmosphere any further.'
Festo BionicSwift Bird Robots Described In 1930
'Bird-like robots now descended from the ceiling of the theatre...'
Robotics Jobs In The Food Industry
'The efficient robot waiter of the Sky Club had cleared away the remnants of an epicurean meal.'
Prototype 3D Printer Could Print Arteries In Seconds
'...in the tank the new body and the new mind and memory and life has taken almost instant form.'
|
![]() |
![]() |
Home | Glossary
| Science Fiction Timeline | Category | New | Contact
Us | FAQ | Advertise | ![]() Technovelgy.com - where science meets fiction™ Copyright© Technovelgy LLC; all rights reserved. |
![]() |