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"The way you write science fiction is: you sit down at your writing machine and you open your mind to the first thought that comes through."
- Frederik Pohl
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| Hand Grip | ||
| Means of pulling oneself through a space ship at zero gravity. |
I can't find an earlier example, but it seems like there should be one for such a simple idea.
| Arcot walked, or tried to walk, forward, but as all power had been cut off, save the meteor protection, there was no weight, and their motion was a series of long dives, and since the control room and the observatory were in line, Arcot made a single dive to his destination. The walls of the rooms and the corridors had been equipped with hand grips.
The others reached for hand grips, and Arcot swung the car gently about on its axis, till the observatory was pointing toward Sirius, the brightest star in our heavens, and from this much lesser distance it shone as a brilliant point of light that blazed wonderfully. |
| Technovelgy from Islands of Space,
by John W. Campbell. Published by Amazing Stories in 1931 Additional resources -
|
Always practical, Campbell makes use of this homely but useful idea.
Compare to the foot loops from Power Plant (1931) by Murray Leinster and the thigh grips from the same story.
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Science Fiction
Timeline
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'...Anything was possible in my imaginary environment.'
'Somewhere in space, a chrome and blue automobile raced the green light of Earth.'
'That explains how it was so easy for me to remain motionless in midair...'
'We had discovered that metal was relatively impervious to the telepathic effect.'
'Detailed plans for the construction of the Gundstetter-Halone warp drive were flowing.'
'Do not waste your priceless company on the unappreciative folds of a sleep pod...'
'...so we've promised him a generous pension from the royalties.'
'Hocus-pocus religions and archaic weapons are no substitute for a good blaster at your side.'
